Checked Out on Halloween (A Festive Romance Trilogy)

by K.T. Harris

“Which is exactly why you should come. You can’t just live in your books forever babe.

Tiny super-heroes and princesses clutching candy buckets, parents trailing behind, laughing. The sight should make me smile, part of me does.

Pumpkin spice or apple crisp? Hot or iced? Huh? Is he asking me my coffee order? Hmm. Either. If I had to pick. Pumpkin spice, hot.

What are you reading today darling? How do you know I’m reading today, Flynn? …Anyone who could pick Kade Cross out of a crowd is so far in the trenches of literature they spend every lazy day reading.

“I…I think I love dark romance so much because nobody has ever loved me like that. Nobody.” Her hands twist in her lap. “No man. No parent. Not even friends or family. Nobody has ever looked at me and thought I was worth staying for.” Her voice cracks, and my chest caves with it. “I think I ache for it,” she whispers. “For someone to be so enamored by me they’d do anything—crazy things—just to have the opportunity to love me. To rip the world apart just to share air with me.”

“I want someone to be so obsessed with me that they won’t run. Not like everyone else has. Someone who won’t abandon me. Someone who will chase me past the edges of sanity, to the dark corners no one else would dare” All I can think is: That’s me. It’s always been me.

As we step into the chilly air, I realize—maybe love doesn’t always start with flowers and candlelight. Maybe sometimes, it starts with a pumpkin spice latte and a man who refuses to let me walk alone in this world.