Despite Eva’s protests, I paid our bill and ushered her out into the night.

She’d been right about everyone watching us all night. Even if it was something that wasn’t talked about openly, many of the people around here knew I was one of Selena’s guys. They might not know the specifics of our arrangement or where I’d come from, but the silver shackle on my wrist was enough for them to know I wasn’t a free man.

And when it came to Selena, the guys under her rule weren’t exactly allowed to date other women.

I wondered if anyone at the Dark Horse tonight would go running off to Selena’s goons to tell them I’d taken a beautiful stranger out to dinner. It wasn’t something that had occurred to me to worry about until I saw the look on Marla’s face when I said I was paying.

But the fact was that Eva didn’t have anything but a busted car and the clothes on her back. I’d noticed the gorgeous bracelet she’d been wearing when I first met her was now missing from her wrist, which meant she’d probably sold it somewhere in town just to pay for her car. I wouldn’t have felt right letting her pay her own way at dinner.

It was bad enough she was insisting on staying at a hotel, but that I understood. I was grateful for it, too. If Selena found out Eva was staying in my room at Drifter’s she might get angry enough to come looking for me, and I really didn’t want to see her again any time soon.

I still needed to find a way to get free of her, but that was going to take some time and some help I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to ask for. Hopefully, I had some time before she would make good on her threat to move me up to her castle.

“Thank you for dinner,” Eva said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You didn’t have to pay, but I appreciate it.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I said. “Everyone needs to experience the food at the Dark Horse at least once in their lives, so I’m glad I got to introduce you to it.”

We walked back toward Main Street, and I took a moment to point out Ida’s Bakery.

“They open early,” I said. “If you’re up for it in the morning, you should come get some fresh croissants. Pair that with some of Loran’s coffee again, and you’re bound to stick around a little longer just for the food. Oh, but don’t eat too much. There’s going to be so much great food at the festival tomorrow night.”

“About that,” she said. “What do people wear to something like that? Halloween in a supernatural town might get pretty elaborate, and right now I have nothing appropriate to wear. I was thinking I could do some shopping tomorrow.”

“Some people do go all out,” I said, thinking of last year’s costume contest. It was pretty insane what some people came up with. “But I usually just come as me. Jeans, t-shirt, jacket in case it’s cold. Wear whatever you want, really, but you should definitely pick up a coat. Here, I should have offered mine to you before.”

I slipped my coat off and put it around Eva’s shoulders. She put her arms through the sleeves, but it was so big on her, she had to pull them way up just to set her hands free.

“Thank you,” she said. “So, where is this bed and breakfast?”

“It’s just around the corner,” I said, but I realized I wasn’t ready for the night to be over just yet. “I was thinking of maybe taking a quick walk on the beach, if you’re up for it.”

She smiled nervously, her hand fluttering to her face. “It might be nice to walk off that cheesecake,” she said.

I steered her toward a familiar beach path and soon we were walking along the sandy shores of the public beach near the boardwalk.

I wanted so badly to kiss her, but I was new at this. And even after the day we’d had together, I still sensed she was holding something back from me. We walked a long way before I finally got up the nerve to ask her what she was thinking about.

She stopped walking and turned to stare out at the vast expanse of the ocean. It was too dark to see very far, but the moon illuminated each crest of a wave in the distance.

“I want to tell you something,” she said. “But I’m not sure what you’ll think of me when I’m done.”

There was so much vulnerability in her tone, I wanted to reach for her and pull her into my arms.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can tell me that would change the way I’m feeling about you right now,” I said.

She turned to look at me then, her eyes wide and full of fear as she started to tell me her story.