Nervously, I picked up the coin and put it in my pocket. “You better hope there are chocolate chip cookies down there, or you’ll hear screams in a minute.”

Hayden laughed. “There are cookies down there. I may do a lot of things, but I don’t lie to children.”

I wondered what he meant by that. “What’s behind your back?” He sat down on the bed. “Come here.”

“What?” I sat beside him, smoothing my hands over the denim skirt.

He moved. A pair of cable-knit gloves lay in his hands, heather grayalways a good color. “I swiped them from Phoebe’s room. It’s going to be cold out there. You’re going to need them. And they’ll keep your hands warmer than the ones you normally wear. I just want you to have fun,” he went on quietly, “and not have to worry about anything. You need to have fun tonight.”

My eyes felt weird, like something had gotten stuck in them. I blinked a couple of times and ignored the way my throat felt tight. “Thank you.”

Hayden nodded, not meeting my eyes. “Hold out your hands.”

“I can do…” His eyes did meet mine. He had that look. Sighing, I held out my hands.

A ghost of a smile appeared. Hayden carefully tugged a glove over my right hand. The tips of his fingers just grazed the skin around my wrists, but it felt like a thousand shocks of electricity. The left hand followed next, and his fingers grazed my skin once more. Fine shivers raced up my arms, then down everywhere else.

I couldn’t get over how reckless he was. Nobody in the house would even dare be so casual about accidentally touching my skin, not even Olivia.

Once he was done, his hands lingered a second or two before he dropped them. “Ready?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

Liz already had Olivia in one of the living rooms with a plate of cookies and milk. I wondered how she thought she’d get her to sleep now. The girl was about to have a wicked sugar high.

Thank God I wouldn’t be here to experience it.

We almost made it out of the house without being stopped, but Hayden wanted to grab a bottle of water for the road. In the kitchen, Cromwell leaned against the counter, arms folded across his chest. At first he appeared alone, but then Hayden stiffened beside me.

Kurt sat at the table. The hairs all over my body bristled. Kurt tipped his head at us, a smug smile on his face.

“Where you guys heading off to?” Cromwell asked.

“A party one of the kids is holding,” Hayden answered.

“Both of you?”

“Is that a problem?” I asked in probably one of my worst tones everthe kind that used to earn me a stern look from my father.