Harley broke into that wide, distracting smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back. His was a shining example of that infectious smile people were always talking about, and it felt good to relax a little after the night I’d had.

Maybe my night was finally starting to turn around. After all, I’d spent most of my time at Simone’s party looking for Harley, and now it was like he’d just appeared out of thin air.

“You know, I’ve never been one to believe in coincidences,” he said. “Are you stalking me?” He smirked, showing those perfect pointy teeth that looked almost too real.

“W-what? Me? Stalk you?” My cheeks were burning with embarrassment, which seemed to be my default state whenever I was around this sexy werewolf. “No, I would never do that! I think stalking is super…wrong. Not to mention desperate!”

Harley laughed. “I was just kidding. I know you’re not stalking me. But I couldn’t help but notice how serious you looked when you were leaving the bar just a moment ago. Is everything okay?”

I groaned. “Yeah, I guess it is now, though it’s been quite a night. I thought I was being followed by someone from the party, so I ducked into the bar for a bit, but it was a shit show in there, too, so I bailed. I was just taking a quick look around as I left to make sure that I was safe.”

“What? Really? You think someone was following you?” He frowned. “That must have been really scary.”

“It was,” I said, realizing that it felt kind of good to tell someone about what had been going on tonight.

It didn’t hurt that Harley looked truly concerned about me, which was endearing. We didn’t even know each other, and he seemed to care about my safety. He’d looked the same way earlier tonight when that other guy hit on me at the party. It was like he was primed to protect me.

“Yes…it was a guy who claimed to be a cop, which is crazy because what kind of cop goes undercover as an accountant to a costume party where everyone is at least ten years younger?” I paused. “I mean, I’m not ageist or anything, so it was totally cool that he was there except that he was weird and had this intense stare…”

I trailed off, realizing that I was rambling. There was something about Harley’s eyes and the way he looked at me that had me off-kilter. But the difference between his stare and the stare from the fake cop was that his eyes didn’t make me want to run away screaming.

Quite the opposite.

I was starting to feel happy that I’d run into him. And I felt a lot safer with him around, too.

I noticed that Harley’s smile had taken a hit. “The guy claimed to be a cop? What an asshole, right?” He shook his head. “I think that’s illegal, pretending to be an officer of the law.” He was fidgeting, and I noticed that he seemed a little spooked now, too. I guess tonight had everyone on edge.

“It is, right?! You know he even dared to ask what we were talking about? Like it’s any of his business. I told him to get lost, but then he grabbed me and—anyway, it’s over now. I think I gave him the slip.”

I almost told him about the barefoot lady’s off-the-wall rant, but I’d already said enough, and I didn’t want him to think I was the type of person who courted chaos. And then I wondered why I cared what he thought about me.

I must be more into him than I realized. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? He’s totally hot and seems like a nice guy.

Harley looked around. As if the streets weren’t already crazy enough, the Halloween parade was just starting to make its way down the street, and the sidewalk was only growing more crowded. People were pressing in all around us, cheering and yelling and spilling beer all over the place.

“Are you sure the cop isn’t still following you?” Harley asked. “There are so many people out tonight that he could be anywhere.”

I looked around and didn’t see him. “Yeah, I think I lost him when I went into the bar. I half expected him to follow me inside, but he didn’t, thank god.”

“Good, glad to hear that.” Harley rocked back on his heels and did a little whistle like he was trying to figure out what else to say.

“So…anyway. Good seeing you again. I’m going to head home. I’ve had enough excitement tonight to last me the rest of my life,” I told him.

Harley laughed. “Sounds like it. But maybe I should escort you home? Just in case?”