9.

J ack had heard a lot of lines in her life. She'd heard guys say things like, "This is the only way you can heal me, baby," and, "If I don't kiss you, I'll die."

But she'd never had a guy tell her that he was cursed or that she was the only person who could break it. After having the hottest damn sex of her life, Jack wasn't sure she wanted to lose out on Zeke.

Had she been planning on falling in love tonight?

No.

Had she been pleasantly surprised with the way he'd made her feel special, and cared for, and seen?

Absolutely.

Was it insane to think that he was really cursed?

Maybe.

Then again, maybe not.

"Every time I ask you about removing the mask, you seem sad," she pointed out.

"That's because I am sad," he told her. "I've wanted to be rid of this curse for years."

"And the only way to break it is to fall in love?"

"I was cursed by a witch forty-nine years ago," he explained. "It's a curse that takes time to boil and stew. It's not going to be complete until next year, and then there will be no reversing it." Z sighed. "My real name is Zeke."

Jack cocked her head.

"The missing kid?"

"Yeah."

"You aren't so missing after all, huh?"

"Not so much."

"So, what, a witch just randomly decided to curse you?"

"She did," he said. "One day a year, I have the chance to turn back into a real man. I get Halloween to try to find someone to fall in love with me. Then, the next morning, I'm back into a pumpkin for the whole year."

"Can you hear things while you're a pumpkin?"

"Yes."

"This really does sound fake, you know," she said.

"I know."

Zeke seemed sad about this. His tone fell a little, and his shoulders slumped. Jacqueline wasn't naive. She knew how men could be, that they'd say weird stuff just to get rid of a girl they didn't like.

Only, she felt something different with Zeke.

She thought he really did like her, that he really did like the idea of them together, and she really did think that there could be something more between them.

When she thought about the idea of him being cursed, she suspected that it was more likely this was a true story than a false one. After all, she was staring at him now, and despite the dim lighting in the room, she couldn't see any seams where he might be able to remove the pumpkin head mask.

"How much longer do you have tonight?"

"Until the sun rises."

"Then I guess we'd better make the most of it."