Free Waiting in the Wings (Soulgirls) by Heather Long

spill.
    He suppressed a smile. She was well and truly angry with him. “You care about Kristina that much?”
    “Her name is Kiki.”
    “No.” He shook his head, offering her a hint of sympathy. “Her name is Kristina. She may go by Kiki now, but she was Kristina when she was born, and she will always be Kristina to me.”
    “I don’t like Kristina.” A plaintive note entered the Minion’s voice.
    “I don’t particularly care for Kiki, either. So we are at an impasse.”
    “No. We’re at the Midnight Mystery Lounge. She’s Kiki here—says so right there.” Minion pointed to the poster hung on the wall near the stage. Richard sighed. His bride blew a kiss to the camera. If those posters were everywhere outside the theatre… He swept a look around the theatre…nearly every table was full. She packed the house with her performance.
    “Very well.” He could concede this to the little creature and perhaps draw her attention back to the file folder. But the moment his gaze touched on it, Minion leapt backwards and gripped the manila folder tightly. Pretending innocence, he lifted his brows. “Problem?”
    “You can’t look at this.” She hugged the folder to her chest.
    “Okay.” He nodded agreeably and glanced at the stage. He resisted looking at his watch. Kristina told him she would join him after the show. So where was she?
    “She’s probably washing off her makeup and dancing with the girls. But she’s coming. She told me to wait for her here.” The imp spoke with the defiant air of one who wouldn’t have joined him otherwise.
    “You really care about her, don’t you?” He could appreciate the affection.
    “I love her. She’s my best friend. I won’t let you take her away.” The trembling lower lip spoke volumes for the imp’s emotional investment.
    “I love her too.” Why the hell he was confessing this to Minion, he didn’t know. But maybe it would make her feel better about the whole situation—particularly if it turned her into his ally. He leaned forward, hands on the table. “I have loved her for a very long time and missed her for far too long. We were happy together.”
    “Yeah?” Minion’s nose wrinkled and her ears swiveled forward, her attention focused on him. “Then where have you been for the last fifty years?”
    “That’s an awesome question.” Kiki strolled around the edge of the booth and leaned against Minion’s side of the booth, arms folded and chin lifted. “I know we knew each other. I didn’t know that last night, but I know it now. So where have you been all my life, Richard? And why the hell don’t I remember you?”
     
    Her heart had raced from the moment she stepped on the stage until the final curtain dropped. She’d dreamed of stepping up center stage, taking lead and bringing the house down. But taking control also meant bearing the brunt of the responsibility. The sheer joy she took in dancing couldn’t quite overcome the nervous zing. The improvised show went darker than she expected, but “hunting” her sisters on that stage felt good.
    Good and right.
    Richard had watched her from the audience. Even in the uneven darkness, her gaze found him unerringly. He drew her like the proverbial moth to his incandescently cold flame— why the hell do I think of him as cold? His passion consumed her, searing heat and unquenchable lust. In the audience, however, a deep inner light shimmered about him—blazing brighter than anyone else. Her mock hunger toward the end became very real and, if she’d possessed actual fangs, she would have sunk them into Britta’s neck.
    She lingered longer backstage, apologizing to her friend, and delayed her meeting. She might have skipped it altogether, but when she peeked out into the post-show audience, she saw Minion at his table.
    Halfway to the table, uneasiness and questions had swirled around her like an unstable whirlpool. She wasn’t sure what she planned to say to him—if anything at all.
    “You