Free Waiting in the Wings (Soulgirls) by Heather Long Page A

really care about her, don’t you?” Richard’s dark chocolate voice had poured over her, soothing and arousing.
    “I love her. She’s my best friend. I won’t let you take her away.” Minion’s unabashed declaration brought a smile to Kiki’s lips. She adored the little rascal.
    “I love her too. I have loved her for a very long time and missed her for far too long. We were happy together.” The statement thrust a hot poker into her gut. The heat seared through layers of ice shackling her heart. The painful melt thawed her unease and filled her with questions. She knew him—she’d remembered that much in the dressing room. But he’d loved her for a long time?
    He spoke to and about her with a familiar intimacy. Why? The question pounded against the inside of her skull, smacking with every thud of her heart.
    “Yeah?” Minion’s voice filled with skepticism and challenge. “Then where have you been for the last fifty years?”
    “That’s an awesome question.” Spurred into motion, Kiki forced her feet to move, one in front of the other, until she arrived at Minion’s side of the table. This close to Richard, a wild hunger surged through her. The familiar ache in her gums swelled with a vengeance. “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?”
    He rose to his feet in a smooth, artless gesture. A hopeful smile turned up the corners of his lips, but she ignored the lust surging through her insides. Answers before pleasure.
    Whoa…answers before lust? Where the hell did that come from?
    “Kristina.” He held out his hand, and she studied it and him. Uncertainty quivered through her. But she refused to be chased away—or to be afraid. She took his hand, intending to shake it and retreat, but the feeling of his palm gliding along hers awoke a fresh wave of lust and eagerness. With surprising charm, he bowed his head and lifted her hand to his mouth. The whisper of his lips feathering the gentlest of kisses to her knuckles unspooled her tension.
    “Richard.” He glanced up and smiled. Her heart did a little flip-flop. She would do anything for that smile—anything. Kill, steal, maim—suffer—it didn’t matter. With regret, she pulled her hand away and folded her arms across her chest again. Easier to keep from dancing into his arms or throwing herself at him.
    “Please, sit with us?” He gestured to the table, and Kiki glance down at Minion. The imp gave her a wide-eyed shrug and bounced her booster seat to the side. Perching on the seat, with one leg out, Kiki knew she could bolt at anytime. Across the room, Stan leaned against the wall. As promised, she’d told him when she planned to head out, and he merely nodded.
    Where she typically resented his watchfulness, she appreciated it tonight.
    “I don’t know how long I will stay this time.” She lied, recklessly abandoning her plan to get laid. Minion leaned against her arm, comforting and supportive in the same innocent gesture.
    Richard sat slowly. Like the night before, he dressed in comfortable, casual elegance in a blue button-down shirt and midnight-black pants. He wore them as though they had been tailored just for him.
    Who knew, maybe they had?
    “I was hoping you would spend the rest of the night with me.” He poured a second glass of wine and slid the glass across to her. Minion reached for it, but Kiki slapped her hand lightly.
    The imp growled, and Kiki bared her teeth at her until Minion giggled. “I just wanted a sip.”
    “Uh huh and the last time you had wine, you teleported all of the shoes around the casino, and it took us hours to find them. No way.” Amused, but watchful, the dancer picked up the wine and swirled it in the glass. Her stomach cramped with hunger at the sinfully sweet scent. She didn’t gulp the wine, but the first flush taste of it against her tongue doubled the hunger. Richard