* * *
A text woke Killian up at six A.M. Way too fucking early. He unwound himself from Mike’s warm back and blinked bleary eyes to read the message.
Gus had written,“Were you out of you mind? We’ll be lucky if anyone shows up for the auditions! You’ve fucking killed your career.”
Ah, so the second podcast aired. Good.
Killy turned the phone to silent and dropped it to the rug. “Rest in peace,” he mumbled, returning to the warm man in his bed.
27
Mike peeked out the window from behind a pair of heavy drapes. During his younger days, he’d wondered what stardom might be like.
He’d never envisioned this. The multitude of cars out on the street rivaled what he’d seen when first getting to the city, in his mind. Where had all these people come from? Thank God iron gates kept them out of the yard.
Shouts of “Mr. Desmond!” came from a pack of reporters holding microphones.
The warm hand on his back made him jump. “Where’d they all come from?” Mike fought to keep panic out of his voice.
Killy growled near his ear, “Sharks always circle when blood hits the water.”
“Huh?”
“The second podcast aired last night. I came out publicly as gay, not that anyone was surprised after my asshole ex got his fifteen minutes of fame.” Killy snorted. “Fifteen minutes was actually longer than the jerkoff lasted in bed, most nights, thanks to his drug habit. I’m surprised they didn’t make it here sooner, but Caleb implied I was still in Denver. Gave us a head start.”
Regardless of the cold fear settling in Mike’s gut, the “us” thawed a bit of the ice. “Don’t we have someplace to be?”
“Yeah.” Killy turned around, glancing over his shoulder. “Annie should be here soon.”
Footsteps sounded from the back of the house. A short young woman came into the room, wearing blue jeans and a Trickster T-shirt. She stopped a few feet away, giving away no emotion on her face. “Is it unprofessional of me to hug you?”
“You’ve picked me up out of the floor, and listened to me babble when I’ve had too much to drink. I think we left professional a few miles back.” Killy smiled and opened his arms.
The woman squealed and ran to his embrace. “Oh, Killy, I’ve missed you so much. I said prayers for you every night.”
Who was this woman being so familiar with Killian? She was small and pale, with auburn hair and a splash of freckles across her nose.
Killian turned toward Mike, arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Mike, I’d like you to meet Annie, my friend and housekeeper.”
Annie stepped forward, hand out and grin holding firm. She didn’t step out from under the shelter of Killian’s arm. “It’s nice to meet you Mike, I’m glad you talked some sense into the boss.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Mike shook her hand, feeling a smile of his own answering hers. Her face was open and honest, the freckles across her nose making her look very young, and light makeup accentuated her face rather than covering up her natural beauty. Tiny lines crinkled at the corner of her eyes.
Mike liked her already. On closer look, she wasn’t as young as he originally thought. The hand holding Mike’s sported a wedding band.
“Annie, we have a situation.” Killy waved a hand toward the front of the house.
“Oh!” She peered out the window, pulled out her cellphone, and hit a few buttons. Voice too quiet for Mike to make out words, she murmured into the phone, gave a brief smile and nod, then ended the call. “Same guy as last time. He remembered you.”
Mike regarded Killy with lifted eyebrows, at a loss at their verbal shorthand.
“Security company.” Killy held his hand out to Annie.
After digging into her jeans pocket for a few moments, she deposited a keyring on his palm. “It’s a green Toyota Prius.”
“What?” Killy placed his hand over his heart. “You sold the Bug? How could you? I loved that car.”
“No, I gave it to my younger brother. He started college last year. Now, go. I’ve got this.” She put her hands against Killy’s back and gave him a push.
