Red Light Read Free Page B

with a uniformed woman holding a sign that said “Tori” in green block letters.
    “She’s hot,” Kerry told me with a grin as we got in for the ride.
    “Is she? I didn’t notice.”
    “Really?” Kerry drawled with apparent disbelief. “What did you notice, then?”
    “You,” I told her, and kissed away the pout on those pretty lips, “and your little black velvet skirt, the cadet-gray jacket nice and snug over your…” and I let my hands show her what I meant.
    Kerry sighed as she kissed me back. “So where are we going?” she asked, her fingers tracing down my neck. “Is it that very, very special that you can’t tell me now?” She edged even closer and I gently took her hands in mine before they traveled anywhere else.
    “You’ll never get it out of me,” I teased her back, still careful to avoid her hands when she tried to tickle me again as we sprawled across that luxurious backseat.
    “Is this that Angel tour concert? The breast cancer fund-raiser with all those artists?” she asked excitedly, and rattled off the list as we pulled in front of a multilevel nightclub, Nox, that had private parking below it on Manhattan’s East Fifty-seventh.
    “Yeah, that’s the one.” I grinned at her. “Cool, right?”
    Kerry seemed to be lost in thought. “Yeah…that is really cool,” she answered almost absentmindedly before she gave me a dazzling smile. “How did you manage to score tickets for this?”
    “My cousin’s performing tonight.” I was rather pleased with myself as the driver opened the door for us.
    “Aha!” Kerry said, her eyes evaluating me. “And can I ask who that is?”
    “Well,” I drawled, “that would be part two of tonight’s surprise.”
    She raised her eyebrows at me.
    “We’re invited to the after-party—I’ll introduce you then.” I grinned as we walked over to the door. I knew how popular my cousin and her band were. This was going to be cool.
    As I cupped Kerry’s face, I didn’t know if I really loved her or not, but I knew I cared about her and really did love the way she looked at me like she did at that moment, with a mixture of amusement and affection.
    She laughed and took my hand as I felt in my pocket for our passes. I gave them to Kerry, who promptly draped one around her neck, then did the same for me. “Let’s show these people how to dance.”
    I agreed as the bouncer glanced at our passes and waved us in, past the waiting crowd and into the club.
    It was a great show—four bands, then my cousin with a rockin’ DJ in between sets, and honestly, my cousin was phenomenal. I’d attended her performances before when she was in town, but never in such an intimate setting—she rarely played anything smaller than a concert hall—and it was great to watch the way she interacted with the crowd, she and her wife, her partner, who played bass behind her.
    When she saw me from the stage she waved and said, “Hey, Tori!” into the microphone.
    I waved back and beamed at her—she was just way too cool.
    Kerry tugged on my sleeve lightly. “You know her?” she asked in my ear, then stared back at the stage.
    “Know her?” I answered in Kerry’s ear as the people cheering around us made it almost impossible to speak. “Nina Boyd’s my cousin.”
    Kerry faced me again, plainly shocked, and I smiled even bigger.
    “That,” she said, and pointed, “that’s your cousin?”
    “Yeah,” I answered, still beaming, “can’t you tell?”
    She stared again at where Nina waved to the crowd with a smile, my smile. She tossed her head and her hair, same texture as mine only longer, a bit redder, settled around her shoulders as she laughingly agreed to “one more!”
    Kerry scrutinized me again. “Yeah…I can,” she said finally, “that’s so…so…wow.” She shook her head. “Any other surprises?” She grinned crookedly before returning her attention to the stage.
    “Just one…” I whispered into her neck as I wrapped my arms around her.