These Boots Were Made for Stomping (20 page)

“That’s great,” he said, an inane hope rising inside him. Stupid. He shoved it back down. No need to get all schoolboy over
her again, waste all those years of therapy. They were two separate people who lived two separate lives on two separate coasts.
They’d shared something once, but it was long over. Heck, he barely knew her anymore, and it was best to keep it that way.
“I’m glad you’re doing so well,” he added, stiffly.

“You, too!” she replied with her typical bouncy enthusiasm. “You’re so famous now. It’s awesome. Hell, you even have groupies.”
She pointed behind him and he groaned to realize the bimbos in his audience must have followed him over. They stood, huddled
a few feet away, giggling and whispering furiously. One held up her camera phone to take a picture. He could almost see the
PerezHilton.com mention now: DARKEN PRODUCER CUDDLES UP TO KARMA KITTY. MEOW!

Oh well, maybe it would be free press for Hailey’s comic. He’d be okay with that. She deserved to do well. She’d obviously
worked so hard.

He turned back to Hailey, rolling his eyes for emphasis. “Oh yeah,” he said, allowing his voice to drip with sarcasm. Didn’t
want her to think he bought into all the Hollywood hype. “I’m a real kingpin.”

She giggled, then shuffled her feet, looking up at him with those big bedroom eyes of hers. The ones that would never fail
to make him weak in the knees. God, this was awkward. If only he could get her somewhere alone. To talk, that was. Nothing
else. Well, maybe nothing else. Have to see how the talk went, first. Would she agree to meet him later? Or would she turn
him down flat? Could he take the rejection if she did?

Collin squeezed his hands into fists and summoned up all the courage inside of him.
Just ask her,
he willed himself.
It’s not a big deal. Be a man, for chrissakes.

She spoke before he could. “So, uh, I’ve got to go . . . get changed,” she said, blushing a bit. “I have a signing in a few
minutes over at my publisher’s booth. We’re giving away two hundred copies of
Karma Kitty
volume one and then selling the newer issues.” Her face brightened as she started talking about her work.

“Cool.” He felt his insides warm at her enthusiasm. Despite all they’d been through, he wanted nothing more than for her to
succeed. Hell, how many issues of
Karma
Kitty
had he ordered over the years in an effort to raise her sales ranking? Hundreds, he’d guess. Of course, those copies were
put to good use—he’d bring them over to the pediatric cancer ward of his local hospital. The kids’ faces lit up each time
he arrived with a new issue. They were Hailey’s biggest fans. If only he could tell her about them without sounding like a
pathetic loser who’d been unable to let go when she ditched him.

His eyes involuntarily fell back to her outfit. “Um, why are you changing, though? You look very Karma Kitty–esque now.”

She laughed. “I know, right? But my publisher totally vetoed the costume. She said it wasn’t professional.”

Professional wasn’t the word he’d use, either. Delicious, maybe. Sinful, perhaps. Lust-inspiring, for sure. He swallowed hard
as his brain launched into a full-on instant replay of one of the many nights they’d spent together, wrapped in a delightful
tangle of naked limbs. Light sweat sparkling off her freckled skin as she moaned for him—even begged for him. Running his
hands over every inch of her, touching, tasting, making her tingle. Then making her scream.

Maybe it would be better for her to change. After all, he didn’t really relish the idea of other men coming over to ogle her.

Yes, he decided. She should change for the signing. Then wear the outfit again tonight.

Just for him.

So he could rip it off her.

Get a grip, Collin. She’s never going to end up at your hotel
room if you can’t even get up the courage to ask her to dinner.

“Would you like to go out to dinner?” he blurted, necessity being the mother of getting over yourself.

Her eyes widened, giving him another jolt in the groin. God, those eyes of hers. Pale blue, framed by the longest lashes.
He remembered her softly brushing those lashes against his cheek over and over again.
Butterfly kisses,
she’d called them, giggling. More lazy Sunday memories.

“Um,” she said. “Um.”

Something inside of him died. “Never mind,” he said quickly, seeking out a shred of dignity. “You’re busy, I’m sure. It was
just a . . . never mind.”

“I’d love to,” she blurted, looking almost as surprised at her answer as he was.

“Great,” he said, allowing himself to smile. He realized he was shaking. “Meet me at Blue Fin at eight?”

“Perfect. See you there.” She flashed him a grin and gave a small wave before turning and sashaying down the aisle, her kitty
tail lazily swinging back and forth as she walked.

He groaned, glancing at his watch. Nine hours. Nine hours before he could see her again.

He gave her one last glance. If, that was, she didn’t get sidetracked by the Loch Ness Monster or something.

Hailey raced to the bathroom, dodging superheroes, robots, and Klingons while trying not to trip on her flip-flops. She was
going to be so late for the signing! Still, the massive amounts of adrenaline currently thrumming through her veins made it
nearly impossible to be regretful about the fact.

Collin had asked her to dinner. She was going to dinner with Collin. She and he would sit down at a table and order food and
drinks. And they’d talk. They’d
have to
talk! And when they did she could swear that her life was normal now. No St. Peter-shaped cheese Danishes. No alien abductions.
Nothing to stop them rekindling the old flame.

And oh that flame! She was still feeling a bit moist just thinking about his piercing gaze on her. The way his eyes roved
her body, as if she were a tasty dessert and he’d been eating nothing but salad for years. He wanted her. She was sure of
it. Maybe they’d even end by hooking up after dinner.

She shook her head. Hooking up was all well and good, but she needed to be thinking bigger picture here. This was her chance
to convince him she’d changed. That she was now a completely normal girl with a completely normal life.

She glanced at her watch. Funny, she’d once been so excited about being at Comic Con. Now she couldn’t wait for it to end
and dinner to begin.

Their signing went extremely well. Lots of fans came out of the woodwork, gushing about how much they loved the comics. A
lot of newbies showed up, too, eager to be introduced into Karma Kitty’s world. Some fans had dressed up, though none of their
outfits were as cool as the ones Hailey and Thomas had stuffed under their chairs. If only they’d been allowed to wear them!

They signed until their hands ached. Then they signed some more. By the end of the two hours, Hailey was sure she’d developed
a severe case of carpal tunnel. But she was happy. The hand pain was worth it.

“You both were great. Thank you for doing the signing,” Mrs. Hannah said when it was over, extending her hand to each of them
and looking genuinely pleased. Evidently she had gotten over the costume thing when the cash register started heating up.

Thomas hadn’t, of course, and brought it up again as soon as they were out of earshot of the Straylight booth. From the annoyed
look on his face, Hailey realized she should be grateful he waited that long.

“Such a waste,” he griped. “I can’t believe we work for those wankers.”

“I know,” she consoled. “It sucks. But we have to remember, they’re the ones who send the checks. So while we’re on their
time, there’s not much we can do.” Still, it was uber disappointing. Seeing so many of her fans show up in Karma Kitty knockoffs
and feeling like a total poseur wearing ratty jeans and a T-shirt to sign their comic books. At least if she’d known they’d
be forced to change she could have brought something halfway cool to wear.

The convention hall was beginning to empty out, with everyone running off to this party or that. The movie folks gathered
at scene-y restaurants while the true geeks headed back to their hotel rooms to drool over their new limited-edition collectible
action figures. Hailey glanced at her watch. She had an hour and a half before she had to meet up with Collin at the restaurant.
She turned to Thomas, quirking her lips up in a grin.

“Let’s go change into them now,” she suggested. “We can wander around and check out all the booths.”

“But no one will see us,” Thomas whined. “Everyone’s leaving.”

“Exactly. Then we won’t be shaming our publisher with our unprofessional behavior. And, as a bonus, we can check out all the
exhibits without having to deal with any crowds.”

Thomas pondered this. “Well,” he said, not sounding entirely overjoyed. “I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“Just for a half hour,” she added. “Then I’ve got to go meet with . . . someone.”

“Someone? Someone?” Thomas asked, immediately glomming on to this choice nugget, forgetting he was supposed to be sulking.
“Has Miss Karma Kitty been holding out on pimp Big Kitty?” He wagged a scolding finger at her. “Could she be actually planning
to hook up with Mr. Hollywood himself?”

Hailey felt her face burn. “Well, maybe,” she said, looking down at her feet. “I was going to tell you before, but we were
all busy with the signing and stuff.”

“Ooh, you are a bad kitty. Bad, bad kitty.”

She giggled. “Would you want it any other way?”

“Oh, of course not. But word to the wise, darling? Do not go getting your heart broken on me, okay? You need to promise you’ll
keep things casual.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Don’t you ‘yes, dad’ me. You know I’m right. You two broke up for a reason, after all. Not that I know this reason, mind
you, since you are such a terrible friend and never broke down and told me—even after that time I bought you ten vodka martinis
trying to get you to spill.”

“Hang on, that was an open bar!”

“Well, whatever. Point is, there is a reason you two are not together now and you need to go into this remembering that.”

“I will,” Hailey said, realizing he had a point. “Though, things are different now.” After all, she’d closed herself off to
the weirdness that used to dominate her life. She was a normal girl now. One who lived a normal life. And she never saw anything
that wasn’t—

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a fully-clad ninja darting down an aisle.

She shook her head. This was Comic Con. There were bound to be ninjas and pirates and other such oddities wandering the convention
hall. Just fans dressed in costumes, not anything weird she needed to concern herself with. She was normal. Life was normal.
And there was going to be no weirdness to mess up her and Collin’s impending reconciliation.

“Time’s a-wasting,” she said to Thomas. “Let’s get changed.”

They headed into the adjoining men’s and women’s bathrooms and she pulled her costume out of the shopping bag. Hopefully this
time she’d be okay to walk around in the boots. After all, they really made the outfit and were hella expensive. She wanted
to get at least a little use out of them. So, after donning skirt, shirt and thigh-highs, she pulled the first boot onto her
foot and zipped it over her calf.

A bolt of lightning struck her square in the face.

Okay, it wasn’t literally a bolt of lightning, but it sure felt like one, slamming into her full force and shoving her backward.
Nausea swam into her stomach, and her arms and legs tingled with electricity.

She sucked in a breath, trying to regain her composure. What was wrong? Was she having a panic attack? Was she that stressed
about meeting Collin tonight?

Wanting to get out of the stall as quickly as possible—before she passed out or something equally embarrassing—she grabbed
the second boot, slipped it on and zipped it up.

As quickly as the dizzy, sick feeling came, it faded, replaced by the most thrilling sense of euphoria, hitting her like a
tidal wave. As she pushed open the stall door she felt all-powerful. Triumphant. Ready to take on the world.

Um, weird.

She stuffed her old clothes into the bag and headed out of the ladies’ room. She found Thomas already out there, wearing his
purple velour tracksuit. The convention hall was almost completely empty now, save for a few janitor types making the rounds.

“Whoa,” Thomas said, giving her the once-over. “You didn’t tell me you were going to do that. Way to go all out, girl. I feel
totally inferior in this piece of crap.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

He gestured to her head. “Duh. The ears thing. And your tail. How’d you do that?”

She stared at him, racking her brain to figure out what on earth he was talking about. “You mean my headband?” She reached
up to pat her head, recoiled when she touched what felt like real fur. What the hell was going on here?

She shoved open the bathroom door and ran inside to check herself out in the mirror. A moment later she was staring at her
reflection in disbelief.

Somehow, some way, she had turned into Karma Kitty. Like, for real.

The ears that had once been a headband were now growing out of her skull, replacing her normal everyday human ears, which
seemed to have somehow disappeared. And the tail she remembered gluing to her skirt was now literally growing out of her butt.

She groaned. So much for the no-weirdness thing. And just in time for dinner with Collin, too. How was she going to explain
this one? Would he believe her about the alien thing if she showed up to dinner as a humanoid cat? More likely he’d run screaming
in the other direction and never talk to her again.

Of all times for this to happen, this had to be the worst. Five years of avoiding weirdness and then slamming headfirst into
it right before her rendezvous with her ex. She walked back out into the convention hall, her feet feeling like lead. Thomas
was checking out a Superman display.

“You know,” he said, not bothering to look back at her, “Superman was really pretty hot. But I mean, Lois Lane? Come on. Total
beard, if you ask me. No way that chick ever got a glimpse of what he was packing in those tights of his.”