Kate Hoffmann - The Mighty Quinns - Dermot-Dex

“I have a secret account,” Maddie said. “No one knows about it, not even my mother. And I have this debit card.” She pulled a card out of her pocket. “So, stop worrying about money, Mr. Scrooge. I’ve got it covered.”

Being too free with money went against every instinct he had, but he wasn’t living his own life anymore. Why not see where this led him? It might be fun to stop worrying about every move and be more like Maddie—spontaneous and impulsive.

“All right. You’re in charge.”

Maddie reached out and gave him a hug. “See? We’ll make wonderful traveling companions.”

In truth, Kieran wasn’t so sure. It was easy to keep his hands off of Maddie when they were out in public, riding on a bus or sitting in the station. But sharing a hotel room for the night was tempting fate. Though getting two rooms wasn’t budget-conscious, it would certainly would delay the inevitable.

Kieran knew he and Maddie would end up in bed together. And whether that happened tonight or further on down the road, they wouldn’t be able to avoid it very much longer.

MADDIE STARED AT the selection of hair coloring, trying to decide. In the end, she pulled seven boxes of color in various shades of auburn, blond and brunette and tossed them into her basket. She’d figure it all out later.

Since she’d decided to start a whole new life, she figured the best way to do that would be to leave everything behind, including her five-hundred dollar hair color. No more celebrity stylists, no more designer gowns and red-carpet appearances. She could finally live the life she wanted.

Maddie couldn’t imagine what this trip would be like if she’d been alone. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to live her own life. She’d never had the chance to try. Most girls graduated from high school and went off to college, breaking away from their parents and learning the skills needed to get along.

She’d never had her own apartment, never paid a bill or made an appointment for herself. Everything had always been done by her business managers or her mother. And she’d missed out on so much—high school dances and football games, graduation and the first day of college.

The only problem was, Maddie wasn’t quite sure what this new life of hers should look like. When she imagined her future, it was only a blurry image, without any detail. All of her dreams had revolved around a singing career. But now, the only thing that she could really see in that image was a man.

Kieran was exactly what she’d always dreamed of. He was handsome and sexy and kind. And better yet, he hadn’t had a clue who she was when they first met. And here they were, like two normal people, strolling through Target late at night, shopping for … stuff.

“Hey.”

Maddie turned to find Kieran standing next to her. “Hey.”

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” she said, turning away from the hair color.

He grabbed a box from the basket. “You’re going to color your hair?”

Maddie shrugged. “Maybe I won’t get recognized so easily. I’m going to cut it, too.” She glanced over at him. “So, what do you think? Redhead or brunette?”

Kieran frowned. “I kind of like it the way it is. The color and style suits you.”

“It’s not real,” she murmured, staring at a strand. “Besides, I need a fresh start.” She pulled the boxes out of the basket and set them back on the shelf, leaving only a light brunette. “This is close to my natural color. That should do.”

He held out a CD to her. “Look what I found,” he said.

Maddie stared at the cover of her second CD, then took it from his hand. “This was a good album. I remember when I made this. I was sixteen.”

Kieran wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look so young.”

“I was so young. Just a kid. I thought this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, the concert tours and the awards shows. But it was a trap. Once it sucks you in, you can’t escape. Unless some guy forces you to buy him a turkey sandwich and then just won’t go away.”

“But you were good at it,” Kieran said. “You must have been.”

She sighed and handed the CD back to him. “You should never achieve your dreams so early in life. There should be a rule against it.”

“If you don’t go back to singing, what are you going to do?” he asked.

Maddie shrugged. “I don’t have to do anything. I have plenty to live on for years. And I can always write more songs. I like doing that.”

“You must be good. There’s a whole bin of your CDs in this store.”

“I am good,” she said with a smile.

“Do you have everything you want?”

In truth, she had everything she needed. She had a sweet and impossibly sexy man to occupy her thoughts and soothe her doubts. He kept her grounded, gave her sensible advice and watched over her. And when he touched her, her body tingled and her knees went weak.

“I need to get a few more things,” she said. “Some underwear. And shoes.”

“I can help you with the underwear,” Kieran said, grinning.

Her thoughts moved to what was going to happen later that night. Once they got a room, there wouldn’t be much to do except explore the attraction between them. Sure, she could order dinner and maybe watch a movie, but it was silly to pretend that they didn’t want to spend their time in other pursuits.

A shiver skittered down her spine as she thought about all the possibilities. Suddenly, she realized that there was a purchase she still had to make. Condoms.

But putting them in the cart might add too much pressure. She just wanted to be prepared, just in case. “Why don’t you go check out the underwear and I’ll join you there,” she suggested. “I—I’m just going to—run to the bathroom.” She pushed up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

Maddie hurried away, but as soon as she saw him head down another aisle, she returned to the health and beauty section. Only when she reached the condoms, Maddie was faced with another dilemma—too much choice. Did she want large or extra large? And what about color, ribbed or lubed?

She grabbed three boxes and hurried to the cashier. But when she got there, she realized that she’d given all her cash to Kieran. Maddie pulled out her debit card and walked up to a checker, dumping the boxes on the conveyor belt.

The checker gave her an odd look. Maddie smiled. “Big night,” she murmured. Thank God, she was still wearing her sunglasses. She could imagine the tabloid stories if anyone recognized her. Country star starved for sex? Maddie West, sex addict? Maddie the Nymphomaniac? The debit card had her real name on it, Sarah M. Westerfield, so that offered a bit of safety.

“Credit or debit?” she asked.

“What? Sure. Whatever. Debit.”

The cashier finished checking Maddie out and then put the three boxes in a small bag. Maddie stuffed them into her pocket, then smiled as she took her receipt. “I’ve got more shopping to do,” she said, then walked back into the store.

Maddie found Kieran where she’d sent him, in the underwear section. He was leaning over the shopping cart, studying the selection of bras. When he saw her approaching, he straightened and smiled.

“People were starting to wonder about me,” he said. “I think they thought I was some kind of pervert.”

“I guess that remains to be seen,” she said, grinning. “So, what have you picked out for me?”

“Well, I’ve always been partial to black. And I think lace is pretty.” He paused. “Should I really be picking out your underwear?”

“It’s nice to have a male opinion,” she said.

“Am I going to be seeing your underwear?” he asked.

“It’s a distinct possibility,” she said. “Do you want to see my underwear?”