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A strand of hair teased at her temple—a warm blond color, like honey. Well, she was intriguing, that much he’d give her. But after twenty-four hours on a bus, almost anyone with a personality would be intriguing.
“I noticed that you were a little short of money,” she said. “I was wondering if you’d like to make a little more?”
“How?” Kieran asked.
“I need you to go to the counter and buy me a ticket. If you do that, I’ll give you a hundred dollars.”
He gasped. “Just to buy a ticket? Why don’t you want to buy your own ticket?”
“Because I need to get out of town without being noticed,” she explained. “And I’m not sure if they’re going to ask me for I.D.”
“Hmm. You’ve done your best to hide your appearance, you want to get out of town unnoticed and you have a lot of cash. Please don’t tell me you pulled a bank job.”
She laughed a little too loudly, which caused some of the passengers around her to turn and stare. “No. I’ve been putting aside some cash for a while. And I need to get out of town unnoticed because I’m running away and I don’t want anyone to follow me.”
“Oh, well, that makes much more sense. How old are you?”
“A gentleman never asks a lady that,” she said.
“Take off your glasses and let me see your face,” he said. “I’m not going to be responsible for helping some teenager escape a silly fight with her parents.”
She took off her sunglasses and tipped her chin up. “I’m twenty-four,” she said.
His breath caught in his throat as his gaze took in the details of her face. She was no teenager. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, exactly as she claimed. Her eyes, a beautiful caramel color, were ringed with dark lashes, but he only caught a quick glimpse before she put the sunglasses back on.
Why anyone so beautiful would hide behind dark glasses and a baggy hooded sweatshirt was beyond him. He found himself mentally undressing her, slowly discovering the treasure beneath.
“Satisfied?” she asked.
“Not entirely,” he said, swallowing hard.
Maddie reached into the pocket of her hoodie and withdrew a handful of crumpled cash. “Here. Just go get a ticket.”
“To where?”
“Kentucky.”
“Where in Kentucky?”
“Same place you’re going, I suppose,” she said.
“Hey, I don’t even know what’s in Bitney. It could be an awful place to—”
She gave him a gentle shove. “Do it, now. There’s no line.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Watch my stuff.” Kieran glanced back at the woman as he walked to the ticket counter. This was turning into some trip.
He gave the agent the necessary information and watched as the man typed it into the computer. A few seconds later the agent handed Kieran a ticket. “That will be $196.00,” he said.
Kieran peeled off enough cash from the wad Maddie had handed him, then grabbed the ticket. “Thanks,” he murmured.
By the time he got back to her, she’d created a small pile of discarded candy bars on his seat. “Licorice,” she said. “I could really go for some red licorice right now.”
He handed her the ticket and her change. “How about putting something other than sugar into your system?” He tore his sub sandwich in half and offered it to her. But her attention was drawn to the wide entrance doors.
She quickly stood, pulling the hood closer to her face. “Save me a spot on the bus,” she muttered. “And don’t let them leave without me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Licorice,” she said.
With that, Kieran watched as she hurried off toward the back of the station. Then he looked around and noticed two men surveying the people seated in the lobby. They split up and slowly walked through the crowd. Kieran didn’t like the look of them. They were wearing dark glasses and were dressed all in black, their sport jackets straining against their broad shoulders and massive arms. They looked like the kind of guys hired to guard the door at a nightclub—or commit a felony.
As one of the goons walked by, he noticed all the candy on the chair next to Kieran. He stopped and Kieran looked up at him.
“You like candy?” the guy asked, pointing to the chair.
“Sure,” Kieran said.
“Is that yours?”
“Yeah. I kind of have a sweet tooth.”
The man reached in the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a picture, holding it out in front of Kieran. “You see this girl around here? If you have, it might be worth a little money.”
Kieran took the picture and studied it shrewdly.
He’d been right about her. She was gorgeous. “Who is she?”
“Have you seen her?”
Kieran shook his head. “Nope. I would definitely have noticed a girl like that.”
The goon tucked the photo back into his pocket, then moved on. Kieran watched him. Had anyone else seen Maddie sitting next to him? They’d all turned to look at her when she’d laughed, but would they connect that girl to the scruffy-looking person in the torn jeans and hoodie?
Kieran cursed softly. There wasn’t much he could do for her now. He had no idea where she was hiding and if he got up and left, the guy in the suit might be suspicious enough to follow. Though every instinct warned him that she was in trouble, for some strange reason, he wanted her to make it onto that bus. After all, she still owed him a hundred dollars.
SHE SHOULD HAVE known her mother would send Nick and Rick after her. What she hadn’t expected, though, was that they’d start at the bus station. Why not the airport?
Oh, yeah, it would be easy to trace her movements at the airport. That’s why. And she didn’t have a driver’s license so a car was out of the question. The only way for her to get out of town without leaving a paper trail was by bus. Maybe she should have found a hotel room and holed up for a few days. Then again, she’d have to register and show I.D. “The train,” she muttered. “I should have tried the train.”
Of course her mother could never allow her just the slightest bit of freedom. God, she’d been under her mother’s thumb for years, doing exactly what was expected of her. But after this tour, she’d had enough. Now that she’d sung her last show on the calendar, she was going to start living her life in the way she wanted.
Maddie West, award-winning country singer-songwriter, had been transformed from a talented teenager into a multi-national corporation in the course of ten years. A multinational corporation who couldn’t get up onstage without a double dose of Xanax and a few hours of hypnotherapy.
But the drugs weren’t working anymore. And the hypnotist her mother had hired for this tour was sleeping with her make-up artist and no longer cared about solving Maddie’s problems. No one really cared about her needs anymore. Making money was all that mattered and touring was where all the money was made.
Maddie pulled her knees up to her chin and sighed softly. Maybe she ought to go back. There were a lot of people depending on her. And she was scheduled to head into the recording studio next week to start her new album. They’d booked the time with her favorite producers and there were meetings scheduled with her record company in Nashville.
She closed her eyes, brushing aside her doubts. A single image lingered in her mind. What was his name? Kieran. Kieran Quinn. Such an odd name. And yet, it suited him. From the moment she spied him at the food court, she sensed that he’d be sympathetic to her cause. He had very kind eyes—and a face that made a girl want to tear off all her clothes and find the nearest bedroom.
A shiver skittered down her spine. How long had it been since she’d felt that kind of chemistry? Maddie’s love life had always been the stuff of tabloid stories and never, ever lived up to the hype. She’d dated a few actors, a few singers, a smorgasbord of up-and-coming males who looked good on paper, but didn’t excite her in or out of the bedroom. But lately, she’d grown cynical about ever finding love, especially amid the pressures that the press exerted on romantic relationships.
“My life is a mess,” she murmured. There wasn’t one single element that she could point to as normal. Her mother was overbearing and unrelenting, running her career and her personal life as if Maddie were some prize racehorse. She was carefully groomed and trained, watched over twenty-four hours a day, told what to eat and when to sleep, when to practice and how to relax. Maddie wasn’t even sure she knew how to run her own life, given the chance.
A sliver of fear shot through her. What if she couldn’t do it? What if she finally made her escape and couldn’t exist on her own? She drew a ragged breath. For now, she had a protector. And maybe, she could convince him to stick around until she figured out her next move.
Maddie pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She’d shut it off when she’d snuck out of the hotel, but now she wondered whether they could track her using it. She glanced around the luggage room, wondering if she ought to leave it behind. Was that how Rick and Nick had found her?
As she weighed her options, Maddie heard the announcement for her bus. If she tried boarding too early, she’d be caught standing in line, a sitting duck for her two shrewd bodyguards. But if she waited too long, she might miss the bus entirely. Maddie took a deep breath. She’d just keep her head down and keep walking, no matter what happened.
She slipped out of the door and headed back into the waiting room of the terminal. “You can do this,” she murmured. “Just a few more minutes and you’ll be free.”
“Where have you been?”
She felt Kieran’s hand on her arm before she realized he was behind her. “Go away,” she whispered.
“They’re outside,” he said. “They’re watching everyone who boards the buses, but that’s a lot of people to watch. If you’re careful, you should be able to get by them.”
She stopped. “I can’t let them take me back. You have to help me.”
Kieran considered her, then nodded. “All right.
Wait right here. I’m going to see if I can distract them. As soon as I do, you sneak out and get on the bus. Just make sure you get on the right bus. And save me a seat.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. She reached into her pocket and withdrew another wad of money. “Here, take this.”
“How much cash do you keep in your pockets?” he asked.
“I don’t know. A couple thousand, maybe three.”
“Don’t go flashing that around,” Kieran warned, pushing her hand back in her pocket. “You’re going to get mugged.” He shook his head. “Just get on the bus.”
Maddie nodded. She watched him through the window as he strode outside. When he approached Nick, she held her breath. Between Nick and Rick, Nick was the smart one. He was naturally suspicious and very loyal to her mother. What was Kieran going to tell him? And what would she do if one of them stayed and watched the buses?
A few seconds later, the two men took off running, racing through the doors of the terminal, right by her. She waited until they headed toward the ticket counter, then slipped through the doors. She walked directly to her bus, handed the driver her ticket and got on. Maddie found a seat halfway to the back and slipped into it, sinking down and watching the activity outside the window through her dark glasses.
Kieran had disappeared. When the bus driver stepped onto the bus and reached out to close the door, Maddie stood up, ready to shout for him to stop and wait. But then, at the last moment, Kieran came bounding up the steps.
He handed his ticket to the driver, then made his way down the aisle to Maddie. With a grin he nodded at the space next to her. “Is this seat taken?”
“I was kind of saving it,” she said. “But you can sit here. For now.”
Kieran stowed his bag on the overhead rack, then dropped down next to her. As the bus pulled out of the station, Maddie closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
“And the adventure begins,” Kieran murmured.
“Thank you,” Maddie said. “I couldn’t have gotten away without you.”
“Are you going to tell me what you’re running away from?” he asked.
“Can we just wait on that one?” she said. “I’d really like to enjoy anonymity for just a little bit longer.”
Kieran nodded slowly. “All right. But there is one thing you have to do for me.”
“What’s that?”
He reached out and gently removed her sunglasses. Folding them neatly, he tucked them into his jacket pocket. Then, he pushed the hood from her head, his palms smoothing across her face. Maddie closed her eyes and turned into his touch.
It was such a simple gesture, but in an instant, she felt a flood of warmth rush over her. When she opened her eyes, he was watching her, his gaze fixed on her mouth. Maddie waited, wondering what was going through his head. Kissing him would complicate everything, but then, it could also make a boring bus trip much more interesting.
“Why did you help me? You don’t even know me,” Maddie asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I figured there was no one else who was going to ride to your rescue.”
“No one ever does anything for me without some kind of motive.”
“Well, you did give me money, and I’m broke. So, I guess I did it for a sandwich and the half-eaten candy bars. And I was hoping for some fascinating company on the rest of my trip.”
He really was a nice guy, Maddie thought to herself. And he was sexy as hell, too. She’d made so many bad choices when it came to men … Then again, she’d never dated an ordinary guy.
Maybe that was her problem. When she slept with celebrities, there were so many expectations to live up to. They were supposed to be heroic and larger-than-life and she was supposed to be the ultimate bad girl.
But she’d always been disappointed. Her lovers were never as strong and gallant as she imagined. And she was never as uninhibited as they’d undoubtedly imagined.
It was difficult to allow herself any type of freedom when the end result might be splashed all over the covers of the tabloids a few days later. She’d lived her life paralyzed about what the press would say, always suspicious of strangers and wary of friends.
It had been simple for her mother to maintain control. After all, she was the only one that Maddie could truly trust. But lately, Maddie had begun to notice that her mother had motives of her own. More money, more fame, more of everything that she’d come to enjoy. And when Maddie had mentioned that she might want to give up performing and just focus on songwriting, her mother’s true feelings had burst forth.
Why couldn’t she have had a normal life? A childhood filled with friends and school, a world where there was still so much opportunity laid out in front of her. Maddie felt as if she’d already lived a lifetime. She felt old and tired, cynical and unhappy with life.
“I guess I owe you,” she said softly, brushing aside the urge to kiss him. Maddie reached into her pocket and counted out one hundred dollars. “Here. This is for buying the ticket.”
He shook his head. “That’s all right. You hang on to it. I know where to find you if I need it.”
“I’m really tired,” she said with a soft sigh.
Kieran patted his shoulder. “Here, you can lean up against me. Close your eyes and take a nap. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”
“You’re a really nice guy,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around his. Pressing her cheek to his sleeve, she drew in a long breath. “You smell good, too.”
Kieran chuckled. “I wouldn’t breathe in too deeply. I’ve been on a bus for twenty-four hours. I could use a long, hot shower and some clean clothes.”
“Me, too,” she said. “A shower would be perfect.” Maddie closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. But they didn’t wander back to the life she’d run out on, her mother’s angry face or her manager’s warnings that her career would be over if she didn’t perform. Instead, they focused on the man who had rescued her from certain discovery.
It sure was nice to have someone in her corner for once.
2
FOR THE FIRST time since he’d boarded the bus in Seattle, Kieran slept. Not just a half-conscious, restless nap interrupted by the slightest noise or jolt. He was out, completely unaware of his surroundings, lost in a deep, satisfying slumber.
Afterward, he and Maddie chatted, learning a little bit more about each other as the Kansas landscape passed by. Chatted, he thought to himself. That was a benign word for what they’d done. Full-on flirting was a more apt description. They’d laughed and teased, injecting tiny sexual innuendos into the conversation at every turn.
And when the teasing wasn’t enough, there had been the casual, almost accidental physical contact. A touch here and there, her warm hand on his arm or his face, his shoulder bumping against hers.
When they’d grown bored with silly stories, they’d found a discarded book of crossword puzzles in the overhead bin and had filled in the empty spots on the half-finished puzzles, arguing over the answers playfully.
It was the most fun he’d had with a woman in—well, ever. He could be himself with her, not afraid to reveal the flaws he kept secret from others.
She found his obsession with financial matters charming and his constant checking of the schedule strange. She’d called him a “stuffypants” and a “human calculator,” not to mention a few other things that he might have taken as insults coming from anyone else. But Kieran liked that she spoke her mind.
And yet, they hadn’t talked about anything serious, or anything real. He still didn’t know the circumstances that brought her to the bus station or why she felt the need to run. All she’d said was that the life she’d left had become too much for her.
The lunch stop had been at a small diner along the interstate and once again, Maddie had ordered four or five entrees from the menu, then picked through them until she found something that piqued her interest—this time a grilled cheese sandwich and a strawberry shake. Kieran hadn’t even bothered to order. He simply enjoyed the dishes she rejected. He was getting to know her faults as well, and didn’t mind them a bit.
They pulled into Topeka at a quarter after eight in the evening, fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled. He thought about getting out for something to drink, but Maddie was dozing beside him, her arms wrapped around his, her cheek resting on his shoulder.
As he stretched his other arm over his head, he noticed two young girls standing in the aisle staring at him. “Hi, there,” he murmured.
They giggled and pointed to Maddie. “Is that Maddie West?” they asked.
Kieran frowned. He should have suspected his Maddie was using an alias. “Who is Maddie West?” he whispered.
“The country singer,” one of the girls said. “Can we have her autograph?”
“This isn’t Maddie West,” he said calmly. “Sorry. She gets that all the time. Her name is Alice. Alice Smith. But I’ll tell her you thought she was Maddie West. She’ll get a kick out of it.”
The girls walked down the aisle and out of the bus, disappointed. Kieran looked at the woman sleeping beside him. So she was Maddie West, country singer? Now, suddenly, the reason she’d had the two goons looking for her made perfect sense. They were probably her bodyguards. And for all he knew, they believed she’d been abducted. Maybe it was about time for some answers.
Kieran turned and shook her gently. “Maddie,” he whispered. “Maddie, wake up.” She groaned softly. “Maddie, they need you onstage.”
Maddie’s eyes flew open and she jolted upright, scrambling to pull her hood over her tousled hair. “What? Now?” Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the bus, then groaned. “What are you doing? Why would you do that to me?”
“I think maybe it’s time for you to tell me the truth. The whole story.”
“There is no story.”
“Then maybe I should tell those little girls out there that they can come back and get Maddie West’s autograph. Because they seemed pretty damned impressed that they were on the same bus as a big country-music star.”
With a low curse, she sank down in her seat. “Oh, great. There’s nowhere I can go in this world to get away from it. It follows me everywhere.”
“Not everywhere. I didn’t recognize you. But then, I’m really not a fan.”
“I figured that out right away. It was one of your most endearing qualities.” She quickly stood. “I have to get out of here. If those girls recognized me, then it won’t be long until everyone on the bus is looking at me.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“I don’t know. Where are my sunglasses?” He handed them to her and she put them back on her nose, then pulled her hood over her hair. “I can’t stay here.” Maddie held out her hand. “Thanks for everything. I really appreciate you riding to my rescue.” When he refused to shake her hand, she turned to hurry down the aisle, then paused.
A moment later, she stumbled back to him and threw her arms around his neck. Her lips met his, soft and sweet and unbelievably exciting. Kieran slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. The kiss was so unexpected and yet so perfect.
Her lips parted and Kieran took the invitation to explore more deeply. A tiny moan slipped from her throat as their tongues met and his hands slipped beneath the sweatshirt, circling a tiny waist and pulling her down into his lap.
He’d known this girl, this woman, for a half day and yet, they seemed to sense what the other wanted from the kiss. Kieran settled her against his body, furrowing his fingers through her hair. The high backs of the seats hid them from the view of the passengers still on the bus and they lost themselves in a rare moment of privacy.
When she finally drew back, she sent him a winsome smile. “I hate goodbyes,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“I really should go. I have to keep moving or they’re going to catch up to me.”
“Why are you running? That’s a little drastic, don’t you think?”
“I just want a different life for myself and this is the easiest way. I don’t want to argue anymore or fight, I just want to wake up each day and feel as if it’s going to be the best day of my life, not the worst.” She paused. “Maybe you could come with me?”
The offer was so tempting. But Kieran had other responsibilities to fulfill. He’d made a promise to his grandfather and no matter how beautiful she was and how much he enjoyed kissing her, he was bound for Bitney, Kentucky. “I can’t. I have to go to Kentucky.”
“I still want to go to Kentucky,” she said. “We’ll just find a different way. Maybe we could go by train?”
“I don’t have the money for a ticket,” he said.
“If you come with me, I’ll buy your ticket. And your meals. It’ll be fun. I’ve never taken a trip on a train. Don’t you want a little adventure in your life, Kieran Quinn?”
Kieran groaned inwardly. If he went with Maddie, life would certainly become a lot more interesting. And who knew where things might lead between them.
He’d always been so careful about how he lived his life, especially when it came to women. But his grandfather had wanted him to imagine a completely different life for himself. Taking a cross-country road trip with a runaway music star would certainly be something new.
“All right,” he said. “But how do we know that we can catch a train here?” He shook his head. “I don’t know where we are.”
“Topeka,” she said. Maddie pointed out the bus window. “And there’s a sign for the Amtrak station right there.”
“Then let’s go.” He grabbed her waist and set her in the aisle, then stood up and got his bag from the overhead rack.
“Really? You want to come with me?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for a new life, too. I don’t think it matters if I start the search in Topeka, Kansas, or Bitney, Kentucky, as long as I find it.”
Maddie held out her hand. “All right. Let’s go.”
They hurried off the bus, Maddie’s identity once again obscured by the hood and the sunglasses. Kieran wasn’t sure what the future held with this crazy, impulsive, sugar-addicted woman, but hitting the road with Maddie West was sure to be much more fun than another five hours on a bus.