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“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.
When they stepped onto the platform, there was a crowd gathered nearby. Suddenly, one of the girls who’d asked for an autograph jumped out from the crush of people. “There she is! That’s her. That’s Maddie West.”
Kieran was shocked at how fast the people surged toward them both. And he was doubly shocked at how quickly he reacted. He grabbed Maddie’s hand and pulled her around to the other side of the bus. “We need to go. Right now.”
Luckily, there was a cab parked on the street about fifty yards away. If they could reach it before the crowd got to them, they’d be safe.
With a scream, Maddie took off, pulling him along behind her. She was quick and nimble, crossing the distance like an Olympic athlete. She quickly crawled in the backseat of the taxi, ordering the driver to go as Kieran threw his bag in the backseat. He got inside as the cab was pulling away from the curb, then looked at Maddie. She was smiling, her color high, her pretty green eyes flashing.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked.
“I don’t know,” Maddie said. “Just drive for now. We’ll figure it out later.”
Kieran, breathless from the run, grinned at her. And then, adrenaline took over. He grabbed her and pulled her into a long, desperate kiss. His hands frantically grasped at her clothes, wanting to touch her anywhere, everywhere at once. And Maddie was just was frantic, her fingers working at the buttons of his shirts.
When they finally drew back, they were both still breathless. The cab driver watched them in the rearview mirror. “Are you someone famous?” he asked.
Maddie laughed. “No. Not anymore.”
“You know, I once had Willie Nelson in my cab. He was a real nice guy.”
“I’m sure he was. Could you take us to the Amtrak station?” Kieran asked.
The train station was only a few blocks away. Kieran decided to have Maddie wait in the cab while he checked the schedule. Unfortunately the next train east wouldn’t leave until the following morning at 5:00 a.m. He bought two tickets with the money Maddie had given him, upgrading to a private room to keep fans from recognizing her.
When he returned to the car, she was waiting. “The next train leaves tomorrow morning,” he said.
“What are we going to do?”
“I suggest we get a hotel, take a shower, relax and get a decent night’s sleep.”
“Take us to a nice hotel, please,” Maddie told the cab driver.
“Nice but cheap,” Kieran added.
“No, not cheap,” Maddie said. “We want room service. And a big bathtub would be nice. And maybe someplace nearby where I could buy some clothes.”
“Everything downtown is closed,” the cab driver said. “I could take you out to the Target. It’s just a couple miles north of here. They’re open twenty-four hours and their prices are real reasonable.”
