LITMIR.BIZ

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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?”

      Kieran chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind taking a peek. I bet they’re really pretty.” He drew a sharp breath. “Can we just quit talking about it and buy some?”

      Maddie tossed her choices into the cart, then mentally went through her shopping list. Shampoo, hair color, scissors, mascara, hair dryer, underwear, a few cute outfits, three cotton dresses and—”Luggage,” she said. “I need a bag to put all this in. And shoes.”

      But as they walked to the shoe department, Maddie caught sight of a rack of party dresses. A couple of teenage girls were going through them, giggling excitedly as they held their choices up in front of them.

      “I bet they’re going to a dance,” Maddie said. “I’ve never been to high school dance.”

      “Neither have I,” Kieran said.

      “You didn’t go to prom?”

      He shook his head. “I wasn’t actually very smooth with the girls. And I didn’t get too involved in school. My brothers and I spent most of our free time together, working on our boats or sailing. Girls just weren’t very important back then.” He paused. “Of course, that all changed in college.”

      “I never went to college, either,” Maddie said. She looked back toward the girls. “You know, I think I need one of those dresses. Every girl needs a party dress.”

      “Where are you going to wear it?”

      “I don’t

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