The Mighty Quinns: Dermot-Dex. Kate Hoffmann

to think of Topeka. And the two nights I spent with you.”

      Maddie giggled, the effects of a half bottle of champagne bubbling up inside her. She sent Kieran a sexy gaze. “I left my heart,” she sang, “in Topeka, Nebraska.”

      “Kansas!” Kieran said. “We’re in Kansas.”

      “Whatever,” Maddie said. “Nebraska, Kansas. I’m just happy I’m here.”

      They’d enjoyed an early dinner at the hotel restaurant. Maddie felt a bit guilty after she’d spent the afternoon, alone in their room, working on a new song. But when inspiration struck she knew enough to take advantage of it. It rarely came with such strength and focus as it had that afternoon. Though she wanted to leave her professional world behind her, at least for a time, she would have to make a living sooner or later. And she never knew where the next hit song would come from.

      “Maybe sometime you’ll sing it for me?” Kieran asked, watching her over the rim of his champagne flute.

      “Maybe,” Maddie said. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t ready to sing for him yet. Maybe she just wanted to leave her professional life behind a little while longer. Or maybe, she was afraid if she did sing, he’d take her mother’s side in all matters and urge her to get back onstage.

      Now that the song was written and committed to memory, she’d decided to turn her full attention back to Kieran. She put on her party dress, fixed her hair and invited him to join her in the hotel restaurant.

      “That dress suits you,” he said.

      “Thank you.” Maddie slipped out of her shoe and ran her foot along his thigh beneath the table.

      His eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

      “I’m trying to seduce you. I’ve gotten you drunk and now I’m moving on to step two—overt physical contact. But I’m obviously not doing a very good job if you can’t figure that out.”

      “Sweetheart, you don’t need to try. Just looking at you across the table is enough to get me going.”

      “It’s the pink dress, isn’t it?” she said, brushing the tiny strap off her shoulder.

      “No. I’d want you even if you were wearing that hoodie and your beat-up jeans. It wouldn’t make a difference.”

      “You know, I’m not wearing anything under this dress.”

      Kieran groaned. “Don’t tell me that. I was really looking forward to ordering dessert. They have banana crème pie.”

      Maddie took another sip of her champagne, then reached for the bottle to refill her glass. But the bottle was empty. “Do you want to order another?”

      Kieran shook his head.

      “Are we going to do this?” she asked.

      He nodded.

      She set her champagne flute down, then stood up and tossed her napkin on the table. “I’ll race you. First one to the room gets to undress the other.” With a laugh, she took off through the restaurant. Maddie looked back over her shoulder to see him dealing with their waiter and the check.

      She made it to the elevator first, but as she was waiting, he caught up to her. To her surprise, he headed for the stairwell. They were on the seventh floor and she knew she’d never beat him up the stairs.

      Maddie punched at the button and a moment later, the elevator doors opened. She hurried inside and pressed the button for her floor, but as the doors were closing, an elderly couple hurried toward her.

      “Hold the elevator,” the man called.

      She glanced over to the panel, cursing softly, then stepped forward and caught the door. The couple smiled gratefully as they got inside and pressed the button for the third floor. The doors closed and the elevator moved upward.

      When she finally reached the seventh floor, Maddie stepped out of the elevator and walked to the room. Kieran was waiting at the door with the key card, his shoulder braced against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t even out of breath.

      “You win,” she said.

      “Oh, don’t look so disappointed,” he teased. He unlocked the door and held it open. “We’re both about to get naked and do what we’ve been waiting to do since the moment we met.”

      She arched her brow, giving him an inquisitive look as she passed. “Since we met? You were thinking about this in the bus station?”

      “Well, not this. But I was attracted and thoughts of a sexual nature did cross my mind. I remember thinking that your lips would probably taste like cherries. I’m a guy. What can I say?”

      He followed her into the room, then grabbed the Do Not Disturb sign from the door and hung it outside. Maddie waited for him, the champagne making her mind buzz and her body boneless. He sat down on the end of the bed and slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her toward him.

      For a long moment, he didn’t move. He just stared up into her eyes. Had he changed his mind? Was he going to find some excuse not to ravish her? Maddie knew the attraction between them was mutual. So why was it taking him so long to make a move?

      But then he slowly turned her around and reached for the zipper of her dress. After it was down, he brushed the skinny straps off her shoulders. The dress slipped off her body and puddled at her feet in a pile of rustling tulle.

      Maddie felt his hands on her body, smoothing over her shoulders, then moving down to her hips. She closed her eyes as he pressed a kiss into the small of her back.

      She’d always been careful about her sexual relationships in the past, never completely trusting the man she was with. But now, for the first time, Maddie felt as if she could truly enjoy herself. Kieran had no ulterior motives. They were just two normal people who had met in a bus station.

      She slowly turned. Though he was still completely dressed and she wasn’t, she didn’t feel a trace of inhibition. Maddie watched as his gaze skimmed her body. When he looked up at her again, she smiled. “Excuse me for a moment,” she murmured.

      Maddie walked to the closet and found the condoms that she’d purchased in the pocket of her hoodie. Clutching the bag in her fingers, she returned to the bed and held it out to him.

      “What’s this?”

      “Necessities,” she said. She turned the bag over and the three boxes of condoms fell onto the bed. “I wasn’t sure what kind you liked, so I bought a variety.”

      He chuckled softly. “Thank you. For thinking of me.”

      “I wasn’t sure that you’d—you know …”

      “I always keep a box in my shaving kit, but these are very interesting … options.”

      Maddie reached out and took his hands, pulling him to his feet. Her fingers dropped to the buttons on his shirt and she worked them open, then smoothed the soft cotton fabric from his shoulders.

      His body was so perfect, so beautiful. Broad shoulders, a finely muscled chest, sinewy arms … it was all as it should be—undeniably masculine. His jeans came next and by the time she slipped them over his hips, he was already hard, his erection pressing against the front of his boxers.

      Maddie took his hand and brought it to her breast. She smiled as he touched her, his thumb teasing at the growing peak of her nipple. And when she leaned forward and their lips met, she knew what he’d known all along. This was meant to happen.

      It was crazy, so thrilling and a bit frightening, these feelings whirling around inside her. She’d never felt such raw desire before. The attraction between them was powerful and the need for intimacy so strong that it ached inside her.

      “I think you should pick a condom,” she said.

      “It can wait,” Kieran replied. “We have plenty of time.”

      She