A Year of You Read Free

of his pocket. Without asking, he tugged the cord from her earbuds from her MP3 player and plugged it into his phone. He scrolled through the menus and finally tapped ‘play.’
    The voice crooning one of her favorite Breaking Benjamin songs, “Rain,” made her jaw drop in surprise. He had an edge to his voice, a gentle rasp, and he sang with the passion of a heartbroken angel. He started to remove the earbud cord after a few seconds, but she stopped him with a soft touch.
    “Wait.”
    The longer she listened, the bigger his smile got. When the song ended and she pulled the earbuds from her ears, she wasn’t sure if she should go all fan-girl on him, or play it cool.
    “Ho-ly crap, Mr. West,” she said, breathless. “Is that really you?”
    He smirked and cleared his throat. He thought for a second and launched into the chorus. When he was done, half the airplane broke out in applause.
    His voice did things to her that she hadn’t experienced in years. Heart aflutter, she grinned back at him. “I don’t even know what to say. That was amazing. Why aren’t you singing for some huge record label.”
    “I’m content with my life as it is. My band plays a few concerts a month at small venues or weddings or whatever, and I can run my business without aspirations of fame and fortune getting in the way.”
    “I don’t blame you. A quiet life is all I want.”
    Despite all his banter and laughter, his piercing, suspicious gaze didn’t let up. She took a second to look him over. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, just a notch above ordinary. His hair was an unusual color stuck somewhere between copper and brown and dark blond. The sun, flashing off the wings of the plane, made his natural golden highlights shift and change. His eyelashes were the same prismatic blond-copper-brown. His eyes were the most striking of his features. They were the color of a deep lake, and in the depths of those dark gray-blue colors, a storm brewed. Bright gold flecks twinkled in his irises.
    The way he filled out his vintage Star Wars T-shirt and ragged, faded jeans didn’t bother her one bit. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and wiry, corded muscles flexed in his arm. He passed her earbud cord back to her. She tucked the MP3 player into her pocket. “You’ve spoiled me for other men,” she joked.
    “After we land,” he asked, “what’re your plans?”

    “I was just going to grab a taxi and go see my grandmother.”

    “I’ll drive you, as long as you don’t mind stopping by your father’s place on the way out. My car’s at the airport.”

    “Oh, no I don’t want to put you out. I wasn’t really planning on seeing him--them--until I’d spoken with Ruth Ellen.”

    “It’s where I’m headed. Me and your sister, we’re almost engaged.”
A rock dropped in her stomach. Amazed by her automatic, disappointed response, she forced another smile.
    “That’s great. I’m excited to get to know her.”
    “Emeline.” He sighed. “She’s a real sweetheart. An absolutely amazing woman. I love her so much.”
For the first time the blazing arrows of suspicion stopped firing from his eyes. He squinted at her, studying her. “You don’t look much like her.”

    “Sorry. I guess I got the short end of the genetic stick.” Did he just insult her? She wasn’t anything special--dark blonde hair, grayish-blue eyes, maybe a bit on the curvy side--but she’d never considered herself unattractive. She’d seen Emeline in the tabloids for a while after her sex tape leaked. She was gorgeous. Tall, willowy, perfect. Karen had been gorgeous as well.
    My dad was probably the milkman.
    Anyway, it didn’t matter. All she had to do was make nice with the family, figure out how to get the money for K, and Elaine McKendrick would drop back off the face of the Earth.
    West watched her for another long moment. “They’ve been through a lot, Mattie. If you’re out to try something shady, they’ll figure you