Blue-Eyed Soul Read Free Page A

shook his head as he climbed into his SUV. Mr. Hollywood could keep his fame and his messy life away from Aleks and the people he loved. That was all.
    * * * *
    Aleks stared up at the house. He'd half-expected to find a giant, ten-foot fence all around it, with one of those obnoxious call boxes to keep the peons out. There was just a small sign stuck in the ground next to the mailbox announcing the place was private property and trespassers would be prosecuted.
    He hoped it only applied to the media, which hovered not twenty feet away on the other side of the road, cameras poised, probably snapping pictures of him at that very minute, Googling on their smartphones to find out who he was and why he had come to see Remey Dufresne.
    He could not believe he'd been talked into this. One five-minute brush with the guy at Carl's shop and suddenly the Winter Festival committee thinks he's the go-to man for communing with their new local legend? His lip curled in distaste.
    But still... it was for the town, for the kids and that was the only reason he didn't turn around right then and go back to the committee and tell them they could fawn all over Remey themselves, but he wasn't doing it.
    He let out a sigh and climbed the steps to the modest house. He knew it well, the McKinley place. They'd always had the best haunted house at Halloween when he'd been growing up.
    He rang the bell and took a step back, waiting. He wondered if Remey answered his own door or if he had some kind of personal assistant, even here at home. The sound of footsteps inside the house told him he'd find out soon enough.
    * * * *
    Remey's jaw dropped when he caught sight of Aleks through the peephole. Rocking back on his heels, he raked one hand through his hair and tucked the guitar pick he was still holding into the pocket of his jeans, glancing ruefully down at himself. He wasn't exactly dressed to impress. Of all times for the sexy schoolteacher to come calling, he'd picked a day when Remey had thrown on his comfiest--and hence least attractive--outfit. Not to mention he hadn't bothered with his contacts this morning and was wearing his glasses instead. Still, there was no time to change; Aleks looked like standing at Remey's door was akin to standing outside the gates of hell.
    God, he was so handsome, though. Aleks was one of those guys who didn't fit a single standard of "conventional" good looks, and yet managed to be heart-stoppingly sexy anyway. Long, dark red hair fell nearly to his elbows. His face was angular and strong-boned, with deep-set golden brown eyes that had made Remey weak in the knees every time the man had glanced at him the other day in the shop.
    Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and smiled. "I didn't expect you to turn up on my doorstep." Remey stepped back, letting Aleks in and closing the door behind him, fully aware that every reporter camped across the street had taken pictures of him letting a strange man into his house. "I figured maybe my assistant gave in to her curiosity and flew out to see if I'd been brainwashed or something."
    Aleks looked a little confused, and Remey smiled. "Inside joke. Here, let me hang up your coat."
    Aleks hesitated, but handed his coat and scarf over, and Remey hung them on the coat tree next to the door, rubbing his hands down the thighs of his jeans. "Can I get you something to drink?"
    Aleks didn't answer right away, his eyes skimming down Remey's body, from his face right down to the tips of his bare toes, then back up again. Remey felt goosebumps erupt on the back of his neck, his skin heating at the not-so-subtle onceover.
    "Ah... no, I'm good, thanks."
    "Okay. Do you want to sit?" Remey gestured through the open archway into the living room, where his new furniture was grouped around the fireplace. He had no idea why Aleks might be stopping by to see him, but his mama would have his hide if he were anything less than perfectly polite to a guest, even an unexpected one.
    "Sure, okay."