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There’s a bar two blocks away. We could get a late lunch there too. Have you eaten yet?” He looked down at Alice with a gentle smile.
    “Just airplane food, but I didn’t actually eat it.” She wrinkled her nose in a way that made her freckles stand out. “I’d love to grab lunch—and a drink.”
    Andy’s breathed a mental sigh of relief, and he keyed open the bottom storage compartment to shove Alice’s bags inside. “Great,” he said. “Let’s go.” She accepted his arm, her sweet lavender scent teasing him all the way to the bar.
    As they walked together, the light she projected chased away the cold darkness of the past few weeks. By the time they reached the bar he was reluctant to release her arm. Before today he’d felt like he was suffocating, but her mere presence breathed new life into him as if she were the antidote to his despair.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    Alice finished her first Long Island iced tea and ordered another. Just one more. Okay, maybe two more. She didn’t drink often, but she needed the boost for bravery. All of her repressed feelings for Andy Steele were rushing back like a tidal wave crashing against the wall she’d erected around her heart. He seemed taller and different. He was a man now. He oozed masculinity and was as broad in the chest as a defensive lineman.
    Did he only think of her as the bratty kid who lived next door?
    Her mind traveled back to the first time she’d seen him. She’d been observing from the bushes as moving men carried boxes into the house next door. Her parents said an elderly couple was moving in, so it surprised her to see a tall, skinny boy step out of a station wagon that pulled up. She later learned that Andy’s mother left him as a baby to be raised by his grandparents, and he had no memory of her.
    “So, accounting? Numbers and taxes,” Andy said. “That sounds interesting . So, so interesting .”
    Alice snorted delicately and reached for another French fry. “It’s not very exciting, I’ll admit that. But I’m good at math and tax laws and I…” A shadow crossed her face. She’d almost said too much. Opening up to people wasn’t her strong suit, even if it was Andy.
    “What?” A deep line of concern appeared on his forehead.
    She sat back and studied Andy’s handsome face, taking in the lines of his strong, square jaw and a nose that was slightly crooked due to an altercation with a football. Didn’t he understand how much she had to make up for? Hell, she should’ve graduated this past spring, but she’d changed her major so many times she’d had to add summer school and an extra semester this fall. “I don’t want to depend on my brother forever. I want to make it on my own. Accounting seems like the surest thing. Everyone needs doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, and…accountants to keep them all in line.” She forced a smile, but it felt like poison.
    “Yes, but will it make you happy?”
    Alice shot him a wary look. “Yes!” Who was he to question her about happiness? Not everyone could be in a famous band. “I’ll be happy when I can make my own money and buy my own house. Rich worked hard after our parents died to keep us afloat. He always hated asking my uncle for help. I owe it to Rich to make it on my own. I know he’s not the most cheerful person on the face of Earth, but he’s my brother. He could’ve abandoned me a long time ago, but he worked several jobs just to pay the bills until the band got underway. He even pays for my tuition at Salisbury. I couldn’t ask for a better brother.”
    It was the truth, as painful as it was to admit. Since Rich was six years older than her, just like Andy, he’d gotten custody of her after their parents died. She doubted most of her friends’ brothers would be that responsible if the shoe were on the other foot.
    Andy reached for her hand. “It makes sense. Sorry I made you mad.”
    “I’m not mad,” Alice said, slicing the tension with a sudden