Taming the Country Star: A Hometown Heroes Novella (Entangled Bliss) by Margo Bond Collins Page B

flipped through the images.
    “This is what you showed Kylie?” he asked. Jeffries glared at him. Cole nodded, then smashed the camera against the bricks. He glanced around at the small crowd of people who had followed him from the party, all standing a slight distance back.
    “You okay, Billie?” he asked. She nodded, her eyes huge.
    “Good. Pay the man for his camera, would you?” Running his hand through his hair, he took one long last look at Cowbelles before he headed back to his hotel.
    Looked like it was time for plan B.

Chapter Ten
    Kylie stared at the front entrance to Cowbelles. The door was still locked, keeping out the photographers who were now scattered along the street, waiting for her to come back out. A couple of them had tried coming into the store, but she had threatened to call the police.
    Now they were all standing back far enough that Kylie couldn’t claim they were harassing her—and moving around enough that they couldn’t be accused of loitering.
    She should have realized what was likely to happen when she saw the tabloid at the gas station that morning. Tears prickled the back of her throat and the corners of her eyes.
    Damn Cole Grayson, anyway. What right did he have to make a scene outside her store? And damn the photographer who had made sure the store’s sign was in the picture of Cole as he banged on the door last night.
    She’d seen Cole knock the man down, smash the camera, and walk off—but then she’d seen Jeffries gather the scattered remains, presumably including a memory card. She clenched her teeth. If she ever saw the photographer again, she’d have a thing or two to say to him.
    So much for a quiet, private life. And maybe so much for her store. There was no way she was going to be able to unlock Cowbelles’ doors today.
    It might be a good, long while before she could open again, if the press didn’t go away soon. And the store’s phone had been ringing all morning—she had finally turned it off to avoid having to say “no comment” again.
    A tear trickled down her face and she wiped it away angrily.
    She would not cry. Even if she couldn’t be with Cole, she would not turn into her mother, mooning over every picture she could find of the man she had once loved.
    She glared at Cole’s image smiling down at her from the Talk of Texas display.
    Time to redecorate. Who cared how well it sold? It was time to get rid of Cole Grayson entirely. And as much as it might break her heart to do that, she was pretty sure it would hurt even worse to see his face every day.
    By the time the knock came at the door an hour later, Kylie had packed away all of the mugs, the CDs, the key chains, the T-shirts. Everything with Cole Grayson’s name, face, or logo on it was boxed up.
    With a sigh, she unlocked the entrance long enough for LeeAnn to slip inside, then turned the bolt again. Her friend surveyed the empty spaces in the formerly full Talk of Texas display.
    “So,” LeeAnn said. “I take it things didn’t go so well?”
    Kylie shook her head but didn’t respond, instead walking back to the stockroom.
    LeeAnn followed, her tone cautious. “Have you seen the tabloids this morning?”
    “Yes.” Kylie sighed and collapsed onto the chair she kept by the desk, then dropped her head onto her arms. “I think maybe he’s gone for good,” she said, her voice muffled by her forearm.
    At the sound of her friend’s laugh, Kylie jerked her head up. “What?” she demanded.
    “I don’t think he’s going to go away that easily. Nothing about anything either of y’all has done screams we’re all finished now to me.”
    Kylie covered her eyes.
    “Have you eaten yet?” LeeAnn asked. When Kylie shook her head, she continued, “Okay. I’m going to go order something for lunch.”
    “Nothing vegan this time, okay?”
    “No promises.” The glint in LeeAnn’s eyes suggested that Kylie would be eating something tofu-based.
    While she waited, Kylie tried to distract