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

moment, she pulled away again.
    Cole leaned his forehead against hers, drawing in deep breaths.
    “So,” he said. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
    “I still don’t know if I can deal with the tabloids.”
    His nose brushed against hers as he shook his head. “Let’s try it without them for a bit longer, then,” he said. “See where it goes.”
    …
    Three days. Kylie couldn’t believe that three days had passed since the concert. Cole had shown up at the store every afternoon at closing time, continuing to wear ridiculous costumes. None of them beat the lucha libre mask for sheer absurdity, but the mullet wig, fake mustache, and glasses straight from the 1980s made her laugh so hard that tears ran down her face.
    In all her anger over the pictures the tabloids had printed of them, she’d forgotten that part of their time together. He could make her laugh like no one else she’d ever met.
    She wasn’t sure what she was expecting when he walked through the door that morning, but it certainly wasn’t Cole, exactly as he had looked in the poster she ripped down: blue jeans, white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to right below his elbow, boots, and a cowboy hat.
    “Hey,” he said quietly as the electronic door chime faded away.
    “You look nice,” Kylie replied.
    Cole grinned. “For a change?”
    “Maybe a little.”
    “My manager, Billie, scheduled me to go to this promotional thing tonight—a release party for Joe Smythe’s new album. It’s not far from here—near the Will Rogers coliseum. I’d like it if you came with me.” His gaze met hers steadily. “You should know it’s a photo op. There will be pictures of us together.”
    She worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. “No disguises?”
    “No disguises,” he confirmed. “Just us.” Reaching across the counter, he picked up her hand, which had gone inexplicably cold.
    “That’s a little scary,” she said.
    Somehow Cole’s nod felt as much like support as acknowledgment. “I’d like for you to be there.” He paused, as if waiting for a response. When she didn’t immediately answer, he continued. “And tomorrow, I have this ribbon-cutting thing that I have to do before we head to Little Rock for the next show.” His voice dropped. “I’d like for you to be there, too.”
    He was leaving. Kylie’s heart sank a little at the reminder. But he’d been clear from the beginning of their reacquaintance—it had only been a dinner date. And she had already made her decision to be with him while she could. Any time they had together was simply a bonus.
    She could do this. She could enjoy the time they had, then let him walk away and go back to his normal life. She was not her mother. She could let him leave without allowing it to ruin her life.
    But could she deal with the press? Could she handle being photographed, being discussed in the papers, being publicly linked to Cole Grayson—and then, equally as publicly, unlinked, when the time came?
    I don’t have to let fear rule my life.
    If she refused to spend the time she had with Cole, right now, because it was going to be spent in the public eye, because she wasn’t the only woman he’d been with, or even because it wasn’t forever, then she was as bad as her mother, spending years locked away in a tiny apartment, flipping through old tabloids and letting fear and misery color everything in her world.
    Did she trust Cole to protect her?
    Yes , she realized. But even more than that, she trusted herself.
    I am not my mother.
    I do not have to be afraid.
    “Okay,” she said, her voice clear and firm. “I’ll do it.”
    “One other question, then. Any chance you could get LeeAnn to cover for you this afternoon?”
    “Probably. Why?” Even without knowing what he had planned, she couldn’t help but return his excited grin.
    “Because for once, I have a totally free day, and I want to spend it with you, Kylie Andrews.”
    Her heart squeezed in her chest. If she were smart,