Read Taming the Country Star: A Hometown Heroes Novella (Entangled Bliss) for Free Online

sunglasses covering his eyes. He balanced a carryout tray with two Starbucks coffee cups on it.
    “Does he think he’s Clint Eastwood?” LeeAnn asked.
    “Worse,” Kylie responded with a sigh. “He thinks he’s in disguise.” When her friend shot a puzzled look her direction, Kylie explained. “I’m pretty sure that’s Cole.” She glanced back up at the pictures of her father, reminding herself that no good could come of being tied to a celebrity and steeling herself against Cole’s charm.
    How could someone draped in a serape still look so damn good?

Chapter Five
    Cole reached for the door to Cowbelles, quickly taking stock of the situation inside. Through the glass door, he could see her, standing beside the counter, staring up at something on the wall behind it. As Cole pulled the door open, he took off his Stetson, pushed his fingers through his hair, and smiled at her.
    Turning to face him, Kylie’s eyes were huge. She didn’t say anything as he approached the counter. Cole’s gaze swept across the tiny store. She hadn’t been lying when she’d said the shop was full of cowhide and rhinestones.
    He doubted he had ever seen so many sparkles in one place, even when he played in Nashville. Through his sunglasses, items shone back at him, glinting and twinkling from shelves and racks.
    “Hey,” he said.
    Then his scan of the store dropped to the counter itself and his step faltered. She had that damned tabloid spread out in front of her—the one she’d seen when she got back to the States last year. The one that had ruined his plans to tell her everything. And what looked like a brand-new one, too, with pictures from the concert the night before.
    Convincing her to see him again might be harder than he had hoped.
    “Okay,” Kylie’s blond friend said, stepping toward the door. “So. I think I’ll see you later, Kylie.” She sketched a bow in his direction. “Namaste,” she said, and bolted out of the store.
    Kylie stared after her for a moment, then moved away from the counter and started straightening merchandise that was, as far as Cole could tell, already perfectly arranged. She turned to a stand of key chains, bluebonnets encased in melamine with the shape of Texas imprinted on them.
    They rattled when she brushed one of them, and Cole realized for the first time that she was shaking. Was that a good sign? Kylie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but didn’t say anything.
    “I brought coffee,” he offered.
    “I saw.” Her voice was low and she still didn’t look at him.
    He leaned his hip against the checkout counter, set his hat down, and stared down at the open tabloid. He pushed his sunglasses up over his head. “You get used to it, you know,” he said, flicking one finger against the edge of the paper.
    Kylie turned her back to him and moved to the next display. “The photographers? I’m guessing it helps if you know it might happen.”
    “Yeah.” The word came out on a sigh. He scuffed one boot lightly along the wood floor. “I didn’t mean for you to find out that way, you know.”
    “Find out who you were?” Her voice was tight.
    “Any of it, I guess. Mostly the fact that I wasn’t entirely honest when we met, though.” She worried at her bottom lip with her teeth, and his stomach tightened in an automatic response. God, she was beautiful.
    She finally turned to face him directly. “Why are you here, Cole?” she asked.
    He glanced back down at the tabloid and shrugged. “I was surprised to see you last night.”
    She laughed, a short, harsh sound. “Yeah. I was surprised to be there.” Her glance raked across the serape, took in the hat and the sunglasses. “Is this supposed to be some kind of disguise?”
    For the first time ever, as far as he could remember, he actually felt self-conscious. “Yeah.” Cole shrugged the blanket off over his shoulders. He saw Kylie’s gaze dart to his forearms, covered as they were in a light sheen of sweat.