Bookstore Barbie (Magnolia Ridge 1)

“Word is Shaw spent the night.”

“What?” I drop my phone as Kayla stands up.

“Small town.” She shrugs. “You give it up?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I know she’s bringing up Shaw so I won’t push with GI Joe. My face warms, giving me away, and she squeals. “You did! Why didn’t you tell me?” She smacks my shoulder.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you today,” I remind her.

“I’ve been busy.” She grabs her bag from off the floor.

“Doing what? Do you even work?”

“I do things. Top-secret things.”

I’m not sure if I should believe her or not. She’s always busy, but I have no idea what she’s doing half the time. She reaches inside of her bag and pulls out a folder.

“I had a stakeout last night into the early morning. No one knows Shaw spent the night. It was me that saw you.” She holds up a picture of me kissing Shaw as he walks out the back door.

“Why did you take a picture?” I snatch it from her hand because it’s actually really cute. “Can I keep it? Why is it in black and white?” I ask one question after another.

“I’ve got more.” She goes for another folder that’s labeled “Top Secret.” She opens this one but slams it shut quickly. It looked like there were handwritten notes inside. “Wrong one.” She quickly shoves that one back in her bag and pulls out another.

“Why do you have these?” I ask again.

“I told you, I was on a stakeout. You two came out while I was working, looking all adorable and stuff, so I took some pictures for you. You’re welcome.”

“Thanks, I think.” I take one last look at the photo and tuck it in my desk.

“This is what I was after.” She flips open the next folder and I see a picture of Missy. “Doesn’t the black and white make it look more badass?” I laugh because she’s right. They look like professional surveillance pictures from the ’90s. “I got color too.”

“Why are you taking pictures of Missy?”

I shuffle through them, remembering Kayla talking about watching her but I thought she was joking. I also have a feeling she used this as a way to keep on hiding from GI Joe guy—the one thing she doesn’t want to talk about.

“She’s trying to shut you down so we should shut her down first.” I let out a long sigh.

“She can’t shut me down for no reason and she has no reason.” It still hurts that she wants me closed so badly.

“She’s the one over there selling lies!” She shuffles through the pictures. “She goes to the city and gets Donut King’s food and claims it’s hers, then marks it up fifty percent.” She holds up two pictures. One of Missy carrying boxes of donuts inside and the other of her picking a wedgie from her butt.

“Is that against the law?”

“I don’t know, but it’s going to piss her off that we know this information.”

“I just hope she washes her hands. Besides, she’ll only hate me more if she knows I’m aware of her Donut King secret. I think that will make things worse.” If I’ve learned anything about Missy it’s that she’s a little bit vindictive and a lot crazy.

“No, she’ll know she better back her ass off,” Kayla fires back, and I stare at her for a second.

“You already told her, didn’t you?” Kayla tries to look sheepish but it doesn’t work.

“Before I came running over here I might have dropped the pictures into her car.”

“Was it open?” I turn around when red and blue lights pass my window to go behind the building. Kayla takes off running towards the back of the store and opens the back door. She peeks out before slamming it shut and looking at me with wide eyes.

“I’ve been here all day,” she rushes to say.

“What did you do?” I hiss, because this cannot be good.

“It was locked but the window was down a little so I tried to push it down more so I could open the door. The glass on the window shattered when I was pushing and I didn’t know what to do. How could it break so easily? I’m not even strong.” She holds up her arm, flexing it. “That’s not how science works.”

“Kayla, if the window was cracked, why not slip the pictures in and walk away?”

“Oh.” Her mouth forms a perfect O shape as it dawns on her that she could have done that instead of trying to open the door. “No one will ever know it was me.”

She might be right, but she also might be wrong.

Then we hear a scream that I’m pretty sure is Missy’s coming from nearby. Kayla’s eyes widen. It has to be a reaction to Kayla’s actions. I’m sure she called the cops about that and I’m guessing she’s seeing the pictures. But if she’s making this big of a fuss, other people are probably seeing the pictures too, and we all know the local police can’t be quiet.