Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend)

by Edwards, Nicole

  “This is something new I’ve been working on in my spare time. Let me know what you think,” he continued, a few brief guitar strums followed and then the crowd was eerily quiet. The sound always surprised her.

  As all of the heads in the room turned to face the stage, Tessa realized they’d stopped demanding alcohol, and she shot Eric a smile, noticing he still didn’t appear ruffled. He was a patient man, she would give him that. Considering he had to put up with her best friend Izzy on a daily basis, he had to be.

  Knowing he could handle what few customers they might have in the next minute or two, Tessa snuck out from behind the bar and over to the long wooden shelf along the south wall that was a catchall for empty beer bottles. Not seeing Katie anywhere, she decided to help the girl out by disposing of what she could while the masses were engrossed in the man now crooning out a slow, country love song.

  Grabbing a handful of bottles, Tessa eased through a few cowboys lining the outer edges of the room to one of the large barrels used for trash. Interesting how they couldn’t seem to find it on their own, she thought to herself. Tossing the bottles in as quietly as she could, Tessa looked up, noticing the man on stage for the first time.

  She couldn’t see much of his face which was in the shadow of the black Stetson sitting low on his head and covering most of his features as he looked down at the ladies in the front row. What she could see was an incredibly well developed torso, clad perfectly in a dark gray t-shirt that clung deliciously to a set of well-defined pecs.

  It somewhat baffled her how many hot, well-built cowboys graced her stage week after week. A dime a dozen they were. It was just unfortunate that they all came with an ego the size of Texas and more baggage than the TSA handled in a week.

  Chapter Two

  Cooper Krenshaw could’ve performed all night in a place like this. The scent of sawdust and hardwood drifted up as a handful of people at the edge of the stage began slow dancing on the cramped dance floor, making him smile as he belted out the tune, enjoying the happy faces he could see peering up from the floor below. The last time he’d played for a crowd this small had been several years back at a rodeo down in Austin which seemed like an eternity ago.

  These days, his songs were blasted through amphitheaters and stages that would rival most football stadiums and they lacked the intimacy he found in a place like this. In fact, it had been his last concert in Chicago that Cooper found himself escaping as soon as his last set was complete because he couldn’t seem to shake that disconnected feeling. Without even talking to his manager, Cooper had set out on the road, nowhere bound. He hadn’t known where he was headed until he reached the Texas border. It was then that he gave his buddy Adam Dryden a call and beat feet toward Central Texas.

  Having met Adam during his first year at the University of Texas, he managed to keep in touch with him through the years despite the chaotic lifestyle Cooper found himself wrapped up in. Something had clicked between them from the moment they met, and keeping in touch with Adam had given Cooper a way to ground himself to his roots. A gentle reminder of where it all started.

  Their conversation hadn’t been a long one, but when Adam mentioned he was looking for some local talent to play his small town bar, Cooper found himself aching for something a bit more relaxed than an arena filled with screaming women and knew Adam’s proposal was right up his alley.

  That’s how he ended up in Devil’s Bend, Texas for the last week and a half. Until tonight, he’d been hiding out at a modest motel when he wasn’t checking out the local real estate.

  This small town setting was a far cry from what he was used to but undeniably more in line with where he had come from. More in line with what had sparked his interested in the early stages of his career. In his early twenties, once he was picked up by a record label, he’d been blown away by the attention and chaos, inspired by it even.

  Not so much anymore.

  At thirty-one, after nearly eight years on the road full time, Cooper was ready to slow down. Significantly. After just a few minutes on stage, he realized this was more his pace these days. Not that his manager would agree with him, but then again, Marcus Evergreen didn’t think he could do much thinking for himself anymore at all.

  “What’d you think?” he asked the crowd when his song came to an end. The group erupted in catcalls and whistles, clapping and laughter, and the excitement seeped into his blood. Truthfully, he hadn’t felt that heart wrenching rush of adrenaline in quite some time.

  Glancing around the room, Cooper made eye contact with both women and men, smiling as the group began tossing out suggestions. As was usually the case, most of the requests seemed to go back to one of his early albums, back when he had fun doing this night after night. It seemed as though some of what he’d valued was lost along the way. Probably one of the reasons he was working his way back to his roots once again.

  A shrill voice caught his attention, and his eyes darted back to the area closest to the bar. Before he could pinpoint where the sound came from, his gaze had landed on a stunning blonde maneuvering her way through the swarm of people. When the woman stopped and looked up at him, their eyes met for a brief second before she abruptly turned away, fleeing deeper into the crowd. Thanks to his position on the stage, he managed to track her until she slid behind the bar, leaning up to talk to another man standing there.

  “Play Cowgirl in my Dreams,” one woman shouted from close to the stage and Cooper tore his eyes off of the mystery woman in the back, glancing over to where the request had come from.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Readjusting his guitar, Cooper started the song, falling back into the music, letting himself get lost in the memories of a different time. This was what he’d been searching for these last few months. This was exactly what he was looking to find again.

  Forty-five minutes later, Cooper was ready for a break. And a beer. Not necessarily in that order either.

  He informed the group that he’d be back shortly, secured his guitar in an area at the back of the stage and moved down the steps. The instant his feet hit the hardwood dance floor, he was inundated with women flocking to his side, an influx of chatter making his head pound. They didn’t seem to mind that they were invading his personal space, hanging on him even as he tried to keep moving.

  With a smile on his face, he worked his way through the group, trying his best to answer questions, offering a couple of hugs, posing for more than a few pictures before he finally reached the bar. He just wanted a beer. And maybe a few minutes of quiet. He wasn’t going to get the latter, but from the looks of it, the former was on its way thanks to the man behind the bar nodding in his direction.

  A beefy hand clapped him on the shoulder and Cooper turned to see who it was, coming face to face with Adam Dryden.

  “Hey, man.” Holding out his hand, he waited for Adam to shake it before tipping his hat slightly on his head.

  “How’s it goin’?” Adam asked, having to speak louder just so Cooper could hear him.

  A group of women were trying desperately to get his attention and Cooper was doing his best to be polite. He’d gotten used to the demand on his time, but he found it difficult to turn his attention away from someone he knew personally for a group who assumed he owed them his undivided attention.

  “Why don’t we go to my office?” Adam offered, and Cooper didn’t hesitate before nodding his head in agreement.

  Grabbing his beer bottle from the bar, he fell into step behind Adam. Sheer determination was the only thing that got them through the crowd, but once they did, Cooper found himself following his friend up a set of stairs at the far back of the room. Just when he thought they were going to have company, a hulking man insinuated his bulk between the gaggle of women and the cramped stairwell.

  “Mr. Krenshaw will be back down shortly, ladies,” he told the group, making Cooper smile.

  Mr. Krenshaw. Shit. That was funny. At thirty-one, he certainly didn’t feel like a mister.

  At the top o
f the dimly lit stairwell was a door that read “Private” on a plaque haphazardly glued to the wood. Adam used a key to gain access and Cooper followed him, successfully shutting out the majority of the noise once inside.

  “Damn, man. You sure know how to draw a crowd,” Adam stated as he moved across the room to a large window. He twisted a plastic stick and the cheap wood blinds turned, offering them a view of the scene below.

  “It’s a curse.” The words tumbled out before he could think better of it.

  Ok, so truthfully it was a blessing, but Cooper wasn’t feeling it these days. The words were an honest reflection of his mood, but he’d grown accustomed to keeping a filter on his thoughts until recently. Cooper hoped he sounded as though he was joking, but for some reason he wasn’t all that worried whether Adam knew the truth. He was beginning to feel as though it was a curse.

  He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped being grateful for all of the fame that came along with his career, but in recent months, he was finding it harder and harder to want to keep moving forward. Instead, he found himself wanting to sneak out early, disappear on his own and find the solitude that had been lacking in his life for years.

  His manager told him it was a phase that he’d be over soon. Cooper wasn’t so sure that was the case. Sure, he was thankful for his success, especially after he’d worked his ass off to get where he was, but Cooper was beginning to feel disconnected. As though he wanted more, but wasn’t sure what that more even was.

  Hitting the big time and becoming a country music star might’ve been his original intention when he was a teenager, but he hadn’t known what all it entailed. Somewhere along the way, he felt as though he’d lost a part of himself. And despite all of the fans and the interactions, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of being alone that had started haunting him lately.

  Cooper moved up close to the window, standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with Adam in the confined space, downing half of his beer as he took in the silence while watching the overabundance of bodies below. His eyes landed on the woman he had glimpsed earlier. She was moving gracefully as she worked behind the bar and he found himself once again staring at her.

  She was short, much shorter than most of the people standing around her. He couldn’t see much more than the snug black t-shirt that clung to her rather impressive curves, but he found himself trying to get a glimpse of the rest.

  She looked like a country angel with her curly blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail at the back of her head, the long strands falling down and over her shoulders. He couldn’t make out much of her features from this distance, but it was her dazzling white smile that captivated him. She was laughing with the man behind the bar, serving up drinks like she was born to run the crowded place.

  “You meet my sister yet?” Adam asked, pulling Cooper from his visual assault of the cute bartender’s sultry smile.

  “Haven’t met anyone, actually. I got here late, so I had to rush up on stage. The Realtor you referred me to decided tonight was a terrific night to show me another house.”

  Adam just nodded his head, his attention once again on the folks below. “What’d you think of it?”

  Cooper was beginning to relax again as he watched what was going on down on the main floor. There were still people coming in the door, and he was beginning to wonder just how many people the place could actually hold. He couldn’t imagine they’d be able to squeeze more than a couple hundred people between all four walls, but from the looks of it, they had almost twice that.

  “This one is a little worse for wear than the one you mentioned. It needs more work, but I’m definitely interested. Don’t think the price can be beat. Luckily, I’m kinda handy.”

  “A fixer-upper, huh?” Adam smiled at him, then returned his gaze to the scene below.

  Fixer upper was an understatement, but for the price, Cooper could see himself making some serious progress on the house. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t have some extra time on his hands.

  And the land…

  The property was almost double that of the one Adam had told him about. Hell, the two hundred forty acres were more than worth it. He had plans for the land which was the main draw of the property in the first place.

  Movement at the front of the room close to the bar caught Cooper’s attention, and he looked over to see two men going chest to chest.

  “Awww, hell. I’ll be right back,” Adam said with a groan, obviously seeing the melee that was about to erupt below.

  As much as Cooper wanted to enjoy the solitude for a few more minutes, his instincts told him to follow Adam. The last thing he wanted was for a brawl to break out in his friend’s bar because of him. This happened more often than he wished it did. With this many women around, cowboys often had a hard time controlling themselves. Testosterone was a heady thing.

  Dropping his now empty beer bottle in the trash can by the door, Cooper followed Adam, matching his fast pace as they made their way back to the main floor. By the time they reached the group, Cooper realized that the guy and the woman who had been manning the bar earlier were already attempting to break up the fight.

  “Not here you don’t!” The sweet Texas twang of the woman’s words pierced something deep inside of Cooper, heard loud and clear over the music battling for attention in the overhead speakers. Cooper watched as the angel in blue jeans stepped right between the two oversized men as though she were six feet tall and bullet proof.

  “Fuck off, dickhead!” One of the men shouted to the other over the top of the blonde’s head, ignoring her altogether.

  Cooper took a step closer, praying like hell this woman wasn’t about to get knocked out by one of these assholes. His protective instinct suddenly kicked into high gear as he watched her attempt to stay right in the middle.

  “Uh-uh. Not in here. This is your last warning, damnit!” The sassy cowgirl’s voice rose even louder, her drawl crystal clear and, despite her irritation, Cooper found he liked the sound of her voice as well as her spirit. A lot.

  That’s when the shoving match ensued and, much to Cooper’s dismay, the cowgirl was pushed out of the way. Hard.

  As the fists began flying, he watched her stumble backward. Somehow he managed to reach out and grab her before she crash-landed on the concrete floor at his feet. As grunts and groans echoed in the small area, Cooper grabbed the girl, pulling her out of the chaos, trying his best to shield her as the punches landed, neither of the men caring who got in their way.

  Suddenly, a shrill, ear-splitting whistle sounded and to Cooper’s surprise, the rumble of voices died instantly. The two idiots stopped throwing punches, but neither of them moved far.

  “Get your asses out of here,” the giant of a man said, his tone frighteningly calm as he moved closer to the two men who were now sweating, bleeding and breathing like they’d just run a marathon… in quick sand.

  It took Cooper a minute to realize he was still holding the girl, her petite body pressed tightly against his as they stood on the sidelines staring back at the cowboy who managed to halt the fight with a whistle.

  “Jack,” the woman said breathlessly, successfully wrenching out of Cooper’s arms and moving away.

  Before she walked away, she turned to look at him, her pale green eyes meeting his as a blinding smile tilted the corners of her full pink lips. Cooper tipped his hat slightly at the same time he felt something strange and exciting stir up inside of him, rendering him speechless as he smiled back.

  “Damn,” he groaned, turning away from the crowd and moving back to the stage. The least he could do was provide some entertainment and hopefully, by the end of the night, he’d have a chance to talk to the angel in blue jeans.

  Chapter Three

  When they first walked out of the building, Tessa had fallen into step with her brothers at the same time two women began yelling obscenities from directly behind them. As much as she wanted to say something, she kept her mouth closed. No matter what she told them, the ladies weren�
��t likely to listen to reason anyway. Luckily, it only took Adam one piercing glare in their direction before they stopped their yapping.

  Escorting the two hot-headed men over to Shane, one of their cousins who worked at the bar most frequently, Adam and Jack left them with instructions to ensure the men got home safely – and that meant they weren’t going to get behind the wheel of their own vehicles.

  “You’ve got seriously good timing, you know that?” Adam asked Jack as they made their way back inside.

  That he did. It seemed one of her brothers, usually Jack, was always having to come along and break up one fight or another. For the most part, they occurred at least once, sometimes twice on a Friday or Saturday night. Especially when they booked the more popular talent. Although, Tessa was pretty sure they had never had anyone bigger than Cooper Krenshaw on their stage.

  As Tessa made her way back to the bar, she looked up to see him on the stage, his guitar in hand while he successfully distracted the crowd. A sudden flush of heat traveled from the base of her skull right down her spine when her eyes met his from across the room. Not five minutes before, she’d somehow landed practically in his lap, and her body had immediately taken stock of the feel of his hard body against her.

  Something she hadn’t felt in… Well, since Richie.

  While Cooper had been off with Adam during his break, Tessa received an earful about the country music phenom from a group of women standing around the bar, attempting to capture Eric’s attention since the superstar was nowhere in sight. Not that Tessa would trust anything she heard, but then again, since most of the chatter was about how nice his ass appeared in the Wrangler’s he wore, she could pretty much check that out herself.

  Not that she would.

  Ok, so she did.

  And they were right.

  “Is that Cooper Krenshaw?” Jack asked Adam as her brothers stood along the back corner of the bar where the sound system control panel was discreetly hidden.