“The one and only,” Adam answered easily, sounding entirely too proud of himself.
Tessa watched her baby brother as he moved behind the bar, grabbing a bottle of Southern Comfort from the shelf. Jack was the youngest of the three, and although they all had the same mother, she and Adam had a different father. For whatever reason, she found that she was closer to Jack than she was to Adam. Tessa was only a year younger than Adam, but she was three years older than Jack and, needless to say, she’d been an overprotective older sister. It wasn’t until Jack hit his twenties that he had taken over the protective role.
Tessa listened to her brothers as she tried to help out with the drinks, all the while her mind drifted back to the brief interlude she’d just shared with the famous country music star. Her body still tingled from where Cooper had touched her. It was the first time in a damn long time that her body actually craved the attention of another human being.
Considering she’d spent the better part of the first year and a half after Richie died grieving rather than living, Tessa hadn’t had much time for intimate relationships, nor had she wanted any. After one failed attempt at another relationship about a year ago, it hadn’t been until recently that Tessa even realized when the opposite sex was around her. At least not in any way that mattered.
In Cooper’s case, there was something in his touch, albeit brief, that felt familiar yet exciting at the same time. And oh, holy moly, he smelled so good. She would admit that she might’ve leaned against him a tad longer than was necessary just so she could sniff him.
Working to try and forget all that happened a few minutes ago, Tessa got wrapped up in passing out drinks while listening to that provocative voice that filtered through her bar. Thankfully, by tomorrow, all thoughts of Cooper Krenshaw would be a thing of the past and she could get on with her life.
No need to start dreaming about anything more now.
Especially about things even farther out of her reach.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Morning for Tessa didn’t begin until roughly noon on most days, but that was because she tried to get the required eight hours of sleep and going to bed at four o’clock in the morning meant the day was halfway over by the time she crawled out of bed.
She was a creature of habit, so it didn’t matter what time she woke up, the first thing she did each and every day was make coffee and sit on the front porch while Havoc and Harmony, her beloved Siberian Huskies that she had rescued from the animal shelter just over a year ago, frolicked in the yard in front of the house. Ever since she brought them home to live with her, they preferred to be outside as opposed to inside. Just like her.
So, this morning wasn’t much different than any other morning, with the exception of the dream that Tessa could not seem to stop thinking about. It continued to stream through her mind as she listened to the birds chirp and her dogs rumble and growl as they played in the grass just a few feet away from the steps she was perched on.
For the life of her, Tessa couldn’t get Cooper Krenshaw out of her head. Remembering the way it felt when the tall, dark haired cowboy had wrapped his arms around her, keeping her from stumbling right on her ass the night before was becoming annoying in its own right. Not only that, but that strange, bubbling sensation in her tummy when she pictured him in her mind wasn’t doing her any favors either.
The man was sexy, she’d have to give him that much. His face was a mishmash of rugged, chiseled features that, when blended together, made one of the most handsome faces she’d ever seen. A strong, angular jaw with that scruffy stubble that was just a smidge darker along his jawline. His perfect white teeth were framed by lips that looked like they were made to kiss.
But what had captured her almost instantly were his eyes. Light brown and so bright, they were almost gold. And he wasn’t perfect which probably made him all the more appealing. His nose was slightly crooked but just barely noticeable unless of course one was staring at him the way she had been. And Tessa could’ve stared at him for hours.
It wasn’t hard to imagine why he was a country music sensation either. That voice.
Oh, and did she mention he was tall. So very tall. At least compared to her.
Tessa didn’t inherit her height from her mother or father the way her brothers had. She was roughly five-foot-four while both of her brothers towered over her. The same could be said for the dark haired stranger from the night before. Cooper was taller than she imagined him being, not that she had actually imagined him at all. From his perch on the stage, he hadn’t appeared unusually tall, but if she had to guess, the attractive cowboy was at least a couple of inches over six feet. However, it was possible that her brain was only making him seem larger than life because of the way her body had responded to the innocent hold he had on her the night before. Yep, that had to be it.
Since the moment she walked through her front door in the wee hours of the morning, Tessa had battled the urge to Google him just to see what kind of dirt she could dig up on the man. Thankfully, she’d thought better of it. It wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again.
He was a passing fancy, every woman’s fantasy and probably a fly by night lover at that. Who knew what he had done when he left her bar a few hours before dawn. Although he hadn’t been with anyone when he finally called it a night just a few minutes after closing time, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a flock of women who had offered to make sure he was tucked in safe and sound when his head finally did hit the pillow.
Tessa tried to shake off the thought of the good looking cowboy. Finding a man wasn’t on her priority list. And yes, that list was actually long.
Not that the list was going according to plan, but she refused to deviate from it. For so long, it was all she had. After Richie had died, she went back, added more to the list and made up her mind that the only thing that mattered was accomplishing the dream she’d had since she was younger. And if she had any intention of getting to that goal, she didn’t have room for one night stands, especially with overnight sensations the likes of Cooper Krenshaw.
Tessa’s cell phone rang from somewhere inside the house and knowing that her little brother Jack would be checking on her as he did every day, she hopped up from the steps and hurried inside. Havoc and Harmony were by her side instantly, pushing their large, wet noses into the house before she could stumble in after them.
The phone stopped ringing mere seconds before she reached it, but Tessa looked to see who it was anyway. Adam. Odd. She rarely heard from him so early in the day, especially after the kind of eventful evening they had the night before.
Her brother was known to sleep away most of the day, but that was usually thanks to his extracurricular activities that typically took up most of his early morning hours. Unlike Tessa, Adam didn’t avoid the opposite sex. Nor did he have a problem with the love ’em and leave ‘em code of ethics that he had apparently inherited from their absent father.
Before she could dial her brother back, her phone chirped, signaling an incoming voicemail. As she attempted to fill the dogs’ food bowls, Tessa juggled the phone in one hand and tried to fend off her eager animals at the same time.
“Cool it, Havoc. I’m working on it,” she informed the ninety pound Husky insistent on nudging her with his powerful body. It was well past their lunchtime, which meant he was overly ornery at the moment.
“Hey, sis. I hope you’re awake. I’m on my way over. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll have coffee ready when I get there.”
Tessa smiled as she dropped her phone onto the counter, putting the final scoop of kibble into Harmony’s bowl as she did. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly bring Adam over at this time of day. He should’ve been passed out for at least another couple of hours.
Although he sounded fairly reasonable in his message, Tessa rushed to the kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee just in case. Adam could be awfully demanding when he wanted to be, and, considering he wasn’t a frequent visitor to
her humble abode, Tessa wanted to be prepared for the worst.
Ten minutes later, she heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel out front. With a fresh cup of coffee for herself and one for Adam, she moved toward the front door just in time to see none other than Cooper Krenshaw climbing out of the passenger side of Adam’s pickup.
“What the hell?” she muttered to herself as she watched the handsome cowboy move easily up her driveway just a few steps behind Adam.
Harmony and Havoc realized they had company about that time and went barreling through the screen door, their tails wagging with excitement. Neither of them barked like she anticipated, but then again, they were familiar with her brother.
It wasn’t Adam she was worried about though. If they knew what was best for them, they would keep their distance from the cowboy that was now leaning over to pat them both on the head.
Again… What the hell?
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
“That’s Havoc, and that’s Harmony,” Adam stated as two oversized dogs rushed out the front door and right up to his legs as Cooper followed Adam up the path to the house.
The way their hind ends wagged furiously, Cooper didn’t think he had anything to worry about, but he moved with caution anyway. They were some big animals.
Two seconds later, he was trying to balance on his haunches while the dogs licked at him furiously, both eager for him to put his hands on them. Cooper obliged them as he looked up at the old farmhouse in front of him.
He still didn’t know why he was here, – wherever here was – but after Adam had shown up at his motel room out of the blue, banging on the door and rousing him from an intensely erotic dream, Cooper figured he had nothing better to do.
After a quick breakfast at the congested café in town, and a brief, rather uninformative conversation with Adam, Cooper wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d felt as though he were being interrogated while he forced eggs and bacon down his throat, answering question after question from his buddy.
Do you plan to stay in Devil’s Bend? Will you continue to tour? Are you looking for something else to do? Would you be interested in helping out at the bar? What do you think of managing musical talent?
Those were just a few of the questions Adam had thrown his way, and he wasn’t sure whether they were trick questions or not, but apparently Adam seemed satisfied with his answers. That still didn’t explain why they were here though.
Pushing back to his full height when Adam summoned the dogs with a whistle, Cooper looked up on the porch, and that was when he saw her.
The angel in blue jeans. Only she wasn’t wearing jeans at the moment. Holy hell.
And he was pretty sure he liked her with fewer clothes on anyway. With a strained effort, he tried not to ogle her. And he had to focus to keep his mouth from hanging open.
He couldn’t help but watch as Adam embraced the woman in a hug that said they knew each other. From the looks of it, they were fond of one another based on the way the woman stared up at him lovingly. Considering he hadn’t talked much with Adam, aside from the barrage of questions that morning, Cooper’s first assumption was they were more than mere friends.
“Cooper meet Tessa. Tessa meet Cooper. Blah, blah, blah. I need more coffee,” Adam introduced in a rush as Cooper made his way up the front steps.
Tessa, as Adam referred to her, laughed sweetly, and Cooper couldn’t help but smile. Removing his hat from his head, he held out his hand to the woman he’d dreamed about the night before and steeled himself to touch her again. Their hands met, her small, smooth fingers sliding into the palm of his hand, and Cooper had to clamp his teeth shut to keep from groaning.
Damn he liked touching her.
A sudden strange, possessive instinct surged up in his gut, which was odd considering where they were. It wasn’t a reaction he expected at all, but he tried to attribute it to the night before.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he finally said when he located his voice. Their hands touched for longer than was probably customary, but Cooper found he didn’t want to pull away.
“You too.” Her sweet voice sent another chill racing through his bloodstream, only this time it forced the blood farther south. As though it were natural, Cooper kept his cowboy hat resting in front of his now interested cock in the hopes that she wouldn’t notice.
When she pulled her hand away, Cooper let her go, but he allowed his eyes to linger for a while longer.
She was wearing a thin black tank top and a pair of tiny white shorts that put her trim, tanned legs on display. If he were acting like the gentleman that his parents had raised him to be, Cooper would’ve looked away, yet he found himself glancing down, his gaze slowly traveling upward, until his eyes narrowed in on the pebbled tips of her nipples that were now clearly visible through the soft, threadbare cotton of her top.
She must’ve realized what he was looking at because she quickly recovered, glaring up at him before crossing one arm over her chest, and holding her coffee cup with the other. She must’ve realized that Adam wasn’t there to save her, and her reaction made Cooper chuckle. It wasn’t often that he saw something other than pure, unadulterated lust written all over a woman’s face, especially the first time he was introduced to her. What he saw on Tessa’s pretty face resembled anything but, which ironically, he found he enjoyed immensely.
When she turned and walked into the house, Cooper followed, very aware of three things: the woman walking away from him, the intriguing sway of her hips and her cute little ass, and the man staring back at him from the doorway to what appeared to be the kitchen.
“I’m surprised the two of you didn’t meet last night,” Adam said between sips of his coffee.
“How do you know we didn’t?” Tessa asked, sounding oddly irritated.
“Coop said he didn’t meet my sister,” Adam admitted, turning to follow Tessa into the kitchen.
Sister.
A sudden, not to mention overwhelming, river of relief flooded Cooper. This intriguing woman was Adam Dryden’s sister. They looked absolutely nothing alike.
“So what brings you by so early in the morning?” Tessa asked Adam, seemingly oblivious to Cooper standing just a few feet away.
Early? Morning? Shit, it was after noon already.
“Why don’t you offer our guest some coffee, Sis?” Adam smirked before walking out of the room leaving the two of them alone once again.
For some reason, Cooper was beginning to get the impression that Adam was doing that on purpose.
Chapter Four
Remembering her manners became more and more difficult as the minutes passed. Ever since Cooper Krenshaw shook her hand, then blatantly leered at her body, Tessa had been in some strange state of shock. Then again, the guy was probably used to getting any woman he wanted, so the come hither look he’d perfected probably got him pretty far in life.
Too bad for him, she wasn’t interested.
Damn it.
She was so interested her body was doing crazy things.
Her hormones were out of whack, her blood was churning in her veins, and her head was spinning from the intoxicating scent of the man. And yes, he smelled even better today than he had last night. That could’ve been because they were lacking the nauseating mixture of various other perfumes, colognes and the pungent smell of beer. Or, it could be because Cooper Krenshaw smelled like hot, virile male.
Either way, Tessa continued to remind herself that she wasn’t interested. She wasn’t interested in one night stands. Wasn’t interested in a week long affair. Wasn’t even interested in a brief romance because ultimately, in the end, Cooper Krenshaw would be moving on to bigger and better things.
Above all else, Tessa had no desire to spend time with a man she couldn’t keep, nor did she have any interest in what came with country music stardom.
And why the hell did she keep referring to him as Cooper Krenshaw? The man had a first name, and she was pretty sure he didn’t go by both first and last. Or may
be he did. Hell, what did she know?
Shit.
At the moment, she didn’t know anything. Her brain was a tangle of lust and hormones and she was quickly becoming exceedingly irritated with herself. Sort of like her frustration with the women in her bar, when they threw themselves at the nightly entertainment, well known or not.
“Would you like some coffee?” Tessa finally asked, trying to sound as though it were an afterthought to offer. She didn’t want this man to drink her coffee. She didn’t want him to sit on her couch. She didn’t want him to steal her heart and…
Oh, what the hell was she thinking? It’s just coffee.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said in that dark, rich tone that made her pulse thump rapidly.
“No need to call me ma’am,” she told him, not bothering to look up as she poured his coffee. He didn’t answer, but she knew he heard her.
Without another thought, Tessa handed him the cup and turned to walk away, letting him know that the cream was in the refrigerator and sugar on the counter should he need it. The proximity was too much. She needed to get away, preferably outside where she could smell the sweet, lingering scent of the country and not the potent scent of Cooper Krenshaw.
Cooper damn it. His name was Cooper. He was just a normal person like the rest of them. It didn’t mean a thing that his voice was crooning all over radio stations worldwide or that his face was well known on the front cover of magazines. And it didn’t matter that he’d won an award or probably twenty for his music.
A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting on the front porch, Adam perched on the wood railing, Tessa in the lone wicker chair and Cooper on the porch swing. She much preferred the swing, but the possibility of him sitting beside her was a risk she hadn’t been willing to take, so her choice of seating had been calculated for her self-preservation.
Now that they were all seated, no one was speaking. There was no rushing her brother, but Tessa sensed he wanted to talk. Not only because he had shown up at her house at an ungodly hour after a particularly long night but because he looked as though he had something on his mind. Rather than pelt him with questions, Tessa chose to focus her attention on Harmony and Havoc who were once again frolicking in the yard like puppies.
Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) Page 3