Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

This was so not helping.

“I didn’t realize you were ready to go,” he told her, trying to stall while he got his body under control.

“There’s nothing left to do here.”

Well, Cooper would have to disagree with that.

“Hey, come here,” he told her as he stood.

Without waiting for her, he moved to the sound system that was hidden in a panel on one end of the bar. He ran through the menu of songs until he found the playlist he was looking for and then hit play.

Moving back to Tessa, he took her hand and pulled her out onto the dance floor. She was smiling up at him, and the carefree look on her face was so rare, it stole his breath.

Pulling her in close, Cooper removed her hat, placing it on the edge of the stage before sliding one hand in hers, the other around her waist. With their bodies aligned so intimately, he had to look down to see her, but even with their height difference, they fit together like puzzle pieces. He prayed she didn’t feel the effect she had on him, but he couldn’t very well help it. They had been doing this figurative dance for more than two weeks now and honestly, Cooper was looking forward to getting his hands on her again. Even innocently.

Although his hands weren’t thinking anything innocent at the moment.

“Are you trying to tell me something, Krenshaw?”

“Me? I don’t have any idea what you’re talkin’ about,” he replied, smiling. Cooper knew she was referring to the song, and yes, he could never go wrong with Conway Twitty.

“You think you’re sly, don’t you?”

Sly or not, Cooper didn’t want to move from where he was. They danced slowly around the floor, two stepping although their feet barely moved. This was as close as they’d been since the night that he kissed her, and the feel of her soft, smooth fingers entwined with his, the crush of her breasts against his torso, were exactly how he remembered. Better even.

While the song referred to laying her down, Cooper was perfectly content with being upright. Hell, he wasn’t particular about how they went about it, he just wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep going another minute without kissing her. When the next song he had selected queued, Cooper knew his control would be shot in less than thirty seconds.

“Let me guess? You and Jason Aldean are friends?” Tessa asked as she stared up at the man whose arm was wrapped around her back, the heat of his hand scorching her skin even through her shirt.

“And what if we are?” he smirked.

They were so close, not even a breath would fit between them, yet Tessa’s body was screaming for more. Not that she would ask. It wasn’t what good girls did and quite frankly, Tessa was bound and determined to be a good girl. She’d spent the majority of her life being just the opposite. And for some reason, with Cooper, she didn’t want him to know that side of her. Despite her better judgment, she didn’t want to send him running. She had a feeling he’d be deciding to do that on his own before too long.

The way his intense brown eyes watched her, made her mouth go dry. When she used her tongue to moisten her bottom lip, she felt his body tense and suddenly, Tessa prayed he’d get the hint. If he didn’t kiss her soon, she was almost certain her body would spontaneously combust.

He picked an incredibly fitting song and suddenly not talking anymore sounded like an extremely good plan to her too. When Cooper leaned closer, pressing his lips to hers, Tessa held her breath while praying he would lose the perfect gentleman act for at least a few minutes. She wanted this man to sweep her off of her feet.

Seconds later, that’s exactly what he did.

Suddenly they weren’t moving anymore. They were both rooted in place, their hands had taken up the part of their feet as they touched and tasted as though they’d been waiting for this day.

She had.

Tessa lost her ability to think when Cooper’s tongue slid into her mouth, his taste sending her body into hyperspace as she wrapped her arms around his neck, looping her fingers into the soft, silky hair at the nape of his neck, just beneath his cowboy hat. When Cooper pulled her even closer, his hips subtly grinding into hers, she moaned.

“Lord, woman, if you keep doing that, I’m going to forget how to be a gentleman,” Cooper said breathlessly.

Tessa stared back at him. At this point, she didn’t give a damn what they did, but if he didn’t put his mouth back on hers, she might just scream. “You talk too much.”

That mischievous, crooked grin sent tingles racing through her bloodstream, taking brief breaks along the way to explode in her belly and then linger between her legs.

“Well, you don’t have to tell me twice.”

Tessa squealed when Cooper lifted her off of her feet, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist, the evidence of his arousal pressing intimately between her thighs and causing her to groan seconds before his mouth was once again on hers. This time, Tessa knocked his hat from his head and held him in place, not allowing him to get away from her until she got her fill. Based on the way he kissed, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever get enough.

Her back hit the solid wall, and yet she still didn’t allow him to get away. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t let go because she wanted more of him. Her body had a mind of its own, and she was grinding herself against his erection, his groans matching hers as he pressed her firmly against the wall, his hands bracketing her ass as he held her in place.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked when they both came up for air a few minutes later. “What you’ve done to me since the very first time I laid eyes on you?”

“I’ve got some idea,” she whispered, her eyes darting from his lips to his eyes and then back again. Tessa watched his mouth, her brain on a single track with one destination in mind, and she feared that, if she allowed him to keep talking, they weren’t going to get there.

Cooper’s mouth returned, but this time he sent sparks of fire trailing down her neck in the path of his lips as he kissed and sucked her skin, making her damn near come apart at the seams.

The intelligent part of her brain told her that she shouldn’t be doing this, but the other part, the part ruled by her hormones, told her not to care. She’d spent too long waiting for him to kiss her again. She had gone without for even longer and just having his hands on her would probably be enough.

“Darlin’, as much as I don’t want this to stop, I fear if we don’t, you won’t like me all that much in the mornin’.” Cooper’s words were a breath against her ear.

“I don’t care about liking you. As long as you keep doing that,” Tessa groaned, her head falling back so he could have better access to her neck.

“See, that’s where we differ,” he said with a chuckle between kisses. “I’m very interested in you liking me.”

Cooper’s lips were close to her ear once again, and a shiver raced down her spine. Tessa wasn’t sure she was going to survive this. She wasn’t a virgin by any means, but never in her life had a man’s voice appealed to her so much. Not to mention his hands on her.

“Well, I can assure you that I like what you’re doing,” Tessa whispered back to him, turning her head so she could bite his earlobe with her teeth. The guttural growl that rose up from his chest had moisture pooling between her legs.

“That’s a start. I plan to do so many more things to you that I want you to like.”

Tessa could hear the “but” in his tone. He was going to stop, and she so didn’t want him to. She didn’t even want to think about what that said about her.

“I’d just prefer we had a place that was a little less… public. One where I could take my time because I want to run my tongue over every inch of your body.”

Oh, God yes! Tessa’s body tightened at his words. If he actually said something dirty to her, she couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t have a mind blowing orgasm right there, fully dressed.

“And?” Her question was meant to spur him on.

“And what?” Cooper pulled back, and she could once again see his mischievous grin. “Tell me what you want me to do to you, Tessa.”

Oh how the tables had turned and absolutely not in her favor. Tessa didn’t have a problem telling him exactly what she wanted, but she knew from experience that could very well backfire in her face and she wasn’t looking to be the talk of the town over the way she had let loose with a guy.

He must have realized she wasn’t going to answer him because Cooper’s mouth once again pressed against hers, his tongue lightly tracing her bottom lip as she moaned in pleasure.

“When I get you somewhere private,” he began, trailing that exquisite mouth across her jaw, “I’m going to tell you all the things I plan to do to you. As I do them.”

Holy hell. Tessa wanted to take him back to her place. One night of sexual bliss was all she needed to cure the dry spell, and she would have Cooper Krenshaw out of her system.

“But, not tonight.” Cooper pulled back, looking into her eyes, and that glimmer of passion said he knew what she had been thinking.

Tessa groaned half-heartedly. She was grateful that the man seemed to have some sort of restraint because she was quickly learning that, with him, she had none.

Cooper wasn’t sure how much more of her he could handle before he was reduced to a horny teenage boy who couldn’t control himself.

He was holding Tessa in his arms, her body pressed against his, her legs wrapped around his waist and even through his jeans, he could feel the heat of her sex against his aching cock.