Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

Damn that Marcus.

“You need to leave her alone,” Eric ground out, his eyes spitting fire.

Cooper sighed heavily. He didn’t want to do this right now. He appreciated the defensive friend routine, but he needed to talk to Tessa before she had time to come up with a million scenarios that weren’t even close to the truth.

“I just need to talk to her,” Cooper explained, trying to keep his composure. He was already pissed off, the last thing he needed was to go rounds with someone he would like to consider a friend.

“Give her a break.” Eric’s tone was almost pleading. “She’s been down this road before and I don’t want to see her go through it again.”

Down what road? Cooper doubted Eric had a clue what actually went on, but he wasn’t going to hang around and try to explain either.

“I’m out,” Cooper declared as he retrieved his truck keys from his pocket and headed back in the direction he came in. More than likely, Eric was going to warn Tessa that he was coming, but he didn’t have much of a choice. If she wasn’t at her house when he got there, he didn’t have any problems waiting for her until she showed up.

Ten minutes later he was pulling into Tessa’s driveway. Her truck was there. And so was she because he could see her sitting on the front porch. With Izzy.

Great. Not exactly what he wanted to have to deal with tonight. If Eric was defensive, he could only imagine what her best friend was going to be like.

Taking his time and trying to collect his thoughts, Cooper slowly got out of the truck. Not that it mattered because the second his feet hit the ground, Izzy was standing directly in front of him. He ground his back teeth together, reluctant to say anything until he got the chance to talk to Tessa first.

“You need to talk to her,” Izzy said, sounding surprisingly calm. “I don’t know what happened, and don’t ask me why, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.”

Staring down at the tiny woman, Cooper battled the urge to glance over at Tessa.

“You don’t know all that she’s been through, but I can assure you that it’s more than she ever should have. I don’t know what she is to you, but… Just make this right, Cooper.”

The plea in Izzy’s voice clutched at Cooper’s heart. He nodded his head in understanding, unable to find any words. He waited as she turned to go back toward her house, but before he moved even one step, Izzy was turning back to him.

“Oh! And she’s drunk. So, um… good luck with that!”

Why did it sound like Izzy was laughing at him?

Cooper didn’t make any sudden movements. He took his time getting to the porch, petting the dogs when they came out to greet him. Surprisingly, Tessa was still sitting on the porch swing, but she had yet to look his way.

Drunk, huh? This was going to be interesting.

As he approached the porch, he said hello but was met with silence. So she was going to be stubborn as well? Why would that surprise him? Figuring he’d let her be the first to say something, he moved up the stairs and then propped himself up against one of the cedar posts that held up the roof over the porch. He never took his eyes off of Tessa, unless glancing down to see the half empty bottle of vodka sitting on the ground by her feet counted.

“Did you have a good conversation with Marcus?” she asked after several long minutes of silence.

“I don’t think you could describe it as good, but yeah, I talked to him,” he answered honestly.

“So when are you leaving town?” she asked, her words coming out slurred. She might appear to be stone cold sober, but she was certainly intoxicated. That was likely the reason she hadn’t stood up yet. He’d bet money that her world would tip sideways once she did.

He waited until she looked at him before he answered. “I’m not going anywhere, Tessa.” It was the truth. As far as he was concerned, Devil’s Bend was his new home and he had no intention of leaving.

He was going to wait for his father to call him back next week to figure out the logistics, but he’d been adamant that this was where he wanted to be. Then again, if Tessa tossed him to the curb, Cooper might have to rethink that decision. As sure as he looked at her now, he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to spend the rest of his life in the same town as she was if he couldn’t have her all to himself.

“Well, you should. Probably a nice woman waiting for you in the next town you sneak off to.”

Cooper didn’t say anything. That’s the story Marcus had told her and right now, with her being drunk, he knew it wasn’t going to go well if he told her the truth. Which he fully intended to do. Tomorrow. When she woke up beside him.

“I’ve got some things to explain to you, Tessa,” he began and held up his hand when she started to interrupt. “And I fully intend to explain, but not tonight. Not like this.”

“So why’d you come here then?” she asked, her words running together more.

When she reached for the bottle of vodka, Cooper intervened, stopping her. She’d had more than enough. “This isn’t going to help, and you know it,” he told her, holding her hand in his as he leaned over her.

Without waiting for permission, which he knew he wouldn’t get anyway, Cooper settled onto the swing beside her, pulling her against him. When she started to fight him, he held her tighter. “Don’t,” he commanded softly. “Just sit here with me.”

The alcohol’s effect was probably the only thing that kept her there, but Cooper considered it a win. He’d have hell to pay tomorrow, but for now, he was going to hold her. That’s all he wanted to do anyway.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Ok, so the morning after a vodka binge could not be categorized as a good time. Not that the night before was anything to write home about either.

Unwilling to open her eyes, Tessa snuggled into her blankets, wishing like hell she’d thought to take aspirin before she went to sleep. But then again, she might have. She was so lit, she didn’t even remember coming inside. The last conscious memory was of Cooper showing up at her house, but she was pretty sure she sent him on his way.

When nature called a few minutes later, Tessa knew her morning was about to go from bad to worse. Why shouldn’t it? That seemed to be a pattern for things these days.

She had to get out of bed which meant the room was going to spin, and she was probably going to get to scrutinize her last cleaning job up close when she made friends with the toilet.

Forcing her feet over the side of the bed, she felt the mattress shift, and she knew then and there that it was worse than she thought. Once she was vertical, she grabbed onto her dresser and made her way down the hall to the bathroom. Someone must’ve been looking out for her because she didn’t get sick like she thought. After doing her business, Tessa splashed cold water on her face as she stared at herself in the mirror.

“You look like hell, woman,” she mumbled to the reflection, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her crazy hair. “That’ll teach you not to fall for a man. It never gets you anywhere. You should know by now that karma has it out for you.”

When a throat cleared from the doorway, Tessa nearly fell flat on her face into the sink. She whirled around to see Cooper standing in the doorway of her bathroom looking impossibly sexy. He was shirtless, his jeans unbuttoned but zipped and his feet bare.

She had to blink twice before her brain accepted that what she was seeing was not just a figment of her imagination. Her mouth felt like she’d been sucking on cotton, but somehow she managed to force the words out. “Why are you here?”

Cooper didn’t say a word and that was when Tessa remembered what she’d just said. Out loud. To herself. Shit.

He’d heard her talking to herself. Glancing down at the floor, she contemplated what would happen if the tile would open up and swallow her. At least she wouldn’t have to face him this morning. It seemed that the alcohol had diluted her anger, and now she was left with confusion.

She stared at the man standing in her bathroom door, watched as he walked over to her shower and turned on the water. Well, it was nice of him to make himself at home. Shouldn’t he be leaving? And why was she having this conversation inside her head, rather than with him?

Before she could ask him directly, she felt his warm hand on hers as he pulled her closer. And just like that, all of her memories from the night before flooded back: her conversation with Marcus, hearing that Cooper was a serial runner who shacked up with various women from time to time when he felt like his world was overwhelming him too much… Crap.

“Don’t,” Cooper demanded, his voice hard and firm.

Tessa’s eyes flew up to meet his at the same time her fight or flight instinct kicked in, and she was geared up to fight him with everything that she had.

“Don’t you dare tell me –” She didn’t get the sentence finished before Cooper had pulled her into the narrow bathtub with him, both of them fully dressed. Ok, not fully, Tessa realized as she glanced down, remembering that she didn’t have on her jeans. She was confident she’d been wearing them the night before. If not, she was definitely going to have to lay off the vodka in the future.

Cooper disconnected the handheld sprayer from the wall and aimed it at her head, soaking her hair and making her sputter water. “What the hell are you doing?”

And then his mouth was on hers, his hard body pressed against her front while the cold tile met her back. Despite her brain’s insistence that she push him away, her hands had other ideas. She found herself pulling him closer, the warmth of the water running over her skin while she attempted to devour him.