Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

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.

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 maybe 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.

“Coop’s gonna buy Old Man Deluth’s farm,” Adam said out of the blue and Tessa damn near spilled her coffee in her lap.

What the fuck?

“What do you mean he’s gonna buy it?”

“Just what I said,” Adam answered, one eyebrow cocking as he looked back at her before his gaze transferred to Cooper.

That wasn’t even possible. Cooper could not be buying the Deluth farm because Tessa was buying it. She’d been paying Old Man… er… Jerry Deluth for several years, a little at a time until she had enough for the down payment so she could take over the rest of the payments. It was an agreement they had made a very long time ago, before...

Before Jerry passed away two months ago.

Tessa frowned as she peered at Cooper. She’d still been making the payments like clockwork.

Surely, Adam had to be wrong.

First of all, why would the famous country music star want to live in Devil’s Bend? For some reason that did not sound like a good idea, and Tessa knew it wasn’t just because of her intense attraction to the man.

Hold up… that wasn’t the point. Regardless.

“I wouldn’t say it’s much of a farm anymore,” Cooper added, grinning at Adam. “Maybe one day, but right now, it’s more of a shamble of a house and two hundred forty acres of weeds.”

Tessa smiled despite herself at the way he enunciated the words, sounding very much like he was born and raised in the south. And definitely not from Texas. She wondered if he’d come by his drawl naturally or if it had been developed for his country music persona.

Realizing she wasn’t supposed to be smiling, she forced her attention back to Adam. “When did this happen?”

“Talk to him,” Adam told her. “He’s the one buying the place.”

“But…” Wait. No. Tessa was not going to mention the fact that she had a stake in that place. After all, she’d never told Adam that she was buying it for a reason. And thankfully her brother Jack had kept her secret as well. She wasn’t looking for a hand out, and she knew all too well that Adam would’ve tried to jump to her rescue, especially after Richie died.

There had to be a mistake, and as soon as she got the chance, she was going to call Luanne Deluth Rosenbough and talk to her.

“What do you plan to do with it?” Tessa asked, glancing Cooper’s way briefly. Her throat felt tight and her eyes stung from unshed tears, but she fought them back. She refused to get emotional until she had all the facts.

“It needs some work, and it’ll probably take me some time to build it up, but ultimately I’d like to turn it into a fully functioning farm. As a side venture, I’m looking to build an equestrian center. I’ve always wanted to use horses to work with disabled children and adults.”

Tessa knew her jaw was hanging open, knew she shouldn’t stare at him as though he’d just admitted that his dream was the exact same dream she’d been chasing ever since she was a child, but she couldn’t help it.

“Hey, that’s funny. Tessa wanted to do that when she was a kid,” Adam offered.

She still wanted it, but Adam didn’t know that.

So if Adam hadn’t said anything, then that left… Had Luanne told Cooper what Tessa was planning to do? Was this some kind of joke? Or payback?

Tessa had to force her jaw to relax when she realized she was grinding her teeth together.

“Really?” Cooper sounded as though he was hearing the news for the first time. Didn’t mean she wasn’t still suspicious of what his overall objective was. What were the odds that he came to Devil’s Bend, bought the property she was in the process of buying and planned to build the exact same thing? Something was off here.

“So, what?” Tessa realized she sounded frustrated. “You bring him all the way out here to tell me he wants to run a horse farm?”

Adam frowned down at her, and Tessa bit the inside of her cheek as she turned to stare out into the yard. Yes, it was somewhat of a sore spot that she spent her nights slinging beers in a bar, even if she owned said bar while others were out making their dreams come true. She might not be able to make her dream come true overnight, but she was working on it.

“No, I brought Coop out here because I wanted to know what you thought of him handling the entertainment at The Rusty Nail.”

Tessa stared up at Adam once again, confusion replacing the frustration from moments ago.

“You want him to sing in the bar every night?” Turning to face Cooper, she asked him, “And you’d want to do that? I thought you were a big country star.”

Adam laughed, pulling her attention back to him. “No, I don’t think Coop would be interested in becoming a permanent nightly fixture at The Rusty Nail. He, however, would be good for business.”