Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

“How about tonight?” she asked, glancing back and forth between him and her brother. She was obviously changing the subject and Cooper was grateful for that.

“Tonight’s good.” He was in the process of buying the Deluth farm, which meant he had some time to kill before he could actually move in and get started. Working at the bar would help him to get familiar with the people in town, as well as give him something to do with his spare time. And the added bonus was that Cooper now had an excuse to spend more time with Tessa.

“It’s settled then,” Adam’s smile looked both satisfied and concerned, but Cooper didn’t say anything more.

There would apparently be plenty of time to figure out how this was supposed to work.

Cooper wasn’t sure what Adam’s idea of settled was, but clearly it wasn’t the same as his, that was for damn sure.

Several hours later, he was sitting on a stool in The Rusty Nail, doing absolutely nothing except talking to anyone who approached him. When he had asked Tessa what it was that he could do to help out, she’d flat out told him to do what he did best. When he simply stared at her, she had followed it up by telling him to find a chair and look pretty.

He’d laughed it off at first. Until he realized she was serious.

The bar was slowly filling up, although he noticed they didn’t have quite the impressive turnout as the night before. There wasn’t an act on stage, but Cooper’s mind was whirling with possibilities. If he was going to be in charge of the entertainment, he was going to ensure that every Friday and Saturday night had live music. Why the hell shouldn’t they have someone on stage drawing in the crowds? There was plenty of new talent that would love the opportunity to play in front of these people. And he had a few friends who would surely get a kick out of playing in the small town bar.

To his surprise, he’d found out that The Rusty Nail was only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. When he asked Adam for the reason, he was told that they didn’t bring in enough business during the week. Devil’s Bend was a small town, and it was saying something that they managed to draw in a lot of their patrons from the bigger neighboring towns. Based on Adam’s explanation, Tessa liked the part time schedule.

“Hey, handsome,” a sultry voice sounded from behind him and Cooper turned to see a tall, willowy brunette standing within just a few inches of him.

Cooper smiled at her, giving her a slow once over. Before she said another word, he was already predicting how this conversation would go. Had he been just a random cowboy in a bar, he’d at least have the pleasure of going through the preliminaries with a woman, but he doubted this conversation was going to go that way.

When the brunette’s hand quickly trailed up his thigh, he couldn’t hide his grin. Too easy.

“What do ya say we get outta here for a while?” she asked, batting her fake eyelashes and letting her hand wander freely as though he’d actually invited her to touch him.

“Why would I want to do that, ma’am? I just got here.” Considering he had nothing else to do, he figured he might as well indulge her for a few minutes. After all, he didn’t want to be rude. He just wasn’t interested.

It wasn’t that the woman wasn’t pretty. She was. But, based on her wandering hand, he could tell there was another man who thought so too if her wedding band was anything to go by.

She giggled, and Cooper fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“But, I think I could find us a place a little more private if you know what I mean.”

What? No dinner and drinks? No candlelight and romance? A night out at the movies? Shit, Cooper knew chivalry wasn’t dead, but based on some of the come on lines he got he was beginning to wonder whether courting a woman was even necessary anymore.

“I’m not sure I do,” he told her.

The crease in her forehead told him that she wasn’t used to rejection, but Cooper had no intention of going home with any woman he met. Not tonight or otherwise. He’d spent the better part of the last decade doing exactly that and look where it’d gotten him. Right here on this barstool with another random woman looking for a quick hookup.

“Lacey, you know your husband’s gonna be here soon. He ain’t gonna be too happy that you’re on the prowl, and I’m not looking for another altercation tonight.”

Saved by the bartender.

Cooper noticed Eric watching the woman with the wandering hand carefully from across the bar top. The look on his face said he wasn’t at all impressed with whatever she was up to. It didn’t take long for her to get the hint and Cooper watched as she marched away, putting a little sway in her backside as she did.

“Thanks.” Cooper turned back to face the bar, grabbing the beer Eric placed there.

“No problem. You’ll want to watch out for that one.”

Cooper didn’t need the warning, but he tipped his hat at Eric anyway.

“So, I figured there’d be paparazzi chasing you down by now,” Eric said, leaning his forearms on the bar.

“Let’s just say, I’m MIA at the moment.” Cooper hadn’t even told his manager where he was going when he disappeared. His phone was currently turned off for the simple reason that he didn’t feel like explaining himself. And because he was pretty sure Marcus had outfitted it with GPS.

When he woke up that morning, shortly after he told Adam he’d meet him at the café in half an hour, he had made a half ass attempt at checking his voicemails, but Marcus’ messages quickly became repetitive – he was ruining his career, he was walking away from fame and fortune, he couldn’t be serious – so he had deleted them all and hadn’t thought about them again until now.

“Well, considering the word is out that you were here last night, I figure it won’t be long before the country is aware of where you are. I can only assume it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

No, it probably wasn’t, but for the time being, no one would know that he was staying in Devil’s Bend, just that he had been seen there. Not that he actually gave a shit. The only thing he wanted to do was sit right on his bar stool and look at the cute bartender who was doing her damnedest to avoid him at all costs. Cooper found it amusing that she barely spoke to him, although he was almost certain he had caught her sneaking a peak a time or two.

“You’re not being hounded by the locals either?” Eric asked, obviously trying to make conversation.

Grinning, Cooper glanced over at Tessa, then back at Eric. “Not much, no. I signed a couple of autographs this morning at the café down the road, but for the most part, they kept their distance.”

“Interesting,” Eric said as though contemplating what that meant.

Cooper knew it meant that either people didn’t recognize him, or being this was a small town, they were just used to keeping to themselves. He let his gaze stray down the bar to land on Tessa who was watching him. When their eyes met, she instantly turned to face Eric.

“I’m gonna take a break,” Tessa said, not looking back at him.

Cooper kept his gaze trained on her as she moved out from behind the bar, then he followed the sensual sway of her hips with his eyes as she moved toward the hallway at the back. He thought about giving her some space… for all of about fifteen seconds.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to talk to her, he informed Eric that he would be back and headed in the same direction she had. He wasn’t sure whether she had disappeared into the restroom or out through the exit door, so he opted to check the latter. He was interested in talking to her, but following her into the bathroom was pushing it a bit too far. A quick peek out the door told him that his luck hadn’t run out on him yet.

“Hey,” he greeted, closing the door behind him quietly so as not to alert anyone inside that someone had gone out.

Tessa looked somewhat startled, but she quickly masked her expression, her eyes darting away. When she didn’t say anything, he moved closer, standing directly in front of where she was leaning, one booted foot flat against the wall. She still didn’t look at him.

“Hey, you ok?” he asked, tipping her chin until she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. Surprisingly, she didn’t pull away as he expected.

Her soft green gaze met his and Cooper’s heart squeezed in his chest when he realized there were tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Not that he expected her to talk to him, but he couldn’t very well leave her out here when she appeared so upset. She probably wanted him to, but Cooper wasn’t built that way. If she asked him to go, he’d go. Until then, she was stuck with him.

“Nothing,” she said with a forced smile.

So she clearly wasn’t going to open up. Then again, why would she? She didn’t know him. Still, he made it his mission to try and remove those tears that were threatening to fall.

“Ahhh, I get it,” he said, forcing himself to sound serious.

“You get what?” Those brilliant sea green eyes fixed on his, and her curiosity got the best of her.

“If you’re worried about that ol’ married gal inside, you don’t have to.”

That made her laugh at least.

“Trust me, I’m not worried about Lacey. She’s been around the block more times than a school bus. I’d warn you away from her, but who you spend your time with isn’t any of my business.”

“What if I want it to be?” The question came out before he gave the words permission to escape.

“Well, don’t.” Clearly a warning.

Cooper still had his finger and thumb on her chin, and he wondered if she even noticed. He damn sure did. Where his fingertips touched her skin, a flash of heat sparked just beneath the surface.