Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) (2 page)

Tessa
spared the voice a glance, but she couldn’t see over the sea of heads standing
around, so she returned to pouring beer, taking money and making change.

The
disembodied voice continued talking, and Tessa smiled at the sweet, sexy drawl
that drifted through the room. He gave a brief introduction, followed by casual
conversation with a few people in the audience, and Tessa decided immediately
that she liked the intimate sound of his voice. Especially his laugh. Hearing
his voice in person was a lot different than on the radio.

Managing
a bar in the middle of nowhere, Tessa had the pleasure of meeting a few future
hopefuls, but not generally anyone who actually had made a name for themself.
Tonight’s entertainment was an exception. Granted, in the last year, Adam had
raised the bar on the talent he brought in, but to have set it this high, Tessa
was amazed.

Screaming
and carrying on from the cowboys and cowgirls reacting to Cooper’s presence was
once again quickly building to a dull roar and Tessa forced herself to tune out
the noise. Over the years, she’d become successful at drowning out the steady
rumble of voices and music, mainly because her sanity required her to. She
couldn’t help but wonder what kind of guy could garner this much enthusiasm.

From
what she knew of Cooper Krenshaw, thanks to the stories Adam had told her, he
was an old friend from college. Even though Cooper had made it big in the
country music world, Adam still kept in touch with him on a regular basis. Adam
never did give her a viable reason why Cooper was in Devil’s Bend though.
Seemed odd that he was just passing through their tiny neck of the woods or
that he was just craving the scenery. And she seriously doubted his busy schedule
would just allow him to make the trek this far south to play here.

But
she didn’t really need a reason, and based on the scene in front of her, the
crowd was more than thrilled that he’d made an appearance. The women obviously
liked him if their screams and catcalls were anything to go by. Tessa knew
of
Cooper Krenshaw, had seen pictures in magazines, but since she wasn’t much into
music – country or otherwise – she couldn’t have named even one single song of
his. Most of her downtime was spent listening to the comforting serenity that
being outside in the country afforded her. After nights like this, her eardrums
thanked her for it.

Listening
to him chat and laugh with the fans, Tessa realized she could get onboard with
this guy’s voice. Very sensual. Seductive even.

“All
right, all right. I’m sure you’re tired of listenin’ to me ramble. I’ll get on
with it.” The voice somehow managed to calm the group again and the deep, rusty
chuckle that followed had Tessa’s head popping up. Despite her disinterest, his
voice had a strange effect on her.

“This
is something new I’ve been working on in my spare time. Let me know what you
think,” he continued, a few brief guitar strums followed and then the crowd was
eerily quiet. The sound always surprised her.

As all
of the heads in the room turned to face the stage, Tessa realized they’d
stopped demanding alcohol, and she shot Eric a smile, noticing he still didn’t
appear ruffled. He was a patient man, she would give him that. Considering he
had to put up with her best friend Izzy on a daily basis, he had to be.

Knowing
he could handle what few customers they might have in the next minute or two,
Tessa snuck out from behind the bar and over to the long wooden shelf along the
south wall that was a catchall for empty beer bottles. Not seeing Katie
anywhere, she decided to help the girl out by disposing of what she could while
the masses were engrossed in the man now crooning out a slow, country love
song.

Grabbing
a handful of bottles, Tessa eased through a few cowboys lining the outer edges
of the room to one of the large barrels used for trash. Interesting how they
couldn’t seem to find it on their own, she thought to herself. Tossing the
bottles in as quietly as she could, Tessa looked up, noticing the man on stage
for the first time.

She
couldn’t see much of his face which was in the shadow of the black Stetson
sitting low on his head and covering most of his features as he looked down at
the ladies in the front row. What she could see was an incredibly well developed
torso, clad perfectly in a dark gray t-shirt that clung deliciously to a set of
well-defined pecs.

It
somewhat baffled her how many hot, well-built cowboys graced her stage week
after week. A dime a dozen they were. It was just unfortunate that they all
came with an ego the size of Texas and more baggage than the TSA handled in a
week.

Cooper
Krenshaw could’ve performed all night in a place like this. The scent of
sawdust and hardwood drifted up as a handful of people at the edge of the stage
began slow dancing on the cramped dance floor, making him smile as he belted
out the tune, enjoying the happy faces he could see peering up from the floor
below. The last time he’d played for a crowd this small had been several years
back at a rodeo down in Austin which seemed like an eternity ago.

These
days, his songs were blasted through amphitheaters and stages that would rival
most football stadiums and they lacked the intimacy he found in a place like
this. In fact, it had been his last concert in Chicago that Cooper found
himself escaping as soon as his last set was complete because he couldn’t seem
to shake that disconnected feeling. Without even talking to his manager, Cooper
had set out on the road, nowhere bound. He hadn’t known where he was headed
until he reached the Texas border. It was then that he gave his buddy Adam
Dryden a call and beat feet toward Central Texas.

Having
met Adam during his first year at the University of Texas, he managed to keep
in touch with him through the years despite the chaotic lifestyle Cooper found
himself wrapped up in. Something had clicked between them from the moment they
met, and keeping in touch with Adam had given Cooper a way to ground himself to
his roots. A gentle reminder of where it all started. 

Their
conversation hadn’t been a long one, but when Adam mentioned he was looking for
some local talent to play his small town bar, Cooper found himself aching for
something a bit more relaxed than an arena filled with screaming women and knew
Adam’s proposal was right up his alley.

That’s
how he ended up in Devil’s Bend, Texas for the last week and a half. Until
tonight, he’d been hiding out at a modest motel when he wasn’t checking out the
local real estate.

This
small town setting was a far cry from what he was used to but undeniably more
in line with where he had come from. More in line with what had sparked his
interested in the early stages of his career. In his early twenties, once he
was picked up by a record label, he’d been blown away by the attention and
chaos, inspired by it even.

Not
so much anymore.

At
thirty-one, after nearly eight years on the road full time, Cooper was ready to
slow down. Significantly. After just a few minutes on stage, he realized this
was more his pace these days. Not that his manager would agree with him, but
then again, Marcus Evergreen didn’t think he could do much thinking for himself
anymore at all.

“What’d
you think?” he asked the crowd when his song came to an end. The group erupted
in catcalls and whistles, clapping and laughter, and the excitement seeped into
his blood. Truthfully, he hadn’t felt that heart wrenching rush of adrenaline
in quite some time.

Glancing
around the room, Cooper made eye contact with both women and men, smiling as
the group began tossing out suggestions. As was usually the case, most of the
requests seemed to go back to one of his early albums, back when he had fun
doing this night after night. It seemed as though some of what he’d valued was
lost along the way. Probably one of the reasons he was working his way back to
his roots once again.

A
shrill voice caught his attention, and his eyes darted back to the area closest
to the bar. Before he could pinpoint where the sound came from, his gaze had
landed on a stunning blonde maneuvering her way through the swarm of people.
When the woman stopped and looked up at him, their eyes met for a brief second
before she abruptly turned away, fleeing deeper into the crowd. Thanks to his
position on the stage, he managed to track her until she slid behind the bar,
leaning up to talk to another man standing there.

“Play
Cowgirl in my Dreams
,” one woman shouted from close to the stage and
Cooper tore his eyes off of the mystery woman in the back, glancing over to
where the request had come from.

“Yes,
ma’am.” Readjusting his guitar, Cooper started the song, falling back into the
music, letting himself get lost in the memories of a different time. This was
what he’d been searching for these last few months. This was exactly what he
was looking to find again.

Forty-five
minutes later, Cooper was ready for a break. And a beer. Not necessarily in
that order either.

He
informed the group that he’d be back shortly, secured his guitar in an area at
the back of the stage and moved down the steps. The instant his feet hit the
hardwood dance floor, he was inundated with women flocking to his side, an
influx of chatter making his head pound. They didn’t seem to mind that they
were invading his personal space, hanging on him even as he tried to keep moving.

With
a smile on his face, he worked his way through the group, trying his best to
answer questions, offering a couple of hugs, posing for more than a few
pictures before he finally reached the bar. He just wanted a beer. And maybe a
few minutes of quiet. He wasn’t going to get the latter, but from the looks of
it, the former was on its way thanks to the man behind the bar nodding in his
direction.

A
beefy hand clapped him on the shoulder and Cooper turned to see who it was,
coming face to face with Adam Dryden.

“Hey,
man.” Holding out his hand, he waited for Adam to shake it before tipping his
hat slightly on his head.

“How’s
it goin’?” Adam asked, having to speak louder just so Cooper could hear him.

A
group of women were trying desperately to get his attention and Cooper was
doing his best to be polite. He’d gotten used to the demand on his time, but he
found it difficult to turn his attention away from someone he knew personally
for a group who assumed he owed them his undivided attention.

“Why
don’t we go to my office?” Adam offered, and Cooper didn’t hesitate before
nodding his head in agreement.

Grabbing
his beer bottle from the bar, he fell into step behind Adam. Sheer
determination was the only thing that got them through the crowd, but once they
did, Cooper found himself following his friend up a set of stairs at the far
back of the room. Just when he thought they were going to have company, a
hulking man insinuated his bulk between the gaggle of women and the cramped
stairwell.

“Mr.
Krenshaw will be back down shortly, ladies,” he told the group, making Cooper
smile.

Mr.
Krenshaw.
Shit.
That was funny. At thirty-one, he certainly didn’t feel
like a
mister
.

At
the top of the dimly lit stairwell was a door that read “Private” on a plaque
haphazardly glued to the wood. Adam used a key to gain access and Cooper
followed him, successfully shutting out the majority of the noise once inside.

“Damn,
man. You sure know how to draw a crowd,” Adam stated as he moved across the
room to a large window. He twisted a plastic stick and the cheap wood blinds
turned, offering them a view of the scene below.

“It’s
a curse.” The words tumbled out before he could think better of it.

Ok,
so truthfully it was a blessing, but Cooper wasn’t feeling it these days. The
words were an honest reflection of his mood, but he’d grown accustomed to
keeping a filter on his thoughts until recently. Cooper hoped he sounded as
though he was joking, but for some reason he wasn’t all that worried whether
Adam knew the truth. He
was
beginning to feel as though it was a curse.

He
wasn’t sure when he’d stopped being grateful for all of the fame that came
along with his career, but in recent months, he was finding it harder and
harder to want to keep moving forward. Instead, he found himself wanting to
sneak out early, disappear on his own and find the solitude that had been
lacking in his life for years.

His
manager told him it was a phase that he’d be over soon. Cooper wasn’t so sure
that was the case. Sure, he was thankful for his success, especially after he’d
worked his ass off to get where he was, but Cooper was beginning to feel
disconnected. As though he wanted more, but wasn’t sure what that
more
even was.

Hitting
the big time and becoming a country music star might’ve been his original
intention when he was a teenager, but he hadn’t known what all it entailed.
Somewhere along the way, he felt as though he’d lost a part of himself. And
despite all of the fans and the interactions, he couldn’t seem to shake the
feeling of being alone that had started haunting him lately.

Cooper
moved up close to the window, standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with Adam in
the confined space, downing half of his beer as he took in the silence while
watching the overabundance of bodies below. His eyes landed on the woman he had
glimpsed earlier. She was moving gracefully as she worked behind the bar and he
found himself once again staring at her.

She
was short, much shorter than most of the people standing around her. He
couldn’t see much more than the snug black t-shirt that clung to her rather
impressive curves, but he found himself trying to get a glimpse of the rest.

She
looked like a country angel with her curly blonde hair pulled up into a
ponytail at the back of her head, the long strands falling down and over her
shoulders. He couldn’t make out much of her features from this distance, but it
was her dazzling white smile that captivated him. She was laughing with the man
behind the bar, serving up drinks like she was born to run the crowded place.

“You
meet my sister yet?” Adam asked, pulling Cooper from his visual assault of the
cute bartender’s sultry smile.

“Haven’t
met anyone, actually. I got here late, so I had to rush up on stage. The
Realtor you referred me to decided tonight was a terrific night to show me
another house.”

Adam
just nodded his head, his attention once again on the folks below. “What’d you
think of it?”

Cooper
was beginning to relax again as he watched what was going on down on the main
floor. There were still people coming in the door, and he was beginning to
wonder just how many people the place could actually hold. He couldn’t imagine
they’d be able to squeeze more than a couple hundred people between all four
walls, but from the looks of it, they had almost twice that.

“This
one is a little worse for wear than the one you mentioned. It needs more work,
but I’m definitely interested. Don’t think the price can be beat. Luckily, I’m
kinda handy.”

“A
fixer-upper, huh?” Adam smiled at him, then returned his gaze to the scene
below.

Fixer
upper was an understatement, but for the price, Cooper could see himself making
some serious progress on the house. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t have some extra
time on his hands.

And
the land…

The
property was almost double that of the one Adam had told him about. Hell, the
two hundred forty acres were more than worth it. He had plans for the land
which was the main draw of the property in the first place.

Movement
at the front of the room close to the bar caught Cooper’s attention, and he
looked over to see two men going chest to chest.

“Awww,
hell. I’ll be right back,” Adam said with a groan, obviously seeing the melee
that was about to erupt below.

As
much as Cooper wanted to enjoy the solitude for a few more minutes, his instincts
told him to follow Adam. The last thing he wanted was for a brawl to break out
in his friend’s bar because of him. This happened more often than he wished it
did. With this many women around, cowboys often had a hard time controlling
themselves. Testosterone was a heady thing.

Dropping
his now empty beer bottle in the trash can by the door, Cooper followed Adam,
matching his fast pace as they made their way back to the main floor. By the
time they reached the group, Cooper realized that the guy and the woman who had
been manning the bar earlier were already attempting to break up the fight.

“Not
here you don’t!” The sweet Texas twang of the woman’s words pierced something
deep inside of Cooper, heard loud and clear over the music battling for
attention in the overhead speakers. Cooper watched as the angel in blue jeans
stepped right between the two oversized men as though she were six feet tall
and bullet proof.

“Fuck
off, dickhead!” One of the men shouted to the other over the top of the
blonde’s head, ignoring her altogether.

Cooper
took a step closer, praying like hell this woman wasn’t about to get knocked
out by one of these assholes. His protective instinct suddenly kicked into high
gear as he watched her attempt to stay right in the middle.

“Uh-uh.
Not in here. This is your last warning, damnit!” The sassy cowgirl’s voice rose
even louder, her drawl crystal clear and, despite her irritation, Cooper found
he liked the sound of her voice as well as her spirit. A lot.

That’s
when the shoving match ensued and, much to Cooper’s dismay, the cowgirl was
pushed out of the way. Hard.

As
the fists began flying, he watched her stumble backward. Somehow he managed to
reach out and grab her before she crash-landed on the concrete floor at his
feet. As grunts and groans echoed in the small area, Cooper grabbed the girl,
pulling her out of the chaos, trying his best to shield her as the punches
landed, neither of the men caring who got in their way.