Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) (5 page)

“Do
you think she’ll ever be ok with it?” Adam asked, and Cooper merely stared back
at him. How would he know? Cooper had never known the type of loss that Tessa
had obviously experienced, but he couldn’t imagine it would be easy to deal
with.

A
second later, the screen door opened, and Tessa joined them on the porch, her
eyes red and puffy from crying. Cooper had a sudden need to go to her, to pull
her against him and shield her from all of the pains of the world.

He
kept his ass planted on the porch swing.

“How
about I go take a walk?” Cooper offered when neither sibling spoke.

“No,”
Tessa whispered. “Please stay. I’m sorry for…”

When
it looked like she was going to cry again, Adam moved toward her and pulled her
against his chest, holding her close. “I’m sorry, Sis. I know how hard this is
for you, but I need to do this.”

The
silence returned for a few minutes, and Cooper was beginning to feel even more
uncomfortable sitting there. He was an outsider looking in, and he felt as
though he wasn’t invited to witness what was transpiring between the siblings.

When
Tessa spoke, Cooper immediately looked away.

“I
know you need to do this,” she sobbed against Adam’s chest. “This has been your
dream. I get it.”

When
Tessa pulled back, the movement caught his attention and Cooper glanced over,
noticing the tears once again streaming down her pale cheeks as she continued.
“I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that. Doesn’t mean I won’t be scared
every minute of every day.”

Adam
sighed and pulled her back against him, leaving Cooper once again sitting on
the porch swing feeling like a third wheel who clearly shouldn’t be there.

“When
are you going?” she asked, taking a step back and staring at Adam, her hands
scrubbing away the wet streaks on her face.

God,
the woman did something to him. There was just something about her that made
Cooper want to grab her up and ease some of her pain. Even when her eyes were
swollen and her nose was red from crying, Tessa Donovan managed to steal his
breath.

Forcing
himself to look away, he stared out into the yard, watching the dogs napping in
the shade of an enormous oak tree as he listened to the conversation.

“The
next class starts next week. I’ve been accepted, so I don’t want to wait,” Adam
informed her, but then paused.

“What
aren’t you telling me?” Tessa asked.

Unable
to not look, Cooper glanced over at Adam again. The man appeared as though he
had some more unpleasant news to give Tessa and Cooper wished that the damn
porch would open up and swallow him whole. He did not want to be there for any
more unpleasant news. Hell, he didn’t think he should’ve been there for any
part of it at all.

Adam
smiled sadly as he looked down at his sister. “I’m going to Dallas.”

“What?
Why? Why not Austin?” Tessa questioned him, her eyes wide.

Ok,
so Cooper could guess at this one. Austin was obviously closer to Devil’s Bend
than Dallas. Like thirty minutes, as opposed to three hours.

“Austin
doesn’t have any openings for a while. I’m ready to do this, Tessa,” Adam said,
taking her hands as he shifted on his feet. “When and if I make it through the
academy, they’ll hire me on. At that point, I’ve got to give it a couple of
years, but then I promise, I’ll be back.”

“First
of all, there is no
if
.” Even as Tessa spoke, Cooper could see the tears
reforming in her eyes, but somehow she managed to hold them back. “I’ll miss
you.”

“I
know you will. Which is why I want Coop here to help you out at the bar. He’ll
be here permanently, and I know him, he’ll get bored.”

Bored?

Cooper
noticed that Tessa didn’t look his way. Not that he expected her to. If she
had, she might’ve seen the surprise on his face. At least he understood the
reason behind the random questions Adam had fired off earlier at breakfast.

Cooper
contemplated what Adam was saying, and he fought the urge to smile. He wasn’t
so sure he’d ever get bored with all the work that would have to be done on the
house he was in the process of buying, but he got the impression Adam knew
that. Instead of interjecting, Cooper sat quietly, continuing to watch the
exchange between Tessa and Adam.

There
was a series of emotions that played across her extremely expressive features,
but Tessa didn’t say another word to Adam. She stood there, her arms crossed
over her chest as she regarded her brother for long moments. Cooper wished he
knew what was going on in that pretty head of hers.

“So,
when do you plan to start?”

Realizing
the question was directed at him and that he’d been busted while he was
mentally noting every detail of her sweet, lithe body, Cooper glanced up to see
Tessa studying him.

“When
do you
want
me to start?” he asked.

He
had to admit, it felt a little strange to be accepting a job offer of this
sort, especially when his regular life in Nashville was still up in the air.
But it didn’t mean he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Whether
or not he would admit it to anyone directly, Cooper wasn’t just looking for a
place to start over. He was looking for something that was missing from his
life. Recent events had changed his course, and he needed something more than
what he was currently getting. According to Marcus, happiness came with a
price, but it seemed like the more he paid, the less he got.

Stardom
had its downside and one of them was the loneliness that came along with it. He
wasn’t referring to the women necessarily either. They were a dime a dozen, but
that novelty had worn off years ago. No, Cooper was referring to the
interaction with other people on a much more intimate level. Unless he was with
his parents, Cooper rarely spent time with anyone who actually knew him. And
that included his manager, who seemed to think he knew what was best for him,
despite Cooper’s frequent disagreements.

“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.

“Why
not?”

Tessa
pulled away from him then, pushing off the wall and putting distance between
them. Cooper didn’t move away, but he didn’t move toward her either.

“Because
I’m not interested in a fly by night fling.”

“Fly
by night? Who said I was going anywhere?”

“That’s
what you famous types do, ain’t it? You’re just around until the next big break,”
she answered, looking away.

Cooper
wondered whether she actually knew this from experience or if she was simply
assuming. Knowing that she probably had met her fair share of country music up-and-comers,
he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d encountered that in the past. He knew she
had been married, but years had gone by since her husband passed away, so it
was possible. By the way she tried to keep herself emotionally distanced from
those around her, at least as far as he could tell, he couldn’t determine for
sure.

“What
if I told you I was here to stay? What would you say then?”

“I’d
say have a great life.”

All
of the emotion he’d witnessed earlier was long gone now. There were no signs of
the heat he’d seen in her eyes when they’d been standing in her kitchen either.
No, this woman had clearly made up her mind that she wasn’t going to give him
the time of day.

Good
thing for him, he loved a good challenge. Now he just needed a plan.

♥
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tessa
was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t affected by Cooper. Ever since he
walked outside, she had been painfully aware of his presence. When he touched
her, she half expected her knees to buckle, leaving her a puddle of lusty goo
on the concrete at his feet.

Except
she was still pissed at him. It didn’t help that she hadn’t been able to talk
to Luanne, but Tessa fully intended to as soon as she could. She wasn’t sure
what was going on, but she had made a pact with herself that she would not jump
to conclusions until she had all the information. Yes, that was new for her,
but she was willing to give it a shot.

For
now.

Between
the news that Adam was going to Dallas for the police academy, Cooper Krenshaw
might’ve actually stolen her land right out from underneath her, and to top it
all off, she seemed to have some strange attraction to the man, she had plenty
to worry about all in her own head.

Truthfully,
she had snuck outside to have a few minutes by herself. Away from Cooper
specifically. Even tonight seemed odd, and she knew Adam wasn’t gone yet, but
picturing Cooper taking her brother’s place for the last hour didn’t make it
any easier to accept that Adam was about to leave. For the academy.

Police
officer.

The
idea made her heart ache again, the loss of her husband feeling like a fresh
wound in her chest just thinking about it. Through the years, the pain had
lessened, the mourning had gotten easier, but she still missed him.

She
didn’t want to cry, but she had found herself close to it when Cooper joined
her. Part of her was thankful for the distraction because the last thing she
wanted anyone to see was her weakness. Especially not this famous superstar who
would likely be hightailing it out of town next week after realizing what it
meant to work a real job. Hell, running a bar wasn’t easy.

And
then the man had the audacity to think that she would be jealous of a woman
hitting on him. Not in this lifetime. If he wanted to go home with Lacey, or
any other floozy in the bar, that was his prerogative. As for her, she didn’t
have the time or the energy to spend on a relationship, even if it were a one
night stand.

She
could tell by the look in Cooper’s shockingly golden brown eyes that he was
gearing up for some sort of challenge. Tessa had no intention of explaining why
she wasn’t willing to get caught up with the likes of him. Been there. Done
that. Got the t-shirt and burned it. Not doing it again. That was the point in
her life when she realized she would never find a man who could replace Richie.
Never.