Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

Damn he liked touching her.

A sudden strange, possessive instinct surged up in his gut, which was odd considering where they were. It wasn’t a reaction he expected at all, but he tried to attribute it to the night before.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he finally said when he located his voice. Their hands touched for longer than was probably customary, but Cooper found he didn’t want to pull away.

“You too.” Her sweet voice sent another chill racing through his bloodstream, only this time it forced the blood farther south. As though it were natural, Cooper kept his cowboy hat resting in front of his now interested cock in the hopes that she wouldn’t notice.

When she pulled her hand away, Cooper let her go, but he allowed his eyes to linger for a while longer.

She was wearing a thin black tank top and a pair of tiny white shorts that put her trim, tanned legs on display. If he were acting like the gentleman that his parents had raised him to be, Cooper would’ve looked away, yet he found himself glancing down, his gaze slowly traveling upward, until his eyes narrowed in on the pebbled tips of her nipples that were now clearly visible through the soft, threadbare cotton of her top.

She must’ve realized what he was looking at because she quickly recovered, glaring up at him before crossing one arm over her chest, and holding her coffee cup with the other. She must’ve realized that Adam wasn’t there to save her, and her reaction made Cooper chuckle. It wasn’t often that he saw something other than pure, unadulterated lust written all over a woman’s face, especially the first time he was introduced to her. What he saw on Tessa’s pretty face resembled anything but, which ironically, he found he enjoyed immensely.

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.