She couldn’t deny the truth, but for some reason, she wanted to comfort him. Although she’d been torn between hating him for stealing her dream, there were other emotions that had been more prevalent recently.

Tessa moved in closer, planting her palms flat on his chest. His heart was pounding wildly, his golden eyes shadowed by the black Stetson on his head. It was her turn to grip his chin and make him look at her. When their eyes met, Tessa swallowed hard. “As much as I hate it, everything happens for a reason, Cooper. Considering we’re both going after the same dream, I can’t say I’m sad that you were able to buy the land. At least something good is going to come of it. Much sooner than I ever could’ve made it happen.”

“Tessa…” Cooper’s voice sounded strangled, his eyes weary. “I can’t help but think that if I’d never shown up here…”

Breaking eye contact because she truly didn’t want him to think that way, Tessa eyed Cooper’s truck and an idea came to her.

“Give me your keys,” Tessa said firmly, releasing his chin so she could hold out her hand.

“What?” It was Cooper’s turn to be surprised, but Tessa didn’t want to explain more.

“Just give me the keys, Krenshaw.”

When he finally handed them over, Tessa ordered him to get in the truck. She moved around to the driver’s side and started the engine. A few minutes later, they were heading back to Devil’s Bend.

Before Cooper had a chance to regret his decision to go after his dream, Tessa wanted to remind him what he had. And she knew exactly how to do that.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

He was such a selfish bastard.

Selfish, selfish, selfish.

Sonuvabitch!

Up until that moment when Tessa laid out how her dream had evolved, Cooper hadn’t given much thought to the fact that he was actually stealing her dream out from under her. And why? Because of something he wanted? Did it even matter that they both had the same goal in mind? Had he even considered how important Tessa’s dream was to her?

The answer was a resounding fuck no. He knew what she’d wanted, but that hadn’t stopped him. Hell, he had even been given the opportunity when Luanne decided to up the ante on the property. But then Tessa had selflessly pushed him to go after the land, to make sure that at least one of them could accomplish what she’d been working toward her entire life. And he didn’t bother to think of anything except what he wanted.

He felt like a total ass. Here he was abandoning his entire life because he wanted to get away from it all and do something meaningful. And once again, he hadn’t thought about anyone but himself. The irony was a brutal slap in the face.

“Where are we going?” he asked, knowing he sounded as angry as he felt.

“Just sit back, cowboy. Let me do the drivin’,” she said, a smile in her voice.

He wished like hell he could force himself to smile. He wanted to. Just being around Tessa made him happy. Sitting beside her, even if she was driving his truck like a mad woman, should’ve been enough to erase all of the anger building in his gut. But it didn’t. It didn’t go unnoticed that she was taking care of him when he should have been the one putting her first. Realizing that only made him feel worse.

When they pulled up to Tessa’s house a few minutes later, Cooper glanced over at her. So she wanted to go home? He actually couldn’t blame her. Before he could get his door open, she turned on him.

“Sit right here. Don’t you dare move from that seat. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Cooper could hardly comprehend what she was saying because his own anger was like a hornet’s nest in his brain, the buzz unbearable. She was coming back? He forced a simple nod and stared out the front window of the truck as she climbed out. As much as he wanted to, he didn’t even watch as she made her way up her front steps.

Just like she said, Tessa was back in less than five minutes. Her arms were full, and he was about to climb out of the truck to help her when he saw her shake her head. What was she up to?

She walked around to the bed of the truck, tossed everything inside and then moved back around to the driver’s door. Once she was inside, she buckled her seatbelt and put the truck in Reverse, tearing out of the driveway once again.

“You gonna tell me where we’re going now?” he asked, suddenly nervous.

“Nope. And you’ve asked more than your share of questions tonight, cowboy. Just keep your mouth shut and enjoy the drive.”

If she was trying to improve his mood, she was doing a good job. Her feisty attitude was warming his blood like a pot on simmer. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was so focused on driving that he allowed himself a few minutes to stare. And like every other time he had looked at her, his head swam with a jumble of thoughts and images.

He still had a perfect picture of the first time he saw her at The Rusty Nail, her tight black t-shirt molded to extraordinary breasts. Then later when she’d inserted herself between two pissed off cowboys because it was her bar and she wasn’t having any of their shit.

Of course, his mental scrapbook wouldn’t be complete without the one of her standing on her front porch in those white shorts and tiny tank top…

The more the images flashed in his head, the more his anger subsided. Only now the blood that had been boiling in his veins was taking an immediate detour directly to his groin.

By the time the truck slowed, Cooper was looking around to see where they were. He watched out the front windshield as they passed his house, heading down the dirt path that led to the barn. He was just about to ask her what the hell she was up to, but her quick “uh-uh” shut him up.

And exactly why did her sudden authority make his dick that much harder?

They passed the dilapidated barn and continued through what would eventually be a pasture, down a bumpy decline until they were pulling up near a pond. He hadn’t had time to check it out more than just a glance as he passed by, but he knew this was one of the three small stock ponds on the land, probably from when there were cattle grazing these fields at one point.

The truck turned abruptly and then Tessa was backing toward the water. He was just about to get nervous when she applied the brakes and then grinned over at him.

“Ok, you can get out now.”

Tessa didn’t wait for him, so Cooper climbed out on the passenger side and then headed around to the back of the truck, just a few feet from the water’s edge.