After a quick breakfast at the congested café in town, and a brief, rather uninformative conversation with Adam, Cooper wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d felt as though he were being interrogated while he forced eggs and bacon down his throat, answering question after question from his buddy.

Do you plan to stay in Devil’s Bend? Will you continue to tour? Are you looking for something else to do? Would you be interested in helping out at the bar? What do you think of managing musical talent?

Those were just a few of the questions Adam had thrown his way, and he wasn’t sure whether they were trick questions or not, but apparently Adam seemed satisfied with his answers. That still didn’t explain why they were here though.

Pushing back to his full height when Adam summoned the dogs with a whistle, Cooper looked up on the porch, and that was when he saw her.

The angel in blue jeans. Only she wasn’t wearing jeans at the moment. Holy hell.

And he was pretty sure he liked her with fewer clothes on anyway. With a strained effort, he tried not to ogle her. And he had to focus to keep his mouth from hanging open.

He couldn’t help but watch as Adam embraced the woman in a hug that said they knew each other. From the looks of it, they were fond of one another based on the way the woman stared up at him lovingly. Considering he hadn’t talked much with Adam, aside from the barrage of questions that morning, Cooper’s first assumption was they were more than mere friends.

“Cooper meet Tessa. Tessa meet Cooper. Blah, blah, blah. I need more coffee,” Adam introduced in a rush as Cooper made his way up the front steps.

Tessa, as Adam referred to her, laughed sweetly, and Cooper couldn’t help but smile. Removing his hat from his head, he held out his hand to the woman he’d dreamed about the night before and steeled himself to touch her again. Their hands met, her small, smooth fingers sliding into the palm of his hand, and Cooper had to clamp his teeth shut to keep from groaning.

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.

Chapter Four

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.