Nicole Edwards - Chasing Dreams

“One afternoon, the boyfriend approached me. At the time, I didn’t even know he existed. He gave me the full scoop right there in a busy restaurant close to her house. I felt like an idiot. She’d blindsided me and lied to me about the whole thing.”

“Does Marcus know the full story?” Tessa asked, the first words she’d said in quite some time.

Meeting her eyes, Cooper forced himself to his feet, pacing away from her. “Of course he knows the fucking story, Tessa.” The anger was bubbling down deep. “He made sure that I was reminded of the incident for the next six months or so. He used it to hurt me as often as he could.”

“Why did it hurt you?” she asked, sounding concerned.

Cooper stopped pacing and turned to face her. “I’m thirty-one fucking years old, Tessa. In all my life, I never imagined I’d be over thirty and single. For years I’d hoped to find the right girl, settle down, have babies,” he explained, the fury frothing like acid in his gut. “And no, maybe it’s not what most men my age are actively pursuing, but dammit, I want something of my own. I’m fucking tired of being alone.”

He turned away, running his hands through his hair before resting his palms on the porch railing. He knew how the story sounded, knew that it made him appear weak and needy, but he wasn’t going to lie to Tessa. In truth, he wanted what his parents had found nearly thirty-five years ago and to this day, he never expected it to happen to him. So when Tabitha had tricked him into believing he was going to be a father, he’d been happier than he had been in years.

Cooper’s body went rigid when he felt Tessa’s hands on his back. He hung his head low, expecting her to tell him that he needed to go, he needed to go find someone who could give him what he needed because she wasn’t that person.

But damn it, he wanted her to be. It wasn’t very often that he found a woman who treated him like a normal man. Like he wasn’t in the limelight. He liked the way she tried to keep her distance, yet relented when he pushed because no matter what, up until now, he knew she felt something for him too.

Cooper’s back hardened when her soft, cool hands were replaced by her lips. She wasn’t trying to seduce him, she was trying to comfort him, and when she wrapped her arms around him, her palms flattening on his stomach, he almost lost control of his own emotions. He couldn’t remember a time when a woman held him like that. Like they actually wanted to ease his pain.

If he hadn’t already been falling in love with her, he certainly was now.

Tessa felt the thump of Cooper’s heartbeat against her palms, the warmth of his skin against her cheek as she held on to him.

His story wasn’t what she expected to hear, and the sorrow in his voice as he told it hit her in a strange way. As much as she wanted to deny the truth, the pained look in Cooper’s eyes had told her he wasn’t lying. And it helped to explain the sadness she’d seen when she had brought up kids before. Some of what he said was probably difficult for him to admit. Based on the way he stood stone still in front of her confirmed it.

He wanted a family, and he’d been conned into believing he was going to be a father. Above all else, he’d done the right thing. Something many men wouldn’t do. She had to admire him for that, even if her heart was breaking for what he’d been through. She wanted to find the Tabitha girl and claw her eyes out for hurting him like that.

Tessa was just about to say something when her back screen door flew open, slamming into the wall, making her jump. She turned to see Jack barreling toward her and Cooper like the house was on fire.

“Sonuvabitch! What the fuck did you do to my sister?” Jack growled as he moved closer.

Cooper’s sudden movement caught Tessa off guard, and when she began to stumble, he righted her and then eased her behind him as he went toe to toe with her younger brother.

“Jack! Don’t!” she yelled, trying to move around Cooper. He wasn’t having any of it, and she was getting pissed off by the way that he was trying to protect her.

This was her brother.

Slapping his arm away, Tessa moved around Cooper, watching as Jack got right up in Cooper’s face. Granted, Jack was closer to six-foot-six compared to Cooper’s six-foot-two, so they didn’t meet eye to eye.

“You bastard! If you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you!”

“You don’t want to do this, Jack,” Cooper warned, his voice calm but eerily low.

His body language didn’t at all resemble the tone of his voice though. He appeared rigidly defensive, but he wasn’t aggressive toward Jack physically.

“Nothing happened,” Tessa told him, trying to push her way between them. “Dammit, Jack! Nothing happened!”

“No?” Jack barked, never moving out of Cooper’s face. “Then why did I hear you went home last night after this shithead’s manager stopped in? How do you explain that?”

Tessa grabbed Jack’s arm and forced him back an inch. Not that she could’ve budged him if he didn’t want to move, but he placated her.

“I didn’t feel well,” she explained. That was the truth. After she spoke to Marcus, her stomach had been churning painfully from her grief. But, in Cooper’s defense, she hadn’t given him a chance to explain himself.

Jack pinned his stare back on Cooper who hadn’t moved from where he was standing, his fists clenched at his sides.

“You hurt her, and I’ll hurt you. Understand me?” Jack asked.

“You don’t want to do this, Jack,” Cooper repeated. “You’re gonna want to take a step back.”

Tessa could feel Cooper’s ire as it radiated off of him like a heat wave in summer.

“Jack, stop. Cooper didn’t hurt me,” she told her brother. She looked up at Cooper, waiting until he looked at her before she said, “He wouldn’t hurt me.” The sudden realization made her body tremble and tears rush to her eyes.

He wouldn’t hurt her. He was one of the good ones. Even if she was scared senseless about what that meant for them. She didn’t want to invite more heartache into her life, but she found that she trusted him. Something that she didn’t do easily. After Richie died, leaving her utterly alone and Chad had tried to sabotage her reputation because he didn’t get his way, rightfully so, she was jaded.

But just like Izzy suggested, Tessa had managed to give Cooper a chance. And here he was copping to his innermost insecurities, and she knew without a doubt that he wasn’t going to hurt her. At least not on purpose.

“Never,” Cooper whispered, his eyes locked with hers. “I promise you that.”

Grabbing Jack’s arm, she applied as much force as she could, pulling him backward. “Now, go on. Thank you for wanting to protect me, little brother, but it’s time for you to go.”

Jack stood motionless, staring at her like she had morphed into something alien right before his eyes. “Fine,” Jack said quietly. “Just remember that I won’t tolerate anyone hurting her. You get me.”

“Sounds like we’ve got something in common,” Cooper answered, his brown eyes calmer than they had been moments ago.

Without another word, Jack turned and stalked back in the direction he came. The screen door slammed once more, followed by the front door a few seconds later.

“I’m sorry about that,” Tessa said, pacing away from him.

Cooper’s warm hands stopped her movements as they rested on her shoulders. He turned her to face him and Tessa’s breath lodged in her chest. “Don’t be sorry. I’m glad to know that he’s got your back. I feel better knowing you’ve got someone in your corner.”

Tessa nodded, fighting the tears that had suddenly appeared to cloud her vision. There was so much emotion churning inside of her, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold them back much longer.

That’s when her feet were swept out from under her, and she found herself in Cooper’s arms, a squeal escaping her as she tried to kick her legs.

“Hold still, woman. I’ve got you,” he muttered as he started moving. “Barely,” he said with a laugh.

Tessa slapped his chest as she laughed. “I figured you were stronger than that, cowboy.”

Cooper managed to pull open the screen door as the dogs pushed their way into the house before he followed behind them.

“What are you doing?” she asked when he closed the back door and locked it.

“Keeping your brother out. I figure if he comes back, this way he won’t interrupt. Lord knows what he’ll do when he hears you screaming.”

Tessa laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. “You plan to make me scream, cowboy?”

“More than once, darlin’. More than once.”

“Promises, promises,” she goaded him as he moved down the narrow hall to her bedroom.

Without any finesse whatsoever, he dumped her on the mattress, making her laugh again. The giggle quickly died when his hard body came down over her, his hips fitting between her thighs until she was wrapping her legs around him and trying to pull him closer.

“Seems like we’ve got on more clothes than necessary,” Cooper said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“Then you should remedy that,” she taunted.

The mattress dipped, and she bounced slightly as he pushed up to his feet abruptly. She couldn’t tear her eyes off of him as he stripped out of his jeans in record time. Once he was fully naked, he grabbed her shorts and pulled them down her legs, panties going with them.

When he came back down over her, the only thing she had on was her tank top and bra. “I think you forgot something,” she told him seriously.

“Working on it, darlin’,” he crooned in her ear, his tongue tracing the outer shell. “I promise, I’m going to have you naked soon.”

His voice sent chills racing down her spine. His words reminded her of all of the times she had heard him sing in the last few months. His voice was like rich, dark chocolate coating her skin. Sweet, warm, delicious.

As though he knew she was thinking about his voice, he sang a chorus from one of her favorite songs of his.

From the first time I saw her

Her smile spoke to my soul

My heart found a home

Right there in the arms of my angel in blue jeans

“I love that song,” she whispered to him, cupping his stubbly jaw as she looked into brown eyes that drew her in, held her close.

“I hope so,” he muttered with a smile. “It’s about you.”

Tessa stilled. About her? “Seriously?”

“Yup,” he answered, his fingers sliding under the material of her tank top, pushing it higher on her torso until he got it over her breasts.

A strange echo erupted in her chest, like she had been hollow before and now all of a sudden there was something swirling inside of her.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth before pushing up onto his knees and ridding her of her tank top quickly. Because she didn’t want to wait, Tessa unhooked the front clasp of her bra and maneuvered out of it as fast as she could, her eyes never leaving Cooper’s.

“So, what are you waiting for?” she asked breathlessly. “I want you inside me.”

“Oh, darlin’, that will all come in due time.”

He shifted, and Tessa felt his hands on her butt, pushing her up the bed until she was closer to the pillows at the top. As he settled between her thighs, she glanced down at him, waiting with bated breath for him to do something. Anything.

“You’re a frustrating man,” she joked when she realized he was taking his time, staring between her legs as he parted her with his fingers. The warmth of his breath against her sensitive nerve endings was making her crazy.

“Hmmm, but it’ll be worth the wait, I promise. I’ve waited to do this again for so long.” His eyes traveled up the length of her body until they met hers again. “I crave the taste of you. I want to feel you squirm against my mouth while I fuck you with my tongue.”

God, she loved when he talked like that. The eroticism of the words drove her wild. Something she didn’t think would happen again. She had vowed for the longest time that she would never let herself lose control like that with another man. But with Cooper, it was almost as though she didn’t have a choice. It was like he insisted that she lose her inhibitions when they were together. And the pleasure he wrought from her body was so worth it, she couldn’t even try to control herself, even if she wanted to.

His thick fingers spread her wider as she watched. When his head lowered, she tried to focus on what he was doing, but the second the heat of his tongue trailed lightly over her clit, Tessa’s head fell back on the pillow, a moan escaping. “I love when you do that,” she admitted.