Chasing Dreams (Devil's Bend) (23 page)

Two
hours later, the bar was jumping. The sound of two cowboys entertaining the
rowdy crowd, singing like they’d been born on the stage, filled the room. The
energy was significantly different from what Tessa was used to when they had a
performer up there. These two guys had a rhythm about them that had nearly
everyone moving. According to her cousin Shane, there was a line that wrapped
around the building, and it looked like they’d all be turned away soon enough.

Izzy
was behind the bar helping Tessa and Eric while Miranda had come in to help
Katie. Jack was coming in to help, but Tessa hadn’t seen him yet. They were
fully staffed and at maximum capacity, yet Tessa hadn’t felt a lick of stress
since Cooper went up on that stage with Dalton. It was a sight to see, that was
for damn sure.

When
they broke out into a slower song, the bar settled somewhat, and there was
another surge of people to the bar. Tessa had just finished preparing a handful
of shots for Miranda to take to a table near the door when a familiar voice
sent a violent shudder racing down her spine. Not the good kind.

Turning
toward the sound, Tessa saw Chad standing at the edge of the bar with two women
practically wrapped around him. Swallowing hard, an effort to maintain her
composure, Tessa tried to force a smile but failed.

A
quick glance around showed her that she was by herself because Eric and Izzy
were busy with a line of customers which meant she would have to deal with Chad
herself.

“What
can I get you?”

Chad’s
glare made Tessa’s stomach churn painfully. She hadn’t seen Jack yet tonight,
which was probably the reason Chad had grown a set of balls and decided to come
to the bar rather than order through one of the waitresses.

Tessa
had never officially kicked him out of
The Rusty Nail
despite everyone’s
insistence that she should. Having attempted to be the bigger person, Tessa had
hoped he would just keep his distance. Based on the glint in his midnight blue
eyes, she had a feeling he was about to push the boundaries.

“Three
Bud Lights,” the brunette on the left of Chad said sweetly.

Well,
if Tessa only had to deal with the women, she might just be able to get through
this unscathed.

“Thanks,
darlin’,” Chad said to the woman as Tessa moved off to get their beers. “That’s
the slut I was telling you to stay clear of.”

Tessa’s
back straightened at the cruel words, but she forced herself to move forward.
The man had pretty much called her every name in the book before today, so it
wasn’t like she hadn’t heard it before.

“Her?”
the other woman with Chad asked.

“Yep.
Used to date her, but she got a little too freaky for me, if you know what I
mean.”

The
women giggled, and Tessa’s hands squeezed so tightly around the beer bottles
she was carrying she thought they might just shatter in her hands.

“Freaky,
how?”

“She
was always hanging on me, begging for sex. I sang in here a few times and it
got to be too much trouble because she was always up on me, ya know?”

God,
had Chad always sounded so stupid?
Tessa wondered to herself. Just
listening to his bullshit story made her want to wrap her hands around his neck
and squeeze until his eyes bugged out of his head. The guy was so full of
himself. Had it not been for Tessa’s generosity, allowing Chad to play in her
bar on occasion, she was pretty damn sure he’d never have been allowed past
open mic night anywhere else.

“God,
I can’t stand women like that,” the blonde said, her hands plastered to the
front of Chad’s thick chest.

Tessa
bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Ok, so laughter was good. At
least it meant dealing with him was getting easier.

“Ain’t
that right, darlin’?” Chad asked as Tessa slid the three beer bottles toward
them.

She
told them the amount they owed and ignored Chad’s question altogether.

“See,
she’s still bitter. I won’t take her calls, so she has to pretend she’s not
into me anymore.”

“I
prefer men to boys,” Tessa mumbled, ashamed that she was succumbing to his
antagonism.

“That
right? Sure don’t seem like it to me,” Chad snarled. Turning his head toward
the blonde, he grinned, “Her nasty cunt is already chasing Cooper Krenshaw. I
heard he’s gettin’ ready to hightail it out of town just to get away from her.”

Tessa
grabbed the twenty dollar bill that the blonde placed on the bar and turned
toward the register. Before she was two steps away, the deep baritone of Jack’s
voice startled her.

“See,
son, that’s where you heard wrong.”

She
turned abruptly to see Chad flinch while the women who’d been molded to his
side were quickly moving away. Jack was standing behind him, one huge hand
clamped down on Chad’s shoulder, the impression of his fingers scrunching Chad’s
shirt.

“Fuck,
man. Get your goddamn hands off me!” Chad yelled, ripping away from Jack’s
grip.

“This
is your last fucking warning,” Jack said slowly, his voice frighteningly low.

“Or
what, man? You’re just pissed that I didn’t enjoy nailing the shit out of your
sister. You didn’t have a problem until I tossed her out like yesterday’s
garbage.”

“Jack
stop!” Tessa screamed the instant her brother’s hands gripped Chad’s shirt,
yanking him off of his feet as he got right up in his face.

Everything
from that moment forward happened in a blur. Jack shoved Chad hard enough to
send him sprawling on the concrete floor, forcing other customers to jump out
of the way or be taken down like bowling pins.

“Out!
Don’t let me see your face in here again,” Jack demanded, moving fast for a guy
his size.

Chad
was backing up on the floor, but unable to get enough purchase on the slippery concrete
to make it back to his feet. Tessa couldn’t get out from behind the bar because
Eric had moved close, keeping her sandwiched between him and the wood while
Izzy stood by her side.

“Get
up!” Jack growled.

Chad
managed to make it to his feet, but as soon as he was upright, he was backing
away while Jack was pursuing him like a cougar cornering its prey.

“She’s
a fucking whore, man. The whole fucking town knows it.”

And
that’s when the shit hit the fan. Tessa was watching Jack, waiting to see what
he would do next when Chad was yanked backward, his legs barely managing to
keep him up off the floor for a second time. Tessa glanced up to see Cooper as
he forcefully pushed Chad toward the door.

“Not
another fucking word,” Cooper barked. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll
keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Another
chill raced down Tessa’s spine. She’d never seen Cooper that angry, not even
after he had to deal with Marcus face to face yesterday. Part of her was
worried he was going to kill Chad.

“Hey,
folks,” Dalton’s voice crooned through the speakers. “Y’all keep lookin’ that
way and I’m gonna get my feelin’s hurt.”

The distracted
patrons laughed as Dalton effectively redirected everyone’s attention back to
him.

Tessa
glanced down to see her hands were shaking. There was no way she would be able
to keep her past a secret now. Not from Cooper anyway. She glanced toward the
front door just in time to see it shut behind Cooper and Jack. She took a deep
breath and wondered if she should make a run for it. After all that, she knew
she didn’t have it in her to try and explain herself tonight.

“It’s
all good,” Izzy said, her hand rubbing up and down Tessa’s back.

She
momentarily allowed the motion to soothe her as she tried to figure out what
she was going to do next.

“Don’t
worry about him. He’s a jackass,” Eric confirmed before stepping over to help
the customers who had just had a front row seat to Tessa’s humiliation.

Nodding
her head in agreement, she remained where she stood, wishing like hell she
could sneak out. Since the bar was so busy, she knew that wasn’t an option.

“Just
think of it this way,” Izzy whispered. “The night can only get better from
here.”

∞ ∞ ∞
∞ ∞

“What
the fuck was that about?” Cooper asked Jack when they were heading back inside
after Jack handed Chad off to Shane, one of the burly bouncers standing
outside. His instruction to ensure Chad never stepped foot inside the bar again
would be heeded, he was sure.

“Nothin’.
He’s a dumbass.”

That
didn’t answer Cooper’s question, and he realized Jack was deflecting. The
dumbass part was a given, but what Cooper wanted to know was what the hell the
guy had against Tessa. In all the time Cooper had been in Devil’s Bend, he’d
never met a single person who had said anything negative about her. Until tonight.

Grabbing
Jack by the arm, Cooper stopped abruptly. “That doesn’t tell me shit.”

“It
ain’t your fucking business,” Jack growled.

“The
hell it ain’t.” Tessa was his business, and he’d be damned if anyone would talk
to her like that.

“He’s
trash, man. Just let it go.” Jack’s tone dripped with disdain and his emerald
green eyes shot sparks of fire.

Nodding
his head because he knew he wasn’t going to get anything more from Tessa’s
brother, Cooper moved to the door. Once he was inside, he made a straight line
for the bar, moving people out of his way as he went. The only thing he cared
about was seeing that Tessa was all right.

“Can
I talk to you for a minute?” he asked when he approached her at the bar. Never
mind that there were at least ten people standing in line waiting to get their
drinks.

“Can’t
right now,” she muttered but didn’t look up at him.

Cooper
glanced over at Izzy who was watching him. When their eyes met, she shook her
head slightly, as though signaling him to give her a break.

Fine.

He
made his way to the wall, standing close to where the sound system controls
were and waited. Jack joined her behind the bar, and roughly twenty minutes later,
they had managed to get the waiting customers down to a minimum.

By
then, Cooper’s temper had cooled, which he considered a good thing. As he moved
toward where Tessa was now standing, he glanced up at the stage to see Dalton
looking his way. A quick tilt of his head was the only nonverbal communication
he needed to send because the next song that Dalton began was a slow one.
Something to douse the remaining flames of the anger that had flared up inside
of Cooper when that bastard had started talking shit.

Rather
than asking permission, Cooper lifted the wood top and slid behind the bar to
join Tessa. He walked right up to her, wrapped his arms around her waist from
behind and whispered in her ear. “Come dance with me.”

To
his surprise, she didn’t argue, and Cooper took her hand, leading her back out
the way he came and over to the dance floor. Joining the group of other
dancers, Cooper fell in step and pulled Tessa up against him, wrapping her in
his arms and holding her tightly against his body. They didn’t talk, but the
way she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest said
everything he needed to hear.

Dalton
ventured into another slow song, giving Cooper more time with Tessa, but he
knew he would eventually have to let her go. When his buddy decided to take a
break, Cooper released Tessa, but grabbed her hand when she would’ve walked
away.

“Can
we talk for a few minutes?” he asked, nodding his head toward the back door.

When
she relented, he realized just how much she’d been through tonight. Hell,
today. After that morning, he knew something had upset her, but he wasn’t able
to get her to open up to him. Hoping she might now, he took her hand and led
her outside.

“What
was that about?” he asked calmly once the door closed behind them, glad that
enough time had lapsed for his temper to settle.

Tessa
looked up at him briefly, but then diverted her gaze as she stepped away. He
waited patiently for her to answer, and to his surprise, she didn’t make him
wait long.

“His
name is Chad.”

“What’s
his deal with you?”

Tessa’s
head jerked back toward him, her eyes weary. “I used to date him.”

Cooper
nodded, hoping she would continue.

“It’s
been a year since I broke it off with him.”

A
year and the guy was still going crazy on her.

“Did
you do something to him?”

Tessa’s
back straightened, and he noticed the moment her defenses went up. He wasn’t
trying to piss her off, but he knew that the sort of anger that man showed was
usually triggered by something. That or he was just plain fucking crazy. Based
on Jack’s reaction to the guy, Cooper was leaning toward the crazy.

“I
broke up with him, that’s what,” Tessa said defiantly, her hands going to her
hips. “If you don’t mind, I really need to get back to work. I don’t have any
desire to discuss Chad with you or with anyone else.”