"What if I told you I was here to stay? What would you say then?"

"I'd say have a great life."

All of the emotion he'd witnessed earlier was long gone now. There were no signs of the heat he'd seen in her eyes when they'd been standing in her kitchen either. No, this woman had clearly made up her mind that she wasn't going to give him the time of day.

Good thing for him, he loved a good challenge. Now he just needed a plan.

Tessa was doing her best to pretend she wasn't affected by Cooper. Ever since he walked outside, she had been painfully aware of his presence. When he touched her, she half expected her knees to buckle, leaving her a puddle of lusty goo on the concrete at his feet.

Except she was still pissed at him. It didn't help that she hadn't been able to talk to Luanne, but Tessa fully intended to as soon as she could. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she had made a pact with herself that she would not jump to conclusions until she had all the information. Yes, that was new for her, but she was willing to give it a shot.

For now.

Between the news that Adam was going to Dallas for the police academy, Cooper Krenshaw might've actually stolen her land right out from underneath her, and to top it all off, she seemed to have some strange attraction to the man, she had plenty to worry about all in her own head.

Truthfully, she had snuck outside to have a few minutes by herself. Away from Cooper specifically. Even tonight seemed odd, and she knew Adam wasn't gone yet, but picturing Cooper taking her brother's place for the last hour didn't make it any easier to accept that Adam was about to leave. For the academy.

Police officer.

The idea made her heart ache again, the loss of her husband feeling like a fresh wound in her chest just thinking about it. Through the years, the pain had lessened, the mourning had gotten easier, but she still missed him.

She didn't want to cry, but she had found herself close to it when Cooper joined her. Part of her was thankful for the distraction because the last thing she wanted anyone to see was her weakness. Especially not this famous superstar who would likely be hightailing it out of town next week after realizing what it meant to work a real job. Hell, running a bar wasn't easy.

And then the man had the audacity to think that she would be jealous of a woman hitting on him. Not in this lifetime. If he wanted to go home with Lacey, or any other floozy in the bar, that was his prerogative. As for her, she didn't have the time or the energy to spend on a relationship, even if it were a one night stand.

She could tell by the look in Cooper's shockingly golden brown eyes that he was gearing up for some sort of challenge. Tessa had no intention of explaining why she wasn't willing to get caught up with the likes of him. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt and burned it. Not doing it again. That was the point in her life when she realized she would never find a man who could replace Richie. Never.

"I'll see you inside," she told him, abruptly turning to the door and hoping like hell he wouldn't move closer. As strong as she was, for some reason, Tessa wasn't able to resist this man when he was close because her damn hormones went on strike.

"Hey," he called out before her hand made it to the doorknob.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Tessa inhaled slowly. Held it. This was not going to go well, she could feel it.

Before she could turn around, she felt the heat of Cooper at her back. When his strong hands came down on her shoulders, she fought the urge to melt into him, to soak up some of his strength at a time when she so desperately needed it. Against her will, she turned around slowly, and nearly lost the tears she fought to hold back when he pulled her flush against him and held her close.

His arms were strong and warm, his heartbeat a soothing anchor in the turmoil that had become her life. And damn it all to hell, he smelled fantastic. Pressing her cheek against his chest, she gave in to him momentarily. She could've tried to come up with excuses as to why she was willingly letting Cooper hold her, but she knew they'd all be a lie. She wanted him to. That was the simple truth.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but the next thing she knew, Cooper was pulling back slightly, his hands cupping her face as he tilted her head back. He stared down into her eyes for what felt like an interminably long time, and she held her breath, aching for this man to give her something more. Something that she needed but wasn't willing to ask for.

"I want to kiss you," he whispered.

Tessa's heart pounded painfully against her chest. She didn't turn away, but she didn't give him permission either. The smart thing for her to do would be to turn and walk away. Hell, maybe even run. He was a man who had walked into her life and uprooted it in ways she never imagined. This attraction she had for him was only part of it.

"If I kiss you, Tessa, I won't be able to stop," he warned, but she found her gaze straying to his lips.

Please, please, please let him kiss me.

Oh, hell. What was she saying? She didn't want... Before she could finish the thought, Cooper's velvet soft lips were on hers, and her breath escaped her in a rush.

He was gentle, yet firm, his big, warm hands tilting her head slowly as he seemed to be monitoring her reaction. Her body relaxed instantly, and she knew he felt it too because as soon as a sigh escaped her, his hands moved down lower, pulling her body against his. When his tongue slid slowly over her lips, Tessa found herself opening for his kiss.

And the fireworks that exploded behind her closed eyelids nearly knocked her off of her feet, a blinding collision of colors melding together. Kissing him was like coming home for the first time in years. The comfort and familiarity was there, although this man was no more than a stranger to her. But something in him had connected with something in her.

The low rumble that echoed in his chest only added fuel to the fire, and Tessa found her arms were sliding up over his chest to wrap around his neck and pull him closer. His Stetson was nearly knocked off when she latched her fingers into the silky hair at the nape of his neck.

As far as kisses went, this one was the equivalent of an unpredicted hurricane, sweeping over her and knocking her sideways, leveling everything she held near and dear.

Sweet mercy, the guy could kiss.

Minutes passed before either of them attempted to come up for air, and by the time they did, Tessa was practically trying to climb his body. She was both embarrassed and shocked at her behavior, but when she tried to pull away from him, Cooper's arms locked around her.

"Don't run from me, please," he whispered, his voice so rich and sultry, she let the tone settle her nerves.

Momentarily.

Their eyes met, and Tessa fought the urge to cry again. What the hell was wrong with her? She wasn't supposed to be kissing this man. He'd never be able to give her what she needed no one could and she had no desire to give in long enough to find out for herself.

"I can't do this," she said firmly, forcing him to release her. "Please. I just can't."

Without looking back, Tessa fled back inside her bar, sneaking into the relative safety of the bathroom. It was the only place she would possibly find solitude for long enough to get herself under control. And she desperately needed to.

By the time the night was over, Tessa had managed to successfully evade Cooper at every turn. She had to admit, when he went up on stage and surprised the customers with a thirty minute set, she had been enthralled. Again, this man had a voice that captivated her. Not that she would let him know that.

The few times she'd caught him looking her way, Tessa managed to pretend she didn't see him. She was just having one problem with that. She did see him. Everywhere. Even when he wasn't near her, she saw him. That kiss had rocked her world, and she feared she would never be able to forget it, no matter how hard she tried.

"Can I walk you out?" Cooper's deep, panty melting drawl oozed over her as she wiped down the last of the glasses and put them in their place beneath the bar.

"I'll be here for a while. Thanks though." That was a monumental lie, but there was no way she wanted him to walk her out.

In fact, she wanted to pretend she didn't know him. She hadn't had this kind of reaction to any one man in a very long time, and she continued to remind herself that she shouldn't be having a reaction to him. It had to be because he was famous. Maybe she was star struck.

No. No, that definitely wasn't it. Tessa didn't get star struck. She had learned, no matter how big or how small their stardom reached, their egos exceeded that tenfold. If there was a possibility of her ever settling down again, it undoubtedly wouldn't be with the likes of Cooper Krenshaw.

"I'll wait."

Tessa flinched from the sound of his voice. He was much closer than he had been, and she hadn't realized he snuck up on her.

"How much longer you got? Can I help?"

Good Lord. Could the guy just take a hint? Why did he have to be the perfect gentleman?

"I'm not going to sleep with you." Tessa slapped her hand over her mouth as she turned to look at him, her eyes wide with horror because her thoughts had just tumbled right out of her mouth.

His chuckle reverberated through every molecule in her body and Tessa found she liked that too.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. It's a good thing I wasn't asking, or you might've bruised my ego a little bit."

She couldn't help but smile at his reaction to her verbal blunder.

"I'd still like to walk you out. I promise, it doesn't require either of us to get horizontal."

His words produced a vivid image in her mind, and it had nothing to do with them being horizontal and everything to do with her plastered against the wall while this big, sexy cowboy was pressed between her thighs.

Damn. It was definitely time to go home. Alone.

Figuring she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of it, Tessa finished up the last glass and then removed her apron, tossing it beneath the bar. At least she'd have tomorrow off, which meant she would be able to officially get Cooper out of her system.

Chapter Six.

"Come in, Tessa," Luanne Deluth said in a curiously fake accent when Tessa arrived at her house on Sunday afternoon.

It was a fact that Luanne was born and raised in Devil's Bend, however, somewhere along the way, she'd adopted some variation of a northern accent. She sounded awkward and confused because she was dropping her Rs as well as mixing in a few y'alls. Tessa wasn't sure how her husband even understood what she was trying to say.

Ignoring the need to tell her to remember her roots, Tessa simply walked into the house, letting the screen door slam behind her as though it were an accident. It had taken some pleading, but Luanne finally relented and agreed to meet with her. If that weren't a sign that something was going on, Tessa didn't know what was.

"Thanks," she said matching the saccharine sweetness in Luanne's tone although she honestly wanted to grab the woman by the hair and ask her what the hell was going on.

It wasn't a secret that Tessa and Luanne didn't get along well. They had grown up together, graduated in the same class, but for whatever reason, as of their freshman year of high school, their friendship had turned to loathing. For various reasons, Tessa had always made a point to stay out of Luanne's way.

"Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, thanks," Tessa replied, lowering herself onto the pretentious little couch in the awkwardly designed living room. She had to admit, the place looked like it was straight out of a magazine and equally as homey too. She had to wonder whether Luanne had removed plastic covers from the furniture before Tessa's arrival. Probably not. Knowing Luanne, she would've left them on because she wouldn't want Tessa to touch her things.

"What can I help you with?" Luanne asked, primly lowering herself into an ugly side chair and crossing her legs like a debutante on display. Damn, this woman was absolutely nothing like her father, nor was she anything remotely close to how Tessa remembered her either. They hadn't spoken to each other in years, not since Luanne married Jacob Matthew Rosenbough the Third about five years prior.

"I wanted to talk to you about your dad's farm," Tessa stated, figuring she might as well get right down to business. No sense beating around the bush when Tessa would much prefer getting the hell out of dodge as soon as possible.

"In case you haven't noticed, the farm belongs to me now."

Oh she noticed all right. Biting her tongue to keep from being sarcastic, Tessa forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I meant your farm."

Luanne nodded, her perfectly coifed hair never budging an inch. She must've used plaster to keep that thing in place.

Shaking her head to regain her focus, grateful that her own hair actually moved, Tessa continued. "I was wondering whether you received my last payment."

After some research, Tessa found out that her last two checks hadn't been cashed, which meant, either Luanne didn't receive them, or she purposely didn't cash them for whatever reason. Based on the fact that Cooper Krenshaw believed he was about to become the new owner of the Deluth land, she had to assume the latter was the case.

"What in heaven's name are you talking about?" Luanne asked, her real accent coming out in spades. That was an easy tell. When the woman was lying, she obviously had a hard time keeping up the rich, socialite front. That and the way Luanne's jaw ticked, a clear sign the woman was hiding something.

Figuring it wasn't in her best interest to get defensive, she decided to explain the situation. "Your father and I had an agreement," Tessa began. "I've been paying him every month for the last several years until I could come up with the entire down payment on his land. At that point, I was going to take possession of the house and continue paying him the agreed upon price."

Luanne cocked an eyebrow, but Tessa could tell that the confused look was for her benefit. "I'm sorry, Tessa. I don't know about any agreement that my father made. He wasn't very good about keeping records," she said snidely, "and when he passed away everything was willed to me."

Tessa clamped her jaw shut, breathing in through her nose and trying to rein in her temper. This was not going to go well if she lost it. Instead of arguing, she waited for Luanne to continue.

"And besides the fact that my father was much too generous with you over the years, I've actually sold the land to a really nice man who was willing to pay a much more reasonable price," Luanne smiled greedily. "I'm sure you've met him."

Wait. More reasonable than what? If Luanne didn't know about the agreement, how would she know what was considered more reasonable?

To Tessa's surprise, Luanne didn't actually elaborate on whom she sold the land to. Because Cooper was famous, she figured Luanne would be all about bragging around town. But Tessa didn't need Luanne to give her the details, she already knew.

"I'm confused," Tessa said, pretending Luanne hadn't out and out lied about the agreement between Tessa and Luanne's father that she initially claimed she didn't know about. "I've got an agreement."

"And that agreement is null and void now that my father passed away. If I'd had my way, he never would've made a deal with you in the first place."

Well, the truth was out at least. Not that it made her feel any better. Tessa clenched her hands at her side, but she didn't move. "So, where's my money?"

"Oh, honey, don't you worry your pretty little head. I don't need your money. You'll get back every penny."

So Luanne did know about the money. Did the woman not realize she was revealing her lie? Or maybe she did it so often that she didn't even notice.

But despite Luanne's lies and her deceit, Tessa didn't want her money back. She wanted the land. She had plans for that land, and she was almost in a position to make her dreams come true. What was she supposed to do now?

"Since I was able to sell the land for almost twice as much as what my father was going to sell it to you, I think it's safe to say your offer no longer holds my interest. Unless, of course, you'd like to make another offer. But, keep in mind, the person who is purchasing is willing to pay cash. Up front."

Tessa felt defeated. It wouldn't matter at this point what she did or said. She couldn't even afford a lawyer to fight Luanne. If Cooper was willing to pay twice what Tessa had agreed to, she would never be able to afford it. Not to mention, she hadn't even been able to come up with the down payment in cash, much less the full asking price.

Realizing she was beating a dead horse, and she was only going to get herself worked up, Tessa decided enough was enough. Her temper was hovering on the brink of explosive, and the last thing she wanted was for Luanne to see how defeated she felt.

Standing from her seat, Tessa headed toward the door without saying another word. It was that, or she was going to scratch the woman's eyeballs out. Her emotions were churning like a violent, straight-line wind, and any minute, it was going to start swirling, taking out everything in her path.

Fifteen minutes later, Tessa was pulling into Charlie's Restaurant. After leaving Luanne's, she called Jack and asked him to meet her. She wasn't sure why she needed to talk to her younger brother, but she knew, if anyone could, he'd be able to put this entire situation in perspective. She couldn't call Adam because he had no idea that she had even been trying to buy the land, and she didn't want to put him in the middle. Since Cooper was his friend and the man who was buying the Deluth farm, she felt as though he might not understand.

"Hey, Sis," Jack greeted as he approached the table she was sitting at. "Uh-oh, what the hell happened?"

Tessa loved her baby brother. He was actually more protective of her than Adam, and that was saying something. She watched as he eased down into the booth across from her, his muscular body folding into the seat awkwardly. There was a reason he'd garnered the nickname "Tiny" in high school. Of course, she didn't dare call him that because Jack had always hated that name, but at six-foot-six-inches, he wasn't necessarily small.

"Did you know that Luanne was selling her father's land to Cooper Krenshaw?" she asked, forgoing any pleasantries.

Jack's eyebrows shot downward as he stared back at her. "What? I thought you were buying the land?"

Tessa had told Jack about the situation a couple of years before when she wanted to rent the house she was currently living in, which happened to belong to Jack. He'd grown up in the house, and when his father met their mother, they'd bought a bigger place just on the other side of town. After Jack graduated from high school, his father had given him the house, but for reasons Jack wasn't willing to talk about, he never moved back there.

So when Tessa had needed a place to stay, she felt compelled to explain why she wasn't looking to buy a house at the time and since they'd all been so worried about her because of Richie's death, she had told Jack everything.

"Well, it looks like that isn't the case," she whispered, fighting the urge to cry.

"What about the money you paid him?" Jack asked, his voice lethally low.