Absent was her sweet and slow Kentucky drawl. Her words came fast and were to the point, like a New Yorker without an accent.
She clicked a pen and pressed the tip into the yellow legal pad that rested over crossed legs. Dark hair spilled in waves down her shoulders, shining against the low light of the dressing room as her full cherry lips pursed into a subdued line.
“By the way, I go by Coco now,” she said, drawing in a deep breath and pulling her shoulders back tight. The stranger from my past oozed grace and elegance like nothing I’d ever seen before, breaking my heart just a little.
I’d sized her up in all of thirty seconds, and I’d come to the conclusion that Dakota Andrews had grown up to be the success I always knew she’d be. It damn near made up for missing her all those years, and it was as if I’d maybe made the right decision by letting her go. She was a vision of striking accomplishment. All I’d have done was stand in the way of the person she was meant to become had she stuck with me.
“Coco Bissett.” My eyes followed the length of her long, crossed legs, stopping on a pair of sparkling stilettos that finished off her look. She’d come a long ways from cotton sundresses and dingy old cowgirl boots. “That’s right. Had a hard time finding you on account of your new name. Congratulations.”
“For what?”
“On your marriage.”
She cleared her throat, her pretty blue eyes shifting to the ground and then back into mine. “I’m divorced.”
“Ah.” I stifled a relieved huff and ambled over to the cooler filled with ice and retrieved a couple of beers. “Congratulations either way.”
I handed her a brown bottle, but she stuck her palm up and shook her head. “I’m here for work, Beau.”
Time had really done a number on her, making her all buttoned-up and rolling her into one perfect package of controlled dignity. I’d only been around her two minutes and already I missed the old her – the Dakota Andrews of my youth. The one with the bright, sparkling eyes and the infectious laugh.
It was as if someone had stolen her sunshine and hardened her into a pretty little bundle of calcified emotion. Success always did come at a price.
My fingers worked the buttons of my shirt as I stared into the intensity of her stormy blue stare, silently willing her to smile. God, I’d missed that smile. I’d dreamed about that smile. She had a grin that could light up her whole face and lift her cheeks enough to show off the perfect Cupid’s arch of her full upper lip. I wanted to believe she was still in there, hiding somewhere and waiting for the right time to come out.
My gaze fell upon the soft skin of her long neck, and I imagined pressing my fingers into the little indentation just beneath her jaw as I claimed her mouth. It was definitely on my agenda for the week.
She shifted uncomfortably as I undressed, her eyes snapping to the wall behind me and then to the floor. I slipped on a fresh t-shirt emblazoned with my likeness on it and a list of tour dates on the back as required by my management.
“I’ve got to go sign some things and meet some nice folks,” I said, “but I’ll be back. You sticking around?”
She glanced at the diamond-encrusted watch that wrapped around her delicate wrist and lifted her eyebrows. “It’s getting late. I should head to the hotel and meet you in the morning. I didn’t realize these shows went so late.”
“Whoa, whoa.” I placed my hand out. “You’re staying with me. At the Mason Ranch. I made that clear to your producer.”
Dakota stood up, smoothing her hands down her pants and lifting her chained purse strap over her shoulder. “I booked a hotel. Thank you kindly for your offer, but I won’t be staying at your house.”
She stepped toward me, but there wasn’t enough room between the door and me for her to leave yet.
“Then the interview’s not happening.”
Her jaw hung slightly, suspended in animation. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.” I smirked.
“I’m here for just a few days,” she said, her tone inching into incredulous territory. “You’re telling me that if I don’t sleep at your place, I don’t get the interview?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Her face puckered as resentment boiled in her eyes, almost turning them a shade of dark, indigo blue. She lifted her chin, her neck corded and jaw clenched as she forced it all away and replaced it with a smile across her ruby lips. “You have a lot of nerve leaving me with no choice like that.”
She pushed past me, our shoulders grazing and igniting a spark of unapologetic tension between us. Inhaling a lungful of a perfume reminiscent of sweet hay and fresh wild flowers, I said, “I have nothing to lose.”
Dakota gripped the door, and I listened as she released a deep breath.
“Careful out there, Kota. Those fans’ll eat you alive once they see you coming out of my dressing room looking all pretty like that.” I turned to place my hand over hers before she had a chance to leave. “Let me go out first. Distract ‘em. You can sneak out in a few minutes.”
“Fine.” She stepped back, crossing her arms across her chest and gripping her notebook in the process. Her eyes softened ever so slightly. “But I am going to my hotel tonight. I’ll come over tomorrow.”
It was good to see some things hadn’t changed over the years. She was still as stubborn as they came. She’d always been that way. Anyway, it was her loss. There wasn’t anything better than waking up with the sunrise and a view overlooking rolling green hills.