Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles)

by Shawn, Melanie

  “You know what? I’m not sure I like”—Jake lowered his voice an octave—“Police Chief Eric.”

  “This has nothing to do with me becoming Chief,” Eric clarified. He would have explained further but saw that his brother, who had the attention span of a gnat, had already gotten distracted. He was now laser-focused on two attractive brunettes that had just walked in.

  Without sparing Eric a glance, Jake threw a couple of tens down on the bar and then finished his beer before he stood and nodded to the ladies. “You sure you don’t want in on this? I’ll give you first pick.”

  “I’m good.” Eric waved his brother off.

  Eric sat back and watched as Jake approached the women, and their faces lit up at his brother’s fickle attention. Games—that’s all connections made in bars like these were. Which was great if both parties were playing with the same set of rules.

  No commitments, no promises, no regrets.

  But Eric was done playing. He wanted to live his life by a new set of rules.

  Chapter Two

  Lily walked down the short hall, quickly running a brush through her long, dark hair. Well, quickly might be pushing it since getting a brush through her thick mane was like walking on a treadmill. No matter how hard she worked, she never felt like she made any progress.

  As she reached the small bathroom door, she had officially given up on any hope of having a good hair day. Setting her brush down on the bathroom counter, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror.

  That’s not good!

  Lily saw that her normally olive-toned skin was looking a little pale and she had fairly dark circles under her eyes.

  Glancing down at the watch she wore on her left wrist, she noted that she still had a little time. She had five minutes before she was meeting Lauren, who was a realtor, downstairs at Sue Ann’s Café. Perfect. Just enough time for lip gloss and mascara. Maybe then she would look a little more…presentable.

  Lily was meeting Lauren to look at some properties to lease while she staying here in Hope Falls. Lauren was one of Karina Black’s best friends and a celebrity in her own right. She co-hosted “Home Sweet Vacation Home,” a television series that toured magnificent vacation properties. Lily had caught several episodes and had immediately noted that Lauren and her co-star Ben had crazy chemistry. She now knew that Lauren and Ben were, in fact, a couple and engaged to be married.

  Lily could not believe that Lauren herself would be the one showing her rental properties. She would have expected that maybe an assistant or someone less high-profile would be doing it. Lily had even said as much to Lauren at Amanda and Justin's wedding when Lauren had offered to take her, but Lauren insisted that she would be happy to do it. In fact, she said that she actually really missed that aspect of her work now that so much of her career was centered on shooting the show and promotion.

  After she applied two coats of mascara and a generous amount of lip gloss, the alarm on her phone beeped, alerting her that she needed to go. Not being able to resist, she glanced in the mirror once more. Well, she definitely didn’t look her best but it would have to do.

  Reaching down, she wrapped her fingers around the leather strap of her knock-off Louis Vuitton purse as she headed out of the cozy apartment that sat above the café. Before closing the door, Lily looked around the small space once again, trying to see if she could make it work and just stay here. She knew logically that there was no way. She had had to move several pieces of furniture just to have enough space to do her yoga practice this morning. It would be impossible to clear enough space to provide the room she needed to be able to dance or choreograph here.

  Which, for a lot of dancers, would not be an issue if they had an adequate rehearsal studio to work at, which she did. Lily, however, found that she often got inspired in the middle of the night. Well, inspired might be a glass-half-full way to look at it since the inspiration stemmed from horrible nightmares she suffered from.

  When she’d wake in the middle of the night from the awful night terrors, she discovered the best way to move past them was to dance. Losing herself in the beat of the music had been her therapy. It had also become like a security blanket to her. A portable, personal security blanket.

  Not that she had needed to dance the night before. When she had arrived past ten p.m. after being up for nearly twenty-one hours she’d fallen fast asleep. Partly due to the fact that the instant Sue Ann had opened the door Lily had felt at home. Safe. Secure.

  Normally it took Lily months to feel that way in a new place. And there had been several times she had lived somewhere for an entire year, moved in and out, and never felt those comforting feelings to keep her company on long, lonely nights.

  She sighed as she shut the door to the quaint apartment and locked it. No matter how badly Lily wanted to stay there, the apartment was just too small for her needs— needs that unfortunately, at this time, did not include feeling safe, secure, or at home.

  She was here to choreograph Karina Black’s tour. This was her first real professional job. Landing this gig meant that she had entered the big leagues, so to speak. This could lead to a whole new life for her. She just needed to focus on that. Nothing else mattered.

  That thought gave her a renewed sense of purpose.

  Excitement and nervousness coursed through Lily’s entire being as she practically skipped down the wooden steps that led out to the café. As she reached the bottom of the staircase, the smell of coffee hit her like a slap in the face. She took a deep breath in through her nose and the delicious aroma caused her mouth to begin to water.

  Lily had been trying to cut caffeine out of her diet over the last year. It was part of her clean living lifestyle. Over the last six months, she had been doing pretty well. She’d only had two sodas, which, considering Dr. Pepper was like crack to her, was no small feat. She was pretty proud of the fact that she had only fallen off the no-caffeine wagon twice.

  It was about to be three times though because she was definitely ordering a coffee to-go. She moved between several tables and chairs as she made her way up to the counter to place her order. The moment she stepped up, Sue Ann appeared through the swinging doors that looked like they led to the kitchen. It was as if they’d choreographed it in a play.

  “Good morning, sunshine!” Sue Ann sing-songed cheerily.

  “Good morning.” Happiness filled her as she let herself soak in being on the receiving end of Sue Ann’s happy demeanor. Sue Ann was just a lovely person, and lovely people were few and far between in Lily’s life. Smiling, she pulled out her wallet. “Can I have a coffee to go?”

  “Sure thing, sweetie. You’re up bright and early for getting in so late last night,” Sue Ann observed, her brow arching in question.

  Lily nodded, trying to keep her expression open and pleasant. Inside, her heart was pounding as fear spread from the top of her head to her feet. Her first instinct when people started asking questions or taking note of her comings and goings was to shut down. Go on the defensive and erect the very necessary protective shield she stored right below the surface.

  But that was her old life. This was a fresh start. A new beginning. Lily hadn’t really lived in a small town but she’d heard that people noticed things and also felt the need to comment about things people in big cities didn’t notice and didn’t care about.

  Plus, there could not be a sweeter woman asking the questions. Sue Ann was harmless, and Lily knew that she wasn’t in any kind of danger. Still, old habits die hard.

  “So,” Sue Ann continued, totally oblivious to Lily’s panic, “do you have a big day planned?”

  Lily felt her heart rate speed as she took in a fortifying breath. Just answer her, she told herself, like a normal person would. “I’m meeting Lauren to go look at rental properties.”

  There. That wasn’t so hard.

  “Oh, well you know you’re welcome to stay upstairs as long as you like,” Sue Ann said.

  “Thank you so much. I wish I co
uld take you up on that. I love the space. It’s so cozy and welcoming. Unfortunately there is just not enough room for what I need,” Lily explained.

  Sue Ann handed Lily a cup of heavenly, piping hot coffee. Her eyes narrowed, seemingly not convinced that space was the reason Lily couldn’t stay in the apartment above the café. “Well, I hope you slept well at least.”

  “Oh, I did,” Lily assured her. “I was out like a light the second my head hit the pillow. And believe me, that never happens. Usually I toss and turn for hours.”

  “Trouble sleeping?” a very male, very deep, very sexy voice asked from behind her.

  Lily not only recognized the huskiness and timbre of the voice asking about her sleep problems, but her body’s response to it felt like déjà vu. Her pulse raced. Her palms moistened. The hairs on her arms stood as goose bumps spread across her skin like lava flowing down a volcano.

  She knew that this time, however, it wasn’t fear causing these disproportionate physical reactions—it was arousal coursing through her veins. In her twenty-six years, she’d never, ever, had such an instantaneous visceral response to a man. It was equal parts unnerving and thrilling.

  Lily felt another very foreign emotion creep up inside of her. It took her a moment to identify it. Embarrassment? Yep, that was it.

  She hadn’t handled it all that well the first time she had experienced the overwhelming response her body had to the man standing behind her. During their first interaction she had just abruptly removed herself from the situation.

  Not exactly the most mature response to un-be-lieve-able explosive chemistry, but hey, it had worked. She had come away from her brief brush with the fiery heat of arousal unscathed.

  Standing with her back to the source of said arousal, she crossed her fingers—literally—hoping that she would be just as lucky during the second round in the ring of this erotically charged bout. She swallowed hard and heard the audible gulp as she turned to face her worthy sex-on-a-stick opponent.

  Unlike the first time she had seen him, when he had been wearing a tux, today he was dressed in black sweats, a white shirt, and a charcoal gray zip-up hoodie. His broad chest and strong arms filled it out in a way that made Lily’s mouth water. Sweats, tux, it didn’t matter; he probably could have been wearing a garbage bag and she would have the same crazy reaction to him. He was just hot. Ridiculously, toe-curling, heart-fluttering, pulse-racing hot.

  A low growl escaped his throat and her eyes flew to his. She was almost rendered speechless by what she saw. Of course she remembered that he had blue eyes—how could she forget?—but looking at them now she saw that they were not your run-of-the-mill, ordinary blue eyes. No, his were deep blue with hints of green outlined by a dark ring of navy. If she had one word to describe them, it would be intoxicating.

  “Hi.” His captivating eyes darkened a shade and a sinful smile crossed his face.

  “Hi,” she squeaked out.

  “Feeling better?” he asked.

  “Huh?” She wasn’t following.

  “The other night, at the wedding, you said you weren’t feeling well,” he reminded her as he stepped slightly forward.

  “Oh, right.” She nodded. She had only said that because if she hadn’t excused herself she was scared that she would have started dry humping him on the dance floor, and call her crazy, but she didn’t think that would have been appropriate. She cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “No more lightheadedness?” His voice dropped an octave as he asked her what should be an extremely innocent question, but her body wasn’t quite reading it as innocent.

  “Nope,” she answered. Which up until a few minutes ago had been the truth. At the moment, his nearness, his voice, his eyes, his smell, his self was having quite the dizzying effect on her.

  Lily heard the chime above the front door ding snapping her out of her lust-trance. She turned to see Lauren gracefully step into the café, phone to her ear. She wore black slacks and a plum-colored button up silk shirt that complimented her fair skin tone perfectly. Her blond hair was pulled up into a French twist and not a strand was out of place. The style and outfit would have seemed stuffy and severe on someone else, but Lauren was able to pull it off, looking classy and sophisticated.

  Lauren spotted Lily in the small space almost immediately and moved quickly towards her. She removed the phone from her ear and placed it in her bag. “Hi, Lily. Have you been waiting long?”

  “No, not at all.” Lily heard the slight tremor in her voice that she was unable to mask.

  Oh lord. Not a good sign. At all!

  “Hey, Eric.” Lauren reached up and kissed the man that made Lily’s insides turn to mush on the cheek. She turned, extending her hand in introduction. “You know Lily, right?”

  “We met briefly at Justin and Amanda’s wedding,” Eric confirmed. His deep voice instantly caused a tingle to race down Lily’s spine.

  Lauren paused, her eyes sparking as though she had picked up on the chill Eric’s voice had caused. She then slowly looked back and forth between Eric and Lily. Scanning. Assessing. Searching. Finally, her lips twitched and turned up at the corners as she asked, “Am I interrupting something?”

  “No,” Lily said quickly. She felt her eyes widen the way they always did when she lied so she shook her head to add emphasis. Perhaps the head shaking was a little much, she realized belatedly, considering the small smirk Lauren had been sporting was now turning into a full-fledged grin of amusement.

  “Are you sure? I can give you two a moment,” Lauren offered faux-innocently, not even trying to disguise how amusing she found all of this.

  Well, at least someone is enjoying themselves.

  ---~---

  Eric ignored the fact that Lauren was being a smartass. He didn’t blame her—if the shoe were on the other foot, he would think that this whole thing was Grade A entertainment. Unfortunately—or fortunately for him, since he couldn’t quite call it yet—he was not a spectator in this exchange.

  Lily looked like she wanted to run as fast as she could for the door. Her eyes kept darting towards the front of the café like she was planning a great escape. But she also kept licking her lips, and every time she looked at him, her eyes would dilate and the pulse in the base of her neck would speed up.

  Eric knew how to read people and their body language. It was part of what made him a good detective. The responses she was displaying only happened when you felt something strongly for someone: desire, love, hate.

  Since they had barely said ten words to each other, the possibility that she could be feeling either love or hate for him was slim to none. So by reasonable deduction he assumed that she must be feeling desire. He sure as hell knew he was.

  Since he had laid eyes on Lily three days ago, he had not been able to get the image of her swaying on the dance floor at the wedding out of his mind. Eric had never seen anyone move like she had. Her body fused with the music floating through the air like she was one with it. He had been mesmerized.

  The slow dance they had shared almost seemed like it had been a dream or like they’d been living out a scene in a romantic movie. He’d stepped onto the dance floor, and she’d turned as if sensing his approach. He’d asked if she would like to dance over the pulsing beat of the music. She’d nodded yes, and at that exact moment, the music had slowed. It was surreal.

  She’d placed her hands around his neck and he had wrapped his arms around her waist. He’d pulled her towards him and their bodies had fit like a glove. When they began moving, it hadn’t felt like either of them was leading. The second their bodies had come into contact they’d just started instinctively swaying to the beat.

  They’d only danced for a minute or so before she excused herself, saying she wasn’t feeling well, but it had been an extremely erotically charged sixty seconds. So much so that, looking at her now, his body was aching for a little repeat action.

  The feel of her thighs pressed against his, the smell of her hair as it brushed
against his nose, the soft sigh that escaped her mouth as she’d melted into him all came rushing back to him and shot directly to his groin.

  “Well, we better get going,” Lily said as she began to move around him.

  Lauren turned to follow her just as her phone rang. She glanced down and then, holding up one finger, said, “I just need to grab this. It’ll just take a minute.” Without waiting for a response, Lauren moved to the hall that held the back offices and restrooms.

  As much as Eric truly believed that Lily was attracted to him, he also sensed that for some reason that fact made her nervous. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable, so he decided to let her off the hook. For now.

  “It was good seeing you again. I hope to see you around,” he said as he brushed past her to step up and grab his to-go order, and a heated desire spread through his entire body.

  Damn. What was it about this girl that made his body feel so…alive?

  As he moved up to the counter, Kelly quickly stepped behind it, yelling, “I got this one, Sue Ann.” After setting down the coffee pot she had been using to top off her customers’ mugs, she placed her elbows onto the wooden countertop and leaned forward, causing her ample cleavage to be pushed practically up to her neck. “What can I get for you, E-love?”

  E-love was something a lot of Eric’s friends had called him in high school. He had always gotten along well with the opposite sex. Maybe a little too well.

  But that was not the image he wanted to present to the world now. He knew that Kelly was just being Kelly, which meant she was flirting her ass off, so he tried to temper his irritation.

  Eric stated the obvious. “Just pickin’ up the order I called in.”

  Kelly stood up and, with her wrists crossed, stretched her arms out in front of her. Eric was pretty sure that she achieved the desired affect she had intended for her little display because she was practically pouring out of her cotton V-neck Sue Ann’s Café t-shirt.