One Sweet Day (A Happily Ever After Novella) Hope Falls Edition Read online

  “Yes we did. Because we don’t like a bunch of eyes focused on us for an entire four minutes,” she said in explanation.

  “Got it.” Justin smiled at Amanda’s quirky shyness. He could add that to the infinite list of things he loved about her.

  Soon they were surrounded by Karina, Ryan, Sam, Luke, Lauren, and Ben. Karina leaned into the small circle they had made and said quietly, tilting her head to the right, “Okay, what's the deal with those two?”

  Everyone looked at where she had motioned, and Justin saw Eric slow dancing with Lily.

  He felt Amanda’s body suddenly tense with excitement as she squealed, “Oh, they would be perfect together.”

  All the girls started talking at once about all of the reasons why they would be so perfect together when Justin looked up to see Lily pulling away from Eric, quickly leaving the dance floor.

  “Or maybe not so perfect,” Justin said flatly.

  The rest of the dancing crew looked up in time to see Eric’s face drop as he watched Lily exit the gym.

  “Damn. Poor guy,” Ryan said.

  Ben, Luke, and Justin all mumbled agreements. The girls were all putting in their two cents on how they all still believed that Eric and Lily would be perfect together. The men really had no comments. Justin certainly didn’t. He tried to stay out of the girls’ matchmaking schemes as much as possible. Relationships were tough enough without other people getting involved.

  As the couples all started fanning out across the dance floor, Justin leaned down and kissed the top of Amanda’s head as she rested against his shoulder. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve her unconditional, undying, unwavering love, and honestly he wasn’t even sure if he did deserve it. But he absolutely knew that he would spend every day for the rest of his life trying to be the man worthy of her love. Because her love and happiness were the only things that really mattered.

  “I love you, Mrs. Barnes,” Justin said as he tightened his arms around his wife.

  “I love you too, Husband.” Amanda’s eyes lit up for a minute before her face fell in disappointment. “That one’s better but it’s not perfect.”

  “It sounded good to me.” Justin smiled.

  “I’ll work on it,” Amanda said, clearly not convinced.

  “Luckily, there’s no rush. You have the rest of our lives to figure it out.”

  “True,” Amanda grinned, beaming with love as she nuzzled against his him. He felt the heat of her breath on his neck as she softly whispered, “I love you.”

  Justin closed his eyes as the warmth of her love washed over him.

  “I love you too.”

  Sneak Peek: Snow Angel

  AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 17TH

  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 good. She’d only had two sodas, which considering Dr. Pepper was like crack to her that 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 from the swinging doors that looked like they led to the kitchen. It looked like 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 Anne’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 could 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 cafe. “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 recognized not only 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 goosebumps 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-live-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 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, bu
t 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 light-headedness?” 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 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 causing a tingle to race down Lily’s spine.

  Lauren paused, her eyes alighting as though she had picked up on the chill that 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 had now turned 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 smart ass. He didn’t blame her, if the shoe was on the other foot he would think that this whole thing was Grade A entertainment. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, 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 had made him a good detective. The responses that 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 that 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 was a dream or that they were living out a scene in a romantic movie. He’d stepped onto the dance floor, she turned as if sensing his approach. He’d asked if she would like to dance over the pulsing beat of the music she 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 pulled her towards him and their bodies had fit like a glove. When they began moving it hadn’t felt like either of them were 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 now aching for a little repeat action.

  The feel of her thighs pressed against his, the smell of her hair as it brushed against 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 that 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?

  Excerpt: My First

  THE CROSSROADS SERIES

  Book One

  Chapter One

  “Welcome home!” Katie said sardonically to herself as she sat, eyes closed, in her rental car on the side of Highway 90. She had a paper bag pressed tightly against her mouth and a mantra running through her brain on repeat.

  You can breathe. Just breathe. Breathe in and out slowly. You can breathe.

  Katie had been back in Illinois for less than an hour and here she was, smack dab in the middle of her first panic attack in five years. She gripped the steering wheel hard, trying to soothe her racing heart to anchor herself to reality. She forced her movements to be slow and deliberate.

  This seems to be working, albeit slowly, she assured herself. When the overpriced therapist who taught her the breathing exercise and mantra had laid out his plan, Katie had wanted to roll her eyes. She had wanted to tell him that he clearly had no flipping idea what a panic attack really felt like if he thought that repeating a little magic spell in her mind about breathing was going to have any effect at all. She had wanted to tell him that panic attacks didn't feel like nervousness or butterflies you could just calm with the power of your mind. They felt like you were having a heart attack, like you were dying. Have you ever heard of someone having a heart attack curing themselves by simply telling themselves to breathe?

  Of course, Katie hadn't said any of those things. She had smiled politely, practiced with the bag, and kept her judgment of his professional aptitude (i.e., that he was a total quack!) entirely to herself.

  Still, since she hadn't had a panic attack in the past five years. She hadn't ever been able to test out the
technique and prove his quackitude with rock-solid evidence. Now that she was in the middle of one and the exercise actually seemed to be working?

  Well, I'll move his status down to 'Jury's Still Out on the Level of His Quackosity' but I'm not nominating him for the Nobel Prize just yet, Katie thought. Of course, this wasn’t even close to a bad attack. This one was fairly mild.

  But, that’s exactly how they had started ten years ago. They had begun as hyperventilating episodes and over time had developed into severe attacks resulting in her being rushed to the emergency room—twice—having truly believed she was having a heart attack. Which had not been the case.

  The E.R. docs were the reason she had ended up lying on the overpriced therapist couch (metaphorically speaking; in reality she had sat in a plush leather chair). Once the doctors at the hospital had ruled out the possibility that anything was physically wrong with her, they had strongly recommended that she delve into the possibility that it was her psyche, not her body, that needed medical attention.

  Even now, as the panic attack was subsiding, Katie was still feeling some of the physical symptoms. Her head felt as if it were floating away, her fingers were tingling as if they were being stabbed by a thousand tiny needles, and she was being bombarded by an obnoxiously loud ringing sound. She forced herself to anchor to the sensation of the paper bag digging into her lips to ground her in reality and repeated the mantra (which, she had to admit, was kind of growing on her.)

  You can breathe. Just breathe. Breathe in and out slowly. You can breathe.

  Slowly, bit by bit, she drifted back to the present and into her body. She closed her eyes to appreciate the little sensations she was now aware of—the leather of the seat pressed cold against her back, the icy breeze from the air conditioning blowing refreshingly on her face.

  Leaning her head back against the headrest, she felt the weight of her chest rising and falling. Her arms felt heavy. Lowering them to her sides, Katie was vaguely aware that the paper bag had slipped from her hand and landed on the console beside her.