Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) Read online

  She would probably be perfectly fine sitting here in her doorway with Shadow in her arms for the rest of her life, but it was probably best to get up so she could at least shut the door. It was freezing.

  She nodded, and immediately Eric’s strong arms were wrapped around her as he helped her to her feet. He had the door shut and her ushered over to the couch before she had a chance to blink. Even in her panic-ridden state, she recognized how impressive that was.

  As soon as she was seated, Shadow jumped up on the couch beside her.

  “Shadow, down,” Eric commanded. Shadow instantly obeyed.

  “No, it’s fine. I want him up here,” Lily said, looking up at Eric. Before she even got the last word out of her mouth, Shadow had hopped back up on the couch.

  Eric shook his head as he took a seat on the couch beside his dog.

  She ran her fingers through Shadow’s silky fur, alternating scratching and petting him. The tactile feeling of his fur calmed her shattered nerves. After several minutes, Shadow lay down, plopped his large head in her lap, and nuzzled up to her, closing his eyes.

  “I guess being a therapy dog has tuckered him out,” Lily said, trying to make light of what had just happened.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Eric asked, his eyes filled with concern.

  “No,” Lily stated firmly. Now that she was coming back to her senses, she was mortified that Eric had seen that.

  No one had ever witnessed her lose it like that before. Normally she had her mental breakdowns in private. She suddenly felt very exposed. Raw. It made her feel like she couldn’t sit still.

  “Listen, thanks for coming by to check on me. I’m fine. Really,” she assured Eric with a smile she was sure was not even in the ballpark of coming off as sincere but was hoping would do the job.

  Eric’s baby blue eyes were fixed on hers, and although the only light source was the rays of moonlight that filtered in through the slits of the blinds, she could see he was not about to drop the whole meltdown situation that easily. And he didn’t look like he was going anywhere soon.

  “Do you have any flashlights or candles?” he asked.

  Lily nodded. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he would leave. That thought made her a lot sadder than it should. “Under the kitchen sink I should have a flashlight.”

  He stood and was back with the flashlight within seconds. Instead of handing it to her and heading for the door like she’d expected, he flicked it on, set it on the coffee table, and sat back down.

  Lily didn’t know what to say. This man she barely knew was sitting beside her and staying. There were just no words.

  ---~---

  Eric felt completely out of his depth. If this were any other woman—his mother, his sisters, his friends, even his past girlfriends—he would know exactly what to say and do to comfort her. To not just make her know she was safe but also to make her feel she was safe.

  That wasn’t to say that his tactics would be the same with all of them. Obviously they wouldn’t.

  With Amy, he’d never had a problem getting her to tell him what was wrong. After that, he would let her talk through whatever the problem was out on her own and just be there, acting as her sounding board.

  With Nikki, it wasn’t quite as simple. She never wanted to tell him what was wrong, so he would keep making guesses at what might be bothering her until she got so frustrated she would tell him to shut him up. Then he would make ‘helpful suggestions’ of how to make the situation better, all of which she would shoot down, of course, before either coming to terms with the circumstances or coming up with a solution.

  Every woman he knew had a different way of dealing with things. And Eric knew how to zone in on the way that worked best for each one of them to process whatever they were going through.

  None of his skills were working at the moment though. He had absolutely no idea what to say. If he should say anything. If he should go. If he should stay. There were just a bunch of question marks competing for space in his brain.

  “He’s such a good boy.” Lily’s quiet voice interrupted his thoughts.

  Well at least Shadow’s making her feel better.

  “Yeah he is,” Eric agreed wholeheartedly. “He was a pretty hyperactive puppy. He chewed up everything in my house. But after a dozen failed attempts, he finally graduated from obedience class. Lucky number thirteen,” Eric smiled, remembering how proud he’d been of his dog that day. “And he really tries to be good.”

  “He failed obedience school twelve times?” Lily asked in disbelief.

  Eric nodded, not proud of that number. But it was what it was. “The first four I take full responsibility for. He was still a puppy and I only took him because I knew that the German Shepherds they use on the force start their puppy training at four months old. He wasn’t ready. I tried three more times before he was a year old. We were asked to leave by the second class every time.”

  “Well, all that matters is that he passed.” Lily smiled and stroked Shadow’s head as the dog made a grunting noise in his sleep.

  Damn. Every time Lily opened her mouth, she made Eric fall a little harder for her. She focused on the good, not the bad. Even when it came down to his dog. She overlooked the part of Shadow failing and placed value on the fact that he’d passed.

  Eric’s heart had been breaking for Lily since the second he’d seen her through her window huddled up on her couch in terror. He wouldn’t even have been there, but the moment the lights went out, Shadow had begun barking uncontrollably and ran to the front door. Eric, much like Timmy in the show Lassie, had asked the dog what was wrong. Shadow jumped up and hit his front paws on the door.

  The second the door was open, Shadow had taken off across the yard and run straight to Lily’s. When Eric had caught up with him, it took him a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and see that Lily was in fact inside her house. He could see feet peeking out of a tiny lump of blanket.

  In the several minutes it took for her get up off the couch, Eric’s adrenaline had been on overdrive. He’d even considered breaking down the door. When she’d finally opened the door, he had felt relief for one fleeting moment, but it was immediately replaced by heartbreak and the intense need to protect and care for this woman he barely knew.

  The feelings he was having for her did not make any sense. Especially if he considered the amount of time that he’d known her or that the most intimate contact they’d had was the few moments they’d shared on the dance floor.

  Neither of those things changed the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The few days he’d gone without seeing her because he’d been busy with work and planning his parent’s fortieth anniversary party had been some of the longest in his life. With each day that passed, she’d consumed more and more of his thoughts.

  As insanely attracted as he was to her, he just as badly wanted to talk to her, to get to know her. He had known that it would be an uphill battle from the moment she’d walked off the dance floor. Now, after seeing what she had gone through tonight, he knew it might be nearly impossible for her to open up to him. To let him into her life.

  But that wasn’t going to stop him from trying.

  “So how long did you live in Sacramento?” he asked as they both focused their attention on Shadow, who was lying between them, although most of his upper body was in Lily’s lap.

  Eric sensed her body tense at the question.

  “A couple of years.” He could hear the strain in her voice.

  “Ryan said you taught dance classes there,” he said, trying to stay on neutral topics that wouldn’t make her uncomfortable but still might let him get to know her better.

  “Yep.” Her answer was short but it didn’t hold the same tension that her previous response had.

  “When did you become a choreographer?”

  “Umm”—She smiled and finally lifted her head, her gorgeous coffee-colored eyes staring right at his—“professionally? About a week ago.”

&nb
sp; “Wow. So this is your first big job.” Eric hadn’t realized this was her first real gig as a choreographer.

  “Yeah, and it doesn’t get much bigger than a Karina Black tour,” Lily said as she shook her head as if she was still having a hard time with it.

  “It’s still weird for me to think of Karina like that, but I guess, yeah, she’s probably as high-profile as you can get.” Eric still had a tough time remembering that the Karina he’d grown up with was the Karina Black.

  Lily nodded her head up and down. “Believe me, she is.”

  Eric reached out and covered Lily’s hand that was settled on Shadow’s neck. “You’re gonna do great.”

  Her hand twitched beneath his at the contact but she didn’t pull away.

  “Thanks.” Her voice was no louder than a whisper.

  Staring into her eyes, Eric got lost. He could barely remember his name much less what he was trying to accomplish with this conversation. He felt himself being drawn toward her like a moth to a flame. She turned her hand over beneath his, and he rubbed his thumb across her delicate, soft wrist. Her pulse beat rapidly beneath his touch.

  He wrapped his large fingers around her wrist and she sucked in a breath of awareness. He continued staring into the deep pools of her dark caramel eyes as they became heavy-lidded with desire.

  Slowly, simultaneously, they moved towards each other. Eric felt a roaring urgency surge through him. He tried to push it down. Temper it. With the emotional roller coaster Lily had been on tonight, he didn’t want to do anything that would upset her.

  They moved closer and closer until he felt her warm tufts of breath against his mouth. She smelled sweet like coconuts. His fingers tightened around her as a groan of male hunger resonated in his chest.

  “Damn, you smell good,” he growled. They were so close that his lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

  A soft whimper escaped her throat, and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. That was all the invitation he needed. He leaned in, firmly kissing her back. Slowly. Thoroughly. Memorizing the feel of her moist, soft lips against his. He reached up, raking his fingers through her hair, using the pressure of his fingertips to tilt her head for better access.

  She immediately opened to him. He slipped inside her mouth, and the second their tongues touched, it was electric. Literally. The lights came back on and the TV came back to life.

  Lily jumped and gasped in surprise, which caused Shadow to wake up and bound off of the couch, barking with his deep, protective bark.

  “Shadow, sit.” Eric knew if he didn’t nip this barking rant in the bud, Shadow could keep it going for hours.

  Shadow jumped up, resuming his position on the couch, and pressed himself back against his new favorite person. Lily.

  Eric swallowed hard as he turned towards Lily, who looked a little dazed. He was happy to see that she didn’t look quite so pale. She had a flush to her cheeks, and he liked knowing that he was the one who had put it there. She didn’t look upset or scared at all. Just a little glossy-eyed, he hoped with lust.

  Sensing him staring at her, she looked up at him through her long, inky lashes. The sensual look in her eyes sent a shot of arousal straight to his groin. He grew harder than he had been even seconds ago.

  For a brief moment, he thought that they might just pick up where they had left off, but then Lily stood.

  “Thank you so much for staying with me. I’m”—she cleared her throat—“feeling much better now.” She began walking toward the door.

  “I’m glad. Anytime.” He rose and patted his leg for Shadow to follow.

  As Eric stepped outside, he realized that Shadow was not beside him at the same time he heard a small laugh coming from Lily. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Shadow had sat down beside his sexy neighbor. They both stared at him from her doorway.

  “Shadow,” Eric called to his once loyal, never-left-his-side dog.

  A bark rang out and Shadow lay down.

  “He can sleep over. If it’s okay with you. The company would be nice,” Lily said as she bent down and patted the happy dog’s head.

  Eric would actually feel better knowing that Shadow was there with Lily. He just wished he was getting the same offer as his pooch.

  “All right, but if he gets to be too much trouble, just send him home. I’ll pick him up in the morning.” At Eric’s words, a huge smile spread across Lily’s beautiful face.

  “Great!” Lily exclaimed enthusiastically. As she shut the door, he overheard her telling Shadow that they were going to have so much fun on their sleepover.

  Damn. Lucky dog.

  Chapter Ten

  Lily stretched her hands out on the mat she had laid out on the floor, feeling her muscles come to life. She rolled her neck from side to side and a feeling of gratitude welled up inside of her. She still couldn’t quite believe that she had this amazing studio. And today she had the added extra-special bonus of a visitor. Shadow lay contentedly in the corner on a blanket she’d brought out for him.

  She pushed her hips up and rolled over her toes, pressing her heels to the ground in downward dog pose. Taking a deep breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, she tried to let her mind go blank and just concentrate on keeping her core engaged and relaxing her body so her muscles could get the most benefit from the stretch.

  Every morning she started her day with either thirty minutes of Pilates or yoga. Since she had begun the routine one year earlier, she had had less dance-related injuries. Plus it was just a nice way to start the day. It centered her. Made her feel in control and connected—mind, body, and soul.

  She was having a tough time clearing her head today. Her mind kept replaying the black out. She kept telling herself that it could have been so much worse. Last night could have been horrible. Sometimes when she had episodes that bad it would take her days to fully recover and for her to feel back to herself. Not this time. Here she was, less than eight hours later, feeling strong. Happy. Peaceful.

  Of course the main reason she’d bounced back so quickly was Eric. He had not only stayed with her during her freak-out, he’d also stayed after to make sure that she was okay. Then the kiss that now topped her top-ten list of panty-melting moments. Oh, who was she kidding—it was numbers one through ten. And it was an extremely nice distraction for the internal turmoil she did not quite have a handle on that was ricocheting around in her psyche.

  Those things were all amazing, and Lily didn’t know how she could have gotten through the night without them, but it wasn’t even the best thing. The most amazing part of last night was that she had had a peaceful night's sleep, and the reason for that was currently snoozing in the corner of her studio. Actually, now that she thought about it, maybe the kiss and the goodnight’s sleep tied for first.

  When Lily had gone to bed, after she had made sure to put a bowl of water on the floor for her furry overnight guest, Shadow had jumped into bed and snuggled up against her.

  She could not remember a time in her life that she had ever gone to bed and actually felt safe. As an adult, she definitely felt in control at least. Especially these last two years. The night at Sue Ann’s she’d felt at home, so that was good. But safe was a different feeling.

  As a kid, though, nights were the worst. Being constantly shuffled around in foster care and then in group homes, she never had a sense of security. She had never laid her head on her pillow and felt relaxed like she was sure nothing would harm her when she closed her eyes. Because the sad truth was she hadn’t been sure. And she’d had good reasons to have her doubts.

  Having Shadow by her side made her feel completely assured that, even if something horrible happened, he would alert her and also protect her. He had even barked at Eric and Jake when he had thought that they were upsetting her. Shadow was her hero. Her knight in furry armor.

  Lily pushed into plank position and held her pose before bringing her right leg to the front of her mat and lifting up into Warrior One. She took deep, c
leansing breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth, focusing on the air filling her lungs as she inhaled and leaving her body as she exhaled. After several moments, she stepped her right leg back and released her hands to her mat, pushing back into downward dog.

  Shadow began barking just as she heard the door of her studio creak open. Standing up, she turned and saw Eric in the doorway. The studio door was small, and his impressive frame took up the space. He was freshly shaven and wearing his uniform. The smell of either his cologne or soap wafted past her, causing tingles to spread from her head to her toes.

  “Good morning,” his husky voice greeted her.

  “Good morning,” she repeated on autopilot. She wanted to thank him for last night. For stopping by, staying, talking, and then leaving Shadow. Her brain knew that she wanted to say all those things. Unfortunately, her mouth, which was currently salivating at the sight of Eric looking every bit the part of the alpha-male police officer, was not cooperating with her brain.

  ---~---

  Had Eric seen women do yoga before? Yes. Had Eric seen hot women before? Sure. Had Eric ever almost come in his pants when seeing these two things combined? Hell no. This was a first.

  Eric really didn’t know what he had expected to walk in on. After going to Lily’s door and having no one answer, he had felt a little panic. Then he remembered that a couple of mornings the week before when he headed out to Jui Jitsu he’d seen Lily walking to the back room, the one he himself had remodeled for Judge Pattinson when he’d had a bug up his butt to have an office in the back.

  To this day, Eric still didn’t know what in the hell the old man had wanted an office for, but he had helped him out nonetheless. He had spent four weekends back here with Judge Pattinson breathing down his neck making sure that Eric was doing everything “the right way.”

  Now, he thought that doing that project for Old Man Pattinson might just have been the smartest thing he’d ever done in his life. Because whatever Lily had been doing when he’d walked in was permanently imprinted in his brain. Her ass had been up so high that it looked like it was on display. And what a display it was!