Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (13 page)

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, cleansing 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!

The position she was in now wasn’t half bad either. She stood before him in tight yoga pants and a

sports bra. His brain almost couldn’t process what his eyes were seeing.

Lily’s body was a work of art. The perfect combination of every fantasy woman he’d ever had. She had

long, shapely legs. Luscious hips he could hold on to as he drove inside of her. Full, perfect breasts that made his hands itch to feel their weight. A toned, flat belly that he made him want to pepper kisses from her hip bone to her ribs.

Shadow’s bark pulled him out of his lust-haze. He looked down and saw his four-legged friend sitting

in front of him, wagging his tail rapidly. Eric reached down to pet his head. “Hey, boy, were you good for

Lily?”

“He was perfect. He snuggled up to me all night.”

I bet he did.

Shadow lay down on the hardwood floor and rolled over so Eric could pet his belly. Eric knew he had

to get to work. He was running late because he’d overslept this morning. All night, all he’d been able to do was think about the way Lily’s lips felt beneath his. The softness of her hair as it ran between his fingers.

The small sounds of pleasure she made that had driven him crazy with desire. He’d tossed and turned fort

the entire night.

“Do you have any plans tonight?” he asked, knowing that he wanted to figure out whatever was going

on between them. Or at the very least just get to know her better. He was trying to take things slow, but he definitely wanted to keep them moving in the right direction.

“Umm, actually I do. I was invited to go to a book club meeting,” she said. Then, smiling, she added,

“And I’ve already read the book so I’m prepared.”

“My sister Amy goes to 'book club meetings.' Just to give you a heads-up, I don’t think that the topics

discussed have anything to do with the books.”

Lily’s brow furrowed. “Really? What topics are discussed?”

“From what I’ve heard, it’s mostly men or whatever crisis one of the participants happens to be having

at the time.”

“Well that sounds like fun too.” Lily shrugged happily.

Even having the advantage of having two sisters, both of which were complete opposites, Eric didn’t

think he would ever truly understand women if that’s what they considered “fun.”

Knowing he didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to see Lily, he asked, “What about lunch? Do you have

any plans?”

“I got roped into teaching a seniors salsa class at noon today.” Her voice sounded frustrated but her eyes

danced with amusement.

“You got roped in?”

“Yep, Mayor Walker called last night to ask me if I was interested, and before I could give him my

answer, he thanked me, told me the time and place, and practically hung up on me.”

“Yep, that sounds like Henry,” Eric smiled affectionately. When Eric’s dad Sean had moved to town

over forty years ago, he and Henry had become fast friends. They had even both courted Eric’s mom

Rosalie. Even though his dad ultimately won his mom’s heart, the two men had remained great friends

“How about after class I take you out to lunch?” Eric asked.

“Umm…” Lily didn’t answer right away. Her eyes darted down to the ground, and Eric was starting to

feel like he had put her on the spot.

Finally, after what felt like at least ten minutes but was probably not more than one, her eyes lifted and a small smile crossed her gorgeous face. “Okay. Lunch sounds nice.”

Eric let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. It was just lunch but it also felt like the beginning of something much bigger to him. “Are you teaching at the Community Center?”

She nodded.

“Great. I’ll pick you up at one.”

“’Kay.”

“Come, Shadow,” Eric said as he made his way out of the small space. Shadow didn’t put up a fight this

time and stepped in right beside Eric happily. He reached down to pet him. Eric had missed him last night.

Since he came so willingly, maybe Shadow had missed Eric too. As soon as the front door was open,

Shadow ran to his food bowl and chowed down.

Or maybe he just missed his food.

Well, seeing that Shadow spent the night cuddled up in Lily’s bed, it’s not like Eric could blame him.

Chapter Eleven

Lily had taught dance to toddlers, teenagers, and adults. She had even worked with couples on the verge

of divorce using dance in an attempt to salvage a failing marriage. Never in her wildest dreams would she

have expected that her most difficult class
by far
would be teaching senior citizens.

She’d already had to separate Mr. Bryson and Mrs. Crandall for arguing over which leg they should be

starting on. The crazy thing was they were both right but somehow kept arguing.

Then Mrs. Lemont asked for a new partner because Mr. Rickles kept letting his hand wander down to

inappropriate places. He maintained he didn’t know what she was ‘babbling’ about, but Lily had seen him

goose Mrs. Lemont with her own eyes.

Mrs. Rivers and Mrs. Samson had gotten into a screaming match over who was going to partner up with

Mayor Walker. They’d ended up flipping a coin, but it had still been quite an ordeal. And it was only fifteen minutes into class and two students already had to sit down and use their portable oxygen tanks.

The whole class wasn’t disruptive. In fact, there were three couples who were listening, following her

exact directions, and even smiling with silent support while she dealt with various outrageous incidents. She wanted to make sure to thank them after class. Oh, and get their names since she hadn’t had a chance to

meet them because her time had been monopolized by her other more challenging students.

Lily thought she might have things on track as she finished explaining and demonstrating the next step

they would be working on. “Are there any questions?”

Mr. Rickles raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“Are you single?” Mr. Rickles wiggled his bushy eyebrows at her.

She tried to suppress her smile. If Mr. Rickles knew how entertaining she thought his hijinks were, he

would only turn up the heat on them and she didn’t want to deal with that. “Does anyone have any

questions regarding dance?”

He raised his had once again.

“Yes, Mr. Rickles.”

“Do you have a
dance
partner in life?” he asked, obviously quite proud of himself for being able to pull that one out of his hat.

Again, she didn’t acknowledge how amused she was. Keeping a straight face, she ignored his play on

words and continued. “Okay, so moving—”

“You know my grandson Bill is single,” Mrs. Crandall chimed in. “You two would make a lovely

couple.”

“Well now, so is my Steve. And he is actually employed unlike”—Mrs. Samson tilted her head,

motioning to Mrs. Crandall—“some people’s kin.”

“Okay, everyone liste—”

“Now, my Peter is who you should be with.” Mrs. Lemont wagged her wrinkled finger at Lily. “He is a

good Christian boy with good Christian values.”

Everyone started speaking at once, and Lily felt like her head was going to explode. They were all giving her the résumés of their respective grandchildren. One even offered a credit score.

So maybe things weren’t as on track as she had hoped. Lily took a deep breath. She needed to get

control of this room and she needed to do it
now
.

“Listen,” Lily said, raising her voice, standing a little taller than she had been just a moment ago. “I am here to teach you all to salsa. That’s all. This isn’t The Dating Game. Anyone who is not interested in

learning how to salsa, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Complete silence fell over the room. Lily knew it was silly but she felt like she had actually

accomplished something. There were thirteen pairs of eyes glued to her. She had every single one of these

ornery seniors’ attention.

“Okay. Now, as I was saying, gentlemen, take your lady’s right hand with your left. Ladies, place your

left hand on your partner’s shoulder. Gentlemen, place your right hand on your partner’s lower back.

Please look each other in the eyes.”

All of the students did as Lily said, and she started the music. She sing-songed the directions. “Hold a

beat. Now step forward with your left foot. Rock back with your right foot. Step back with your left foot.

Hold a beat. Step back with your right foot. Rock forward with your left foot. Step forward with your right foot.”

As Lily watched couples move
mostly
in time to the beat, she felt…proud. She had actually gotten this room of rascally seniors to listen to her. She hadn’t known she was even remotely capable of doing that.

For some reason, Eric’s face popped into her head.

Was it because she was meeting him for lunch? Nope. Was it because of the smokin’ hot lip-lock they’d

shared? No. Was it because she desperately wanted to see him shirtless with about a day’s worth of stubble?

Oddly enough, the answer was still no.

When she dug deep, she realized that she wished he were here to see her accomplishment. What did that

mean? Sure, she knew she was attracted to him. That was more than obvious. And she
loved
his dog. But why in the world would she want him to see her teaching a bunch of elderly people how to dance?

The second the question popped into her mind, the answer followed. Because you want him to be