Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (25 page)

couldn’t help himself. Every time he saw Lily he was struck again by her breathtaking beauty. He wanted to

take her home, strip her out of her black skinny jeans and beige sweater, and show her just how beautiful

she was.

“I bet you say that to all your
friends
you happen to be seeing movies with,” she teased.

Right, the movie.

Damn, why had he thought a movie would be a fun time?

---~---

Best. Not Date. Ever.

Lily could not control her facial muscles, which kept pulling into a smile as she bumped up over the

curb and pulled into her driveway. Her fingers twisted the key, turning off the engine, and she involuntarily let out a little squeal of delight. She was so glad she’d met Eric at the movies because she didn’t think that even if he was in the car she would have been able to disguise her overwhelming happiness.

She knew that for most girls a simple movie would probably not top their list as the most romantic date

activity. But to her, it was just that. All the years she’d spent in movie theaters trying to block out her life,

her reality, she’d never thought that one day her life and her reality would actually be
better
than what she saw playing out before her on the big screen.

Eric hadn’t stopped touching her the entire time they were seated in the dark, cool auditorium. Even

now she felt the lingering effects from his touch. Her legs tingled the entire path his large hands and skilled fingers had worn as he intimately massaged her thigh, each pass moving higher and higher up her leg until

he would almost reach her center. Then he would start back at her knee again.

Her neck still tickled from the several times he had leaned down and whispered something in her ear

during the movie; sometimes it had to do with the action that was taking place on screen and sometimes it

had to do with the action that was taking place off screen.

She’d barely been able to sit through the whole movie.

Never before in her life had she wanted a movie to end. It didn’t matter if it was boring. Or if the acting was so bad that she cringed. Even if the plot had more holes than Swiss cheese, she always felt the same

twinge of disappointment when the credits rolled.

Until now.

Tonight she hadn’t been able to wait for that sucker to end. Not because it had been a bad movie. Far

from it. She’d just wanted it to be over so she could get back to her life. The one that was so much better than the movie.

Just as she reached for the handle of her Jeep, her door flew open and Eric reached in, picking her up

and throwing her over his shoulder. She found herself once again squealing in delight.

“I got called into work,” he said as he stalked towards her front door.

Disappointment tamped down some of the thrilling high she’d just been feeling.

“But I have an hour and I plan on making the most of it,” he promised as he used his key to unlock her

door.

Annnnnd the thrilling high was back.

After hearing the door slam shut, she felt her body sliding down Eric’s rock-hard chest as he lowered

her to the ground. Placing one hand on her hip and threading his fingers though her hair with his other, he lowered his head, gently brushing his lips against hers.

Feeling a rush of urgency wash over her, she whispered, “We can go to my room.”

His voice was rough with desire as he backed her up until she felt the cool solidness of ‘their’ wall

behind her. “I’ve missed this wall.”

She exhaled in a small, anxious sigh.

His full lips softly grazed hers as he spoke. “I like this wall. I never got to do all the things I wanted to do to you up against this wall. And I only have an hour. If I take you to bed, I won’t get back out of it

tonight.”

She swallowed a groan as his mouth crushed hers in a smoldering kiss. Fevered with desire, she

reached up, wrapping her hands around his strong neck. As her fingers tangled in the soft hair at the base

of his neck, she knotted her hands, tugging back so she could kiss him harder. Deeper.

A guttural moan vibrated from deep in his chest as he picked her up, wrapping her legs around his

waist. Though the soft jean material she wore, she could feel his rock-hard member pressing firmly against her center, causing her inner walls to pulse with need. Her hips rocked against his length, trying desperately to find release.

Wanting to feel his skin, she released her hands from his neck and pulled his long-sleeved shirt up,

tugging firmly. Not able to get the garment off on her first attempt, she moaned in frustration. She broke

their kiss for only a moment as he removed his shirt. Then a sinful smile broke out on his face as he peeled her out of her sweater.

Lowering his head, he sucked her nipple in his mouth through the thin satin material of the bra still

covering it. He licked and nipped at her hardened nub, and the sensation was multiplied with the fabric

rubbing against her sensitized nipple. She whimpered as he moved to the other breast, lavishing the same

attention on it with his hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses.

“Eric,” she pleaded as she rubbed her hands up and down the smooth, muscular lines of his back,

kneading his firm skin with her slender fingers.

Pulling back slightly, he stared down at her chest with a hot, hungry look in his eye. Her gaze flicked

down to where his attention was focused, and she saw that her nipples and areolas were completely visible

through the dampened silk. She looked like she’d been in a wet t-shirt contest.

Forming his lips in the shape of an O, he blew softly on her distended peaks, causing a shiver of

pleasure to run down the length of her body. Wanting, needing his mouth on her again, she thrust her chest

up as she gripped him tighter. Responding to her body’s needs, Eric once again covered her breast with his

mouth.

A ringing sound shrilled through the air as Eric cursed under his breath and set her down, reaching into

his pocket.

“Yeah?” he answered in a much friendlier tone than she’d been expecting. He usually sounded mad

when he answered a call that interrupted them while they were ‘not dating.’

She heard a female voice on the other line. Feeling a little exposed, Lily reached down to pick up her

sweater, but Eric grabbed her wrists and shook his head. The way his eyes raked over her body caused

goose bumps to form on her skin. Now, instead of feeling exposed while standing there in front of him

only partially dressed with her see-through wet bra, she was majorly turned on. His stare was a potent

aphrodisiac.

Until his eyes flickered and his face tensed with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked, releasing Lily’s

hand and stepping away. “You had surgery and didn’t tell me?”

Now he sounds mad
.

“All right, I’ll go get him.” He raked his hand through his hair. “No, it’s fine, Amy. Stay there. I’ll go get him.”

“Is everything okay?” Lily asked as Eric pushed the phone back in his pants and picked up his rumpled

shirt that had been tossed on the floor.

“No.” Frustration filled his words. “I mean, yes, everything is okay. It’s just… I have to go.”

And the thrilling rush was once again replaced with disappointment. Lily pulled her sweater over her

head as she asked, “Do you need me to do anything?”

“No, I just have to go and get Amy’s dog Scooby. He decided to take a trip downtown again.”

“Is he a Great Dane?” Lily asked, wondering if it was the same dog she’d seen walking down Main

Street the day she’d arrived.

“Yes.” Eric pulled his shirt back on hastily as irritation rolled off of him in waves.

“Is Amy feeling okay?” Lily didn’t want to pry, but she’d overheard him say surgery and hoped it

wasn’t anything serious.

His hands flew up in the air as he explained. “She had laser eye surgery and didn’t tell anyone. She took

a cab home. But now she can’t get out of bed to go get her dog.”

Wow. When Lily’s appendix had burst four years ago, she’d had to be rushed to the hospital. She’d had

surgery, stayed for two days, and then took a taxi home. She didn’t understand why anyone would do that

when they had family. If she would have had someone, anyone to call, there was no way she would have

gone through that alone.

A loud sigh brought her attention back to Eric. “Tonight didn’t turn out the way I planned. I’m sorry.”

Stepping up and putting her arms around his waist, she laid her head on his wide, solid chest. “Tonight

was perfect. Thank you for the best ‘not date’ ever.”

Eric wrapped his arms tightly around her as he took in a deep breath through his nostrils. “I’ll miss you

tonight.” His voice came out as a whisper in her hair.

“I’ll miss you too. But don’t worry. Shadow will keep your side of the bed warm,” she teased, knowing

that Eric didn’t
love
the fact that she let Shadow sleep in bed with them.

Eric looked down at her, and with a reluctant smile, shaking his head, he said, “Damn dogs.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Emergency Book Club Meeting! Nine p.m. My house.

Lily checked the message she’d been sent an hour ago from Karina again to make sure she was reading

it right. Yep, it definitely said “Emergency book club meeting.” Still trying to wrap her head around exactly what that was, she knocked on Karina’s door.

She didn’t want to seem like a party pooper but she really hoped this wouldn’t take too long. Eric had

had to pull a double today but had moved his shift to swing so he would be home by ten thirty. A small

smile played on Lily’s lips as she thought about being able to spend the whole night with him.

Since their ‘not date’ three days ago, Eric hadn’t had a night off because a few of his officers were ill.

She’d barely seen him and had missed him so much that it had actually caused her pain in her chest.

“Good, you’re here,” Sam smiled, pulling her into the foyer. “We weren’t sure you got the bat signal.”

“The bat signal?” Lily asked, not any clearer on what was going on.

“You know, the text,” Sam explained.

“Oh, that.” Lilly nodded with understanding. Then, lifting her phone for evidence, she smiled. “Yeah, I

got it.”

Making her way to the front room, Lily saw that the gang was all there. She and Sam took seats next to

Nikki and Lauren, and on the couch across from them sat Amanda, Karina, and Amy.

Whoa!

Lily did a double take. Amy not only wasn’t wearing her glasses, which caused her eyes to look at least

double their previous size, she’d also done something different to her hair. Lily looked closer. She’d

definitely cut it and maybe even highlighted it. She looked
incredible
.

“Amy, you look amazing! I love your hair,” Lily exclaimed.

“Thank you.” Amy reached up and touched the ends of her hair, seeming happy about the fact Lily had

noticed.

“Which brings us to the person who called all of us here tonight for an emergency book club meeting,”

Karina announced. Then she waved her hand up and down like she was a Price is Right girl and Amy was

the showcase. “Amy, you have the floor.”

“Right. So I asked you all here for research purposes,” Amy began as she pulled out several notebooks

from a book bag, flipping the one on top open. “I’ve decided that I want to embrace my femininity, and

since you all have done so successfully in various ways, I thought I would go straight to the source to

collect my data.”

What?

Lily tried to inconspicuously scan the room to see if anyone else knew what Amy was talking about.

From what she could see on her covert sweep, everyone looked either totally blank-faced or confused.

“She wants to be sexy and she’s asking for tips.” Nikki shook her head like she thought her sister’s

actions were completely ridiculous.

“Ohhhh,” the room said collectively in understanding.

“Well, Amy. Although I appreciate research as much as the next gal, I’m not sure that we’ll be of much help,” Lauren stated. “Sexiness is a very individual and subjective thing.”

“I understand that,” Amy nodded. “But I’ve prepared some questions, and if it’s all right, I would like to

ask them just to get a baseline of information.”

“Sure,” Karina agreed easily. “Ask away. I’m an open book.”

“When do you feel sexy?” Amy asked, moving her hand to her nose but then quickly putting it down

when she must have realized there were no glasses there.

“Well that’s hard to say. I guess it depends. Before I met Ryan, I think the time I felt the sexiest was on stage. When I was performing and all of the energy from the crowds was focused on me. Or if I was at a

photo shoot and I had a particularly good photographer, sometimes I would feel sexy.

“But since I met Ryan, I have to say that it doesn’t matter where we are. It could be in a crowd of

people, in the grocery store, or in line at the DMV. When he looks at me, I
feel
sexy. It’s almost like I feel what he sees, and since he thinks I’m sexy, that’s what I feel.”

Amy was jotting down notes as fast as Karina could talk, nodding her head as she did.

“What about you, Lily?” Amy asked as she flipped the next notebook.

Well, she definitely was
not
going to say, “I feel sexy when your brother pushes me up against the wall, strips off my clothes, and kisses me so hard I think I’ll die if he doesn’t make love to me.”

Instead, she went with another scenario that was equally as true. “I have always felt sexy when I dance.”

“
I
feel sexy when you dance,” Karina teased.

The girls all laughed and some voiced their agreement with Karina.