Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) by Melanie Shawn Page A

to him. Like he was watching a
    living, breathing, moving piece of art.
    “Right, Eric?” Jake’s voice was raised.
    Eric turned to his brother, trying not to let the irritation he felt welling inside of him bleed through into his tone. “What?”
    “I said,” Jake sighed, shaking his head dramatically, making Lily laugh a little, “we would have loved to
    move around a lot as kids. Instead we spent our entire childhood in Hope Falls being bored out of our
    minds.”
    Eric didn’t have any idea what his brother was talking about. “I loved growing up here.”
    “Of course you did.” Jake took an apple Lily handed him after she’d finished washing it. “’Cause, you,
    big brother, are boring,” he announced before taking a big bite out of the large red apple.
    He was about to tell Jake where he could shove both his opinion and that apple when Lily started
    speaking.
    “I think that’s sweet.” She reached out and touched Eric’s forearm. “I don’t know anyone who actually
    enjoyed their childhood.”
    Just the simple touch of her hand through the cotton of Eric’s thermal sent his body into overdrive. It was like she was electrically charged and the second she touched him his body came alive with pulsing
    desire.
    She moved her hand away like she had touched a hot stove. Quickly turning back, she busied herself by
    putting things away around her small kitchen. Eric took a step back to try to lessen some of the rioting
    effect that just her nearness was having on his body.
    He looked up to find Jake taking the whole scene in with the same smile he used to get on his face when
    he was about to pull a prank in Sunday school.
    Time to go .
    “We'd better get going.” Eric moved to the front room and shot his brother a look that said he'd better
    get his ass off that stool and follow him. Begrudgingly, Jake rose from his perch. Eric patted his leg. “Come on, Shadow.”
    The dog, who had been sitting in the corner of the small kitchen, watching Lily’s every move, plopped
    down to a lying position dramatically and let out a big sigh.
    “Aww.” Lily held her hands over her chest as she puffed out her bottom lip in a pout. “He wants to
    stay.”
    “Shadow, come,” Eric said with more authority in his tone.
    Shadow slowly stood and padded over beside Jake. Eric couldn’t believe what a pain in the ass both his brother and his dog were being when he was just trying to leave !
    Lily, however, was smiling from ear to ear. “Thanks again, Eric. Hope to see you soon.”
    “You too,” Eric said, really liking the way he felt hearing her say that.
    “Well it won’t be too hard. You live like a hundred yards from each other,” Jake teasingly pointed out.
    Eric reached up to smack his brother upside the head but he ducked.
    “What?” Jake laughed, along with Lily, as he and Eric headed out the front door. “I’m serious. You
    could probably just look out your side windows and wave.”
    He was gonna kill Jake.
    Chapter Nine
    Lily pulled the soft throw blanket tighter around her shoulders as her jaw chattered from the cold. She
    moved and tucked her ice-cold feet up beneath her, hoping that her body heat would start to warm them.
    This time her low body temperature was one hundred percent her fault.
    She had bought a pint of Coconut Bliss vegan ice cream at the store, and even though it was freezing
    outside, she’d had a bowl while she was watching one of her favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. Lily was
    twenty-six years old and it was time to face facts—if there was ice cream in the house, Lily had to eat it. It wasn’t optional.
    Even now as she shivered beneath the covers, she didn’t regret indulging in her frozen desires. If ice
    cream and caffeine were her two vices, she didn’t think she was doing too bad.
    Her eyes were glued to the television as her favorite montage of the two lead characters practicing their
    dance routine filled the screen. Lily had probably seen this movie over one