Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) Read Online Free

Eric stepped outside.
    “So Tessa’s back,” his brother said, stating the obvious.
    “Yep.” Jake almost felt like the last five minutes had been a dream, and he still wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare.
    “And she has your coat.” Eric again had pointed out a fact that Jake was well aware of.
    Yep. Tessa was back. And she had his coat.

Chapter Three
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    T essa was slipping and sliding across the parking lot—Ice Capades style!—as fast as she could. She had a lump in her throat so big she couldn’t swallow. Her chest felt like a two-ton elephant was sitting on it and her stomach was so upset she thought that there was a very real possibility that she would actually throw up before she made it to her car.
    Of course she’d known that if Jake still lived here she would inevitably run into him. In a town the size of Hope Falls, it was bound to happen. But why, why , did it have to be the second she’d crossed the city limits while she looked like a drowned rat and had just driven for twelve hours straight with an audience of not only his brother but his girlfriend too?!
    Over the last thirteen years, she’d imagined what it would be like if she ever got to see Jake again. She’d probably come up with close to a thousand different scenarios. She even had favorites.
    The one that got the most repeat play in her mind was one where she imagined being in an airport, waiting for her flight. She would picture herself walking through crowds of people when suddenly she’d bump into a strong solid wall of a chest. Large protective hands would wrap around her shoulders to steady her. Her head would lift—in slow motion, of course!—to find that it was Jake she’d randomly run into. The electricity between them would be so palpable that neither of them could speak. So without saying “Hello,” “Hi,” or “How ya’ doin?” he would just lean down and kiss her senseless. Then, after kissing her until she couldn’t even remember her own name, Jake would tell her that he’d never stopped loving her and they would live happily ever after.
    Not once, in all of the myriad possible Jake encounters she’d conjured up, had she been soaking wet and looking like death warmed over while his brother questioned her about drunk driving and his girlfriend dry humped his leg. Things playing out like they had, had never even entered into her realm of possibilities.
    Reaching her car, finally , she opened the door and had to scoot and shimmy her way in because there was barely any room due to her horrendous parking job. The large jacket she was wearing, thanks to Jake, certainly was not helping the tight fit either. And the cherry on top of this embarrassment sundae was that, although Tessa hadn’t looked back, she knew that Jake was watching her awkwardly get into her vehicle. She could feel his eyes on her. Jake’s energy was so strong that she’d always been able to sense his attention.
    It didn’t matter where they had been—in school, hanging out with friends, at his family’s Sunday dinners—when Jake looked at her, her entire body came alive. It was like his powerful gaze was set to a frequency that her body was subconsciously tuned to. And it was becoming glaringly obvious that all the years they’d spent apart had done nothing to dull his visual superpowers.
    Slipping into the driver’s seat, Tessa quickly slammed her car door like the boogie man was after her. She needed to get out of here and try to process her Jake sighting, but as she attempted to start the car, her hands were shaking so uncontrollably that she couldn’t even manage to get the key in the ignition.
    “Okay, okay, okay, okay,” she said aloud to herself, trying to settle her frazzled nerves. Tessa had attempted—several times!—to break the habit of talking to herself and for the most part had been successful. But it seemed that repeating “okay” to calm down was here to stay. It was the equivalent of a childhood security