Page 39 of Candy Canes & Peppermint Kisses

Beta Reader: Judy Ann Loves Books

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

This literary work is fiction. Any name, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental. Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.

I wanted to see how far he’d go… with me.

I’d just moved back home after graduating college and my failed attempt at city life. The latter wasn’t for me, not with the crush of people and lack of grace and fresh air.

I was a country girl at heart, and so I went back to the place that would always be my home.

Cherry Falls.

But life in the small, picturesque town wasn’t as I remembered. Things were growing, businesses flourishing. Residents were getting married and starting families.

And with my childhood home sold and my father moving to the mountains and all but becoming a recluse, I had to come up with a solution fast on what I planned on doing with my life.

I should have planned my homecoming better, but now I was searching for a job and a place to stay. Luck was on my side when I found an ad in the paper for a roommate in need.

But it seemed fate had a funny way of throwing a wrench in my life as I met my would-be roomie. This had to be fate’s way of throwing me some charity.

Tristan Black. Cherry Falls’ resident bad boy… and the one person I’d always wanted.

He was a decade older, rough around the edges, covered in tattoos, and so muscular I couldn’t help but feel like he’d snap me in half… in the best of ways.

I sure as hell wanted to be bent like his personal pretzel.

But could I really be his roommate? My libido wouldn’t survive, but I was up for the challenge.

Because what’s the worst that could happen? Finding myself in Tristan’s bed?

Note: A total standalone in the Cherry Falls series.

1

Dolly

As a little girl, I’d dreamed of being a dancer. And I’d held on to that dream into adulthood, going so far as to leave the only home I’d ever known and experience the chaotic life of the city.

For four years I stayed away.

For four years I knew it was a mistake.

I learned real fast that city life wasn’t for me.I was a country girl, the kind that learned how to milk a cow at the Johnson farm. The kind that helped out at the church bake sale every spring. The type of person who had dirt under her nails at the end of every day.

So I didn’t know why I thought I had a chance to do ballet in the city. I didn’t know why I thought I was cut out for the claustrophobic, clustered life of living in the city.

I snorted. How wrong I’d been, because “real life” wasn’t about how high you could go in the workforce, or what kind of degree you had when you graduated. No, I realized thatreallyliving had everything to do with who you surrounded yourself with and what made you happy.

And so after four years of living away from home, getting my degree, and knowing I wouldn’t be dancing anywhere buthome, I was now back at Cherry Falls with a bachelor's degree I couldn't even use. It was a pretty depressing outlook on my life.

I kept telling myself I could make it back at Cherry Falls. My dream was to open a dance studio, but this little voice in my head said that's all it was... a dream.

I stared at the one-story, three-bedroom structure I’d once called my childhood home.Not anymore.The wintry wind picked up, and I wrapped my arms around my body and pulled my coat tighter across me, trying to block out the cold, hating myself for having no strength and being too weak that I wanted to reminisce on something from a time long ago.

I knew why my father had sold it shortly before I left for college. I knew he wanted something smaller, more isolated. I knew in his mountain man heart if he was going to be alone he’d do it on his terms.

My cell vibrated in my pocket, and without looking away from the house, I reached in my pocket and grabbed it. I knew who it was without even looking at the screen. There was only one person who’d call. Phillip. My dad.

---