Hope Falls_Cookies & Kismet Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Text copyright ©2017 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Melanie Shawn. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Hope Falls remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Melanie Shawn, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Cookies & Kismet

  A Hope Falls Kindle World Novella

  By Mayra Statham

  BLURB:

  It was kismet…

  They met on vacation and fell in love, a world away from their everyday lives.

  It was kismet that stepped in once again to help Nathan find his Angie after a misunderstanding pulled them apart. Now, he will stop at nothing to make her realize she is his and his heart belongs to her.

  Between baking batches of Christmas cookies, getting tangled up together in twinkle lights, and visiting winter festivals in her hometown of Hope Falls, California, they realize the sparks they felt before are brighter than ever.

  Cookies & Kismet is a whirlwind romance that will end up with a happily ever after full of Christmas memories in the baking.

  Acknowledgments:

  My Forever Boyfriend: Kismet helped have our paths cross at just the right time. Love you, hubby.

  To my children: Follow your dreams and your heart, always.

  Melanie Shawn: Thank you so much for the invitation to write in your amazing world of Hope Falls. Hope I make you proud! xoxo

  Julia Goda, CP Smith, Kelly Tucker & Tracie Douglas: Thank you so much for your endless friendship and support. I don’t know what I would do without you guys!

  To you the reader: Thank you for taking a chance. I hope you fall in love with Nathan and Angie.

  Dedication:

  No matter how crazy something might be,

  always follow your heart…

  Prologue

  Nathan Sharpe

  “So…” His voice drifted off into silence as people walked past them.

  They both stood in the middle of the airport, already having gone through security, and as luck would have it, their gates were on opposite ends. Stranger’s rushed this way and that, and Nathan and his girl were most likely in the way, but he couldn’t get his feet to move. It was like they—along with his heart—were nailed to the damn floor.

  “So…” she repeated, but just like him, she had no words.

  They stared at one another, and he wondered if she was drinking every millisecond in. Committing him to memory like he was with her.

  She broke first, giving him a forced smile that nowhere close touched her eyes, and sighed. “I guess we should say good-bye now.”

  “Yeah, I guess…” He cleared his throat. Saying good-bye was the last damn thing he wanted to do.

  He wished he could somehow press pause and rewind. Go back to reliving the last couple of days. They had been nothing but magic. The best damn days of his life. But he couldn’t press pause. Life doesn’t work that way, he reminded himself.

  “Well, safe travels.”

  “Safe travels,” Angie repeated. His eyes were pinned on how she bit down on her lower lip. Damn. She was willing herself not to cry. His gut clenched. He didn’t like her being sad.

  He wanted to bite that fucking lip for her and kiss her breathless. All so she wouldn’t feel anything other than him and every emotion only he could bring out of her. Which had been nothing but utter pleasure during the last couple of days. Her eyes got glassy, unshed tears hiding and biding their time. He broke. He couldn’t stand the mere inches of distance between them.

  Dropping his duffle bag onto the floor, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly and she easily came to him. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the top of her head. God, he loved how tiny she was. How perfectly she fit against him.

  “Nathan…” Her voice cracked. She was killing him.

  How the hell had this happened?

  This wasn’t in his plans.

  It never had been. He had relinquished himself to the idea of being a bachelor for life. He wasn’t some young kid. He was thirty-eight, for fuck’s sake. The next two years of his life were mapped out perfectly in Miami.

  But there was no way he could have planned her, because he never saw her coming. She was more than anything he could have conjured up.

  “Shh…” he soothed, his hand stroking up and down her back, and she finally dropped her own bag. With her arms around his waist, her face buried in his chest, everything was right in his world.

  Jesus, how was this possible?

  From the moment they accidently bumped into one another at the bistro of their Hawaiian resort, being around her had felt right.

  Like home, a voice in his head whispered. He tried to ignore it. How could such a tiny woman be that for him? Hadn’t he learned from watching his dad move on from trophy wife to trophy wife that love wasn’t real?

  “I should go, Nate,” she muttered into his chest but didn’t move. She didn’t want to go either. So, he simply held on tighter.

  “What if we—“ he started to suggest but felt her shake her head.

  “It would be too messy. We talked about it, Nate.” They had. They’d talked about it last night until they were blue in the face.

  They lived on opposite corners of the country. She was somewhere in Northern California, while he lived in Florida. They wouldn’t work. Long distance never worked. He knew that, yet he found himself wanting to at least try.

  He couldn’t say good-bye.

  Not yet.

  “I know we did, Ang, but—“

  “I had a really great time,” she said, looking up at him. Her brown eyes were a little lighter than their usual dark depths, and he knew it was because of the tears she was holding back.

  She was so damn strong.

  “You… You’re more than I could have ever imagined from this getaway, Nathan Sharpe,” she softly shared. He knew what she meant because he felt the same way.

  He stroked her cheek, memorizing everything about her pretty face down to the way her skin felt under his fingers.

  “I had a great time, too.” He smiled, very well knowing those weren’t the right words. They were nowhere close to adequate, but they would have to do. He had no words for the time they had shared on the magical island of Honolulu. She patted his butt before pulling away, and he let her go.

  “I can’t miss my flight,” she whispered, her lower lip trembling, and he knew she was losing her hold on the thin thread she was clinging to.

  He knew it because he felt the same damn way.

  His hand slipped from her cheek to the back of her head and pulled her in close. Then he kissed her.

  He put everything he was feeling into the hard, demanding kiss, and she gave back equally. When they both pulled, breathless, he quickly kissed her forehead and waved before turning around. He started to walk toward his gate when the sound of her voice made him stop.

  “Nate?” she called out, and he turned. She had already picked up her carry-on bag and thrown it over her shoulder.

  Her hair was in a messy ponytail; dark wisps had come loose and framed her face.
In jeans and a tee, with a gray hooded sweatshirt tied around her waist, and old-school black chucks on her feet; she was completely casual and so fucking beautiful it hurt to look at her. He knew no matter what, there would never be a prettier vision than the woman in front him at this very moment.

  “If... if you decide messy might be, I don’t know… something you would want, check your back pocket,” she threw out there before waving then turning.

  Just like that, she had handed him a lifesaver he didn’t know he’d needed. He could breathe again. His hands went to his back pocket, and sure enough, there it was. A piece of paper.

  Hope for more.

  He didn’t take it out as he watched her walk away without looking back at him. The aching in his chest only grew with every step she took and intensified when he turned and took his own steps further from her.

  When he reached his gate, he took a seat, her note in hand. He unfolded the white hotel stationary.

  Just in case you’re ever in California or maybe in the mood for messy… Her feminine and pretty handwriting made him smile. It fit her to a T. Along with the note and hand-drawn heart were her email address and cell phone number.

  The overhead speakers called out his flight, and he stood. Grabbing his duffle from the floor just as a kid with a family bumped into him. The kid apologized with wide eyes, but Nathan only smiled, reassuring him he was fine. Stuffing her note into his pocket, he hurried to get in line to board the plane.

  Never noticing her note, the slip of paper she had gifted him with, never made it into his pocket. Instead, it floated to the floor, landing just under the seat he had been sitting in.

  He wouldn’t notice until he was close to five thousand miles away after his plane landed in Miami.

  Chapter One

  Angie Lopez - November 29

  “Angie?” Cat’s voice called out, snapping me out my island-infused thoughts, and I automatically pasted a smile on my face.

  “Hey, babe.” I stood and opened the door to my sun room. Though there wasn’t much sunlight today, I loved the space.

  “You okay?” Cat’s blue eyes reflected her concern. “I’ve been calling out for you, but it was like you were a million miles away.” I had been. Mentally, I was thinking about my island vacation and the man who had changed my life.

  “I guess I’m having a hard time getting off island time.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Come in. I’m sorry I had you waiting in the cold.”

  “Island time, huh?” Cat raised a brow and brushed her dark curls away from her face.

  “Yeah… I’ll snap out of it soon.” I hoped. Though, the way my heart ached made it seem otherwise.

  “What happened in Honolulu anyhow?” Cat innocently asked, and I tried to seem unaffected by her innocent question.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I shrugged trying to steer my best friend’s questioning away from me. “Coffee or tea?”

  “Tea.” Cat sat down, but I could feel her eyes watching me.

  “You’re staring,” I pointed out without looking at her.

  “You need to talk to me,” Cat gently prodded. I knew she was right. I swallowed hard. The knot in my throat tightened. If I talked about Hawaii, there would be no way I could hold it together.

  “There’s nothing to say,” I lied. I had never lied to Cat. It was pointless. Cat was like a living, breathing lie detector. I went on silently preparing our tea and sat the mugs down onto the table.

  “You’ve been like this since you came back.” Cat grabbed my hand the moment I sat down.

  “I haven’t been any different—“ I tried to argue.

  “The first two weeks, I could understand.” Cat kept talking, “But babe, we’re on a month of you and your island-time mood.” That made my head perk up. Had it already been a month? “Talk to me,” Cat urged. I couldn’t keep looking into her blue eyes. His eyes had been blue.

  Still holding my best friend’s hand, I stared out the window of my small kitchen. It looked out to my small backyard that was currently as overcast and gray as my mood.

  “I messed up,” I confessed, and Cat’s hand squeezed mine, silently urging me to keep talking. “I met someone.”

  “You did?” Cat asked. I nodded.

  “He… he was…” I didn’t even have words for what Nathan Sharpe had been.

  If that was even his real name.

  “He was what?” Cat pressed. I pressed my lips together before answering.

  “Amazing. Perfect.” I laughed and sniffled. My eyes and nose burned. The need to cry slammed into me. Instead of giving in to the emotions, I shook my head and looked at my best friend. My soul sister.

  Cat was right. She usually was.

  It was time to talk. That way I could purge him out of my system and mind.

  “He was a fraud.” I winced calling him that, but what else could I call him? “Probably a player,” I muttered. Cat scowled at me in confusion.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The first day I was there was beautiful and totally how I had planned.” I shared, “The second day, however, it was raining, so I had to reschedule my ziplining excursion. Anyhow, for lunch I went to the bistro in the hotel. I was looking down at my phone—to call you, actually—and slammed right into him.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. I thought I was about to fall back on my ass, but instead, these two huge hands held on to me. Then I looked up and…” My voice trailed off into nothing, the memory in my head clear and crisp.

  “And what?”

  “I messed up.”

  “How?” Cat’s face was frowning so deeply I was tempted to laugh. Under any other circumstances I would have. But not when it came to the man who had taken my breath away.

  “I fell in love,” I confessed honestly. It might have been more lust than love at first sight, but I had fallen in love either way.

  “What?” Cat’s eyes widened, and I shook my head.

  “I know how crazy it sounds.”

  “Insane. It sounds insane…”

  “Maybe…” I shrugged.

  “You probably just fell in lust,“ she threw out there. I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

  “It was that, too,” I admitted. There was no way I couldn’t. He was beautiful. Masculinity dripped off him like words from a romance novel come to life.

  “So?”

  “So, what?”

  “What happened?”

  “Everything around us went still and when I realized I was staring at him and probably looked like an idiot, I backed away. His grip lessened but didn’t let me go completely. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes.”

  “Anyhow, we both apologized and laughed. Then he asked if I wanted to share a table with him, and I said yes.”

  “You did?” Cat’s surprise wasn’t unexpected. I wasn’t naïve. I knew how people saw me. A loner. Only a loner could vacation one her own, yearly, without fail. Something that had started as an exercise for myself to remind me it was okay to spend time on my own after a bad breakup, had grown into an annual getaway for one. Then there was the whole thing about how I didn’t really date. Not really.

  “I know. I was just as surprised as you are. We had lunch, and it was like having a meal with you.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, and I let myself be honest.

  “Like I had known him my whole life. It was easy and fun and comfortable.”

  “Really?” Cat asked incredulously. I nodded.

  “Not blowing smoke up your ass, Cat. He was just… amazing and perfect and just... wow.” I couldn’t help swooning when it came to him.

  “Okay, wait… let me get this straight. Wow happened and you’ve been like Eeyore come to life this last month? What happened?”

  “He extended his trip an extra two days so we could leave the same day. We were inseparable.” And we had also been insatiable. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel the roughness of his palms on my skin and his breath at my ear as he
whispered deliciously dirty things into the darkness. Or into the light. We hadn’t been shy about our bodies. The reminder only added another first for me.

  Shaking my head, I looked at my best friend. “We agreed it was going to be a vacation fling. He lives in Florida, and well, I’m here.” For the first time in my life, I kept something from Cat. I bit my lower lip from sharing how I had handed the ball to him. How he had decided I wasn’t worth a call or an email.

  “That’s it? That’s how it ends?” Cat asked, obviously outraged. I shrugged with a tight smile.

  “I’m sorry if I have been a stick in the mud. I promise I will snap out of it.” Cat’s hand squeezed mine.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. I nodded.

  “I will be.” There was no other choice. Nathan had made his choice. I just wished it would have been the one where he magically appeared on my doorstep.

  “Of course, you will! You have me. Now that I know what’s going on, I’m done giving you your space.” Cat winked, and I laughed.

  “Thanks.”

  We hung out for a while, and then Cat left.

  Sitting at my kitchen table, I stared out toward the backyard. Winter was quickly approaching, December a mere couple of days away. From when I had been a little girl, Christmas and winter had always been my favorite time of year. The season had always been filled with magic and wonder. As if the holidays held the possibility of incredible things to come.

  Now I wasn’t so sure.

  Chapter Two

  Nathan - November 30th

  He slammed his hand against his desk. “This is unacceptable,” he growled, ignoring the pain radiating up his arm.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Nate.” Lindsey was exasperated with him. He didn’t blame her.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For the growling or slamming your hands every time you talk?” Lindsay asked, almost rolling her eyes. If anyone looked at her, they would think she was completely unfazed. He knew better.

  “For everything. For being a damn nightmare to deal with this last month.”