Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 19583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)
Having it towed to The Wright Spot Auto Body gives me the shock of my life as the bad boy of my teenage fantasies is all grown up, vowing to fix my problem. Yet, he’s the solution to another one.
Leave it to Collin “Leftie” Wright to make it all right. My foster brother agrees to be my fake boyfriend—saving me, my car, and my sanity. The only thing I can offer in return is my special set of skills to help people overcome their fears. However, Collin’s not afraid of anything.
Fear doesn’t hold him back or slow him down, even when he doles out punishment for breaking the real rules of our fake relationship. Foster brother or not, we’re a match made in Heffen.
A simple family dinner can lead to forever as Collin shows me the man he’s become and proves my family wrong. Falling instantly for him feels way too right, making Christmas a whole lot better. For me, at least.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
DANIELLE
"When do you think you'll get here?" Mom's voice booms through my car's speaker as I head west on the highway, dotted with evergreen trees, gold lights glimmering like stars, and wreaths with bright red bows fastened to the poles. She doesn't give me the chance to reply. "You know I'm cooking your favorite—meatballs and gravy."
"Meatballs and gravy are Josh's favorite, Mom," I tell her with a sigh because, of course, my brother's the most important child.
"Oh, what do you want to eat then, hun? And when are you getting here? Can we expect to see someone with you? Joshua's bringing Hilary, and Evelyn … well, Evelyn and Jake are off again. Who knows what's going on with them? I really want her to get it together and land that plane."
"Land that plane?" I cringe at what I know she obviously means. "Just because Jake's great-great-grand-whoever is the founder of Heffen's Bluff doesn't mean he's a plane to land on Evelyn's runway."
"Don't be gross, Danielle."
"Mom, you started it. Jake's net worth as a descendant of the town's founder doesn't guarantee anything for Evelyn other than hearing about how his family founded the town."
Mom huffs out a deep exhale. "You know that Evelyn can bring you around some of her friends. You never talk about your dating life, Danielle. I'm just worried you won't find your person."
"I am my person, Mom. I'm really busy at work, and I'm not…" I pause, wondering how to end this call without being a bitch to my mother. I hate talking about dating life—well, the lack of one. She and Dad were together forever before he died. He's been gone almost eight years now, and she still won't date.
Thankfully, my phone line beeps from the sound of another call coming in. The perfect way to get off the phone. "Mom, I gotta go. That's my other line. I'll be there in an hour or so. Maybe I'll even bring my boyfriend with me."
I click off the line before she can say anything, letting her sit in my sarcasm as I answer the flashing face of my annoying younger brother.
"Josh-You-Whore," I sing the name I gave to him around his fifteenth birthday when he refused to date one person at a time.
"Is that how this week's gonna go, Dateless Dani? It's been what? Six weeks since our lunch, and you're giving me shit?"
"Truce." I shake my head, not wanting to go there with him. "You sound uptight. And remember that it's been a few months since we saw each other. You know how Evil Lynne gets when she finds out we're doing things without her."
Josh groans. "Why couldn't I have brothers? I still don't get why we can’t have lunch without Ev getting jealous. You two have lunch and go out without me plenty of times, and I don't care. Evelyn should just come to D.C. when we invite her, but no, she wants to hang around Heffen's Bluff."
"I think she's scared of what Jake might do if he knows she's out of town."
"If you have to worry about what he's doing when you're not around, then you don't need to have him around at all."
I smile, my face warming at the memory. "That's what Dad used to say."
"I wish he were still here. At least y'all listened to him. You and Ev don't listen to me at all."
"That's not true. I listen to you all the time."
He chuckles. "Did you get your oil changed?"
Just as the words come out of his mouth, my car's check engine light springs to life on my dashboard. I won't dare give Josh the satisfaction. "Of course I did. You literally told me six weeks ago to change my oil. You know, at that lunch we didn't have. I listened to you."
The clanking noise following a slight tremor through my steering wheel forces me to pull over to the side of the road, with a giant billboard announcing a local Christmas market and a snowman figurine standing guard in front of it.
God, even my car agrees with Josh about me not listening and decides to prove it right at this moment.
"Everything alright, Dani?" Josh asks.
"Not in the slightest. I think my car's angry that I just lied to you about getting that oil change. Before you say anything, I meant to get it done, but work is crazy—"
"You're a fear coach," he says dismissively.
"And that doesn't change the fact that I help my clients manage their fears, most of whom are in the political arena. Just come get me, Josh."
The pause in his voice tells me I'm not going to like his answer. I hear him tightly inhale and picture him tightening his jaw. "I'm at the train station waiting for Hilary. If I'm not here when she gets off that train, I'm going to be miserable and single like you."