Believe in My Heart

By Maria K. Alexander

Culinary arts student, Hope Mastriano, is down on her luck. Homeless on Thanksgiving Day, she’s caught trying to break into her cousin’s apartment by her sexy boss and lifelong secret crush. Since getting dumped seven months ago, head chef Vinnie DiFrancesco has been in a frustrating holding pattern. He returns relaxed from a retreat, but his life is sent into a tailspin when he offers Hope, the event coordinator at his family’s trattoria, temporary housing. With the trattoria’s traditional Italian Christmas Eve charity dinner slated to be featured on a local TV segment and things heating up in his apartment, the two must set aside their different visions to make the event a success. When a computer glitch threatens their plans, Hope proposes a risky solution. Vinnie must believe in Hope and his heart in order to secure the future of the restaurant and make it a Christmas to remember.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Nov 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781509217335

Maria K. Alexander

A romantic at heart, this Jersey-born girl would spend hours as young girl getting lost in and wishing to be one of the heroines in the stories she read. Books gave her the ability to go to another world where she loved meeting new characters, learning about their problems, and watching them fall in love. Maria writes in her "spare" time between juggling a full-time job, her kid's busy schedules, and dreaming of writing full-time by the Jersey shore.

Book preview

Inc.

Even from across the room,

with his chest bare, every delicious ripple of his stomach was visible. She took in the wide span of his broad shoulders and moved south, stopping only when her gaze met the indentations of his pelvis and the fine line of hair that led down from his belly button to the waistband of his pants.

She must have made a sound because his eyes snapped open.

He held her gaze a moment before tracking down her body, pausing at her breasts and panning back up to her eyes. Nice jammies.

Hope hadn’t thought twice when she fell into bed last night, but perhaps her spaghetti-strap holiday PJs imprinted with the phrase Naughty can be nice across her breasts wasn’t the smartest sleeping attire.

Turning on her heel, she hightailed it to the bedroom and shut the door, leaning against it.

What the hell? Was he being a smart-ass or teasing her? This playful, almost flirty Vinnie wasn’t someone she recognized.

Should she ignore him or…? She pushed away from the door and paced the room. Or she could play his game and see what happened.

After a moment of deliberation, she traded her pajamas for a cami and yoga pants. This was either the stupidest thing she’d ever done or the smartest. She was hedging on it being the stupidest, but when had that ever stopped her? With that she opened the door.

Praise for Maria K. Alexander

Maria K. Alexander won the Heart of Excellence Reader’s Choice Contest in 2014 and 2016 for UNTANGLE MY HEART and FOREVER IN MY HEART. Her books have also finaled in NJRW’s Golden Leaf contest and Heart of Denver’s Aspen Gold contest.

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"FOREVER IN MY HEART will stay forever in my heart! Ms. Alexander does a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life—they are true people—with imperfections and history."

~Cat’s Reviews

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"I so enjoyed reading AWAKEN MY HEART. Ashley and Nick have a realistic story that stays with you. I didn’t want to put it down."

~OMG Reads

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"Amazing, steamy, and lovely with gripping characters and a flowing prose [in AWAKEN MY HEART]."

~Booklove

Believe in

My Heart

by

Maria K. Alexander

Tangled Hearts Series, Book 4

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Believe in My Heart

COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Maria Ketterer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Diana Carlile

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Champagne Rose Edition, 2017

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-1733-5

Tangled Hearts Series, Book 4

Published in the United States of America

Dedications

To my family, friends, and readers

who believe in and support me as a writer.

Sharing my Italian traditions

through the DiFrancesco family

has been a labor of love.

Experiencing those traditions

through my family

has been a blessing I’ll always cherish.

~*~

To RoseAnn

for helping me brainstorm Vinnie’s story

and for your thoroughness in editing!

~*~

To Jess and Ryan

May you share our Italian traditions

with your own families

and start a few new ones.

~*~

To Joe

for embracing my large Italian family

as well as my writing.

~*~

To Mom

for your own love of Christmas

and the art of decorating a Christmas tree.

Chapter One

Vinnie DiFrancesco stepped out of the taxi in front of his apartment in Northeast Philadelphia and into a snowbank. The icy wetness seeped through his sneaker—just one more thing to tack onto the list of shitty things that had happened on his journey home this Thanksgiving Day.

He caught himself before he let loose with the curse on the tip of his tongue and took a deep breath to calm his temper. Less than an hour back in the city, and he was already feeling stressed. So much for the two weeks he’d spent biking through the mountains and along the beaches of California.

The retreat he’d gone on was his first venture away from the east coast and intended to help him relax and find the good in life after his girlfriend of two years had dumped him seven months ago. Thankfully, he’d worn his old sneakers for traveling like his mom had taught him. Pushing aside his annoyance, he paid the driver, hefted his backpack out of the trunk, and maneuvered onto the salt-covered sidewalk.

At least someone had the sense to think about pedestrian safety.

The snow had tapered to a light flurry, and the inch on top of what was already there was enough to disguise the shabbiness of the faded brick building.

He jogged up the stairs to the fifth floor. Turning into the main hall, Vinnie made his way toward his apartment while digging in his pocket for the key and almost collided with three suitcases and a stack of boxes blocking his path.

Someone was moving out…or in, given the person was fiddling with the lock—with a hanger. He had moved in a couple days before his trip to California and hadn’t met any neighbors, but he did recall seeing a tall blonde woman walking out of this apartment one morning as he came in from his morning jog. This one was a few inches over five feet, and although he couldn’t see much, dark hair peeked out of the white knit cap on her head.

Hey, can I help you? he called.

She shrieked and dropped the hanger. I can’t find my key and locked myself out.

He knew that voice. If that’s the case, why don’t you call the super?

My phone’s dead, and I don’t have his number.

Vinnie pulled out his phone. Then it’s a good thing I have it. I’ll give him a buzz.

No! she cried and turned to face him.

Wide brown eyes framed by long brown lashes stared up at him.

Hope?

She pushed back the cap and brushed aside the bangs that fell into her eyes. Vinnie. Funny meeting you here.

Same goes. You don’t live here, Vinnie countered, surprised to be faced with one of the pantry chefs from where he worked.

Hope raised her hands. I know how this looks, but I can explain.

You can explain why you’re trying to break into this apartment?

It’s my cousin Faith’s place. And I wasn’t breaking in.

Vinnie raised an eyebrow and shifted his gaze to the hanger on the ground.

Okay, so maybe it seems as though I was breaking in, but the key she gave me no longer works. She reached in her coat pocket and withdrew a key similar to Vinnie’s.

Did you try calling your cousin?

Gee, no, I didn’t think of that, she sneered. She’s on a cruise and then staying in Florida a few days for business. I wasn’t kidding about my phone dying and not knowing the super’s number.

Vinnie felt a pain in his temple. Probably from not having enough to eat or drink on the red-eye from LA. Fine, let’s get your stuff in my place. You can use my phone.

Hope grabbed a handle of a suitcase. Thanks, Vin. You’re nicer than people at work say.

He paused while unlocking his door. Well, hell. Is that what they say about me? Guess he needed to do damage control with his staff. Even though his parents owned Trattoria DiFrancesco, Vinnie was the head chef and in charge of hiring of anyone who worked in the kitchen.

Including the pretty spitfire who had just swept past him, Hope Mastriano.

He hoisted the stack of boxes and followed her inside. When she headed back out, he perused the hall to see how much more stuff she had.

There were two more suitcases and a pet carrier.

"You