First Christmas by Erzabet Bishop

Author:Erzabet Bishop [Bishop, Erzabet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Naughty Nights Press LLC
Published: 2019-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

Erin was happy. “Are you heading back up?”

“Sure. How about I walk up with you? I want to stop off at the kitchen to talk to the cook about what kind of tables she wants for the party tomorrow anyway.” Ariel smiled a lazy grin and pecking a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Sounds good.”

“Have you been on a cruise before?”

Erin shook her head. “Nope. The gang wanted to drag me out for my first big holiday away from home.”

“That was nice of them.”

“It was.” Erin fought the pull of melancholy that tugged at her heart whenever she thought of home and, like a reflex, Dylan.

“You left someone behind?”

“It's just complicated.” Erin followed Ariel as she led her from the hallway toward a flight of stairs.

“Oh. One of those.” Ariel gave Erin a knowing glance.

“Not exactly. I just don't want to talk about it right now.”

“Fair enough.” Ariel shrugged. “I’ll walk you up so you can find your friends, and then I'll wander back down to the kitchen.”

“Okay.” Erin shrugged and wrapped her arms around the dress as it loosened. “God, I need to change out of this thing.”

“It's got some issues but hey, I'm not complaining.” Ariel waggled her eyebrows and sent Erin an exaggerated leer.

“You're terrible.” A thrill ran along Erin's skin at the reality of Ariel noticing her. It was...invigorating and somehow right. More right than she ever expected to feel.

“Please tell me you're coming to the party tomorrow night.”

“Yes.”

“Is this the dress? You have to give a girl reason to keep living.”

“Errr. No. I need to find something on the ship. I didn't realize there was going to be a mega party.” Her mouth pinched shut in annoyance. She was happy to be here, but if she spent any more, she'd have to ask her parents to wire her money, and that was something she tried never to do. She was out on her own. It was time she paid her own way. School was on scholarships, and she paid for everything else with a part-time job that was pretty darn near full-time if she thought about it—thirty hours a week. Just enough time to study and balance it all. This cruise had been a much-needed break, but she was afraid it was going to break her.

“Here. Come with me.” Ariel tugged her toward another hallway, and soon they were back on the main floor of the ship. A row of shops was lit up, and shoppers thronged the wares.

“Wow.” Erin paused in front of a bookstore with a mountain of the newest romance from an author she loved. “I'm coming back for that one.” Then reality set in. She could no more afford a hardcover book than she could a new dress.

Reality bites. A lot. The library would have an e-copy to borrow. After the waiting list dwindled down, like next year.

Erin shuffled past the display and tried to put the shiny new book out of her mind.

“You can drool over bestsellers later. Come on before all the good dresses are gone.

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