Free First Class Voyage (First Class Novels – A Contemporary Romance Series) by AJ Harmon

help but smile at him.
    “You look positively perfect,” agreed Katy.
    The two women laid together on their chairs absorbing the
Vitamin D.
    *****
    Paul and Tim sat at the pool after a boring game of
miniature golf.
    “It’s not like I get to play very often,” Paul said.
    Tim snorted, “You just don’t like getting beaten. Well,
slaughtered actually,” he laughed.
    Paul shook his head and ordered a coke from the waiter.
    “How long do we have to sit out here?” he asked.
    “I said I’d be here this morning, so hopefully she’ll come,”
Tim shrugged.
    “And I have to sit here with you?”
    “Well, yeah. I don’t want it to look like I’m waiting for her.”
    Paul laughed. “But you are waiting for her.”
    Tim didn’t respond, just sat and waited for a girl he had
met on the ship to appear at the pool.
    After several minutes two women were headed their way, one
talking animatedly and the other just walking, not much of an expression on her
face.
    “April!” Tim beamed, and stood.
    The ‘loud’ one, Paul’s immediate impression of her, smiled
brightly and walked directly over to Tim. Paul closed his eyes and wondered
what his brother was thinking. He wasn’t overly impressed.
    The other woman just stood there, looking quite lost and
uncomfortable. Paul knew how she felt. He stood and took the few steps toward
her and held out his hand.
    “Hi,” he smiled. “I’m Paul, Tim’s brother.”
    She took his hand and shook it quickly and replaced her hand
at her side.
    “Nicole,” she said. “But everyone calls me Nic.”
    Paul escorted her to the chair next to April who was in deep
conversation with Tim and not paying any attention to her friend. They sat down
and Paul asked Nic if she wanted something to drink. She shook her head and
looked all around the deck. Paul assumed she was looking everywhere but at him.
He understood how she felt. This was awkward.
    “Sorry,” he said.
    Nic swung her head to look at Paul.
    “For what?” she asked.
    “It looks like we are to be the wingmen,” he smirked. “Or,
in your case, the wing-woman.”
    Nic managed a weak smile. “Guess so.”
    They sat in silence for a few minutes. Paul watched her
face. She wasn’t giving anything away in her expression.
    “So, where are you from?”
    “Virginia,” she replied.
    A few more minutes passed.
    “And what do you do in Virginia?” he asked.
    “I am a kindergarten teacher. Well, I was.”
    “Was?”
    “Budget cuts,” she frowned.
    “Ah, sorry.”
    “Yeah, me too.”
    “So what are your plans now?” he asked, genuinely curious.
    Nic shrugged. “I will apply for any positions at the end of the
school year and see if I get lucky. Right now I work part-time as a waitress.”
    Ouch , thought Paul. An educated teacher working
part-time as a waitress had to be distressing.
    “Where are you from?” she asked.
    “New York originally.”
    “And now?”
    “Well, I guess still New York,” he smiled. “Although I
really don’t have a home base anymore.”
    Nic raised her eyebrows, obviously confused at his
statement.
    “I’m in the Navy,” Paul explained.
    “Oh,” she said, disdain dripping from her tongue.
    Her response surprised Paul.
    “You don’t like the military?” he asked, ready to argue his
decision to join the Navy.
    “Oh, I do. But I live in Virginia, close to a very large
Navy station. I’m not impressed with Navy men . And believe me I have had
enough experience with enough of you to say that with confidence.”
    Wow! he thought.
    “With all of us?”
    “Let’s just say that my personal experience with the Navy
has been less than positive. The Navy men I have known over the years have not
given the rest of you a real good reputation, and have taught me some valuable
lessons.”
    Well okay then , he thought. 
    “Please don’t judge all of us harshly,” he smiled. “We
aren’t all bad.”
    Nic didn’t respond to his comment, just looked around the
deck as more and more