She doubted Aladdin’s dramatic display, but she’d wake him up all the same. Let him keep his miserable ass up all night watching for storms that would never come. She passed the time with Eliam and there was no place she’d rather be. She let him sleep hours longer than he’d wanted.

Ready to go to bed, she banged on his door to wake the beast.

He answered with a string of words she couldn’t understand.

“Umm…okay?” she said.

“I’m getting up. Go to hell.”

That she understood.

She retreated to her room, relieved she didn’t have to see him. He had found her out. Dr. Katie Pearson escaped into books about undying love and happily ever afters. She spent most of her day monitoring heart rates, while pumping drugs into unconscious bodies, and she wasted the rest of her time on fairytales. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Eledon previously thought she had a boyfriend. Now he knew the only man she ever talked about was a fictional character from one of those fairytales.

She laid down on the bed. The mattress stabbed her in places and let her body sink in others. As the boat rocked from one side to the other, she shifted to her left then her right. Finally, she drew her knees up, rolled into a ball, and went to sleep.

Katie sat at the table in a house she’d seen a million times before but never thought she would actually see. Eliam’s strong hand ran through her hair. She loved this dream. But when she smiled up at him, his face was rounder than usual. More like Aladdin’s?

And then a booming cannon tore her from her slumber.

“Aladdin!” she screamed.

Her eyes opened. She struggled to slow her breathing, but the cannon fired again. “Ahh!” She screamed. Her body shook.

A quiet tapping came at her door. She tried to get out of the bed, but she somehow had tangled herself in her covers.

The quiet tapping gave way to a loud thud and a splintering door. Eledon burst into her room. “Are you okay?” In two long strides, he crossed to the bed, where she laid tangled in sheets. “Katie, are you okay?”

“What was that? What happened?”

“What was what?”

Another cannon ball thundered through the boat and Katie stiffened.

Eledon grinned. “You’re afraid of thunder. Come on, sweetheart. You’re spending tonight in the captain’s room with me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Wouldn’t you like that?”

“I’ve never been into ice princesses. I have to stay awake to watch the storm. You’re terrified. There is a port window in there and a bed for Dr. Plastic Nails to get her beauty sleep.

“I’ve already told you my nails aren’t plastic.”

“And I’ve told you my name isn’t Aladdin. Say it right.”

“How?”

“Ella like Cinderella. I know you know Cinderella. I’ve seen your Kindle. Ella don. Without the pause. Eledon.”

“Fine. But Aladdin is funnier.”

His deep, dark eyes held hers. “Say my name, Katie.”

Her body tingled. Everywhere. His low voice was an electrifying shock to places a man she’d barely known for two days should have no effect on. “Eledon.” The word was softer than she meant it. Almost like a purr.

Eledon grinned. Damn him. He knew he had an effect on her.

Katie tried to stand, but immediately slapped the mattress.

Eledon scanned the length of her body and shook his head. “How did you do that?” He untangled the sheets around her legs, and scooped her up.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t think you should be walking, while the boat rocks like this. You’re going to fall down. Don’t worry, doc. You’re safe. Let me take care of you until you have better sea legs.”

He carried her past the threshold to the open galley. Cold rain poured on them.

“Wait,” Katie said.

He stopped.

“Can I just get my Kindle, please?”

He chuckled. His eyes danced though he didn’t speak. He turned around, grabbed the Kindle and battery pack, and handed it to her.

The rain was cold, but Eledon had her in the dry, warmth of the captain’s quarters in seconds. He placed her feet on the floor, and grabbed a bright orange life vest hanging from the wall. “Seems like you’re having a rough night. Maybe, you should sleep.” He slipped a hole of the life vest over one arm.

Katie looked up at him.

He waited for a moment before speaking. “Come on. Raise your other arm.”

“I’m not a child.” But she complied.

Eledon laughed. “I understand this, doc.” He fastened the belt around her waist.

The proximity did something to her. She wanted to kiss him again. Really wanted to kiss him again. “I’ve got it,” she snapped clicking the belt around her breast in place. His hands over her breast would have shaken any composure she had left. “Why do I need a life jacket to sleep anyway?”

He moved to the chair in front of the port window. “I’d just prefer you’re safe if the boat is rocked too hard.”

The boat lit up.

And before she could speak, thunder crackled through the sky.

She screamed and hugged Eledon. She let out a slow breath. “I thought it would hit us.”

“You’re safe, beautiful. I told you. Just get some rest.”

An orange glow lit the boat and the piercing sound filled the air again. “How could anyone sleep through this?” she asked.

He opened the top drawer of his built-in storage and took out a bag of Christmas-shaped marshmallows. “Maybe this will help.”

When he grinned, she wanted to kiss him again. The way they had kissed on the deck. Instead, she reached for the marshmallows.

“Sorry it’s been such a rough ride,” he said. “You think being trapped on a boat with me will make this your worst Christmas ever?”

She shook her head. “No. The year the single mom died was my worst Christmas ever. The only real benefit to being an anesthesiologist is that the primary surgeon has to break the news to the family. In this case to a twelve-year-old, who likely ended up in foster care.”

Eldon’s lips formed an “O,” and he whistled. “Katie, why do you keep working in an occupation that makes you sad?”

She shrugged. “I went to school for ten years. I graduated with $200,000 in debt, and I have the skills. I might as well do the job. Someone has to. It pays for my red-soled shoes, as you call them.” She sighed. “Although, I hardly ever get to wear them.”

“Find an Eliam and let him pay for your red-soled shoes.”

Katie laughed. “I’ll put that on my to-do list. My best friend dropped out of med school our first year and married our other best friend. They have two adorable kids, but he’s hardly ever home for holidays. And the only Lou she owns were mine first.”

Eledon pulled a green marshmallow from the bag. “Hard knock life.”

“Sure, there are people with worse problems. However, if you grew up in the middle of nowhere Texas watching Sex and the City, wishing one day you could be one of those people, and if your goal in life was red-soled shoes, giving them up to change diapers is not appealing.”

“Don’t you deal with a lot of body fluids in your line of work?

“Only a little blood.”

“How does your friend feel about her choices?”

Katie smiled. “She wants me to get married. Nicole doesn’t care if I keep working or produce my own munchkin army and stay home. She thinks I need someone to take care of me. I don’t.” Katie bit the head off a red Santa marshmallow. “Nicole loves her life some days and hates it others. One day she’s thrilled to be home with her kids and the next day she’s driving me to Galveston, because the two hours in the car is the most ‘me time’ she’s gotten in years.”

“I’m sure monitoring other people’s vitals is ‘me-time.’”

“That’s what she says.”