30 First Dates by Stacey Wiedower Read Free Book Online Page A

and far more than she'd hoped.
    She rose from the bench, picked up her purse, and, as an afterthought, grabbed her glass. She closed her eyes as she drained the last creamy swirls of raspberry beer and melted ice cream, her favorite part.
    "I'm going to close my tab," she said. "And then I'm going to see if Sherri's home, and then I'm booking round-trip tickets to Paris."
    She bent down and kissed a perplexed Ben on the cheek. "Don't drive home like this," she admonished, shaking a finger at him. "I'll call you tomorrow, and we can talk about our date."
    She felt three sets of eyes on her back as she walked away.
     
    *  *  *
     
    It was 1 a.m. when Erin walked through her front door, and she almost bumped into TJ on his way out.
    "Oh. Bye," she said, surprised.
    "Unh." He shrugged past her and disappeared through the open doorway.
    Erin swiveled her head toward Sherri, who'd appeared in the doorway between the living room and back hall.
    "What's with him?"
    "Hmm?" Sherri appeared to wake up from a sort of trance. "Oh, he just woke up," she said.
    Erin's eyes swept down Sherri's curvy frame, clad only in a men's button-down style nightshirt, most of the buttons undone. Erin reddened a little, feeling like she'd walked in at just the wrong moment.
    "You had a good night, I take it."
    "Mmm-hmm," Sherri said, not elaborating.
    Must have been a very good night.
    "Well, since you're up, I have a question to ask you," Erin said, dropping her purse on the entry table and moving toward the hallway door. She stepped out of her flip-flops and bent to pick them up before moving past Sherri toward her room.
    Sherri followed her. "What?" She finally seemed to notice her scantily clad state and started buttoning her nightshirt.
    "Got any vacation time? I'm about to book a trip to Paris, and I'm wondering if you want to go with."
    The haze of Sherri's afterglow suddenly disappeared, and her eyes grew wide.
    "I am so in."
    She looked like she was about to jump up and down, and Erin smiled, glad for the first time that Ben had turned her down. She'd been afraid Sherri wouldn't want to or wouldn't be able to go, meaning she'd have to consider inviting Hilary.
    Erin shuddered and thought, Nope . She'd invite any of at least six or seven old friends, sorority sisters or co-workers before that happened—or go alone. The last thing she wanted to do with Hilary mere weeks before her wedding was lead her on a Parisian guy-hunting expedition. She wouldn't be responsible for that potential fallout. Besides, in this instance she was the bachelorette, not Hilary.
    Sherri pushed past her into the room and Erin shook her head, remembering her original aim. She changed out of her jeans and into candy-striped boxer shorts and a T-shirt with a pink Longhorns logo, explaining her travel plans to Sherri as she crossed the room and stuffed her dirty clothes into her white wicker hamper. Sherri left to retrieve her laptop from her bedroom and then came back and settled herself onto the middle of Erin's bed. She began tapping at the keyboard, entering dates into airline websites as Erin looked over her shoulder.
    By 2 a.m. they'd found a flight. They didn't buy the tickets—Sherri convinced Erin to let her watch prices for a week or so to see if they could get a better deal. Erin shrugged and agreed, though she'd already decided money was no object. But Sherri was an accountant, so she was more than happy to turn over the financial planning. Sure, she knew numbers, but finances were a different story.
    Now that plans for the trip were set, excitement and nervousness and a thrill of fear mingled in the pit of Erin's stomach. What was she doing? Would she really be able to find a Parisian man to go out with, if just for the sake of a good blog post? Could she handle it if she did?
    She squared her shoulders. Of course she could handle it. Could Parishandle her —that was the question. Suddenly she saw how suited she was for this mission of hers. She'd never