The Holiday Gamble

Eldridge Holiday basked in his reputation as an international playboy, traveling to exotic lands and notching his bedpost without a care in the world, all of it funded by his father’s black card and his trust fund. Life was sublime… until his father had had enough.

When JD Holiday insisted Ridge return for Thanksgiving to the family home outside Philadelphia for a come-to-father meeting, Ridge had the feeling his perfect world was about to shatter, and JD didn’t disappoint. His demand was that Ridge take a job at one of the family toy stores as a photography elf for thirty days. No credit cards. Little cash. A dingy studio apartment. None of the privileges he’d grown so fond of growing up.

Ridge’s older brother didn’t believe the spoiled brat of the family could handle it, so Elliot threw in a sweetener… Ridge would win Elliot’s mint condition Porsche if he pulled it off without any help from the family. Ridge took the bet, thinking it would be a walk through a winter wonderland. Little did he know, his life would never be the same.

***

Cristian Gamble worked hard to support his sister after their parents were killed. Cris had a day job as a mechanic, but from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, he was Santa Claus at a toy store in West Philadelphia. Cris enjoyed the break in his routine, the joy on the faces of the kids when they told him their Christmas wishes, and the extra money he made didn’t hurt either.

When his sister was invited to the Winter Formal at her prestigious private school, Cris had a big problem--she needed formalwear, and buying a party dress wasn’t in the budget. From out of nowhere, the guy who played Santa for one month a year met someone he believed could be his biggest Christmas wish ever. Was Cris willing to take a holiday gamble with his heart?

This fictional story is approximately 61,000 words in length. The Holiday Gamble is a standalone H-E-A and doesn’t end in a cliffhanger.
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