City Nights: One Nigh in Budapest
By Lucy Felthouse
Synopsis
Hermione’s
in Budapest on a romantic weekend break. Or at least it should have been
romantic—an unexpected break-up means she’s visiting the Hungarian capital
alone. Determined to make the most of it, she goes on a night-time river
cruise, the perfect opportunity to see some of the city’s beautiful sights
after dark.
On the boat,
cute Budapest native Emil serves her cocktails. They chat a little on the
journey, engage in some banter, and when Emil asks Hermione out for dinner,
she’s seriously tempted. But she’s a long way from home, by herself—is dinner
with a complete stranger a good idea? Hermione decides to take a chance, and
what follows is an unforgettable night which will transform her life forever.
Buy Now
Excerpt
Locating the
correct pier, Hermione pulled her ticket from her pocket and showed it to the
girl welcoming passengers onto the boat. The girl—the badge pinned to her
blouse giving her name as Reka—glanced at the ticket, and smiled. “Thank you.
Please take a seat inside until the boat arrives. Enjoy your trip.”
With a nod,
Hermione gingerly headed along the gangplank and boarded the vessel, wondering
what Reka meant. Surely this was the boat? She shrugged, smiling at the other
members of staff she passed, and followed the buzz of chatter to find the other
passengers. Maybe it had been a misunderstanding, her meaning lost in translation
or something.
Heading up a
couple of steps to a bar room full of other tourists, she quickly took a seat
at an empty table by the window. She’d have a great view of Budapest’s
riverside highlights from here—and she was sure they’d look different again once
night fell. Already the sky was darkening—it was almost four p.m. on a chilly
January day.
She was so
intent on admiring the Chain Bridge that she didn’t know there was anyone
beside her until someone said, “Excuse me, madam? Would you like to take advantage
of our special drinks offer?”
Turning to
the source of the voice, her fluttering heart the only indication that she’d
been startled, she smiled. “Maybe. What’s the offer?”
Her smile
widened as she studied the man who’d spoken. He looked to be around her
age—early twenties, and damn cute. Dark, slightly overlong hair curled on his
head, deep brown eyes gave him an intensity that increased the flutters in her
heart, and the dimpled smile he flashed as he replied lit up his handsome face.
“It is happy hour. Two drinks for price of one.” He paused, looked at the empty
seat beside her, then glanced over his shoulder as though checking if anyone
was coming to join her at the table. “But perhaps you would only like one?
Maybe I can see if yours can be half price…”
“It’s okay,”
she replied firmly. “I’m going to be on the boat for a while, I’m sure I can
manage two drinks. I don’t have to have them at the same time, do I?”
He shook his
head. “No. I will be serving on the other boat in a moment, so I will look after
you and your drinks to make sure you get special price.”
Immediately
following his mention of an additional boat, a loud voice rang out. “Ladies and
gentlemen, we are now ready for you to board the tour boat. Please be very
careful while stepping from one boat to the other. As soon as you are all
seated, we will begin the trip. Thank you.”
It was then
Hermione realised that as she’d been gazing out of the window to one side, a
smaller boat had pulled up alongside the one she was on. Everyone was getting
up and moving to the staircase. “Thank you,” Hermione said, glancing at the
man’s name badge. “Emil. I would absolutely like to take you up on your offer.”
He smiled,
and she returned the gesture, only allowing the grimace to take over her face
once she was out of his view. She was glad of any language barriers at that
moment—hopefully it had prevented Emil recognising the blatant double entendre
in her words, inadvertent though it had been.
As she
emerged into the main space of the tour boat, she worried there wasn’t enough
room for her and she might have to share a table with someone else. Not that it
would be the end of the world, but over the past couple of days in the
Hungarian capital, she’d become accustomed to her own company, even begun
enjoying it. And the beautiful city had been more than enough of a distraction,
in any case.
Meet the Author
Lucy
Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately
Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics
That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller) and Eyes Wide Open (an
Amazon bestseller). Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over
140 publications to her name. She owns Erotica For All, is book editor for Cliterati, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe to her monthly
newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
No comments:
Post a Comment