Mike Forester is a writer, traveler and free spirit from New York. Packing his bags and moving across the ocean for the summer sounds like just the thing to get his creative juices flowing. Ana Rhode is an Austrian tour guide and waitress, unsure of where she is heading. Her only certainty is her dislike for American men.
He signs up for her tour and is convinced that the blonde fur ball is just what he needs to make him feel more at home. She shows him the ropes of her city and is certain that the infuriating man from overseas has a screw loose. When his research gives way to chasing her sinfully pink lips, Mike knows he’s in trouble. Ana just knows that he is trouble.
She is lost in time while he gets lost in place. Can she learn to trust the handsome American? Is it worth his efforts, or will their culture shock turn into a culture clash?
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Nina looked at her watch, grinning. “I have to work tomorrow. I have to go.”
Everyone else stood as well. Mike looked at his own watch surprised. It was only eight. “Do you have to work tomorrow?” he asked Ana.
She shook her head. Her friends were already putting on their jackets.
“Me neither,” he remarked and looked around the room before fixing his gaze on her. “I’m not tired, and if you’re not either, how about we do something?”
She seemed to consider it. Her friends had stopped talking, he noticed.
“Alright,” she said, turning to the group standing by the door. They took their leave, Mike waved and she showed them out. Nina gave Ana a hug and whispered something to her before leaving. Ana closed the door and Mike went to clear the coffee table.
“That was interesting,” he said from the kitchen.
She walked up with the remaining glasses. “What?”
He turned on the faucet and rinsed out the glasses. “The movie.”
She leaned against the counter and grinned. “Did you not have a good time?”
He set the glasses next to the sink to dry. “I had a great time, it was just different. Not the type of thing I usually watch, that’s for sure.” He turned off the water and looked at her. Her hair was falling in disarranged waves all around her and her cheeks were flushed from the wine. She looked like a present waiting to be unwrapped.
“I know it wasn’t a gangster film,” she teased and stepped back into the living room.
He followed her out of the kitchen. “It doesn’t have to be,” he remarked, “but it also doesn’t have to be a documentary that puts one to sleep.”
“So you lied.”
“Lied about what?”
Her head cocked to the side. “About liking it.”
“I never said I liked it.”
She laughed. “It’s not the reality TV from America you’re used to.”
“That’s for sure. Not that I watch that, but it sure beats some of the stuff I’ve seen on TV here.”
She grabbed her coat and turned to look at him. “We should go.”
He closed the distance between them. “Can we for once not argue about our differences? I just want to enjoy looking at your delicious lips and your gorgeous eyes without you biting my head off.”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“There’s that beautiful gray I like,” he said and smiled.
“Mike, don’t think that because I invited you here tonight anything will happen. It won’t,” she said, hugging her coat to her.
He took a step forward. “Thank you for trying to set me straight, but I can tell you that it’s not working.”
She looked up with wary eyes.
“See, I think you want to be kissed as badly as I want to kiss you. I haven’t forgotten your lips and think about them all the time. In fact, it’s hard for me to look at anything else when I’m near you,” he said, his voice coming out raspy.
She sucked in her bottom lip.
“I think you want me so badly, you don’t know what to do with yourself,” he continued and took one more step forward. She was rooted to the spot.
“And I want you so badly, Ana, you better run or I’ll get you and never let go.”
She wasn’t moving.
He cupped her face and looked into her eyes. “I don’t know what it is about you that has me so transfixed. Maybe it’s your aversion to my kinsmen or maybe I just like the challenge, but I want to rip your clothes off, make love to you for a week straight and prove to you that we could be great together if you’d only open up.”
Her breath came out ragged. “I don’t think you’d be able to make love for a whole week.”
“We’ll have to find out, won’t we?” he replied and lowered his head to brush his lips across hers. They barely touched, yet he felt sparks shoot all the way down to his feet.
“Just let me in,” he whispered against her lips. His fingers cradled her face and she tilted her head up to his mouth.
“Why couldn’t you be someone else?” she mumbled. “Why can’t you be Mike from Australia, or from Canada?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, baby,” he said and kissed her again.