Some Like It Hotter (Sweet Life in Seattle #3)
Read Some Like It Hotter (Sweet Life in Seattle #3) Online
Authors: Andrea Simonne
Some Like It Hotter
Copyright © 2016 Andrea Simonne
All rights reserved. Published by Liebe Publishing
First Electronic Edition, August 16 2016
Edited by Hot Tree Editing
Cover Design © by LBC Graphics
Cover Images:
Copyright © Andriy Solovyov—Fotolia.com
© CURAphotography—Fotolia.com
Interior Design & Formatting:
Perfectly Publishable
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.
Publisher’s Note:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Liebe Publishing
Table of Contents
“Will you marry me?”
Lindsay’s brows arch up with surprise. “What?”
“I want you to be my wife.” The guy sitting across the table from her leans in closer, devotion in his eyes as he speaks in a thick German accent. “I love you!”
They’re sitting outside having dinner at a restaurant in Berlin’s trendy Friedrichshain district, a hip part of town with plenty of bars and clubs.
“I don’t know what to say,” she murmurs, trying to decide the best way to let him down easy. “We haven’t known each other very long, Dietmar, um, Dieter.”
My God, what’s his name again?
He chuckles. “You are so funny with your American humor, and so beautiful too. This is how I know you are the woman for me.”
She smiles, though her eyes flash toward the sidewalk traffic along Simon Dach Strasse, wishing she could escape into the crowd. She’s been in Berlin for two and a half months now, and this is her third marriage proposal. A record, even for her.
Why are all these damn Germans so eager to get married?
He leans toward her again, an adoring expression on his broad, handsome face. He’s wearing a short-sleeved blue T-shirt with the name of the nightclub he co-owns imprinted on the front. There’s a colorful trail of tats running down his right arm.
In truth, he’s exactly her type—an industrious and talented bad boy who secretly wants to be tamed.
“You must come to my family home and meet my parents,
ja
? I am excited for them to meet the mother of their future grandchildren!”
Lindsay fingers her glass of beer just as her phone buzzes on the table. She glances at the display though she doesn’t recognize the number. Tempted to answer it, she decides she isn’t heartless enough to take a phone call in the middle of a marriage proposal.
“We can stay in Berlin for now,” he continues explaining his plans. “But I would like us to move to my family’s dairy farm soon after the wedding.”
“Family farm? I thought you were from Berlin.”
“
Ach nein
, I grew up outside the city. Trust me, you will love it there. Lots of cows and goats
und meine Mutter
makes the best sauerkraut you have ever tasted!”
She digests this new piece of information about him. “That sounds wonderful, and I’m sure your family is great, but don’t you think this is kind of sudden?” Her phone starts buzzing again, the same number from a few seconds ago. Definitely not a local number and not from Seattle—her hometown—either.
“My family will be so pleased to meet you. I have told them you are an artist, and they say you will have plenty of time for your art after the chores are finished. Maybe even more time on the weekends.”
She mentally chokes on her beer as she imagines herself working on a farm milking cows every day. “I’m flattered by your proposal—truly—but I can’t possibly marry you Dieter . . . er, Dietrich.”
He holds up his large hand. “I thought you might say this, but do not decide now. I am not in a rush, though
meine Mutter
says she cannot wait to be an
Oma
and hold a grandchild in her arms.”
He smiles at her with big white teeth.
Lindsay sighs and takes a sip of beer—both bitter and strong. It’s been one of her favorite things about Germany. So far, she’s enjoyed a lot of things during her stay as part of an artist in residence program. The food has been excellent and the people are friendly, although the men are too overeager. She’s used to male attention, and takes pleasure in it, but they all keep falling in love with her.
It’s getting downright annoying
.
To make matters worse, she’s been in a sexual funk for months. None of the guys she dates are doing it for her. Lindsay hoped coming here might get her mojo back, but so far no dice. She hasn’t slept with a single guy. Not one. She’s kissed a few toads, but no princes yet.
At least Berlin has a thriving community for
Künstler
—artists, and it’s helped bring her goals back into focus. She wants to finish her degree and get her teaching certificate. Her life has been crazy up to this point, but she’s thirty-three now, and it was time to start thinking about her future. Hell, she’s not exactly getting any younger.
“What is going through that beautiful head of yours?” Dieter asks, still gazing at her with adoration.
“I was just considering your offer.”
I never should have kissed him
. It was only a few kisses and she didn’t think much of it, but clearly it made a stronger impression than she intended. “Marriage is a big step,” she explains.
“If we marry you will not have to worry about anything. I will take care of you.”
In truth, she’s already been married—not once, but twice. A mistake she never intends to repeat.
“I didn’t want to have to tell you this.” She fiddles with her glass. “But I’m sort of seeing someone back home,” she lies.
He looks surprised. “What is this?”
“I have a boyfriend.”
He appears to ruminate on her words, and Lindsay hopes it’s enough to squash any further marriage desires.
“If it weren’t for him, believe me, I’d be interested in your offer,” she says quickly, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
“Is it serious with him?”
“I’m afraid it is. We’ve had our ups and downs,” she decides to spin it for realism, “but I do love him.”
“You kissed me.”
“I know, but only because I had a moment of weakness.”
He smiles at her. “Maybe you will have a moment of weakness again.”
“I’m afraid not.”
“But this boyfriend of yours, he lets you run off alone to Berlin? And does he call? Does he write? What kind of man is he?”
She drinks the rest of her beer while Dieter rants on about how her boyfriend doesn’t deserve her. He’s so convincing, Lindsay is starting to think her boyfriend is an asshole, but then remembers he’s fake to begin with.