Sammy in Holland (Single Wide Female Travels #3) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  A note from the author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

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  Other Titles

  Legal Notice

  Single Wide Female Travels

  (Book 3)

  Sammy in Holland

  By

  Lillianna Blake

  Copyright © 2015 Lillianna Blake

  Cover design by Beetiful Book Covers

  All rights reserved.

  LilliannaBlake.com

  Dear Reader,

  The Single Wide Female and B.I.G. Girls Club books are written for every woman out there who has struggled with their weight, self-esteem and any number of issues that we all face as we work to become the best versions of ourselves that we can be.

  They are meant to be light-hearted and fun, but I do hope that they will inspire you—to REALLY live your life to the fullest, loving yourself completely as you do so.

  You might prefer to get to know Sammy in the Single Wide Female: The Bucket List series first. You can pick up that first book for free here:

  1 Learn Pole Dancing

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R334AE4

  If you enjoy Sammy in Holland, I’d appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave an honest review.

  And…

  I have a FREE book for you!

  Wanna know what inspired Sammy to write her bucket list? Visit my website below and get your complimentary copy of “Sammy’s Big Plan!”

  LilliannaBlake.com

  Enjoy!

  Sincerely,

  Lillianna

  P.S. Also be sure to see the previews following this page for introductions to additional series by Lillianna Blake.

  Chapter 1

  I fiddled with the corner of my ticket. With the flight delay it was a bit of a wait. Max stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake up. I took a deep breath and looked down at my ticket again. I couldn’t quite figure out what had me feeling so nervous.

  After I’d spoken on the phone to Erik, my contact in Amsterdam, I did wonder what was in store for me. All the other stops on the book tour had been hosted by women. It wasn’t as if I didn’t like the idea of a man hosting me. I just wasn’t sure what to expect.

  The PA system came to life and announced the boarding of our flight.

  “Max.” I patted the top of his knee. “The plane is leaving.”

  “Aw, I just fell asleep.”

  I raised an eyebrow but decided not to point out that he’d been snoring on my shoulder for at least a half hour. He sleepily gathered our luggage. The flight itself was already scheduled to leave late, but the new delay had us arriving well after midnight.

  It wasn’t a very crowded flight, which gave us the opportunity to sprawl out in our seats. Max looked over at me.

  “Are you ready for Amsterdam?”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” I smiled.

  “You know, I did a little research about the place. Did you know that certain things are legal there?” He grinned.

  “Oh, that kind of research.” I laughed. “Yes I did know that in fact.”

  “So?”

  “So what?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “When in Amsterdam…”

  “No way.” I shook my head. “The only thing that would likely lead to is me getting a very bad case of the munchies. That’s the last thing I need to do after our gelato tour.” I laughed, but I was definitely serious about wanting more food control in my life. “I did some research too. I’m looking forward to riding bicycles everywhere. That should give me the opportunity to work some of Venice off.”

  “No more motorcycles?” Max pouted.

  “Not this time. It’ll be Sammy powered.”

  Max glanced away for a moment. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. You might get too worn out.”

  “I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. I’m actually dying for some physical activity.”

  “We walked a lot in Venice. I’m sure we could find some trails to hike in Amsterdam. Or maybe some other kind of activity.”

  “But biking is so much fun. Besides, that’s how everyone gets around there. We won’t be able to avoid it, so we might as well enjoy it.”

  Max glanced away.

  I could almost imagine I heard him wince, and when he turned back around toward me, he was frowning.

  “Okay, I guess that’s what we’ll do then. I’m going to get a little more sleep.”

  I waited for him to rest his head on my shoulder again, but instead he propped his head against the window. I opened my mouth to protest, but his eyes were already closed.

  He must be more tired than I thought. I stifled a yawn, realizing that I was tired as well. I closed my eyes for what I thought was just a moment.

  When I opened my eyes again, the flight crew was busy preparing for our descent. It seemed like no longer than a minute, but it must have been much longer. I looked over at Max, whose head was still propped against the window. Before I could wake him, he opened his eyes.

  “Finally, we’re here.”

  “Didn’t you sleep?”

  “A little.”

  I kissed his cheek. “I’m looking forward to exploring Amsterdam with you.”

  “Me too.” He grabbed our luggage from the overhead compartments and we headed off the plane.

  It was easy to navigate our way through the airport, but when we reached the door it occurred to me that I had no idea whether or not Erik had sent a car for us. I also didn’t have a clue or an address to where we were staying.

  I checked my phone to see if I’d missed any texts or calls from him while we’d been in the air. There wasn’t even an e-mail.

  “We can find a taxi, I’m sure.” Max held the door open for her.

  “To where, though? I have no idea where we’re supposed to be staying.” I heard the stress in my own voice as I listened to the ringing of the call I’d made. When Erik’s voicemail picked up, my heart sank. I gritted my teeth.

  “Hi, Erik, this is Samantha. We’re here at the airport. I’m not sure where we’re supposed to be staying or how we’re supposed to get there. If you can give me a call back right away that would be great.” I hung up the phone and sighed. “What if he’s sleeping?”

  “Hey, don’t worry.” Max rubbed the length of my arms. “We’re capable of finding our own transportation and a place to stay.”

  “But it shouldn’t be like this. He should have someone here—the same way that all of our other hosts have had arrangements made for us. If he can’t get this straight, then what will the book signing be like?”

  “Well, give him another call. If he doe
sn’t get back to us, I say we find our own way and connect with him after the sun is up.”

  “Okay.” I dialed Erik’s number again. Once more it went to voicemail. I didn’t bother to leave another message. “Well, that’s that. It looks like Amsterdam is going to be a flop.”

  “None of that, remember? We’re leaving the stress behind us.”

  “Ugh. Max, you’re so right.” I planted as big kiss on his lips, then smiled. “This can be an adventure. I’ll look up what nearby hotels might be good for us to stay in.”

  “I’ll see what I can do about getting us a taxi.”

  A few minutes later we were on our way. Maybe my contact was sound asleep in his bed somewhere, but I looked forward to discovering Amsterdam anyway. It was nearly dawn and not yet light enough to see much of what we passed, but Amsterdam seemed to have an energy of its own—hopeful, light and full of potential.

  Chapter 2

  The hotel was nice enough and the bed looked very appealing, but the sun was just coming up and I didn’t want to waste a minute of time in Amsterdam.

  “I’m starving. I wonder if they have a mini-bar.” I looked around for a small refrigerator.

  “None of that. I’ll go downstairs and get us some breakfast. I think that little cafe we saw might be open now. Maybe some pastries?”

  “Max.” I met his eyes.

  “Okay, okay. It’ll be something healthy, I promise.” He kissed me then headed right back out the door.

  The moment that Max was out of the room, I felt my blood begin to boil. Sure, Max thought it was best to take the casual approach and simply accept that Erik might have forgotten us at the airport. But I couldn’t. How difficult was it to arrange some transportation for us? If Erik hadn’t been able to do it, he should have just let me know ahead of time so that we’d have it taken care of. Instead, our first moments in Amsterdam had been a bit stressful so far.

  I sighed and sat down on the bed. As I toyed with my phone a text came through.

  Did you take an earlier flight?

  I stared at the text. It was clearly from Erik. Was he trying to convince me that he didn’t know my flight schedule? I thought about whether to text him back or not. After a few minutes, I realized I had no choice. Eventually we’d have to deal with one another, and it would be better if there weren’t any conflict.

  No, we took the flight that we were given tickets for.

  It was short and sweet, maybe more short than sweet, but it got the message across.

  An instant later I received another text.

  You couldn’t have. Your flight isn’t supposed to get in until three.

  I rolled my eyes and fired a text back.

  Three in the morning, not three in the afternoon. We found our own way from the airport. We rented a hotel room.

  I waited for him to respond with an apology or something close to it. Instead, I received no response. As the minutes slipped by, I grew more aggravated. Was it not important to him that we’d had to find our own way?

  Ten minutes later my phone rang. When I saw that it was Erik I picked it up.

  “Hallo. I see things are off to a bumpy start. There was some confusion?”

  “We weren’t confused, Erik. We were at the airport, right where we were supposed to be, but I did get confused when there was no transportation waiting for us.”

  “We can fix that. I’ve rented a place that I think you’re going to like. Should we meet for breakfast?”

  “My husband is already out getting us breakfast at the moment. Erik, I understand if it was a mistake. I don’t want us to get off on the wrong foot. Let’s just talk about the book signing. Do you have it booked?”

  “Yes, of course. I thought you might like to try something a little different. I’ll surprise you.”

  “I’m not really that comfortable with surprises.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, you’re going to find that things in Amsterdam are a lot more fun than anywhere else. Meet me for lunch and we’ll go over all the details.”

  “Okay, just send me the address.”

  “I’m looking forward to meeting you, Samantha.”

  “Me too.” I hung up the phone before I could add another remark. I’d looked forward to meeting him at the airport when I’d landed too. Hopefully it wasn’t a sign of missed meetings to come.

  The door to the hotel room swung open and Max walked in with fruit parfaits and coffee.

  “Who was that?” He glanced at my phone as I put it down on the table.

  “Erik. Apparently he thought we were landing at three in the afternoon, not three in the morning.”

  “Hm.” Max quirked a brow. “Sounds a bit unprofessional.”

  “I agree. Thanks for this.” I kissed his cheek. “We’re supposed to meet him for lunch.”

  “Great. I’m sure once we have the chance to talk to him we can straighten things out. Come eat.” He sat down at the small table.

  I joined him and inhaled the scent of the coffee.

  “Oh, that is delicious.”

  “I have a feeling that after this tour we’re never going to be satisfied with American food again.” Max laughed. “I’m not sure we ever were, really.”

  “Hey, nothing beats a good hamburger.” I took a bite of the parfait.

  “Well, technically hamburgers are not an American food.”

  “Apple pie?”

  He shook his head. “Not even close.”

  “Huh?” I grinned. “I never really thought about what was and wasn’t. I suppose that’s a good thing, though. We have a lot of variety.”

  “But nothing quite like this coffee.” Max sighed and took a sip.

  “You seem to have started a love affair with coffee on this tour.”

  “I have.” He turned the cup slowly between his hands. “I see its power.”

  “Just remember, coffee is tasty, but if your body needs rest, it needs rest.”

  “I slept on the plane.” He met my eyes.

  I bit into my bottom lip. I suspected that he hadn’t. It wasn’t like Max to lie to me. It made my mind run wild with possible reasons, but I didn’t want to dampen our first day in Amsterdam obsessing about a little white lie.

  “Then we should be ready to explore, hm?” I said.

  “I noticed there are a lot of walking tours. I was hoping we could take one.”

  “Oh, I thought the bike tours would be more fun.”

  “Maybe, but the walking tour lets you really take in the details, you know?”

  “Sure. We can do both.” I finished my parfait. “I’m really excited.”

  “Me too.” Max looked away from me. “Did Erik text you the address?”

  “I forgot all about that.” I grabbed my phone and checked for a text. “No, he hasn’t yet.”

  Erik? Where are we supposed to meet?

  I waited a few minutes to see if he would return the text. When he didn’t, I dialed his number.

  “Voicemail again.” I looked over at Max.

  “He’ll text us eventually. Let’s head out.” Max tossed the containers from our breakfast into the nearby garbage can.

  “Sounds good.” I walked to the door with him, but I couldn’t ignore a bit of worry. Just what kind of surprise did Erik have in store for me?

  Chapter 3

  “So very many museums.” Max looked over the list of places to visit in his hand. “I’m not sure we’ll have time to see them all.”

  “Let’s just pick one for today. I’m not sure what our schedule will be like once we meet up with Erik. Oh, look at this one.” I pointed to one of the museums on the list. “It has more modern and contemporary art. Maybe there will be some live exhibits.”

  “Live exhibits?”

  “Oh yes, art as life. Haven’t you ever seen one?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Instead of looking at a painting, the artist performs the art. Sometimes they use props or they just stage a scene. I remember hearing about a guy who staye
d inside a glass box for like three days.”

  “What?” Max raised his eyebrows. “How is that art?”

  “Well, we won’t know unless we look, right?” I grabbed his hand and led him down the sidewalk.

  The streets were lined with eye-catching architecture.

  “I think it’s this way.” Max pointed to one of the signs.

  “No, it’s over there.” I pulled him across the street.

  “Sammy, I’m telling you, it’s the other way.”

  “Max, this is the museum.” I pulled open the door for him.

  He frowned and looked up and down the street. “Are you sure?”

  “We’re about to find out.” I led him inside.

  There were a few plates on display. It wasn’t what I expected, but it would do. I studied the plates intently. After a few seconds, it dawned on me that these weren’t just average plates. “Oh no.” I turned around to face Max. “I think you were right.”

  His eyes were locked onto a nude painting right in front of him.

  “I don’t know, Sammy, this looks pretty contemporary to me. Maybe we should ask about the live art?”

  “Stop it, Max. I think we’re in a sex museum!”

  “A what?” Max laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  “Really?” I pointed to the portraits on the walls. Each one was as naked as the last. The images on the plates depicted some very erotic act.

  “Oops.” He winked at me. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

  “No, I did not.” I laughed and pulled him away from the painting. “You are not old enough to be in here.”

  “I am too.”

  “Okay, then I’m not.” I grinned as we hurried out of the museum.

  Max caught me in his arms and drew me in for a kiss. It wasn’t the quick peck that we’d fallen into the routine of sharing. It was a deep soulful kiss that made my knees wobble. I was startled by the flash of a camera.

  “Uh, Max.” I leaned close to him. “I think that we’ve just become the live art.”

  A young woman hurried past with her camera dangling from her shoulder.

  “I can agree with that.” Max steered me down the sidewalk. “Why don’t we find the real museum we were looking for?”

  “Sure.”

  My cell phone chimed. I pulled it out of my purse to see a text from Erik.

  Where are you? Aren’t we meeting for lunch?

  “Can you believe this?” I read the text to Max.