UPDATED Worth The Risk: Part 19 Teaser Excerpt

Hello fellow romantics,

How are you doing this week?

Hope you enjoy this excerpt.

Love,

Sigrid

Update 11/08: Added more excerpt.

Raven’s phone died just after she had hit send. She scoffed at herself, annoyed that she had forgotten to charge it. She was on a different continent, walking in a foreign city, and she should have known better.

She stuck the phone in her back pocket and looked around. The sun was out strong and the air was humid again. Raven felt like she could already use another shower and it had only been less than four hours since her last one.

She had found her way back to the hotel this morning with the maps app on her phone. Raven had felt bad about leaving Nathalie behind at the office so suddenly. Still, she had needed some space to process everything.

After showering, she had moisturized her skin and hair. It had calmed her down and made her feel more like herself. After another painkiller and half an hour of rest on the bed, she had even started to feel like everything was going to be just fine.

“It’s only money,” she had told herself, thinking that her time with Nathalie was worth it.

“If I had invested in the company, I’d be out of a whole lot more money anyway,” she had also reminded herself.

Still, Raven was frustrated. The airline had flat out refused to change her ticket back to the original date. She either had to fly out tonight or buy a new ticket altogether, she had been told. Raven had tried to negotiate but to no avail.

To complicate matters even more, her original flight was sold out. There were some seats available on Sunday’s flight, but only in first class. She hadn’t booked a ticket yet, but she might have to later today. She had to be back at her job on Monday.

As things were looking right now, she would spend thousands of dollars just to stay in Belgium for a few more days. It would be the most expensive trip she had ever taken. And it wasn’t even a vacation!

“Although I guess now it is,” Raven thought. “I should try to enjoy this week.”

She knew how she would *prefer* to spend these days in Belgium. If possible, she’d like to be with Nathalie every single minute of every day. But Nathalie had a job to go to, and they had only just met! Raven could hardly expect her to take time off.

No, she would have to make do with mornings and evenings. And that was assuming Nathalie wanted to spend these with her. During the day, Raven would have to make the best out of it by herself. And so she had set out to explore.

She had been in high spirits, eager to make the time fly by until Nathalie was off from work. She had planned to wait before sending Nathalie a text. She didn’t want her to feel bad about being stuck at the office.

Raven also wanted to surprise Nathalie with a gift. The idea had come to her as she was resting on the bed. A quick search on her phone had given her the address of a store where they sold the nine thousand merchandise Nathalie seemed so fond of.

The new nine thousand baseball cap she had bought for Nathalie now sat in her backpack, along with the toiletries Raven had packed just in case she ended up at Nathalie’s place again tonight. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.

After her visit to the store, Raven had headed in a new direction. She had read about a museum just outside the historical center and had decided it would be a nice escape from the heat.

Walking around the museum, her phone had heated up from having lousy reception. This was when Raven had realized she had forgotten to charge her battery. By the time she had stepped back outside, she had only 1% left.

Raven had had no idea how far away she was from Nathalie’s office. She didn’t remember the address and her laptop with all of the information was back at the hotel. So was her external battery pack for her phone.

Cursing, Raven had sent Nathalie a quick message that she was lost and the museum’s name. Her phone had died immediately after. Raven had no idea if Nathalie would come and get her.

“You didn’t plan this very well, did you?” Raven thought as she strolled towards a bench in the shadow.

She plopped down, placing her backpack next to her. At least she had remembered to bring some water. She raised the bottle to her lips and took in her surroundings. Raven was at an old abbey with buildings surrounding a large field.

People were scattered across the grass, sitting in groups with bags of food and drinks. Tourists strolled around on the pathways. Despite there being quite a few people, the atmosphere was almost serene.

Raven’s heartbeat dropped to a more regular rhythm and she was starting to feel less stressed. She would wait here for a while and see if Nathalie came out to help her. If not, she could go back to the museum and ask for directions to the hotel.

She leaned back against the bench, closing her eyes for a moment. The heat wasn’t as bad under the trees. Her mind drifted to Nathalie almost immediately. Nathalie’s outfit had been so cute today.

The linen pants had resembled the one Nathalie had worn when they had first met but in a different color. The t-shirt Nathalie wore above it had been slightly crumpled, which made her look only more adorable.

Raven also loved the way Nathalie’s blonde hair had fallen onto her shoulders. She briefly pictured lifting Nathalie’s hair to kiss the nape of her neck. She would take her time exploring the soft skin with her lips and tongue.

It didn’t take long for her body to respond to these thoughts. Raven shifted her position and opened her eyes.

 

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