A Trespass in Time Read Online Free PDF

her doorway with a purse on her shoulder and a tall, stunningly handsome man at her side.
                “Are you ready, Ella?” she said. “Do you mind if Hugo comes with us?”
                “Not at all,” she said. “Pleased to meet you, Hugo.” They shook hands and Ella thought he held onto her hand a tad longer than necessary.
                “I love Americans,” he said. “I used to live in America.”
                “Oh, that’s cool,” Ella said as the three moved to the elevator. “Where?”
                “Indiana. It was after college. Very enlightening.”
                Lunch was loud and fun. Ella was surprised to learn that drinking beer at lunch was not frowned upon—or at least that’s what Hugo and Heidi told her. They lunched at a tourist spot in the old part of Heidelberg, off the main market square near the Church of the Holy Spirit. Ella had walked by it several times in her first couple of days of exploring the town.
                Hugo was a large man but trim and lean. He gave off a strong scent of athleticism and Ella had an image of him playing soccer with his pals after work. Whatever was going on with the handshake, she did not mistake the fact that his knee stayed in constant contact with hers under the table throughout lunch.
                On paper, Ella decided, Hugo might add up to look and sound a lot like Rowan. But there were some major differences she couldn’t help but notice. Rowan was more taciturn, that was for sure. Hugo was positively chatty. And while he was witty in at least two languages, for her tastes he was almost too much.
                As they were leaving the restaurant, he leaned over and whispered: “Want to get together tonight?”
                Wow.  Come right out with it, Ella thought, slightly amused.
                She glanced at Heidi who was the picture of someone pretending not to listen and Ella realized that Heidi was aiding and abetting Hugo in his attempt to pick her up.  
                “Thanks,” she said to Hugo. “But I’ve got a boyfriend back home.”
                Which was weird because she hadn’t known Rowan long enough to consider him her boyfriend by any stretch of the imagination and yet…whatever she felt for him she didn’t completely feel free either. Was she using that as an excuse not to date Hugo? Did she want to date Hugo?
                “The operative words there being back home , yes?” Hugo wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.
                “You’re kind of a little devil, aren’t you, Hugo?”
                Heidi laughed too. “Only, at six foot three, not too little,” she said.
                “Your boyfriend is alone tonight, you think?” Hugo asked in mock seriousness.
                “Okay, Hugo,” Heidi said, wagging a finger at him. “Now you go too far.”
                “Yeah, Hugo,” Ella said. “I’m still in the early stages of imagining him spending his nights bereft and alone. Besides, he’s staying at his parents’ at the moment so I feel confident he is lonely.”
                “Is that because most American women typically do not have their own apartments?”
                “Enough, Hugo,” Heidi said, but she was watching Ella to see if he was upsetting her.
                “I’m fine, Heidi,” Ella said. She turned to Hugo. “Flattered,” she said. “But not interested. Thank you.”
                “You are absolutely welcome,” Hugo said, as the three walked down the street toward their office. “But I wish you would wait until I have done something for which you will thank me.”
                “He never quits, does he?” Ella said to Heidi and the two women laughed and teased poor Hugo the rest of the way