Michael had been in Havana for four days and still hadn't got laid, despite the assurances of a work colleague (who had raved about Cuba as a holiday destination for singles) that it was 'as easy as falling off a log'.The hookers on the notorious Prada avenue were all dumpy and overweight and clad in lurid purple or orange lycra body suits, and there had been a recent police purge of the more glamorous jinetera amateur pr...

Tom realised he was lost. Hopelessly and utterly lost. And with the light fading fast, he probably had less than an hour to find shelter for the night. He knew exactly where he'd gone wrong; taken the wrong track at that three-pronged junction a mile back. But there wasn't time to back-track at this hour. Press on and hope to find a field barn in which to spend the night.After coming down from university, Tom had rashly e...

Nick steered his sleek silver turbo-charged coupe across the deserted Cambridgeshire by-roads towards Ely. The town was justly known as 'the ship of the Fens', as the tower of its majestic 16th century cathedral was like a navigational lode star. Ely's train station was only a few hundred yards from the cathedral and Cathy stood waiting in the shade of the station building's canopy. She wore the shortest of floral print d...

Seated in the famous Champagne Bar of the Euorstar Terminal at London's St Pancras Station, Nick toyed with his champagne flute. With one eye on the giant overhead clock, he was getting anxious about the departure of the Paris train. Then he saw Cathy approaching. She looked stunning, turning several heads as she alighted from the escalator. She was wearing a long-sleeved double-breasted cerise suede jacket, nipped tight...

Although their elderly cleaning lady's name was Mrs Bloxsome, Tim and Janet always referred to her as Mrs Blossom, due to the prodigious quantities of Blossom's lavender spray-on furniture polish which she managed to get through each month. Visitors to the house would always comment on the aroma. Mrs B's weekly visits coincided with Janet's stint as a volunteer at a local charity clothes shop, where she assisted in the so...

Dusk. As he turned off the highway into the country park hotel, Nick was relieved to note that its car park was barely a quarter full. Pulling his overnight bag from the back seat, he headed for the brightly-lit reception lobby. A giggly gang of women were disembarking from a mini-coach. Most were clearly very drunk.In the hotel's spacious lobby he quickly spotted Mark, clean-shaven, casually-attired and seated on a sofa...

Standing in the palatial entrance hall of the City of London bank of which he is chairman, Sir Henry Northrop consults his half-hunter pocket watch, which he has extracted from his waistcoat by its gold chain. It shows 5.18pm. The monthly board meeting has finished later than predicted, somewhat incommoding the tycoon. Sir Henry's next train back to rural Buckinghamshire is not until 6.50pm, leaving him with just over an...

Nick and Di were the last two diners in Luigi's trattoria, though the patron seemed unconcerned about them remaining so late. He wandered across to their corner table, placed two small glasses in front of them and poured a colourless liquid into each."Compliments of the house signora e signore!""You always know it's going-home time when Luigi offers you a free Grappa," Di said with a chuckle.Nick nodded his thanks and too...

Nick sat admiring the early morning sunshine slanting across the meadows behind his thatched cottage. He had moved to rural Shropshire the year before, shaking off the dust and grime of London after the break-up of a long-term relationship. Financially, he was now just holding his head above water as a computer consultant and part-time lecturer. When bemused friends queried his strange retreat from urban civilisation he'd...

Dappled shafts of afternoon sunshine light up the woodland glade where two women lie sleeping naked on a towel. Doreen - dark-haired and gamine - wakes first. She rises and quietly packs the remains of their picnic into a large cold box. Then she returns to the sleeping figure of Barbara, stoops down and gently kisses one shoulder."Taxi will be here in 20 minutes, Babs."They dress and pack their remaining belongings, then...

On a bright sunny morning in a seafront apartment in Benidorm, two women are busily preparing a picnic for a day on the beach. Less than five weeks before, Doreen had arrived in Spain to visit her old friend Barbara, seeking solace after a messy divorce. That solace soon blossomed into a passionate affair which has been a sexual revelation for the once-staid visitor.It has also transformed Doreen's appearance, from an unp...

Doreen and Barbara, two English divorcees, are sharing a beach side apartment in the Spanish resort of Benidorm. Barbara is the owner and uses it as her base for discreet prostitution work, servicing the needs of frustrated middle-aged British ex-pats. Her close friend Doreen is visiting after the breakdown of her marriage, which had been virtually sexless for years.The two women couldn't be more different in looks and de...