Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (115 page)

“Oh!”
Angel dropped Gio's unmentionables and pointed to the phone. “You're
the sorry ass bitch that called my baby girl a slut! You have no idea
who you're messing with, little man! I'll come to Jamaica and kick
your ass so hard, the natives will have to call a Shameless to revive
you!”

The
silence on the other end left Angel ready to yell even more.
Finally, Kala responded. “You mean a Shaman? And I don't live
in Jamaica, I live in Hawaii. And no, that was my brother, Kole. And
I don't think he called her a ...well ... damn. Look ...I'm calling
to ask a favor. I need Morgan, well, my mom needs Morgan. Sort of.”
Angel closed his eyes and shook his head, not understanding why the
man would call him for anything. “Please, my mom is sick and
she really liked Morgan. She's been asking for her, and I need to do
all I can to get her here. Can you help me?” Angel's eyes were
still closed, and flashes of that night with Kala finally surfaced.
Kala was kind, and Angel remembered giving all of them his number to
keep in touch. That's something that Angel rarely did, so he knew
that he had, at least at one point, liked the man.

“Dammit!
No promises. But...I'll see what I can do. And Collie?”

Kala
laughed quietly. “Yes?”

“Tell
your mothafuckin' brother to bite my narrow ass until he chokes on
it.”

Kala
assured Angel that he'd deliver the message, and their conversation
came to an end.

Angel
stood between Gio's designer tee shirts and his pajamas, staring at
the work still ahead of him. “Oh Stick...how am I going to get
you to Hawaii? You hate Collie's brother.” He sat on a small
stool next to the dryer, and rested his perfectly shaven chin on his
fist. If only he could think of someone that could talk her into a
trip to the Islands, he could make it all happen for
Collie's
mom.

He
looked to his right and stared at PoPo who had found a pink wooden
car to play with. “Nice ride, big man.” He reached out
and pretended as if he would pull it away, and PoPo turned his head
quickly to keep his treasure to himself. “Ride? That's it!
You're a genius, Po!” Angel instantly thought of Michael, who
was also in the car business and in California, and knew that he was
the only one that could pull it off.

“She
likes him, and he's right there already. He can go get her, fly her
to Hawaii, visit mama, and get some Sticky ass in the process. It's
perfect.” He grabbed PoPo's large beak and gave him a loud
kiss, then found Michael's number and gave the handsome man a call.

*****

Early
the next morning, Manuel and Morgan took a walk to a deep part of the
river to fish. “Okay, let me finish this one, then I'll put
your bait on and show you how to cast.” Manuel was tying a tiny
bright yellow
fly
to the end of his fishing line, and didn't
notice the young woman who was already a few steps ahead. She nodded
and smiled, allowing Manuel to think she'd need his help in the
matter.

With
her back turned she secured an itty-bitty bobber onto her own line,
and a bit below that, she already had her hook and worm in place.
“There,” Manuel stated as he finished his pole, and as he
looked up, he saw Morgan deliver the perfect cast in front of them.
“I...what...”

“What?
You think a first-class girl can't fish?” Morgan paraphrased a
quote from her favorite movie, but Manuel obviously hadn't seen it
because he didn't find it as funny as she did.

“I
just...”

“You
assumed?” Morgan's face lit up with a proud smile and her eyes
went back to the water, to watch her bobber.

“Yes.
I did. I've just never been around a woman who, well... it's nice.”
Manuel cast his lure into the river and began reeling it back in
quickly. By the time he was making his second cast, Morgan's pink and
white bobber disappeared under the surface.

“Oh!
I've got one!” Morgan reeled her line in and at the end, was a
fish no bigger than her palm. “Don't even say it,” she
warned Manuel. “It's bigger than what you've caught!” She
giggled and let the fish go.

“You're
so beautiful.” Manuel stared at the woman in her white shorts,
black bikini top and white baseball cap, with her long blonde
ponytail hanging out the back. “You really are.” Morgan
was used to hearing it, most men she was with thought she was
beautiful, and most of the time, she thought nothing much of it.
I
think all the men I'm with are handsome. Gorgeous even. That's why I
picked them.
Morgan looked to Manuel to give him her thanks, but
when their eyes met, she had no words. He wasn't looking at her like
her clients did, he was looking at her like...
Finlay looks at me.
Or Tanner.

“Thank
you,” Morgan finally found her words, and looked away to hide
her crimson cheeks.

Chapter
Eight

“Alright,
I'll admit when I'm defeated. You're a great fisherman.”
Morgan flipped the fish in the pan with a small fork and shook her
head.

“Fisherwoman.”
He bowed his head to the correction, then took over preparing dinner.
“Thanks, I'm not much of a cook.” They both laughed at
the memory of Morgan staring at the stringer of fish as if it had
sprouted horns and legs when he asked her to clean them while he
prepped the fire. Morgan didn't clean them, her grandmother always
did, and she didn't cook them either. It wasn't that she didn't want
to learn, it's just that her grandmother loved to cook and never
thought twice about teaching Morgan. It was something that they both
had regret for at the end.

She
watched him season their meal, and sat on a rock close to the fire
instead of the comfortable chair that she usually chose. It was nice
roughing
it, and she planned to keep every moment locked in
her memory. Her camera had also been on overdrive since they'd
arrived, and she already had more pictures of Manuel than any other
client. She knew the reason was that they had no distractions, dinner
dates, appointments, or anything else but Mother Nature and each
other. It was something that she had craved for quite some time, but
didn't actually fully realize it until she was there.

“So,
tell me, what made you get into this business.” His words
caught her off guard, and her hesitation was enough of an answer.
“Wait, don't tell me.” He smiled and she nodded in
return. “Okay,” he stood and stretched his back while
their catch simmered in the pan over the fire, “tell me some of
your favorite places you've been to.” He was quick to add,
“while on the job.” Morgan smiled and took a deep breath
as images of every place she'd been to flashed through her mind.
Finally, she nodded and answered his question.

“Well,
Scotland was the first place I went, and it's still one of my
favorites. The castles, the culture, the people... I loved all of it.
Especially,” she smiled widely, “the accents.”
Manuel nodded for her to continue. “Australia is right up there
too, the water is gorgeous and the wildlife is amazing.” Her
face lit as she spoke, and he sat down on a rock across from her and
watched as she continued. “I even saw kangaroos, up close and
personal. It was an incredible moment.” He remained quiet,
allowing her mind to bring forward all that it wanted, and he
couldn't wait to look into her memories with her. “I loved
Peru, of course.” She nodded in recognition of his home.
“Thanks to you, I got to experience a bit of your culture, and
food.” They laughed as they both recalled his dinner
suggestions when they'd met. He couldn't get enough of Morgan's
story, and he wasn't sure how to pry information from her beautiful
mind.

“Morgan,
if you could live anywhere, right now, where would it be?” He
wasn't even sure why he wanted to know that, but it suddenly became
very important. She looked past him, taking in the question, and
leaned back while she thought. It took several moments of mental
debate, but she finally looked back to his face, and answered.

“I
wouldn't.” As soon as his head tilted in question, she
clarified. “I used to think that life was meant to find someone
to love, settle down, and begin to live. I've realized that I was
already living, and all I needed to do was feel it. I don't need to
settle down, or fall in love, or do anything but enjoy my life.
So...to answer your question,” she stood and picked up the
little fork, turning the fish one last time, “I don't want to
live in any one place right now. I want to just...live.” He was
surprised by her answer, but he completely understood. He stood as
well, and grabbed two paper plates.

“You
amaze me. You're young and any man would be happy to have you in his
life, yet you choose to be free. That's pretty cool, Morgan.”
She wanted to tell him that none of that mattered, that being young
or desirable had nothing to do with living one's life, but she took
his intended compliment, and dished their meal onto the plates with a
nod and smile.

They
watched the sun set together that night, and talked more about each
others lives and the stories, adventure and some of the drama that
went with it. Manuel had gone into his feelings about Julius and how
much he had regretted the years they had to remain distant because of
the family and Morgan reminded him that they had the rest of their
lives to enjoy.

Morgan
talked about Julianne and how she had fallen in love with Felix when
she was younger, and she told him all about Angel and the love she
had for her best friend.

“He
sounds like a wonderful friend,” Manuel walked around the fire
and picked up their plates from dinner.

“He
is the best!” Morgan jumped up and helped herself to a can of
beer from the cooler, grateful that Manuel had taken another trip to
the store just for her.

“I'd
love to meet him. You light up when you talk about him, he must be a
very good person for you to have in your life. I'd also love to meet
Julianne”

His
words caught Morgan off guard for the second time that night.
He
wants to meet them?
She didn't have a family to call her own, and
right then, something hit Morgan that she'd never really thought
about. Angel was like her brother, and Julianne had taken the role as
a parental figure in her life. Someone Morgan looked up to, and
sought advice from, and Julianne always made sure she was safe. In
fact, Morgan had
family
all over the world. Most of the
clients she had were more than just
clients.
She knew for a
fact, if she got stranded in Stockholm, Alric would be there for her,
or if she got stuck in a bad storm in Dallas, she could give Colton a
call or if she got arrested in Las Vegas, Clay would help her out.
Even if she didn't talk to many of them, she knew she had made
friends, true friends, along the way and the realization brought a
stinging to Morgan's eyes.

“They're
my family.” Her words were barely above the sound of a whisper,
but he heard her.

“I'd
love to meet your family.” Manuel stopped in front of Morgan
and kissed the top of her head. “Doesn't have to be today, next
week or even next month. But I do hope you keep in touch with me and
maybe someday I'll get to meet them.”

“Oh,”
Morgan took his face in her hands. “Don't give me the
stay-in-touch speech yet. We still have two days together.”

Manuel
laughed and took her face in the same manner. “Fine. But you
better.” The two of them laughed again and he went back to
gathering things back into the tent. Morgan sat there for a moment,
and thought about how thankful, and grateful, she was. Her time of
being a call girl wasn't always luxury, and certain times, it wasn't
even pleasant, but Julianne gave her the opportunity to change her
life, and Morgan knew that her life would truly be forever changed,
in the best way she could have imagined. For the first time in her
life, she felt like she had family, and Morgan knew she would never
again feel sorry for herself for the things she lacked.
Gran used
to say all the time, life isn't about what you don't have.
Morgan
always thought she knew what it meant, until that moment.
It's
about what we do have, and making the most of every second of it.