Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (27 page)

“You
must be Julie Annie,” Angel sashayed proudly up to the tired
woman and took her hand in his, then did a small curtsey.

“Morgan,
who's this?” Julianne pulled her hand away from Angel, having
no idea who the strange man was.

“I'm
standing right he...” Angel groaned when he was cut off by
Morgan.
That's how were going to play Julie Annie? You're just
going to act like I ain't standing right here? Alright. Cool.

“
That
is Angel,” Morgan turned toward him and titled her head to
the side. “And he has something to tell you.” He didn't
speak and Morgan tried again. “And. He. Has. Something. To .
Tell. You.” She spoke to him through bared teeth and got behind
him and gave him a push toward her boss.

“
Okay, okay! Juley-Pop” Angel began, “like Stick said,
this was all just a big muthafuckin' misunderstanding.”Angel
smiled as his hands grew wide with
big
and came back together
for
misunderstanding.

Morgan
could see Julianne's grip on her purse tighten. “You're the man
who called me?”

“Mhmm,”
Angel hummed and put his hand on his hip, then dropped it again. “We
can talk about all this inside...come on, let's go, let's go.”
He ushered Julianne toward the cab, then went back to retrieve her
bag from the sidewalk.

“Do...uh....you
want to get lunch?” Morgan asked as she climbed into the
backseat with her boss.

Julianne's
hand went to her hair and she pulled out a large pin, her curls fell
softly to her shoulders. As she was about to answer, Angel took over
again. He was on the opposite side of Julianne, so he leaned forward
and looked past her to Morgan. “Stick, you sure you want a fork
and a knife in her hand when we explain this shit to her?”

Julianne
was appalled and huffed loudly at Angel's behavior. She couldn't
believe how that obnoxious man worked for one of the wealthiest
clients in the database. Maybe there was more to him that she didn't
see. “The reasoning behind all of this better be good, Morgan.
I just traveled twenty-one hours from Russia to get you out of this
and I..”

“Julianne...I....I
mean, we...we're so sorry. Let's go get something to eat and I'll
tell you all about it.” Reluctantly, Julianne nodded and Morgan
told the driver to take them to the nearest burger place. The only
restaurant she knew of was the Italian one, and thanks to Angel, she
could never show her face there again.
Oh, Angel. I love you, but
sometimes...I want to strangle you.

Morgan
tried to smile pleasantly at Julianne, but each time, her efforts
were met with a huff and a look-away. “Shit!” Morgan
put her hand to her lower stomach and grimaced in pain. “Sorry..
nothing serious, just cramps.” Right on schedule, the two day
warning of her cycle kicked in, and she had nothing to take for them
at the time.

“Wine
and food, it should take the edge off.” Julianne didn't look
at Morgan when she gave the advice, but the younger of the two was
quite happy that her boss still cared enough to want to help.

The
burger joint came into view, right as Julianne was digging through
her bag for a compact, and Morgan leaned forward quickly, telling the
driver that he could take them to a better establishment to eat. The
driver nodded, and pulled back into traffic without even stopping.
There was no way she would take her boss to the neon shack that had a
dozen college kids hanging out in front of the door. Especially
since Julianne had managed to find her compact, and dab her flawless
face before adding a touch up coat of velvet red number 94 color to
her lips. Five awkward minutes later, the cab stopped in front of a
large family operated steak house, that bragged of the 'best meat in
town.' She immediately looked at Angel, and was glad that she did,
because he was already laughing and clearly ready to say something
vulgar about the sign. He squeezed his lips shut, and giggled
quietly as he stepped out of the car.

Really?
This is a better establishment?
It wasn't five star dining, but
she had to admit, it was better than fighting through a sorority to
get a table.
I hope they have wine.

The
three were following a hostess to their large booth, and Julianne
held her head high as she smashed through peanut shells that were
purposely littered across the floor. Her five hundred dollar shoes
had never been treated so poorly, but she refused to let even one
more thing bother her that day. Once seated, the hostess then shoved
three oversized menus in their hands, and pranced away happily to
find another table to seat.

“Your
mothafuckin' hair is gorgeous. Let me feel that shit.” Angel
reached over and ran his fingers through Julianne's hair. She
actually smiled when the man brought it to his face. “Smells
like heaven. Smell this, Stick.” He held the offered curl in
front of Morgan's face, and Morgan shook her head and mouthed to him
to let go of Julianne's hair. “Well it does.” He let go
and smoothed it down over her shoulder.

“Thank
you... I think.” Angel had squeezed another smile from the
woman, and Morgan watched in awe as Angel worked his magic on her
boss. She's still a girl, and she likes to be admired. Those were
the thoughts that filled Morgan's mind as Angel grabbed her attention
again.

“I
need a fuckin' drink! Garcon!” Angel snapped his fingers in
the air, and the bartender across the room rolled his eyes and turned
away. “Did he just.... no he didn't... mutherfucka' just
rolled his face marbles right at my ass! Ah, hell no!” Angel
scooted loudly across the booth, and marched straight to the bar,
then turned around and shouted back at the women. “You want
that moustache-ee-oh? I got you, baby girls.” He didn't even
wait for an answer. “Roll that shit at me again... go ahead,
I'm right muthafuckin' here. I didn't think so.” Morgan
rudely put her elbow on the table, and dropped her forehead into her
hand. She definitely made a mistake, and bringing Angel was only
going to make things worse. He was doing great, then...

“Well,
now I understand.” Julianne's voice brought Morgan's head
back up, and she looked at her boss in confusion. “Your friend
there,” she waved one finger in the direction of the bar,
“he's high strung, a little crazy, and madly in love with you.”
Morgan smiled and nodded, and looked at Angel's back as she spoke.

“Yeah.
He's all those things. And I'm madly in love with him too.”
Right then, she could no longer be mad at the man. He was quirky,
hilarious, a troublemaker, and the best friend that she would ever
have.

“Alright,
while your friend fights with the bartender to get our.. what was
it... moustache-ee-oh...? You can tell me everything, from the
beginning.

Chapter
Two

Morgan
brought her other hand up and grabbed a lock of her hair and twirled
it nervously as she thought of the right words to start with. A part
of her had almost expected Angel to explain it all, but she knew that
was ridiculous and it was her responsibility. After all, it was
Julianne in Las Vegas, not Gio. Angel didn't
have
to answer to
anyone. She took another deep breath and began.

“Well,
obviously Angel has been by my side since I went to Brazil... we
just... kind of clicked.”

“I
think you've mentioned him before.” Julianne brought her hands
together on top of the table and a small smile curved across her full
number 94 lips.

“Probably
so. Well,
a lot
has happened.” Morgan wasn't lying. Her
boss had no clue what Morgan's life had been like, but it was
probably better off that way. She decided to give Julianne the
condensed version anyway. “To make a long story short, Jordy
has a butler named Cedric...” Morgan looked to Angel, then back
at Julianne. “I...uhm..they're a thing,” she nodded her
head toward Angel again.

“I
see.”

“Anyway.
Those two...yes, just imagine two of
those.
..got it in their
heads that it would be a wonderful idea to send me an engagement
ring. Only, and here's the kicker, I had no idea who it was from.”

“No...”
Julianne's eyes grew wide. She couldn't even imagine what Morgan must
have felt like. “What did you do? Who did you think it was?”
It made Morgan giggle, the fact her boss was actually enjoying their
talk.

“She
thought it was Fine-As-Fuck-Fin,” Angel announced loudly as he
set their drinks down on the table. It surprised both he and Morgan
when Julianne laughed.

“Why
did you do it?” Julianne asked Angel as he scooted back across
the booth.

“He
wanted to teach me a lesson... to show me that I wasn't ready to
commit to anyone. Not like that anyway. I was getting wrapped up in
my emotions and honestly... even though I went through hell, I came
out a lot stronger.” Morgan grabbed Angel's hand and gave it a
squeeze.

“So,
if you sent the ring,” Julianne spoke to Angel, “why
would you think she was marrying Mister Campbell?”

“That's
a good muthafuckin' question. Drink this first.” Angel slid her
Moscato closer and wagged his eyebrows in encouragement. From then,
Morgan and Angel told her the rest of the story. She started with how
Angel had sent the wrong message to her and how she'd found out it
was all a joke. Then, Morgan explained that Clay was quiet the joker
as well. “We made up a plan to get Angel back.” Angel
told her the rest, about Finlay and Sean getting in on it.

“Ahh.
When I spoke to Mister Campbell yesterday, he was still going with
the joke then?” Morgan and Angel looked at each other, each one
wondering the same thing.

“I'm
sure he was just playing along.” Morgan hoped at least. She
didn't have time to worry about Finlay showing up.

“Bitch,
don't be lookin' like that. You know damn fuckin' well if he walked
his ass...”

“It's
a nice ass,” Morgan interrupted.

“Can
I get an amen?” Angel lifted his arms in the air, outlining an
invisible ass. “Jule-Sicle, amen!”

“Oh!
Uhm. Amen,” Julianne lifted her glass, even though she had no
idea what had just happened.

“Good
girl. Anywho. You know if that Scottish meatstick walked his ass in
here, you'd be begging for him to take you back to a castle in the
muthafuckin' alps.”

“Highlands,
Angel. The Alps are in Sw...”

“Whatever.”

Julianne listened to the exchange between the two, and tried to keep
up with the rest of the story. Her nerves had been somewhat repaired
from flying, which if she were being honest, it was the main reason
for the majority of her mood when she'd called Morgan earlier. The
other part, thinking that her best girl was rushing in to marriage,
had also been relieved. For right then, she was still slightly
miffed at having flown across the world for nothing.

“
Well,
I'm glad you aren't getting married, but I plan to have a talk with
Mister Campbell about lying to me.” Morgan and Angel laughed
as they had both already seen the 'talk' that Julianne could easily
dish out.

The
mention of his name brought Morgan back to the wondering if he were
actually flying to Vegas or not, and she finally took a deep breath
and asked her dinner companions. “So... he
was
just in
on the joke and not
actually
coming here...right?” Both
Julianne and Angel laughed, and agreed that Finlay had no reason to
fly there, and that yes, he was just playing along. “Good. I
mean, I'd love to see him, but this week is all about Angel and
Cedric.” He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, then
smiled before bringing his glass to his lips, and finishing off a
highly potent drink that he'd been happy to walk the bartender
through preparing for him.

“Good,
everything is as it should be.” Julianne took her phone from
her large bag, and called her travel agent. “I need the first
flight from Vegas to Ohio. Yes, Canton. Very good. Thank you.”
Morgan wanted to stop her sudden plans, but it was too late.

“You're
leaving? Just like that?” She was shocked that she wouldn't
have at least a day with Julianne.