Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (29 page)

Clay
watched her take a few slow sips and thought to himself. He had a
feeling that she'd been ditched for the night. He knew how much
Morgan cared about Angel, and that would be the only way that she
wouldn't be with him right then. “So, how are the slots
treating you?” He sat next to her and spun her chair around to
face him. She looked behind them, and her eyes locked with the
machine that she had been trying to conquer for the better part of an
hour.

“I
was doing alright, then that bastard decided to play hardball.”
She pointed at the innocent looking machine, and Clay laughed loudly
until Morgan turned back around. “Hey, you have a name tag.
You didn't wear one before, did you?” She flipped the plastic
covered card that hung from his neck, several times, watching it land
over and over against the tie that she knew he hated to wear.

He
explained that he usually didn't wear his name tag, but there was a
large convention going on that night, so he decided to wear it. She
had to laugh, because he no longer looked like the owner, he looked
like he should be behind the counter, checking people in.

“And
you never wore that before.” Clay grabbed her hand and pressed
his thumb on the band around her ring finger.

“Finlay
sent it. Kind of ironic, huh?” She laughed nervously and held
it up in the light, then brought it back down. “It's pretty
though.” Clay refused to say anything else about it, mostly
because he had no idea what to say since she didn't mention the
meaning behind it. Engagement ring? Just a gift? He'd leave that
discussion for a different time, if ever.

“Rat
bastard! It let him win!”
Her
machine had played
dirty. “That's fine, I'll just find another one!” Clay
laughed when Morgan stood from her stool, and he shook his head as he
stood as well. He also took her arm, and kindly escorted her to a
nearby machine of her choice. “This one. Yep... show momma
some love.” She rubbed the machine, and took several bills
from her bag.

“Alright,
you two have fun. I'll be back to check on you.” Morgan
nodded as she slipped a twenty into the money slot.

Clay
went back to the convention, and started to make his rounds again
through the crowd. He could no longer remember what the convention
was for, because all he could think about was the beautiful woman
that came back to see him, and he couldn't have been more distracted.

“Bloody
hell.” Finlay was dropped off right in front of the casino,
and the crowd that he had to go through was worse than he'd expected.
He began to wonder if he'd find Morgan at all, and started to
reconsider his plan of not calling her and letting his visit be a
surprise. “Fook it.” Fin took his phone out, and
started walking towards the small bar near the front entrance.

“I
won! I won! Oh my god! Look!” Morgan was no less than ten
feet from him, and she was yelling at anyone who would listen that
she'd just won five hundred dollars. Finlay started to walk behind
her, but was cut off by a string of tourists that were in one long
line, heading back out to catch their bus. He looked over their
heads, and between their bodies, trying to keep her in his sight.

“Look
at you! Congrats! Let's go get your money” Clay had approached
her from the side, since he couldn't stay away from her for longer
than a few minutes, and helped her to the end of the bar where an
attendant paid her the winnings. “Alright, Lucky...what now?”

“Honestly,
I'm a little tired. I should probably go back and see what the guys
are up to.” The fruity drink and her coffee had balanced out to
a nice mellow mood, but she was ready to call it a night.

“You're
welcome to stay here.” Clay didn't think she'd be up for it,
but he had to offer. After all, he did own a hotel. Morgan thought
about it for a few seconds. She didn't really feel like going back to
her room and seeing the cuddle fucks watching a movie together that
she wasn't invited to see. To his surprise, she nodded. It was
obvious to her that he didn't want anything from her, and the
friendly gesture had meant a lot.

Finlay
lost sight of her when an employee helped retrieve her money, and
finally saw her again across the room. He watched her being escorted
to the elevator, and he also watched the employee's hand fall far too
close to her ass. “No' with her, mate.” He pushed his
way through the crowd, and got to the elevator just as it was
closing. He watched the lights above the doors, and saw that it
stopped on the sixth floor, then it started moving back down again.

Finlay
waited, then took the same route as it had just taken. The sixth
floor. The second the doors were wide enough for him to fit through,
Finlay pushed out of the cart, and looked to the right. There they
were, walking slowly through the long plush hallway, with the man's
hands even further down Morgan's back.

As
he stomped down the long stretch of carpet, he watched the man open
the door of one of the rooms, then Morgan step inside. The employee
was following in behind her.

“Ye've
got te be fookin' kiddin' me!” Finlay was nearly running to
catch the door before it closed. He made it, and put his boot in the
door, then pushed it all the way open with a loud crash. “Here's
an idea for ye, mate,” Finlay spoke to Clayton, who'd already
made it into the kitchenette of the suite. Clay turned around and
saw the large Scot standing only a few feet away, close enough that
he could see the rise and fall of Finlay's chest with each heavy
intake of air.

Clayton
though, wasn't easily intimidated, especially on his own turf.
“What's that?” he asked with a small smile and turned his
body around completely. He was glad Morgan was in the bathroom
though, he'd make sure the stranger wouldn't hurt her.

“Ye
need ta keep yer fookin' hands off of her! Hear me, ye sick bastard?”
Finlay took a step forward, but Clayton didn't move. The two men were
nearly identical in size and both of them had the testosterone of a
bull.

“Who
the fuck are you to say anyth...” Clay took a step forward,
ready to take action.

“Fin?”
Morgan called out from the bathroom and the two men looked to the
door. Slowly, the knob turned, then the door opened. “Finlay...
I... wow....”

She
looked from Finlay to Clayton and saw both of their looks of worry.
Clayton looked between the two of them as well, and his expression
changed quickly as he realized who the stranger really was. “Well,
this is awkward,” Clayton finally spoke. “Finlay. I
talked with you a few times... on the phone.” Even though he'd
like nothing more than to try and take Finlay down, he cared about
Morgan and knew how much she cared for the big Scot, so he would
never hurt her like that.

“Aye,
and ye must be Clayton.” Clay nodded and held his hand out for
Fin, and after a moment's hesitation, Finlay took is and gave it a
brief shake. Both of them knew the other man's relation to Morgan;
Clayton being her most recent client, and Finlay being the man who
she never shut up about. Finlay did wonder why she was with Clay,
being led into a hotel room, if their week was over, but he also knew
that he and Morgan had agreed to keep their jealousy under control,
so he pushed his thoughts aside.
She's wearing ma ring though.
Fin smiled at his little win against Clay and walked himself over
to Morgan who was still standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

“Uhm...I
can let you two... talk... or.... whatever.” Clay gave Morgan a
quick look and a nod, then turned to leave, but then, it all made
sense. Once again, he'd been set up. He turned back around and faced
Finlay. “Angel sent you here didn't he?” Finlay nodded.
“Of course. He sent you here so you'd
catch
me with
Morgan.” Instantly, she understood. Once again, Angel had made
a terrible decision. Clay nodded to himself and rubbed his chin,
thinking. “You up for one more
joke?
” Morgan
nodded, wanting to teach Angel a lesson, once and for all, then
looked to Finlay and he nodded too. She and Fin followed Clayton over
to the small table beside the kitchen and the three of them sat down
together.

“He
has te learn when te stop, aye?” Finlay helped Morgan into her
chair and watched her smile when she heard her favorite word, and
then nodded in return.

“He
just gets carried away sometimes.” She looked between Clay and
Fin, then looked down at her hands. “They sort of... blew me
off tonight. I mean, they need time together.. I get that. But.. I
could have had dinner with them or something... but they didn't want
me there, I guess.” Finlay's fists tightened at his sides, he
hated seeing her like that. For Finlay, that information had changed
the game from teaching Angel to stop interfering in Morgan's life, to
showing him what his actions could have done to Morgan.

Clayton
nodded. He knew they'd blown her off, but it broke his heart to hear
her say it. “Well, I hope you both like what I've got in mind.”

If
Morgan would have known that the over protective men were as angry as
they were for Angel asking her to leave, she never would have told
them. But as it was, the words were already out, and she would do
her best to make it clear to both of them that being on her own for
the night wasn't a big deal at all. In fact, it was what she'd done
most of her life.

The
next thirty minutes were spent discussing exactly what the prankster
had up his sleeve and both Morgan and Finlay thought it was
brilliant. The plan, let Angel believe Morgan was missing. He'd have
the entire night and day to think about his need to interfere in
Morgan's life, and what could have happened after blowing her off for
the night. Morgan still didn't think it was that big of a deal that
she was asked by the men for a night alone, but the interfering part,
that was a different story.

While
the men were discussing last minute details, Morgan closed her eyes
and prayed that it was the last time that they'd have to teach Angel
a lesson. The second Finlay had called Angel, her best friend should
have been a
true
friend and told her immediately. Instead,
all he thought about was getting back at Clay, and sending Finlay
right to him.
Oh Angel... why?
She had no way of knowing
that Angel's first thought was to tell her, but he did resort to
playing games in the end.

She
was still lost in her thoughts when Clayton spoke to her. “Morgan?”

“Sorry,
just thinking,” she smiled and tilted her head as if to tell
him to continue.

“
You're
going to need a few things from the other hotel aren't you?”
Clayton stood and straightened out his shirt. Morgan nodded.

“Oh,
and my makeup!” She looked to Finlay, who had also stood. “It's
in a little bag with...”

“Aye,
flowers. I remember,” he told her, then leaned down and kissed
the top of her head. “We'll be back in a bit.” Morgan
nodded again and brought her hands together on her lap as she watched
the men leave. If she knew Angel well enough, he was still at the bar
and that would work out perfectly for the men to sneak into her room.

Chapter
Four

Early
the following morning, Clay left work and headed home. The night's
events were still fresh in his mind, and he turned his radio up even
more as his great mood made for a pleasant ride home. He knew that
his plan had been followed perfectly, and that Angel was most likely
only an hour or two away from having a complete melt down at the
upcoming news.

Finlay,
who had also just met his morning, had turned on the shower in the
spacious bathroom of his room. He tried not to laugh when the
memories of the events from a few hours prior had played out in his
mind, and he quickly shut the door to the bathroom. He would wait
until he was ready, damn good and ready, before he put the plan in
motion.

Morgan
rolled over and pulled her bare leg under the blanket, then stretched
both of her legs with a loud yawn and almost fell back to sleep.

“Yer
up!” Finlay's voice, mixed with the bathroom door suddenly
flying open, scared her to the point of trying of stand, run, and
scream, all at the same time. She managed to grunt, stand, and
fall... all in that order. “It's alright. It's jus' me.”
He ran to her twisted body beside the bed, and held back another
laugh as he helped her back to the mattress.