Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (34 page)

Sticky,
first thing, look at your muthafuckin' wrist.
Morgan's brows
came together at the strange request, but she did as she was told.
She looked at both of her wrists and she instantly saw what he was
talking about. A brand new charm had been added to her bracelet, and
she hadn't even noticed. Morgan held it up and let the little golden
casino chip dangle in front of her face. When she'd looked it over
completely, she wiped her eyes and went back to the letter.

Now
before you think I bought that shit, you need to know that it's from
Play Doh. I told you we made up, and he asked me to put that on your
chain. Your drunk sleeping ass didn't even care
when I took
it off your wrist, you were all like, “Fin... take me and
shit... Fin!” I didn't take you, but it was still funny as
hell.

He
said he always has the last fuckin' word and since you got him Vegas
hookers, he said he owed you. I guess it's better than what he did
to my ass. You get jewelry, I get punked. What the fuck ever... but
it's all good.

I'm
sorry for everything I did. You know I do everything because I love
you. Here it is. I was wrong. But I'll still look after my Sticky
Buns. Always and forever.

Love,
your Angel.

Morgan
wiped the tears from her cheek and laughed silently at what a crybaby
she was.
I love you, Angel.
She opened her scrapbook to the
back and found a blank page. On the page, she laid Angel's note flat,
then reached down into her bag and found her tape and secured all of
the corners. Even though her friend messed up a lot of things, she
knew he really did do everything because he loved her. It was never
hard to forgive him, but if he ever meddled in her life again, she'd
recruit Clay in some more payback schemes.

Clay.
She looked down at her wrist again and more tears steamed down
her cheeks. The charm was gold, different than all of the rest, and
it made her smile because Clay was different. She knew, at the very
least, if she ever returned to Las Vegas, Shaw's was her first stop.
Morgan dug into her bag again and pulled out a large stack of photos.
Photos from Puerto Rico and photos from her two weeks in Nevada. Two
very different clients, but they were both wonderful. She'd already
put a picture and a note in there for Ian, but she wanted to spend
more time, adding some of the other pictures from the beautiful
island. The first one she cut out was a picture of the two of them on
the boat together. Morgan blushed as she stuck the picture onto the
paper. Even though she had ups and downs in her life, her memories
were mostly wonderful and another tear streamed down her cheek as she
thought of how much she genuinely loved her life.

Once
Ian's page was filled, she moved on to Clay's blank page. That one
took a bit longer, mostly because she had two weeks worth of pictures
of the man, and also because she dedicated a page to the brave
Doberman, Abby. By the time she was finished with that page, the
plane was already descending upon Los Angeles for her connecting
flight. Thankfully, the layover was two hours because her next flight
was nearly eight hours long and she wasn't going to embark on that
flight on an empty stomach.

As
she walked off the plane, she nearly laughed. It was the first time
in a few weeks that she wasn't in a foul mood...not that she'd had
much control over that. From a broken toe to receiving an engagement
ring to being arrested, something had happened each time she was due
to meet a client.
Not this time. Te will meet the real me, not
grumpy me.
She grabbed the strap of her bag and pulled it higher
on her shoulder and she walked through a long passageway, looking for
a place to eat. She felt like she hit the lottery when she found a
place that served both of her favorite things; pizza and coffee.
It's
a sign. This week is going to be fanfuckintastic.

Memories
of Finlay finally took over, as she knew they would eventually.
They'd had an absolutely perfect few days together, better than
they'd ever had, and their goodbye even felt different. It felt
temporary, and wonderful. Neither of them had been too upset on the
day that he left, and Morgan didn't shed one tear through it all.
They had reached a different level in their non-relationship, and it
was... right. She smiled at her right hand that held her new ring,
and mentally promised once again that she would always be honest with
him.

Chapter
Eight

“
Okay,
Mr.
Nice
Guy...” Morgan giggled as the words came out of
her mouth. She'd always wanted a chance to say that line, and
thinking of Angel's and Cedric's
nice
comments, she thought it
was appropriate.
He's not ugly though. At least...I hope not.
Some
of her clients had looked differently than their pictures, but only
for the better...she hoped Te wasn't an exception, but she still had
to admit, it was odd for Angel
and
Cedric to both find a man
ugly.

She
watched the bags start to file out of the long flaps, one at a time.
Every so often, she'd look around her, hoping not to miss her...
holy
shit.
She saw him, walking in through the double doors in the
back of luggage claim.
Did...did he just...duck?
He was tall,
so tall.
He's probably taller than Alrik...no...
she looked
away quickly, then looked over her shoulder again...
not quite as
tall.

Angel's
voice popped into her head and she turned around again and clasped
her hand over her mouth.
I'd climb that tree like a cappuccino
monkey.
She laughed harder.
Capuchin, Angel. Capuchin Monkey.
She knew what Angel's response would have been.
Whatever.
Morgan made a mental note, she'd have to tell Angel that she had
argued with him in her own head. Her bags started making an
appearance and as she lowered her hand from her mouth, the giggles
couldn't be stopped.
Capuchin.
More laughter. She reached for
her zebra bag as it got closer and a tear burned in her eye.
Oh,
that shit's funny. I don't care who you are.

“Morgan?”
A deep, thick voice sounded behind her and as soon as she turned
around to face the tall and gorgeous man, she lost control.
Tree.
Cappuccino. Climbing.
She wiped her eyes and tried to get herself
together, but just the thought of apologizing to the man for her
outburst was even funny.

“Hi.”
More laughter. “Yes... I'm Morgan. I'm sorry.. I'm an
idiot.” He laughed as well, even though he had no idea what
was so funny. “Sorry, really... “

“It
was a long flight, it would make anyone a little tired... and...
silly.” He raised a brow at her, hoping that her flight was
the reason for her behavior, and was satisfied when she nodded
through her giggles.

They
didn't speak much as he gathered her bags, except for an occasional
escaping giggle, or smile from the tall man. It was not until they
reached his truck that words were exchanged. “Wow! It's like
a.... a... beach truck thing!” The man laughed and told her
that his truck was beach friendly, which of course, struck Morgan as
funny.

The
tires were huge and held the red truck several feet more from the
ground than normal. It even had a small step ladder to climb up on,
not that Te needed it. He helped her with each step up, then closed
the door. Her bags were placed in the back, and he joined her just
as she'd finally settled the laughter. The truck was funny, the
mental argument with Angel was funny, trying not to laugh was funny.
Yes, Morgan was back to her usual tired laughing self, and all was
good in her world.

They
drove for twenty minutes, and Morgan didn't miss one thing along the
way. She marveled at the grass covered rental rooms that sat
stationary several yards into the ocean, and past those were
beautifully lit hotels with tourists walking the surf surrounded by
softly lit torches in the sand. It was paradise, from what she could
see that night, and it might even have rivaled Hawaii in many
aspects. “It's so beautiful.” She whispered the words,
mainly to herself, but he was more than happy to respond.

“It
is. I love it here, I hope you will too.” She looked to the
man and smiled in return, as she knew that judging by what she could
already see, it wouldn't be difficult to do just that.

Morgan
kept her eyes busy scanning everything in their path until they
reached a cluster of trees on the side of the narrow road. Te turned
into the mass as Morgan reached out and held the dashboard tightly.
Te smiled and the truck swayed back and forth as he drove between two
thick trunks with mere inches on either side of the vehicle. “That
was close... wow... is this a shortcut or something?”

“Nope,
it's my driveway.” The trees finally gave up their hold and
the truck was then driving through a mixture of sand and grass,
heading straight for an amber lit house with large windows that
overlooked acres of solitude on either side. The home was stunning,
and she couldn't wait to take a tour through the large ocean front
property.

“Wow,”
she repeated when they got closer. It was a two-story home, raised up
a few feet from the ground on wooden stilts, and the whole left side
of the house had a double deck. There was a large platform extending
from the first floor, then a set of stairs that led to a platform
that extended from what Morgan assumed was probably the master
bedroom.
Guess that beats taking the other stairs.
She giggled
as she was already imagining herself leaving Te's bedroom in her robe
and going outside, then entering the kitchen below.

“You
go ahead inside, I'll get your things.” Te pulled her back to
what she should have been thinking about...her client, not her
morning coffee.

“You..uh..there's
no big dog that's going to attack me right?” Morgan's quiet
giggles escaped again as she thought of Abby and Clay.

“No,”
Te laughed. “I have a couple of birds though. They're
harmless.” He gave her a quick smile, then climbed out of his
side of the truck and went right to the back. Morgan looked in the
rear view mirror and saw that he was unloading her bags.

Julianne
always told her that she should wait as long as it took for a man to
let her out of a car, but as always, Morgan didn't care.
I'm
sorry, Julianne, I have to be me and I'm more than capable of letting
myself out of a tru...
“ow.” If she hadn't been so
tired and it hadn't been so dark, she probably would have seen the
bottom rung of the small step ladder, but she didn't and she fell
straight forward to her hands and knees. “Whew. Sand. I'm
good.” It was a whisper to herself as she climbed to her feet,
then she looked behind the truck to see if she had reason to be
embarrassed. He hadn't seen her. Good. Morgan wiped the sand from her
hands and legs, then marched herself to the house, one sinking step
at a time.

What
she wanted to do badly was remove her shoes and run down to the
water, but the logical side of her kept her walking toward the home.
When she reached the steps, she climbed them quickly. Something about
a big gap underneath the house made her nervous and she didn't want
to linger on ground level too long, at least not near the creepy
shadow.

Morgan
looked back to the big red truck and Te nodded for her to go on. The
scene she saw reminded her of a romantic book cover she'd seen not
too long before. If the truck were not there, it would just be Te,
next to a big boulder, the moonlight behind him, reflecting off of
his dark skin and his long hair blowing in the soft breeze. She
couldn't help but giggle again as she reached for the handle on the
big white door.

Immediately,
after shutting the door behind her, Morgan heard sweet little noises
from the birds he must have been talking about. She looked toward the
sound and saw two small parakeets in a cage near the back door, one
was yellow, one was blue and white.

She
smiled as her eyes scanned the dimly lit room in front of her, it was
absolutely gorgeous. Morgan thought of when she was younger, she and
a friend had looked up houses on the internet, just for fun, knowing
neither of them would ever afford something so beautiful. Te's home
was exactly like the one Morgan had loved the most. It was set up
like a home that only the wealthiest of people might vacation in,
only, it wasn't a vacation home, it was his real home. The whole
living room was brick and there were candles lit all around, as well
as warmly lit lamps with tropical designs across the base. The
biggest couch was made of wicker, with a white cushion that looked as
thick as Morgan's forearm and on either side, there were two smaller
chairs of the same design, but with red cushions. On the other side
of the wall, there was a regular sofa, one that looked a little more
comfortable, also white and in the middle, there was a huge coffee
table in the shape of a scallop seashell, but made of glass and
spreading out at least six feet at its widest point. It was an odd
piece, but gorgeous in the room.