Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (50 page)

“Yes,
come on!” Luis grabbed Morgan's hand and the two of them ran
back toward the house. They weren't far away, so they made it to the
back stairs quickly and inside the home. Immediately, they saw what
had made the noise; elder Luis, who had just given himself a nasty
cut across two of his fingers.

Chapter
Ten

Luis
had spent most of the night with his butler, and then watched him for
the remainder as his old friend slept. The wound wasn't as bad as
Luis had at first suspected, but the medication that they had given
him was making the old man forget his own name. It was nearly noon
when Morgan finally saw either of them again, and her client had
filled her in on the whole ordeal.

“He's
fine, he's a strong old man, isn't that right?” Luis was
speaking to Morgan, then turned in the direction of the butler's
bedroom for the last part. They heard muttering from his direction,
and they both smiled at the fact that Luis the elder was still
bothered that he wasn't permitted to do much for a few days.

Morgan
hated that he'd been injured, but like Luis, she was more than
relieved that he only required a few stitches, and some decent pain
meds. She stood on her toes and whispered against his neck, “can
we go get him something? A get well gift?” She fell back to
her heels, and smiled as Luis nodded.

“Luis,
we're going out for a few hours, do you need anything?” Morgan
put her head down and held her breath, trying not to replay the words
that were being exchanged between Luis and Luis.

“No.”
He was still grumpy about taking it easy, and they both smiled as
Luis helped Morgan into her coat.

“Morgan
thanks you.”

“Not
this again.” He opened the door quickly and gave her a gentle
push through the opening. “Keep it up, and I won't take you to
the restaurant that you've had your eye on.” Morgan nearly
busted out laughing, since he'd just given her an easy out from the
five star dining that she had been hoping to avoid.

“Morgan
doesn't believe you.”

“Stop.”

“Morgan
should stop now?”

The
banter continued all the way to his car again, and even up until they
were close to the center of town.

“You
like to stir the pot, don't you?” She raised her brow as if
he'd just spoken his native language in her presence, and he laughed
at the comical look that she was giving him. “It means, that
you like to cause trouble.. but in a fun way.” She understood,
and nodded slowly. The thoughts that she'd avoided had caught up to
her in that instant, and he saw the sudden change in her entire
demeanor. “What? Did I say something to Morgan that upset
her?” He nudged her arm and was rewarded with a tiny smile.

“It's
nothing. Sorry.” She tried to shake it off, the words of
those that she cared about who had insisted on pointing out her
maturity level, but they remained, front and center in her mind.

“Morgan,
really... what's wrong?” She looked at his face, seeing the
sincerity in his eyes, and felt horrible for being in another
situation where she was expected to dump her problems on another
person. She argued for several moments, insisting that nothing was
wrong, but before they reached the center of Madrid, he had convinced
her that they wouldn't leave the car until she spoke up.

Morgan
looked down at her hands and took a deep breath, then let it out
slowly. “I.. uh... I'm just trying to work on my... maturity.
I mean, I think I've changed a lot, but not enough.” She
looked over at him, and his warm expression allowed her to continue.
“I laugh too loud, I joke too much, I run when I should walk,
and I... stir the pot.” She smiled, and looked down at her
hands. “I want to be a better person... a different person,
but I'm not sure how.” Morgan hated talking about the
situation, and her earlier belief that she had grown leaps and bounds
had suddenly felt wrong. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said
anything.”

“No.
You should have.” He pulled quickly into an empty lot and got
out, nearly slamming the door in the process. Morgan didn't wait for
him to get to her side, and she got out as well. “Let's go.”
He took her hand and walked in long strides that she had trouble
keeping up with, all the way to a busy courtyard through large groups
of tourists and mingling locals. “Sit with me.” His
demeanor hadn't changed, and she was feeling more guilty by the
second. “Look. Look at these people. Right there..,”
he pointed to a middle aged couple that were walking past a small
boutique across the street of where they had sat, “what do you
see?” Morgan watched the couple, then looked back at Luis.
She brought her shoulders up and told him that she saw a couple
walking. “Better question, what are you not seeing?”
She looked again, then back. “Happiness, Morgan. Do they look
happy?” She didn't want to judge people based on a quick look,
but she had to admit, that they looked far from happy.

“That's
people, Luis. They're just shopping, and nothing particularly funny
is happening around them.” She smiled at the thought of seeing
them suddenly burst out into laughter.

“Right
there! You're smiling... it's the same smile that I've seen on your
face since we've met. Morgan, you're not immature... you're happy.”
She shook her head, and smiled again, because he had no idea the
things that she'd done in the past.

“No...
trust me on this one. A man that is
more
happy
than I
am, a man that laughs at
everything
and enjoys
every
minute
of his life... said the same thing.” Luis watched a sadness
roll across her features and he took her hand in his.

“Morgan,
trust me, if he knows you.... then he sees you. I don't what his
problem is, but how you live isn't it. Believe me, you've
misunderstood or the guy is a fool.”

“Do you really think...?”

“Yes.
Now stop worrying about it. For the record, Morgan, you're the
most mature woman I've ever met. You know what you like, and that my
dear, usually takes a life time and half to figure out. It's what
every person on this planet is trying to figure out, and you already
know. Now let's go eat, I'm starving!”

The
two did go to the restaurant she'd been eying, the place that tasted
like Spain. To Morgan's surprise, it wasn't five star dining at all.
It was more like a steakhouse with fancy chairs and lights. The
people were friendly and their server was actually American, giving
Morgan a small sense of home. During dinner, the two of them talked a
little more about the situation with Tanner, but for the most part,
the topic had been completely avoided. Morgan had to admit, she felt
better after talking to Luis about it and if he was right about his
assumptions, she had more to figure out with Tanner than him just
being drunk and saying something he didn't mean. She knew there was
definitely some research that needed to be done to find out
definitively one way or the other.

“Oh
my god, this stuff is amazing!” Morgan stabbed another one of
the meat balls with her fork and brought it to her lips. “What
are these made of?” she asked through a full mouth, something
that would have made Julianne reach across the table and slap her.

“You
really want to know?” Luis leaned in close to her and spoke
with a quiet voice, something he didn't need to do in the noisy
restaurant with louder than need be music. She nodded and covered her
mouth as she spoke again.

“Yeah,
I need to look this up and have...” she thought of Finlay,
being an excellent cook, “a friend make them.”

“Ready?”
She nodded and laughed at his behavior, then popped another meat ball
in her mouth, with her fingers that time. Another thing that would
have earned her a nice whack to the side of the head. “Bull
testicles,” Luis finally told her. Morgan looked down at her
plate and her eyes grew wide. At the same time, Luis watched a half
chewed ball fly out of her mouth and bounce across the table, then
eventually onto the wooden floor of the restaurant.

“You....you
let...” Morgan looked down at the remaining bites on her place
and her face turned to a look of disgust. “You let me eat bull
balls!” Her voice was loud and full of anger.

“I'm
just fucking with you!” He slapped his hand down on the table
simultaneously breaking out in a fit of laughter. “Your face!
Priceless, Senorita! Absolutely priceless!”
“Morgan
is not amused.” More laughter from Luis, until finally she had
to join in. It was later that she found out the little meat balls
were just that, meat balls. Not actual balls, at least ones that
belonged to anything. She quickly forgave him, but on the way home,
she did give him a play-by-play of how
Morgan
felt, still
referring to herself in third person, simply to get under his skin.

She
did remember, at the last minute, why they had gone out in the first
place and the two stopped at a large shop to get the injured Luis a
gift. Along with an obnoxious balloon, announcing Happy Birthday in
Spanish, they got him two of his favorite cigars. They were very
expensive and exquisite, but it was something the old man enjoyed
doing on a warm day.

When
they got back to the house, Luis was sleeping so they tied the
balloon to his doorknob and set the cigars on a small table outside
of his door. Morgan knew she wouldn't want to wake up and see a three
foot wide balloon staring at her and younger Luis agreed, not wanting
to give the man a heart attack.

“So,
Mister Rivera, now what?” The two of them were standing in
front of the beautiful painting in the upper hallway when Morgan
asked. They still the remaining day together and knowing what she did
about Luis, he wasn't going to let it be wasted.

“That
depends... are you still interested in seeing something that belongs
to me?” He wrapped his arms around her from behind, just as
he'd done on their first morning together, both facing the smiling
face of his grandmother. Morgan nodded as she turned to face him.

“Actually,
that
something
belongs to me. At least, for the next hour or
so.” Luis laughed and pulled her against him, then dropped his
hands from her waist to her hips.

“Come.”
He took a step back and grabbed her hand.

“Morgan
would like that.” His loud laughter echoed once again through
the upper level of his home, and she happily walked to his room,
already looking forward to what was to come.
Come. HAHAHA
Her mind was still filled with her own laughter when he pulled her
through the room, and to his private balcony. “Here? You
know...,” she laughed as he was already pulling her shirt over
her head.

“I
know, I have a bed.” His fingers were on her bra clasp when
she spoke again.

“What
I was going to say is that our little walk... through the yard.. it
was, fun.” By fun, she meant that she wished they could have
finished what they'd started under the blanket as they strolled the
grounds together. She didn't have to wait for an answer because Luis
had already left her standing outside while he ran back into his room
to retrieve a blanket from the bed.

“Ready?”
Morgan grabbed her sweater from the railing, and threw it on the bed
as she met him in the room. He wrapped the blanket around her as
they walked through the house, then joined her under the cover after
reaching the yard once again.

He
held her tightly against his side as they marched across the vast
lawn, and Morgan kept her head tucked between his arm and chest,
loving the fact that the sharp gusts of wind couldn't penetrate their
thick barrier. She inched her hand to the bottom of his shirt, then
under the material. His skin was warm, and he moaned softly at the
feel of her gentle touch.

“Where
are you taking me?” She really didn't care where he stopped,
but they were getting closer to the small lake on his property, and
she was beginning to wonder if a polar bear plunge was in their
future. He didn't answer her, and she slowly began to worry a little
more as they reached, and walked along, the water's edge.

“Almost
there.” He gave her a tight squeeze around the waist, but it
didn't help ease her anxiety. “There.” He nodded almost
directly in front of them to a small boathouse. She wasn't sure if
they'd have the room that was needed in the small structure, but it
was better than a skinny dip in a near freezing lake.