Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (20 page)

Gabriel sat down next to Morgan and pushed a lock of
hair behind her ear. “I haven't either.” Morgan's throat
still burned as the liquid moved through her body, but she was
already feeling that certain calming effect that scotch provided. She
looked up at the man and smiled, then leaned forward to put her
forehead against his chest. She smiled again as she thought of how
proud Anthony would be if he knew that she was using his tactic of
breaking the ice, and her muffled words held humor that Gabriel
enjoyed as she spoke into his chest.

“
Will you hold me tonight, like you did when the
power went out that time in Peru?” Gabriel nodded as he took
her glass and placed it, along with his, beside the bed.

“
Of course.” Morgan quickly stood and shed
her clothes down to her under garments, and Gabriel did the same.
After a few moments, they were both on their sides and Gabriel had
Morgan's back against his front. The warmth of her body, and the
scotch, put the man to sleep within moments. Morgan had never seen a
man so comfortable as to fall asleep so quickly, especially not with
a stranger, and she began to wonder if he truly was shy, or if his
loss and broken heart had just left him unsure about himself.

I
understand loss, Gabriel. I'll do my best to help you.

Chapter Eight

“
Care to join the living?” Morgan's eyes had
barely opened when she heard the door shut, and she managed a moan as
she turned away from the sound. “Was that a no?” She
nodded into her pillow. “No?” Another nod, that time, she
pulled the blanket over her head. “I guess you won't need
this.” Gabriel sat hard on the side of the bed and Morgan
giggled as she moved away from him. “Or this?” She wanted
to look, to know what he had, but she also wanted just a bit more
sleep. “Okay, I'll just throw it all away then.” She
couldn't take it, Morgan flipped over quickly and pulled the barrier
from her face. What she saw sent a swift kick to Gabriel's leg, and a
quick flop to her back.

Gabriel
was next to her, still holding her bra and panties in his hands.
Clearly, Morgan had shed the rest of her clothes in the middle of the
night, but didn't remember. “I thought you had food, jerk.”
Gabriel laughed and tossed her bright green thong across the bed as
he stood. It landed on Morgan's head, and she refused to give him the
satisfaction of removing it. She sat up, thong covering her left eye,
and gave him her best mean mug. It didn't work, and Gabriel's
laughter could be heard by several of the surrounding rooms. When
there was a bang on the wall, it only made it worse, and both Morgan
and Gabriel were laughing to the point of tears. “Okay...
ah...shit.” Morgan wiped her eyes and finally tilted her head
and let her panties fall into her hand. “Let me get a shower.”
She wrapped the sheet around her body before making her way to the
bathroom. Gabriel nodded, but still couldn't stop himself from
laughing. He pointed to the room service menu, and choked out
something pertaining to calling downstairs to order breakfast for
them. At least, Morgan hoped that's what he said.

Twenty minutes later, Morgan was putting on her last
cosmetic
as her hair straightener heated up. That was also
when she heard a knock on the bathroom door. “I have to piss.”
Morgan giggled and closed her lipgloss before opening the bathroom
door, revealing Gabriel, still in his boxers. Morgan was still
smiling as another thought occurred to her. He was incredibly laid
back, yet liked the finer things in life. Tanner was about the only
other man she knew who would announce they had to
piss
and
even then, Tanner probably would have just opened the door and done
his thing. Finlay on the other hand, would probably have made his way
down to the lobby, finding a restroom as to not interrupt Morgan.
But
Tanner wouldn't be caught dead drinking Scotch or wearing a suit.

Morgan stepped out of the bathroom and managed a peek at
the small tent Gabriel was pitching as she passed him in the doorway.
Very nice, Gabe.
As his hands came together in front of him,
it was obvious he'd tried to hide it, and that made Morgan giggle.
“That's really hot,” Morgan spoke, then paused until a
look of confusion covered his face. “That,” she pointed
at the straightener, then giggled again and shut the bathroom door
behind her.
Neither Tanner nor Finlay would try to hide their
morning wood. That's something we're going to have to fix.
Then
again, she thought, his shy moments blended quite well with his
otherwise outgoing nature.
Actually, Gabe... some things don't
need to be fixed.

Morgan was sitting on the edge of the bed, sipping on a
fresh cup of coffee when Gabriel returned. “I see you found the
coffee.”

“
If you tried to hide it, you didn't do a very
good job.” Morgan took another slow sip, and her stomach
growled loudly as the hot liquid hit her stomach. “Did you
happen to order breakfast?”

“
I did. But we have to go pick it up.”
Gabriel walked up to Morgan and took the coffee from her hand and set
it on the table, next to the glasses from the night before. “So
hurry up.” He pulled her from the bed with her hands and
directed her like an air traffic controller to the bathroom.

“
Yes, sir.” Morgan giggled and went to her
bag to find a more appropriate outfit than a tee shirt and booty
shorts, then went back into the bathroom. A few moments later,
Gabriel came into view in the mirror behind her.

“
That thing you did with your hair when we went to
the fair, I liked that.” He put his hands above his head, and
mimicked a high ponytail, in the best way a man could. He then gave
her a quick smile, and before she could reply, he was out of sight
again. Morgan could tell it was hard for him, but he was trying, and
the effort was what nearly brought a tear to Morgan's eye. The way he
had said it, Morgan knew there was some truth behind it, even if it
had been about Maria. Morgan turned off her hair straightener, and
simply put her hair into a high ponytail at the back of her head. She
did add a little flair with a few small curls, but she hoped he would
like it.

“
Wow, Morgan. You're beautiful.”

“
Thank you.” She did a little curtsey as she
walked into the room and blew Gabriel a kiss. “You look...”
Sexy.
“
Really
good.” He was wearing khaki
shorts and a black sleeveless shirt. Nothing spectacular, but Morgan
had never seen khakis look so good. He nodded and gave her a small
smile. Compliments were not something he took easily, but Morgan was
going to give them. “That's where you say thank you.”

Gabriel laughed, and continued digging in his bag for
his shoes. “Thanks.”

“
No, that's not acceptable. Try again.”
Morgan sat down on the edge of the bed, and picked up her coffee
again.

He finally found his shoes and walked to the side of the
bed to sit down. “Thank you.”

“
That's better. And you're welcome.” He was
so close, and she wanted to kiss him so badly.
Just wait, Morgan.
He'll do it when he's ready.

He slid his sandals on his feet and stood again. “Let's
go, I'm tired of waiting on you.” He laughed and Morgan gave
him another shove to his chest, since she'd already been done for
several minutes and he was still gathering his phone, wallet and
keys.

“
Jerk.” Morgan finished her coffee and
grabbed her purse and a spare set of batteries for her camera.
Nothing would get past her without getting a picture of it. “Where
are we getting breakfast.”
“Downstairs.”

“
Then why didn't they just bring it up to the
room?” Morgan slid her feet into her flip flops.

“
Because we're not eating it here.” He gave
her a quick wink, and left her wondering where they were having their
breakfast picnic.

*****

“
I just opened your text, and unless my sweet ass
is going color blind, those are not red mothafuckin' flowers up
front. Red.Up.Front. Those bitch ass flowers are not red. You need to
fix that shit.” Angel was walking through the open market,
trying to find fresh Snapper for Gio's dinner, when a text he
received had forced his hand to make a few calls. “And that
mulchie shit is supposed to be red too, that's brown. Red is not
brown.”

Morgan, who had involved Angel with the house, was to be
her second contact if they needed to speak to her. Angel, on the
other hand, had completely taken over and was directing everyone
involved in every aspect of the house makeover. “Hang the fuck
on, my beautiful ass has another call.” Angel didn't bother to
look first as he clicked the button. “Say words to me!”

“
Angel, this is Tanner. I need some help.”
Angel stopped walking, his eyes grew large, and he immediately found
a spot to sit on an open wooden bench.

“
What happened? Is she alright? Who has my
Stick?!” Tanner immediately calmed him down.

“
No, she's fine. I... uh... look, she's mad as
hell at me. I can't tell you why, but I need your help. You know her
better than anyone. How....how do I make her...shit. How can I...?”

Angel nodded as his eyes went back to normal, and smiled
as his words left his lips. “Tan Man, let her be mad. If you
poke a hornet, it'll come after you. You leave it alone, it goes on
about its business and forgets why it was about to sting your ass.”
Tanner started to ask more questions, since he knew Morgan wouldn't
forget anything, but Angel cut him off again. “Leave her ass
alone for a few weeks. Don't call. Don't text. In fact, ignore her.
She'll get over it, and want you even more. Trust me.” Tanner
took a deep breath, because at that moment, he had to trust the words
of Morgan's best friend.

“
Alright. That's what I'll do.” He ended the
call and dropped his phone on the sofa. Yes, he thought, he would
leave her alone and let her come to him. The alternative, to explain
the truth, wasn't an option.

*****

“
Sand flavored scrambled eggs... yummy.”
Morgan flicked sand from her plastic plate before taking another
bite. She and Gabriel had joked all the way to the beach, breakfast
in hand, about the amount of sand they would most likely consume with
their meals. They were both right, it was blowing everywhere and the
subtle crunching with every bite was making them laugh even more.

“
Alright, maybe this wasn't the best idea.”
Gabriel took both of their plates and carried them, with their food,
to the trash bin. Lunch would be better, and that's what he promised.

“
I wasn't done!” Morgan picked up her water,
thankfully in a bottle and followed behind him to throw away the
empty container.

“
You weren't going to finish that.” He gave
Morgan a questioning look and she giggled again. “Oh, there she
is!” Gabriel waved behind Morgan and she turned to see a small
black car pulling into the lot behind them. Once the vehicle was
parked, Morgan realized who had joined them, and she too waved at the
woman climbing out of the vehicle.

Ida stepped onto the concrete and flipped her long hair
over her shoulder before pushing a sun hat over her head. Her long
tan legs stepped in front of the car and Morgan saw Ida wasn't alone.
At Ida's side was another beautiful female.

“
Oh!” Morgan gasped at the sight of the new
guest and immediately ran over to greet them.

“
There's my girl!” Gabriel also made his way
to Ida's side, then dropped to his knee and kissed the cheek of the
smaller guest. “Morgan, meet Cleopatra.”

“
Hi, Cleopatra!” Morgan also fell to one
knee, and held out her hand for a shake and Cleo's white paw
instantly fell into her palm. “Aww!” Morgan looked up to
Gabe, “is she yours?” Gabriel nodded, and Morgan directed
her attention back to the stocky English Bulldog. “You're so
pretty, yes you are! Such a pretty girl!”

“
Someone likes dogs,” Ida announced and
handed the bright pink leash to Gabriel.

“
Even her nails are painted! Oh my goodness. And
her collar. You're a little princess, aren't you?” Morgan put
her hands on either side of the dog's face, and continued her
compliments in a tone that should have been reserved for a newborn
baby. She didn't even notice when Ida and Gabriel actually walked
away for a minute to talk in private.

“
So?” Ida grabbed her dress below her hips
and pulled it up slightly as a wave crashed against the shore.

“
She's...amazing. But...” Gabriel looked
over his shoulder and smiled at the sight of Cleo on her back, and
Morgan using both hands to rub her belly.

Ida sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “But
what?”

“
I don't think I can do this. Morgan is wonderful,
and she's making me...
feel
things I haven't in a long time.”
He wasn't even talking about arousal, but that was included.

Ida picked up her dress again as another wave
approached. “Isn't that the point?” She dropped her dress
again. “You're
supposed
to
feel
those things.
That's why she...” Ida wanted to say that's why she was hired,
but knew it didn't sound appropriate.

“
I know. That's what's so hard. I feel like
I'm...”

“
No, you're not.” Ida knew Gabriel well, and
she knew that by him letting his guard down, he felt as if he were
betraying Maria. “She wouldn't want you to be alone. She would
want you to move on. She would want you to be happy. My sister loved
you, Gabriel. And I know...”