Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (21 page)

“Thank
you, for everything. You mean so much to me, Sean.” She put
her forehead against his shoulder, and enjoyed her last few moments
with the man.

“I
know, and ye mean a lot to me as well. More than I thought.”
His words had meaning that she certainly understood. “Ye take
care, and call me soon, aye?”

“Aye.”
She stood from the bed and left the room, not wanting to prolong
their goodbye.

Finlay
already had her things in the cab, and he helped Morgan into the back
seat then told her and the driver that he would be right back. There
were still a few details that he had to work out with his Irish
friend, and that's what he did when he got back inside the house.

“They'll
be there in two days, three at the most.” Sean had already
called a few of his acquaintances, and his end of the deal already
lined up. Finlay made a quick call right then, and with a few
moments of negotiations, he too had the other part of the group ready
to go.

“The
wee bastard willna walk again, that's for certain.” Sean
nodded in agreement, their crew would be certain to stop before
taking it too far, but the job would be done quickly and efficiently.
After a few more details were hashed out, they agreed that they
would never speak of it again, and the conversation was over.

Finlay started to reach out and shake Sean's hand, but he pulled him
in for a big Finlay hug instead. “Thank ye, mate. I'm glad ye
were here for her.” They both nodded, then Sean watched Finlay
walk out the door.

The
house was silent, not the usual quiet that Sean enjoyed, as he stood
inside looking out at the cab that pulled away. “God help me,
Morgan. Am I falling in love?”

Chapter
Eight

“I'm
sorry, Fin,” Morgan pulled the hood of her coat over her head
as they walked through the airport. That time, when she walked
through the lobby, not only were everyone's eyes on her, but their
eyes were on Finlay. When he put his arm around her and pulled her
close, they probably expected the girl to flinch or throw up some
kind of help signal.

“No'
a bother, lass. Don' be sorry,” he reassured her. Finlay bought
them both a ticket back to Scotland and they checked their bags in,
then they made their way to their terminal. “I'm sure ye'll be
wanting a coffee?”

“Oh,
yes!” Morgan had been craving her coffee all afternoon. Tea was
fine, but it could never replace her beloved java. When he left to go
find her a caffeine fix, Morgan pulled out her scrapbook and flipped
to the empty page after Tyler. With a red pen, she drew a square on
the page where a picture would go, then drew a big X from corner to
corner. At the top, she wrote
Portugal
, and at the bottom, she
left a short message.
Fuck you.

Morgan
closed her scrapbook and slid it back down into her bag before Finlay
returned with two large coffees. They chatted while they waited for
their plane, but were sure to avoid all topics regarding her last few
days. Finlay joked about how badly he wanted a shower and Morgan was
already back to flirting and telling him that she'd be happy to help
get him clean.

Finlay
wasn't even going to argue. The few days that he had spent with her
in Florida with no sex had been enough to prove a point. And if
Morgan had anything to do with it, 'doing
that'
, as Angel
would have put it, was never going to happen again.

After
they got on the plane and Morgan found the most comfortable position
she could, it wasn't long before that position took a toll on her.
Finlay saw her grimace of pain and leaned in close so he could
whisper, “take one of those wee pills Sean gave ye.”

Morgan
nodded that it would probably help and pulled one of the little gems
out of her pocket. “But if I take this, I'm stealing your
coffee! These things knock me out!” Finlay passed her his
coffee and they both laughed. She'd definitely need it. In only a
matter of minutes, she was already fighting the heavy eyes and urge
to sleep. The flight was only an hour long and already a quarter over
so there was no point in even trying. She finished her own coffee and
the last half of his less-sweet coffee and hoped it would be enough
to keep her awake.

Before
they landed, she was beginning to realize why Sean said she'd forget
her own name. If one were able to fight the sleep, you'd get a
feeling somewhat similar to that of being buzzed with several glasses
of wine.
More like several bottles of wine.

“Finny-Fin,
you're home!” Morgan pulled his hand as they got off the plane
and he allowed the giddy girl to drag him to baggage claim. Her pain
has disappeared and she didn't even think to cover her face while
they waited for their bags to appear on the belt. While they waited,
Finlay made a call to Burke to come pick them up.

“Ye
seem to be feeling better,” he looked over his shoulder as he
pulled the first pink bag from the revolving track.

“Aye!”
She smiled widely and told him that the pain was gone in her ribs.
“Those pills,” she leaned in with a whisper, “are
magical!”

And
prescription grade,
he thought. He needed to get her out of the
public eye before people thought he not only beat her, but drugged
her as well. “Come on, lass, let's go,” he grabbed her
hand and they followed behind a man with a cart that held their
luggage.

By
the time they got to his house, Morgan was getting herself under
control, but her giggles were still there and the need to sleep was
growing stronger. “I'm so tired Fin,” she laid her head
on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

“Ah,
but we're home now. Let's go, you can go lay down.” His kissed
the top of her head and she sat back up, then he helped her out of
the car. Morgan insisted on getting at least one of her bags instead
of letting Burke bring them all in, but Finlay countered her and said
Burke was paid for things like that.

“You
always have him get girls' luggage from your limo?” Morgan
smiled up at him as they walked to the house.

“Shit!”
Finlay's outburst caught her off guard and she asked him what was
wrong. “I forgot to get all of the other women oot of muh
hoose!” Morgan hit his arm for his stupid joke, then walked
through the door when he held it open for her.

“Oh,
I missed this place!” She dropped her purse on the floor and
did a spin in the wide open room. Her voice echoed loudly and she
yelled again just to hear herself. “Wallace!” Morgan
called out when the first of the large dogs made an appearance. His
nose was poking through the railing to get a better look, but when he
heard his name, he ran to the steps and let his long legs carry him
down. In a few seconds, William was right behind him and both of them
skidded to a stop and slid across the smooth floor, making Morgan
jump out of the way. “Oh, who'z my good boys? I've missed you,
yes I have!”

Finlay
moaned loudly and gave her a warning and told her to not let them get
carried away because they could easily hurt her...worse than she
already was. “Thanks, Dad!” Morgan sarcastically replied
as Finlay grabbed the bags from Burke, then she went back to giving
her furry friends their warm welcome.

“Ye
still don' greet me like that,” Finlay mumbled under his
breath. “Look at ye, putting yer wee lips all over them,”
he spoke again, shaking his head.

“Aw,
it's just because they're cuter than you.” Morgan shooed the
dogs away from her lap and got to a standing position. “Do you
want a kiss too?” She was standing right in front of the
gorgeous man, tempting him with her smile. He didn't answer her with
words, only with a kiss that melted her from her head to her knees.

“Cuter,
eh?” Finlay broke the kiss and gave her a look daring her to
say it again. She nodded with a smile and he kissed her again.

“Well,
if that's all I have to do to get a kiss from you then allow me to
say that William and Wallace are the most gorgeous things I have ever
seen in my life. I love the way their tails hit me in the face and
when their big paws step on my hands and I especially love when their
breath is smelling really foul and they lick me...” She stood
on her tip toes and narrowed her eyes at the man to figure out his
next move. Under normal circumstances, he would have picked her up,
over his shoulder and carried her to his room, but he'd have to be
gentle that time around.

“Ye
are the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid my eyes on. I love the way
ye look at me. I love the way ye smile and your laugh. I love the way
ye pick your wee berries oot of your muffins and the way you tiptoe
across the floor when ye think I'm sleeping.”

“Aw,
Finlay, there is so much I love about you too.”
Don't say
it. Don't you dare say it. This is getting too close. Shit. Fin,
don't say it!
She decided to change the topic. She hated
diverting every time they got close to using the L-word, but she just
wasn't ready. She didn't know when she'd be ready, if ever, but it
still wasn't the time. “I need a coffee before I fall asleep on
this floor,” she blurted out before he could respond. Finlay
let out a short laugh, knowing exactly what she had just done, then
left toward the kitchen to get her what she wanted. Morgan sighed
quietly and reminded herself that they would have to have the
'feelings' talk sooner or later.

She
was just about to pick up her bag and take it to the bedroom when
Wallace grabbed it with his teeth and started to walk away. “No!
Come here with that!” She laughed and followed after him
until he dropped his prize. “Silly boy, you probably smell my
peanuts, huh? Can you have peanuts? Do you want some?” She
was nodding as she pulled the bag of nuts from her purse.

“He
cannae have them, gives him gas something awful.” Burke walked
behind her with his words of wisdom. So naturally, she plucked one
out of the bag and slipped a little treat to the waiting dog. “And
here's one for you too.” One more for his partner in crime,
and she gave them a quick pat on their heads. One little peanut
wouldn't hurt them, she thought, then picked her bag up from the
floor. The pick up wasn't very graceful, and half of her items fell
out onto the white marble. It was at that moment that she realized
that she didn't have her phone, and she went through Finlay's coat
next to the door and found her little pink lifeline.

As
she climbed the stairs, she turned it on to find a barrage of voice
mails and dozens of texts...all of which needed to be answered soon.
But first, she would call Angel and let him know that she was in
Scotland, and thank him for getting in touch with Finlay.

“Sweet
monkey juice! Sticky! Where are you? Did my boo find you? What's
going on? Are you dead?” Morgan laughed into the phone until
the questions seemed to finally be over.

“Oh,
I just love you! Yes, I'm with Fin and everything's fine. We just
got to his house and...wait? Didn't I already tell you that I was
fine?” She was confused by his..confusion.

“No,
you said that you were in Ireland and that you were safe. That could
mean that some serial killer had you, and made you type that shit.
I've been going crazy, boo, and even Gio was ready to send me to find
you.” After he confessed that he had been losing his mind,
Morgan felt horrible for the mis-communication, and apologized to her
friend for what she had put him through. He then felt bad for making
it worse, and quickly tried to make her feel better. “I
thought for sure I was getting that straightener, I cleared off a
place on my dresser and everything.”

That
was all she needed, and their laughter returned as usual, and Morgan
promised to call him soon, barring anymore client mishaps. When they
hung up, Angel scolded himself for getting worked up like he did,
because his drama had usually cost him friendships in the past. He
would do his best to keep it under control, because he never wanted
to lose his Sticky Buns.

Next
on her list, was Julianne. Morgan still wasn't feeling good about
calling her boss, but it couldn't be avoided much longer. She
clicked her photo, and took a deep breath while she waited.

“Morgan
Holland! I've been trying to call you all day! What's going on?”
She wasn't happy, and her voice was all but gone from being sick.
With another deep breath, Morgan answered her question, and told her
everything from the very beginning, to ending up in Scotland with
Finlay. She also knew that Finlay must have taken her picture
earlier and sent it to her, so at least that question was answered.
“Jesus. I'm so sorry, child. I'm so very sorry.”
Morgan could hear the pain in her voice, and knew that her boss had
been brought to tears by what had happened to her.