Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (36 page)

When
Finlay got off the phone with Angel, he called Sean and told him
about the 'surprise' party. Sean loved the idea, so at that moment,
both the Scot and the Irishman were about to board their own planes.

Angela,
on the other hand, let the cat out of the bag about Morgan's party
and Kala and Kole invited themselves, and bought the last two seats
on Angela's plane. The three of them were just a few hours from
landing.

The
two guests that Morgan forgot she invited were also on their way.
Flying in from opposite sides of the world, Michael from California
and Tanner from Sydney, they were set to land soon too.

A
party with Angel, Angela, Kala, Kole, Michael, Tanner, Sean and
Finlay was just hours away.

What
could possibly go wrong?

Wales

Book
Fourteen

Chapter One

The Angel has landed Sticky
Buns! You didn't tell me it was so fuckin' cold here Boo Boo. You
best have a fireplace in that bitch.

“Ahhhhh!
Angel! Oh my God, okay. Breathe!” Morgan set her phone down on
top of the dresser and fanned herself, just as Angel would have in a
moment of excitement. She knew it would take about half an hour to
get to her hotel from the airport, so that's all she had to wait to
see her best friend. “Oh, my Angel! Hurry up!”

Morgan had spent the afternoon
unpacking everything and getting her room just how she wanted. Her
clothing was hung neatly in the closet, her wine was already chilling
in the fridge, her arsenal of beauty supplies was laid out in the
bathroom and her outfit for the evening was hanging on the door. She
had also gotten herself ready, minus the red dress that she planned
on wearing.

“Might
as well do it up right!” The birthday girl nearly ran into the
bathroom and didn't bother to shut the door behind her. She pulled
her black sweater over her head, dropped it to the floor, then
slipped off her jeans and grabbed the dress. It was the nicest thing
she owned, and even if she only planned on sitting in the lounge with
her two best friends, she planned on looking her best. She stepped
into her dress, then pulled it up and pushed her head through the
halter. After an awkward dance to get the zipper up, she was dressed.
Her hair was down, hanging the length of her back in soft curls and
her makeup was perfect. She finished off the look with a fresh coat
of deep red lipstick, then went to the kitchen to pour herself a
glass of wine.

“It's
already a great birthday!”
Client-free. Just Angel
and Angela.
“I can't wait
for you two to meet!” she squealed as she poured the pink wine.
She remembered Angel's message and went over to the electric
fireplace and turned it on. The room was filled with warmth in
minutes.
Perfect.

Morgan spent the next fifteen
minutes pacing back and forth around her room. It seemed like the
longest wait of her life, but it had already felt like years since
she had seen Angel, so the wait didn't seem so bad. When she heard
the forceful knock at the door, she nearly screamed. She set her
glass down on the dresser and ran to the door. “Angel!?”

Angel didn't know if the guest
he had invited had arrived yet, and she hadn't replied to his text,
so he wasn't sure if he should brace himself for a lecture or not,
but when she opened up the door, he let out a sigh of relief. She was
all smiles, and from what he could tell, she was alone. He didn't say
a word, he only pushed open the door to get better access to the
girl, then grabbed her around the waist and picked her up off of the
ground. After a dozen kisses all over her face, he set her back on
the ground.

“Sweet baby Jesus, Morgan
Holland!” He grabbed her hair by its ends and held it out to
her sides, then let it fall back to her shoulders. “You're even
sexier than the last time I saw you in this dress!”

“Look
at you! I love your hair!” Morgan ran her fingers through his
soft, curly hair that had grown since the last time she had seen him.
It hung in tight spirals around the sides of his handsome face. She
grabbed one of the ringlets and pulled it down, then released it to
watch it spring back into place. Angel slapped her hand away, then
grabbed her hand again and twirled her around to get a better look.

“Wait until
Fin-lay-me-down sees you in this dress!” Angel took in a sharp
breath of air when he realized what he had just said. It came out
without thinking and he clenched his jaws together and rolled his
eyes at his own stupidity.

“What? Finlay?”

“I..I..just
mean...
if
he saw you
tonight,” Angel tried to cover himself.

“Oh,” Morgan
laughed. “Well, that's not gonna happen. This is a client-free
holiday!” She felt good just saying it. “Just you, me and
Angela! Wait, she should be here soon!” She ran over to her
phone to see if any other messages had come through, but they hadn't.
Her phone was actually surprisingly quiet. Angel was happy the topic
had been diverted, but he suddenly felt incredibly guilty. He had no
idea that she wanted it to be a client-free birthday. He laughed
nervously. Being uneasy was not something he was used to, but he knew
he had to break the news to her eventually. Maybe Finlay wouldn't
show up, then they could have a laugh about it later.

“Let's
go get some drinks and wait for your girl,” Angel grabbed her
hand and spun her around again. Morgan nodded, threw her phone into
her purse and slipped into her black high heels. The same ones that
she had worn at her Christmas
party.

When
they got downstairs, Angel was quick to point out the fact that all
eyes were on her. “Sticky, look!” He wasn't subtle about
it either. Morgan looked in the direction he was pointing and saw
five men turn back around to face each other. She couldn't help but
laugh at their obvious staring.

“Stop it,” she
whispered and nudged him in the side with her elbow after he pointed
to another group of men and even picked the one he thought would suit
her best.

“No, look at him. Mmm,
mmm. Those big 'ol shoulders,” he kept talking. “Look
now, look now!” Morgan leaned on the bar and looked over to
Angel, giving him a narrowed-eyed look, but he turned her head for
her, ignoring her warning. What she saw was a fine looking ass on a
man that had his back to them.

“Wow,” she
whispered, then quickly looked back to the bar before they made
awkward eye contact.

“That's what I'm saying.
Goddamn.”

They
ordered their drinks, both getting a strong fruity number, and found
one of the few free tables left. Morgan purposely sat with her back
facing the room and Angel purposely sat facing every one of them. She
didn't even have to see the men, she was getting a play-by-play
commentary of each one of them. “Okay, table of four,” he
leaned in closer to Morgan, but it was only to get a better look.
With a low voice, he described them. “Alright, Boo
Boo...bachelor number one, let me see....fuck to the no!” He
leaned up in his chair and shook his head back and forth, waving his
finger in the same fashion. “No, no, no. Bachelor number
two...no, he's got a ring on it. Three....he's alright. Do-able, yes.
But you can do better.”

“Angel, I'm not trying to
meet any men tonight,” she leaned in toward him and whispered
back.

“Move
a little to the left,” he ordered, ignoring her again. Morgan
shook her head, then laughed and did as she was told. “Bachelor
number four, he's got a good....holy fucking shit! Who the fucking
hell is
that?
Morgan....oh
God...Morgan! Look...no, don't look now, he's looking.” Angel
sat back up in his chair, this time, his mouth hung open and his
fingers were turning white as they gripped the table harder. She
didn't care what 'bachelor number four' looked like, but he continued
telling her anyway.

“His eyes...they're
blue...green? I..I can't tell. Oh, he's do-able. You need to do him
here, there, anyfuckinwhere. Tan skin, dark hair. Morgan, he's your
type!”

“Angel!
I don't have a
type.
”

“The motherfuck you
don't. I'm telling you, Sticky, he's your....he's coming this way.
Boo Boo, he's...oh fuck.” Angel abruptly shut up, sat back in
his chair and set his hands on his lap. The way his stare slowly went
up, then stopped above her head told her that the man was right
behind her.

She
smiled at Angel and shook her head, then sarcastically mouthed THANKS
to him. She took a deep breath and started talking before she was
fully turned around. “My friend here thinks you're hot, but I
don't care what you....holy shit.” When she looked up, she saw
he wasn't number four.... “What...what are you....Michael?”

“You know this hot
drippin' slab of....uh...you know him?” Angel's mouth hung
open as he waited for his answer, and Morgan's head moved quickly
between the man behind her and the one across from her. Michael was
more than happy to put her out of her misery. He stepped to the side
of her and took a seat at their small table.

“I was invited.”
He dropped his head and smiled at Morgan's confusion, then continued.
“In your room, during our small Christmas party, you told me
to meet you here for your birthday.” His genuine smile brought
one to Morgan's face as the foggy memory surfaced just enough to make
his story legit. Angel's giggling from across the table also helped
to relieve the slight tension of the near-awkward situation.

“This mothafu....he was
in your room, Sticky? Tell me the fuck everything!” Angel
pursed his lips tightly to add just enough emphasis on his forgiving
nature for not hearing about him sooner, but kept his hands folded on
his knee to remind her that he needed answers. All of them.

Morgan's
laughter was loud enough for the three tables on either side to hear,
and she answered her friend quickly before he had a meltdown.
“Angel, this is Michael. Michael, Angel. Yes, I had a small
party in Hawaii and Michael was nice enough to join me.” She
ended the introduction, but quickly had to cut Angel off as she knew
what he was about to ask. “No, nothing happened.”
Morgan knew that her memory was sketchy from that night, but naked
time definitely didn't happen with the gorgeous man.
Not
that it would have been a bad thing. Damn!
She tried not to stare at him, but having his face less than a foot
from her own made it more than difficult. He was much more handsome
then she remembered and much larger. “Well, thank you for
taking me up on the invitation, I'm glad you're here.” Morgan
raised her glass and the two men followed suit. “To friends.”
In unison, the men answered, and they emptied their glasses at the
same time.

The three made idle small talk
before Michael excused himself to get their small group another round
of drinks. Morgan and Angel were ready for wine, so he promised a
bottle upon his return.

“Christmas party, huh?”
Angel was quick to get more details as soon as Michael left the
table. Morgan nodded, she was ready for the interrogation, and told
him all that she could remember, including the bikini and heels.
The entire story was just too much for her friend, and he took nearly
five minutes to get his snorting laughter under control. Morgan
waited. “Oh! I wish I could have been there!” A few
more minutes, and he was almost back to normal. “And....you
never told me what all of those delicious men got you for Christmas.
Go ahead, tell me slowly.” He leaned back in his chair again
and closed his eyes, ready to visualize each gift as she described
them. Morgan's silence brought his eyes back open. “What?
You can't tell me?” She shook her head, but didn't look up.

“Nothing.” She met
his gaze after she admitted that she hadn't received a gift from any
of them, and then smiled again as she easily brushed the feelings
aside. It was her night to be happy, and nothing was going to ruin
it for her. Angel's mouth fell open and his gasp was far too loud
for Morgan not to laugh at.

“Nothing
isn't funny! Sticky! That shit ain't funny at all!” The poor
man couldn't grasp the reality of what he had just heard. It just
wasn't something that Angel was prepared to deal with. Not one gift
for his Sticky Buns, and that was unacceptable in the land of Angel.
“I'm not waiting for one more second then, here!” He
pulled two small boxes from his pocket, one wrapped in Christmas
paper, one in hot pink. “I was going to mail both of them, but
since you invited me here, I brought them with me. If I had known
that you didn't get any...”
“Angel...,” she put
her hand over his and tried to make the man feel better, “it's
alright, really. I didn't expect anything at all, and that's the
truth.” She tilted her head and waited for him to smile, but
he just couldn't give her one right then. Morgan grabbed the boxes
from his hand and laughed as she ripped the paper off of the first
one. “But I love presents!” He finally laughed quietly
when he saw how excited she was about the gifts.