Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (70 page)

Morgan nodded, then brought the
phone back up to her ear. “Mechanical issues. Oh, but nothing
to worry about.” She didn't like the sound of it, not one bit.
She thought about telling the woman at the desk that they could take
all the time they needed, no rush. “I could drive...you know,
get a rental car.” The thought didn't sound half bad as she
spoke the words.

“You're fine, dear. I'll
just let your client know and....”

“No, really,”
Morgan interrupted. “I can drive!”
Mechanical issues.
Hell to the no.

“Morgan, you're
fine, the flight is fine, everything is fine. Just call me if
anything else comes up.” Morgan huffed into the phone and
Julianne had to add one more thing, “I'm serious, don't go
anywhere.” By that, she meant don't get in a car and find her
way to Dallas.

She nodded, knowing Julianne
couldn't see her, and told her she'd keep in touch. “What would
she do? Ground me?” Morgan giggled after they hung up, but she
wouldn't defy her boss, even though she had at least four hours to
sit and think about mechanical issues.

Chapter Three

Morgan set up a mini camp in the
lobby, armed with a few snacks to hold her over during the wait. She
had taken her phone back out after getting situated, and checked the
messages that had never been opened throughout the week.

“Fin.” Seeing his
name and saying it out loud had brought Erika to mind. “Surprised
you had to time to text.” Morgan nearly flinched at her own
reaction, she felt like a horrible person for enjoying Michael so
much, and still feeling jealous of Erika and Finlay.
I'm a
freaking crazy person, that's all there is to it.
She clicked on
the first of his messages, and read it quietly to herself. “I
miss you, Lass. Call me. Fin.” She smiled at the message,
mostly because she knew Erika wasn't reading a text from the man.
Or
is she? Does he do this with all the women?

The smile faded as reality set
in, Finlay hadn't called her in quite awhile. The next message of
his that she opened was a little longer. “Morgan, I'll be out
of town for a few days, I'll call when I get back.”
I'll be
out town with no phone service means that Erika is there, right?
Once again, she forced her jealousy to stay below the surface as she
read his last message. “I'm back. I miss you. Call me.
Fin.” She let out a long sigh as she turned her phone off,
Morgan was done with reading messages for the time being. She leaned
back in her seat and stared out the window across the lobby. Several
passengers walked by, some were couples, some singles. She wondered
what their stories were, what their lives were like, but one thing
she had finally figured out for certain.
If we could all see into
each others heart and minds, we would all seem crazy.

The wait also allowed
her to think about all the men, something that she had grown quite
used to doing. She cared about several of them, but Angel's words
kept her on track.
Just be honest with them.
Morgan also
added her own rule to the mix; she wouldn't chase any of them.
Tanner was seeing someone, Finlay had Erika and god knows who else,
and Michael was a wonderful man that she still needed to get to know
better. No, she wouldn't chase them, but her heart was open a crack
to let someone in if things ever got serious with any of them.

Just as she nodded off for a
nap before her flight, she smiled at the memory of her best friend.
Oh Sticky, if there's life after death, I'm coming back as you.
Angel always knew what to say, and when to say it.
It's not
as easy as you think it is, my Angel.

*****

Two hours into her three
hour flight, and Morgan was regretting not defying Julianne with
renting a car and driving to Texas herself. Each sound that she
heard made her just know that the plane was going to take a nose dive
at any second. Mechanical problems were code for trouble, big
trouble, and that was all she could think about for each agonizing
moment that it took to get her to Dallas.

“
Could I please get
another drink?” Morgan held up her small plastic cup that had
been emptied three times already. The moving cart of beverages had
already been stowed back into its compartment, making it clear they
were no longer offering the vodka and Seven that she wanted, but it
was worth asking anyway.

“Ma'am we're landing in
half an hour and...alright...” The woman smiled down at her,
then turned back down the aisle way and came back a few moments later
with Morgan's concoction.

“Thank you!
These...bumps...I don't like them.” Morgan tried to smile, but
another rumble of turbulence reminded her why she wanted to drink in
the first place.

“
First time flying?”

“
Oh, no...I fly every
week,” Morgan admitted. “I just don't think I'll ever
really get used to it.” She remembered her very first flight.
Scotland. It was a long flight, one that was a large step for someone
who'd never even stepped foot in an airport, but she had managed
pretty well.

“
Oh, what do you do?”
Morgan looked up at the questioning woman and smiled, then motioned
for the woman to come closer so she could whisper.

“I'm a hooker,”
Morgan told her and the pretty stewardess burst out in laughter,
waking up a few of the still-sleeping passengers. Morgan knew the
woman didn't believe her, but it had actually felt pretty liberating
to just say it aloud. The woman got control of her laughter, then
asked Morgan what she
really
did that caused her to fly so
much.

“I am a business woman.”
That's sort of true.
“Sales, you know.”
I'm
selling something, alright..
“I meet with clients all over
the globe and hope they like the product I'm trying to sell...”
Yep. I'm going to hell.

“What is it that
you're selling?”
Nosy, much?

“
Myself.” Morgan
told her, then again, the flight attendant laughed.

“
You are too funny. Well,
I hope you enjoy your time in Texas!” Morgan told her to enjoy
her evening and the woman disappeared back into the staff-only
partition. The whole thing left Morgan giddy. Not only because of the
alcohol, but because she realized she could probably tell anyone she
sold herself for sex and nobody would believe her. She remembered
Julianne's words from their first meeting.
These men aren't
looking for a quick blow job in an alley way.
Or something like
that...the point was, Morgan wondered how many women like herself
she'd probably met in her life and had no idea. Sure, you could go to
the bad part of nearly any big city and point out the street hookers,
but women like herself, nobody would ever know.
Too funny, indeed.

The last cup of her little
cocktail was enough to calm her for the remainder of the flight and
also gave her the edge she needed when it came to finally meeting
Ride 'em Cowboy. The plane landed smoothly, which was a plus and
usually rare, and everyone was quick to file out of the plane and
meet the people who'd been waiting through all of the delays. Morgan
was one of the last people to get off the plane, giving her just a
few more moments to collect her thoughts.
Colton, I hope you're as
fun as ya look...and please, no meetings!

Colton had already been informed
of the delay, but he had waited at the airport the entire time
anyway. His ranch was nearly an hour away, so playing show up and
leave again wasn't going to happen.

He watched the passengers from
her flight walk by, and he waited for a pretty girl who would be
alone. Unfortunately, there were two pretty girls that walked to the
luggage belt, and he sized them both up from behind. The brunette
was tall, very tall, and she had a look on her face that simply said,
'I'm miserable.' He hoped that she wasn't his companion, but he
tried to keep his face casual in case she turned around. The other
girl was quite the opposite, she was a beautiful blonde with an air
of energy that he was drawn to. She looked a little tired, but the
smile that she wore as she waited for her bags was magnetic, and he
took a deep breath as he walked in her direction.

Colton stood behind the women
who were about three feet apart, and cleared his throat, which was
followed by, “Morgan?” Morgan turned around and Colton
nearly laughed with nerves, and gratitude for not having to deal with
sour face.

Oh shit!
Morgan smiled
in return. “That's me. Colton, I take it?” She put her
hand out and he took it quickly, then brought it to his lips for a
good old fashioned southernly kiss. She giggled at the gesture, and
bowed her head in thanks.

“You're beautiful.”
He still had her hand in his when she laughed again and pulled it
away slowly.

“Thank you. You're
pretty beautiful yourself.” They both laughed at her choice of
words, and made small talk about the delays as they waited for her
bags. “This is all of them.” Morgan tried to lug the
last of her pink bags onto the floor, but Colton quickly grabbed it
and managed to drag all of them through the airport.

“You don't travel light,
do ya?” She shook her head and smiled, knowing that she could
have packed a whole other bag from Tanner's house if she wanted to.

“I had to bring a lot of
clothes, you know, for all the fun places that you'll be taking me.”
Morgan smiled again, mostly at her outgoing attitude with the new
man, but also because he was absolutely adorable with his jeans,
silver belt buckle, and cowboy hat. She also read the back of his
black tee,
Blair Ranch. Well, that explains what he does for a
living. A ranch. Mister Blair, I think we're going to have a lot of
fun together.

The moment they left the front
doors, Morgan knew exactly where they were heading. She was right,
he stopped at the largest pickup truck in the lot, and gently tossed
her bags in the back. “Now how did I know you drove such a
large truck, Mister Texas?” She laughed when he opened the
passenger door for her.

“Trust me, I'm not over
compensating for anything.” Her shocked, yet still amused face
made him laugh out loud as he shut her door and walked to his side.

She wished he had walked a
little slower in front of the truck so she could size him up a bit
longer, but she figured she'd have her chance to do plenty of
observing on the way to his ranch. The only things she'd established
so far was that he had one of the best asses she'd ever seen. It was
very round for a man and maybe it was the way his jeans hugged it
that made it appear so, but she was sure she could see the muscles
flexing underneath the material. His tee was cut off at the sleeves
with a messy ripped style, displaying the same strong arms that had
drawn her to his picture on the database. He was tan, even though it
was still winter, which made her wonder how dark he got in the hotter
months.

“
What's this?” She
reached across the seat as he settled in and pushed his shirt away
from his shoulder. “Nice!” He had a large tattoo going
from one shoulder to the other. Not what she expected from the
cowboy, but she found it very sexy anyway. “What's it say?”
Morgan sat back in her seat as he started the truck and watched his
intense look as he concentrated on getting out of the busy parking
lot.

“
Just a tribal thing.
Eighteenth birthday present, ya know.” She understood. She'd
wanted a tattoo when she was eighteen as well, but a lack of money at
the time had prevented it.
Probably for the better.

“
So,” she changed
the subject before she made him pull over, take his shirt off and
show her the full tattoo, “you live far?”

“
About an hour. Our cell
phone service out there is pretty shitty by the way...so if you need
to make calls or anything. It's kind of hit or miss.”

“Hmm...no cell phone
service, in the middle of nowhere...this is already starting to sound
like a cheesy horror movie,” Morgan laughed and she was
grateful he laughed at her lame joke too. “Well, I guess I'll
tell everyone I love them now...” He laughed again and nodded,
letting her know he wasn't bothered about her using her phone.

She sent off a text to Angel,
letting him know she might not be able to write or call for the week,
then sent a few more messages to her friends. Tanner got a message
since she hadn't talked to him since the awkward hang up.
I miss
you. Hope you haven't been lost at sea again.
Sean got a message
as well.
There is a package coming your way, but it's for your
mom. I can't help but really like her. Have a sheeptastic day!
Last
on her list, Finlay. She didn't know how she should reply to his
messages and she knew he'd probably be expecting a call rather than a
short message, but it was the best she could do.
Fin, I'll
probably be out of service all week, but I'll try to call you soon.
She hovered over the send button for a moment, debating on if she
should say anything else.
I miss you.

The reality of her words also
made her think. When she'd been in a life threatening situation in
Portugal, the first person she had tried to call had been Finlay. Not
that she expected Colton to be a killer or anything, but she
wondered, if she were ever in danger again, would she still call
Finlay first? Was it only because he was the closest geographically,
or was it because he was the closest emotionally.
Maybe I'd call
Michael. Or the Russian spy.