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

“I
hope everything works out,” she told Morgan, returning a smile.
The rest of the flight, Morgan's mind raced more than ever. How many
talks had she had with Finlay? Each one of them had led her to that
point.
When I said to date, I didn't mean her.
She didn't even
know what bothered her more, the fact he'd called Julianne for
another woman or the fact it was Erika accompanying him.
Erika.
She knew the answer. If it was a nice, sweet, caring woman he was
giving his attention to, it would still suck, but if she knew he was
happy and being treated well, it would suck less.

The
older woman was right in front of Morgan as they walked toward
luggage claim, and she turned to tell the young girl one more thing
before parting ways. “Miss,” she put her hand on
Morgan's arm and smiled, “if there's one thing I know for
certain about men, it's that they only have the power over us that we
give them.” She gave her arm one more squeeze before walking
away.

Morgan
wanted to thank her again, to tell her that her words made sense, but
her mind once again had started racing with thoughts that were
unstoppable.
She's right! I gave him this power over me... and I
can take it away!
She had no idea how she would take the power
back, but the tables had suddenly been turned. Morgan no longer felt
sad about Finlay, she was angry.
I didn't do a damn thing to you,
Finlay Campbell! How dare you be angry at me!
She was still
telling the man off in her mind when she finally stopped in front of
the luggage belt.

Her
bags came around quickly, and once she had them all, Morgan hauled
them to a nearby seat to wait for Diego. She also wanted a few
moments to herself to call Angel, as she promised to call him the
minute she landed in Argentina. The second she turned it on,
however, her plans had changed. Several texts rang through, and the
first one she noticed was from Julianne.

Diego
is running an hour late, stay put and wait for him. Have fun.
Julianne.
Her first reaction was to feel annoyed with the delay,
but within a few moments, she was grateful for the extra time to get
her emotions sorted. Diego didn't deserve to meet her with swollen
eyes and a bad attitude. Morgan sent a quick text to her boss,
assuring her that she would wait for her client, then stood again to
find a better place to wait. Her stomach, as usual, made the
decision for her.

Next
to the airport was an Italian restaurant, one that was recommended by
a flight attendant that happened to pass her. Morgan had learned
that the flight staff knew just about everything when it came to
local attractions, especially food.

A
few months prior, and Morgan would have felt ridiculous walking into
a restaurant while hauling luggage, but the seasoned Morgan Holland
had no problem with it all. She too noticed the difference in
herself as she followed the hostess to her table, bags in tow.
“Thank you.” Morgan smiled at the girl as she helped her
store the bags under her table before walking away. The three minute
wait for a server was just enough time to call Angel, and leave a
voice mail. She refused to do the time difference in her weary head,
and assumed that he would call her back when he could.

Twenty
minutes later, Morgan was enjoying a cup of coffee after her Chicken
Parmesan. It had also been enough time to calm herself to the point
of making the dreaded call to Finlay. “Alright, ya big
bully..... here we go.” She found his name in her phone, and
took a deep breath as she touched his photo.

“Morgan.”
Her name was the only word Finlay spoke when he answered her call,
but she remained quiet to force more words from the man. It worked.
“What, yer not havin' your wee friend call me this time?”
His irritation came across louder than his words, and Morgan's ire
rose with each sound that came from his lips.

That
was enough for her, and she finally spoke up. “My
wee
friend cares about me, do you have a problem with that too?”
Morgan let her irritation be heard, although she was almost
whispering as she was still at her table. Finlay was nearly lost for
words... nearly.

“A
problem with it? A problem?! I 'ave a problem alright, ye run off
and tell him things that ye should say ta me!” He started to
yell about the fact that Angel should mind his own business, but he
was cut off quickly.

“I'll
tell him any damn thing that I want to, when I want to, and how I
want to!” Morgan held her teeth shut while she spoke, giving
her words an extra edge that Finlay had never heard from her before.
“And just so we're clear, I agreed that we would go on with our
lives...and we have...but I didn't agree that it would never bother
me. Angel is my best friend, and I'm sorry that he got drunk and
called you, but I won't apologize for being human and talking to him
about....things.” By
things
, she meant Erika, and the
fact that she hated the woman being around Finlay. He took a deep
breath, one that she wasn't sure if she even heard him release before
responding.

“That's
my point. Yer a child, Morgan! It doesn't matter what we agreed to,
ye talk to me if ye have a problem with something I did.”
Morgan's mouth fell open, and she brought her hand up slowly to end
the call. The only thing that stopped her at the moment, was the
sound of his voice again. “I dinna mean that, I just mean..”

“Yes,
you did. Don't worry, you won't have to be bothered with me
anymore... have fun with Erika... then again, I'm sure you already
have.” She did end that call that time, and the tears spilled
over as she stared at the dark screen. “You're right, I'm
immature. Far too immature for the great, Finlay Campbell.”
Her soft words were heard by the server as she stopped to refill
Morgan's cup.

“Are
you alright?” The young girl's accent reminded Morgan that she
had a job to do, and that Diego would be there soon.” She
nodded at the girl and thanked her for the coffee, then dried her
eyes with a napkin. A few moments later, Morgan had managed to fix a
bit of her appearance through a few dabs of make up, and her trusty
compact mirror.

She
checked her watch again, and stood up quickly when it showed only
five minutes until Diego would show at the airport. Morgan paid her
bill quickly, then grabbed her bags, leaving the restaurant with only
two minutes to spare. She was out of breath by the time she got back
inside the airport, but she was only a minute or two late.

“Where
are you, dude?” Morgan wasn't in her typical mood, not by a
long stretch. In fact, if she were to think about it, she wouldn't
have remembered a time where she had been in such a foul mood when it
was time to meet a client. The real fact though, she wasn't thinking
about it. A part of her, at least in that moment, just wanted to see
her client, go to his house and do whatever needed to be done.
Obviously everyone likes fucking robots.
She knew that wasn't
the truth. A robot wouldn't have worked with many of her clients, but
she wasn't going to listen to the logical part of her brain.

After
fifteen minutes of waiting, Morgan was nearly at the point of walking
out and finding a hotel on her own.
He can find me later.
Just
as she debated on whether or not she'd go through with her new idea,
her phone rang. On the screen of her phone, she saw The Campbell's
face,and his smile, reminding her of a time not so long ago. She
debated for a few moments whether she was going to answer or not, but
if talking is what he wanted, she had plenty on her mind.

“What?”
Her tone was bitter and very unlike her normal voice.

“I'm
not done!” After Morgan had hung up the phone before, Finlay
had spent the following few minutes trying to figure out what the
hell had happened, then his feelings had turned even worse. What in
God's name did
she
have to be upset about? He planned to ask
her just that. “So ye can fook a different man every week, but
I get the company of a woman and it's the fookin' end of the world,
is that it?”

“Finlay,
if jealousy makes me a child, then I'd take a long hard look in the
mirror buddy!” The next words she spoke, were with a horrible
Scottish accent. “Take yer wee bracelet off, I'm jealous of
the wee Aussie. Look at mah jeans and pizza, I'm jealous of the wee
Aussie! I'm drinkin' beer, because I'm jealous of the wee Aussie!”
She took another breath, and added, “Fin, just go play with
your little friend, Erika, the two of you can laugh and talk about
how jealous and immature
I
am.” Morgan stood from her
chair, more angry than ever.

“What
have ye been doing? Spying on me? Asking Julianne what I've been up
to, aye?” He had nothing to say about the
wee Aussie.

“I
would never!” Morgan was shaking. “Do you seriously think
I would fucking ask my boss what..I'm sorry...
who
...you're
doing!?” She heard him intake another breath of air, letting
her know he was about to speak, but she didn't want to hear it. “I
can't even believe that was a thought in your mind. No, Finlay, I
found out when we were in London!” He didn't even deserve an
explanation, but she wanted him to know...to know
how
she knew
and the fact she'd kept it a secret for so long. “Cade asked me
where she was. He didn't understand why you were in London when he'd
just sent you a woman!”

Finlay
started to speak, but only let out a syllable before she cut him off
again. “Furthermore, I've met her!”

“Morg...”

“I'm
sorry, my BOSS is calling and I have a client to FOOK!” Morgan
hung up the phone, not giving him a chance to defend himself. “He
really thinks I'd spy on him! What the hell?” she spoke to
herself as she pressed the answer button on her phone. “Yes?”

“Morgan?
Are you alright?” Julianne knew Morgan well enough to know
something was on her mind.

Morgan
took a deep breath.
It's just acting.
“I'm good, what's
going on?”

“Diego
is running later than he thought. He's stuck in traffic, not too far
from the airport.” Morgan told Julianne thank you for letting
her know and they hung up again.

She
was thankful for the second delay, because yet again, she needed to
clean up her tears and get her thoughts under control. She was also
thankful Julianne called because she had been about thirty seconds
from going through with her idea and getting a hotel. That gave her
just enough time to make another call to Angel, voice mail again.
Talked to Finlay. He hates me. Call me.

The
final update on Diego's arrival had been correct, and he walked in
not ten minutes later. He looked exactly like his photo, so Morgan
had no doubts as to who he was. She stood and grabbed her bags as he
slowly walked past her.

“Diego?”
The handsome man turned when he heard his name, and smiled. Morgan,
did not. “I'm Morgan, you ready?” Her direct approach,
void of any humor, was not like her at all, and she didn't even care.
Diego's smile vanished, and he simply nodded at her solemn face.

His
first impression of Morgan was that she was absolutely beautiful, but
after that, he wondered what he had just gotten himself into.

“Pleasure
to meet you, Morgan.” He took the bags from her hand, and led
them out to the parking lot.

Chapter
Two

Morgan
and Diego still hadn't spoken as the limo pulled onto the main road,
away from the airport. Her mind was still reeling with all the
things that she had wished she'd said to Finlay, and he was trying to
figure out what kind of week he was going to have with the lifeless
young lady. So far, she was nothing like he had hoped she would be.
Then again, he had only used Julianne's service one time in the past,
so it wasn't as if he had vast experience with the women.

The
silence, after riding next to her for fifteen minutes, had finally
gotten the better of him. “I apologize for my delay.”
Morgan's head turned quickly in his direction at the sound of his
voice, and all she managed to do was offer a half hearted smile, and
a simple nod. “Was your flight enjoyable?” His effort
to make conversation was obvious, and a pang of guilt hit Morgan for
behaving so badly toward him. She gripped her bag that she had
placed on her lap, and tried to force herself to be more friendly.

“The
flight was fine, thank you.” She couldn't have been more
displeased with her own tone, but it was truly the best that she
could do at the time. It would have been polite to ask something
about him, anything, but she couldn't bring herself to do that
either. He nodded again, then turned to watch the scenery until they
reached their hotel.