Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (97 page)

“Tanner,
please. Let's not go there, alright?” She looked out to the
water and tried to convince the man to enjoy the scenery instead of
breaking their previous agreement.

“Morgan,
look at me.” He waited until she reluctantly turned back to
face him. “Someday, you won't do your.... job... anymore.
When that day comes, I want a chance at being... well... together.
No one else, just us.” She felt her heart pounding in her
chest at his words. “Don't make that scared face, we're free
to do what we want until then. I'm just sayin'... give us a chance
when the time is right, will ya?” She looked at him, and saw
how completely serious he was. “Say something.” He
finally smiled, but his eyes told her that he was still dead serious.

The
talk about their future was happening, and she hadn't been ready for
it at all. She also knew that it didn't matter when it would have
happened, she would never have been ready for it. With that thought,
she took a deep breath and pulled him to the ground to sit with her.

“I
want to tell you something... well... I need to tell you something.”
She sat across from the man and took his hands in hers. “A
few months ago, it seemed as if no one cared about me. I dated,
mostly asshole men, but they knew nothing about me, and they didn't
want to know.” She felt her eyes burn as the memories of jerks
long gone flashed before her. “Now I do this for a living....
and... I'm dealing with
real
feelings, for the first time in
my life. I don't know why men didn't care before, and I don't know
why they care now. And until I figure that out, I can't promise
anything to anyone.” She hated saying the words out loud, she
hated knowing the truth about her own heart, but in spite of it all,
she'd never felt more liberated in speaking the truth in all her
life. Her face must have shown just that, because a smile came
across Tanner's face when he'd processed her words.

“Well,
my beautiful friend, you're further ahead in the game than most of
us. I want something, and I go after it. You're smart enough to
want to figure it out first.” He laughed, and after a few
moments, so did she. “Fair enough. But when you figure it
out, I'll be here.”

The
subject was dropped and Morgan set her head on the mans shoulder,
enjoying the last of their time together. Her flight out of there was
8:45 PM, Tanner's was at 2:00 PM, so it wasn't long before they had
to give their goodbyes, the part both of them always hated. After
that, she'd have to say goodbye to Angel as well, which also didn't
make her happy to deal with.

“Aw,
look at the little snugglefucks!” Angel's voice scared both
Morgan and Tanner, making them jump and drop their arms from each
other like they were being caught doing something wrong. It was just
from the surprise though, because when Angel plopped down next to
Morgan, Tanner grabbed her hand again and brought it to his lap.

“Awww,
are you jealous? Come here, I'll cuddle you too,” Morgan talked
to Angel in a baby voice as she wrapped her arm around him, pulling
him close to her body. “This whole week has been
absolutely...perfect!” She looked between her friends and all
three of them shared the same happy smile. It really was a wonderful
week, for each of them. Just three friends getting together for a
good time. Tanner and Angel had even become good buddies after Angel
had practically strapped the Aussie down to a chair so he could
straighten his hair. All three of them hated the look, which gave
Morgan and Angel something to make fun of during the week, in
addition to Angel and Tanner always hiding their food from Morgan
every time she got close, pretending she was going to eat it all.

“Yeah,
it's been great,” Tanner agreed.

They
talked for another half an hour about the things they'd done, then it
was time to get back to the room to pack up their things. Something
all three of them had avoided as long as possible. Low and behold
though, everything was perfectly in its place when they returned to
the room.

“Angel!
Seriously? I thought you were going to Gio's? You didn't have to...”

“Boo
Boo, I did go to Gio's, but my fine ass knows how to hurry. I saw you
two out at the beach, so I packed the shit up.” Both Morgan and
Tanner groaned at his stubbornness. Having Angel work during his week
off wasn't supposed to happen, but apparently, he wouldn't have it
any other way.

Since
everything was packed up, they got to enjoy one last lunch together.
When they'd finished their meals, it was time for Tanner to head to
the airport. The three of them loaded up the limo and headed there,
joking and laughing the whole way. Before any of them could step out
of the vehicle though, Morgan was crying.

Tanner
was the first to notice. “Come here,” he whispered and
pulled her close for a tight hug. “I hope I see you again
soon,” he told her before kissing her forehead softly.

“I
better see you soon,” she poked her head up, then they shared
their last of many kisses they'd given one another that week. “What
time is it?” She wondered if they could milk the clock, just a
bit longer.

Tanner
looked to Angel who was coming around the back of the limo toward the
couple and gave him a small nod. Out of sight, Angel nodded, then
smiled wildly. Morgan caught Tanner smiling and looked to where he
was and saw Angel behind her with the same look on his face. She let
go of Tanner, then took a step back, giving them a questioning look.

Angel
pulled a box out from his coat pocket, then handed it to Tanner.
“This is from both of us...”

He
held out the light pink case, and Morgan slowly took it, then even
more slowly, she opened it. “Oh my God! You...you guys!”
Her eyes burned for the second time in a matter of minutes and the
tears fell again. In front of her was the silver watch, but it was
different. For one, it was smaller and it fit around her wrist
perfectly. For two, the face was... “Pink...you...had it
changed. It's beautiful!” Beside the silver seahorse, in place
of the two tiny white diamonds, there were six larger pink diamonds.

“Now,
you don't have to ask for the time,” Tanner winked at her,
making her knees weak. He also took her hands and flipped the watch
over. The diamonds and the sizing wasn't the only thing they'd done.
On the back, there was an engraving.
Lots of love, from Brazil to
Down Under.

“I
love it! I absolutely love it!” Morgan wrapped her arms around
the two of them and brought them in for a group hug. They quickly
explained to her that Tanner had taken care of the sizing and Angel
had been the one that had it engraved. The diamond touch was Angel's
idea, but it was unspoken that Tanner paid for them. It was a
wonderful gift, one that she couldn't thank them enough for. “Thank
you so much,” she told them through her sobbing. Angel helped
her fasten the watch, then they all admired it on her arm.

“You
need to work on that tan though, Sticky. Pasty girls can't handle
pink,” she giggled, but he informed her that it was a serious
fashion crime. He also informed her that she was melting, once again.

“Oh!
I nearly forgot! Wait, just one second!” Morgan ran back to the
car, then after a quick dig in her purse, she pulled out the little
boat she'd gotten for the Aussie in the same antique shop.

“I
didn't know you actually got it! You won't listen to a thing will
you? Thank you, Morgan.”

“I
didn't ask for the watch...” she pointed out.

“Touche.
Thank you again, this is going next to the big ship.” He gave
her a final wink. “I've got to go, I'm going to be hauling ass
through this place as it is,” Tanner broke up their love fest
and stole Morgan for another hug, then gave one to Angel. “Call
me,” he told Morgan, then he was gone.

“I'll
call you, sexy Tan-Man!” Angel yelled after him. From inside of
the building, Tanner turned around with his gorgeous smile and shook
his head, then turned back around and kept walking. “Stick,
it's just a watch and
that
is just a man. Nothing to get all
snotsy over.” Angel ran to the car and for a few moments, the
only thing Morgan could see was Angel's ass in the air, then he
returned with another box, but it was one she recognized.

“Oh!
You found one!” It was her favorite compact, the one she'd
broken on Tanner's head, but that one was new and perfect. She opened
it right up and looked in the mirror to find the beginning of a
mascara race starting down her cheeks. “I look like
shit!”
“Nothing this can't fix.” He licked his
thumb, then wiped it under Morgan's eye, removing the evidence as
much as he could, which if it were anyone other than Angel, she would
have slapped their hand away. After she was cleaned up, he opened the
compact and blotted her eyes and cheeks with the new powder. “Fuckin'
beautiful.”

The
two had finally gotten themselves under control, at least enough to
find a bar to have a few drinks together. They had just finished
their first glass of wine when Angel asked the all important
question. “You forgot to show me the Roman that you'll be
riding through the Coli-fuckin-seum.” Morgan started laughing
and tried to bring her hand to her face, the one that had been on her
lap, and ended up smacking their server on the ass in the process.

“Oh!
I'm so sorry!” If the laughter meant that she was sorry, and
Angel nearly falling from his chair in hysterics, then the woman
might have believed her. Thank goodness for Morgan, the server took
it all in stride.

Finally,
after needing several moments to catch her breath, she told Angel
that it was Romania, and that the Coliseum was nowhere near there.
“Whatever. Let me see him.” He motioned to her carry
on, where her laptop was stored, and Morgan happily grabbed it and
opened it on the table.

“Yes!
We have internet!” Angel moved his chair closer to Morgan's,
and they both watched as the page loaded. “Alright, he's
right.... what?” His dot was gone. His photo was gone. “It
was right here!” She refreshed the page, and ended up with the
same missing dot. She had to call Julianne, there was no way she'd
travel all the way to Romania just to find out that he'd canceled on
her. Then again, she had just spoken to her boss the day before, and
he at least hadn't canceled up that point.

“Romania?
Never been. What's his name?” Angel looked at the other men
on the page as he waited. Morgan's eyes grew wide as she was just
about to answer him.

“Shit!
I don't know! Evita picked him and then I closed the laptop.... I
never caught his name!” She was in near panic mode, and it
didn't help that Angel thought it was hilarious. “It's not
funny! Now I have to call Julianne and ask her if what's-his-name
canceled!” Once again, Angel was laughing so hard that he had
to put his head on the table. “You're a lot of help.”
He came unglued, and had to get up and walk away to get himself under
control.

Reluctantly,
Morgan pulled her phone from her pocket and clicked on Julianne's
name.
Hi, this is the moron calling. Do I have a client? Oh, I
do? What's his name again?
“Julianne! Hi! Uh, I just
noticed that my client.... in Romania.... didn't have a dot. Did he
cancel?” She bit her lip, hoping that she covered well enough.

“Oh
no, he's ready for you. I've started removing the men as soon as
they've taken on a girl. It's something I should have done sooner,
but it's all worked out now. Have a good time, and call me when you
get there.” Morgan heard the click, without the goodbye which
she hated, and was left with only one answer.

Morgan
held the phone in her hand and thought about calling her back. If
she did admit that she was irresponsible, and didn't get his name,
Julianne wouldn't be happy with her. If she went to Romania, and her
client found out that she didn't know, then he might be upset with
her. Either way, it was all her fault and she'd have to live with
it.

“Sticky!”
Angel's voice from behind made her nearly drop the phone. “This
one's easy. Tell Boss Lady that you want another pic of the man so
that you'll know him at the airport. Maybe his name will come up
with the picture.” She didn't want to know how he figured out
her conversation, but was happy for the suggestion.

“You're
brilliant.” She gave the man a quick air kiss, then sent a
text to Julianne requesting a photo. Her phone sounded with a
response within seconds. “Shit! No name!” Angel
grabbed the phone from her hands. He didn't care about the name, he
just wanted to see Morgan's client.