Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (112 page)

“Coffee?”
Morgan heard the magic word and pulled a sports bra and a tank over
her head, and the first pair of panties and shorts she found took
their place over her bottom half.
I'm a mess.
Morgan shook her
head, not caring that her shorts were neon pink, her tank was bright
green and her bra was sky blue. Manuel said
coffee
and that
was enough for her
give-a-damn
to go on break.

She
flipped her head over and combed her hair out with her fingers, then
put the tangled nest into a high ponytail on top of her head. “Good
enough.” Morgan opened the zipper and walked out the tent, and
the first thing she saw, was Manuel double over, as he spit coffee
all over the ground.

His
laughter was contagious and Morgan began laughing too, even though
she knew he was laughing at her. “You...” Manuel put his
cup of coffee down on a large rock and laughed even harder. “You
look like a fucking Easter egg!”

Morgan
gave him a hard slap on his arm, but she was still laughing. “Shut
up!” It wasn't the first time she'd heard that in her life, but
she wasn't letting him off the hook. She gave him a shove, nearly
knocking him off balance. “I heard you say there was coffee...”
For a moment, she thought he had taken a drive to the main office and
bought a cup of coffee, but when he half-pointed toward the fire,
Morgan had no words. She walked over to the steaming pot of water,
suspended over a small fire. The sight of everything he'd done for
her made her heart skip a beat. There were two small pots, both with
hot water, a large mug, pink of course, a container of instant
coffee, sugar packets and even flavored creamers, all lined up in a
perfect row. It was better than hotel room service. He knew she loved
coffee, and he thought ahead to make sure she'd have it.

“Oh,
hell.” Manuel wiped a tear from his eye. “I know we'll
never get lost. The helicopters would see you from space.”

Morgan
gave him a smirk and continued making herself a cup of coffee, as he
continued with the jabs.

“That
looks like a pineapple on top of your head!” Manuel sighed,
trying to gain composure.

“Are
you done?” Morgan grabbed a spoon and stirred her morning
beverage.

“I
think so.” He wiped another tear and took a sip of coffee, but
lost it again when Morgan bent over to fix her chair. Her panties
were yellow.

Morgan
sat down and a smile took over her face. He was so different. “Just
so you know...” Morgan raised her hand to adjust the heap of
hair on the top of her head, “I was nominated for best hair of
my senior class, and even though I didn't win...” Morgan's heap
fell straight down, and a blonde bun the size of Rhode Island fell
directly over her face.

“I
can't....ah shit...I...” Manuel fell to the ground, never even
trying to grab his chair, and rolled to his side snorting in
laughter. Morgan's giggles puffed the mass out a few inches from her
face, then back, and became a frenzied battle for Morgan to swat it
away from her mouth to avoid inhaling a wad of her own hair. Manuel
looked up from the ground, holding his sides, and caught the action
just as Morgan began to pull hair from her lips. “Stop! Oh my
God! Stop!”

“Clearly,”
Morgan had to stop as Manuel tried to get his laughter under control,
then continued, “you're a morning person.” She moved her
hair out of the way as if opening a curtain before her eyes, and
smiled down at the man that was then, covered in dirt.
“Okay...okay...I'll change. But so help me, if my coffee gets
cold while I'm gone, you'll be finding me a microwave and..,”
Morgan attempted to step over him, but caught her foot on a large
root on the ground and landed across his legs. The man's laughter
shook his body so hard that he ended up dumping Morgan to the ground
completely. He tried to grab for her, but he couldn't see through
the water pouring from his eyes, and all he managed to do was put one
hand through the mass of hair that Morgan was still holding away from
her face. Her head jerked back and his fingers tangled instantly.
“Get your hand out of my hair!”

“Get
your hair off my hand!” The two struggled for several moments
until Morgan yanked it all from his hold and brought her body up
enough to crawl quickly on
all fours
to the tent. The
laughter between both of them could be heard for miles in the woods
of Sequoia National Park. “And get your....get...get your eye
crusties while you're... at ...it!”

“My
eye crusties
are none of your concern!” Morgan got to
her feet, sort of, and fell beside her zebra print bag, to dig for a
mirror. She brought it up to her face, and pushed the bun back on top
of her head, holding it in place so she could examine her eye
situation. “I don't even have any crusties!” Morgan
yelled to Manuel and she picked at the corners of her eyes with a dry
washcloth.
Okay, I had a little one.
Morgan huffed and crawled
over to her bigger bag to find something more appropriate to wear.

After
a moment of digging, she came across a pair of denim shorts that
didn't scream
high school rave
and a white tank top. She
didn't know what their plans for the day were, but that outfit would
accommodate for anything Manuel would come up with. After putting on
a pair of socks and tennis shoes, Morgan found a brush and managed to
get the majority of the tangles out before pulling all of her hair to
the side and braiding it. “But a bitch needs to brush the stank
off her teeth.” Morgan giggled as she dug for her toothbrush,
thinking of Angel.

Minutes
later, after brushing her teeth and washing off her face, using a
bottle of water, she appeared in front of Manuel for inspection.
“Better?” Her arms spread to her sides, and she did a
quick spin, adding flare to the dramatic effect.

Manuel
stood and slowly approached Morgan, like a lion stalking it's prey.
“Stop that,” Morgan put her arms out to stop him, but he
grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to his face.

His
eyes narrowed on hers and his lips twisted into a devilish smile.
“What?” Morgan leaned her head back, and narrowed her
eyes back on him. “Why are you staring at me like you're going
to eat me?”

“Please,
darling, I wouldn't get much meat off of you,” he teased, and
gave her hip a pinch.

“Ouch,”
Morgan pushed on his chest and his hand moved to her ass, pulling her
in even closer.

“On
the other hand, this would perhaps give me a meal or two. Three
tops.” His hand firmly squeezed one side of her ass and she
pushed him again.

“I
have a great ass!” Morgan defended herself and his smile grew.

“Yes,
you do.” He tilted his head to the side and lowered his mouth
toward hers. She could feel his smile on her own lips, but he did not
kiss her. “Missed one.” He whispered, then popped his
head back up, his wicked smile still present. In one swift movement,
he rubbed his thumb underneath her eye and flicked away an
eye
crustie.

“Ugh.”
Morgan shook her head and twisted out of his grip, then stomped her
way over to the fire where her coffee was keeping warm. She wrapped
both hands around the mug and sat down in her blue chair.

“Hurry
up, drink your coffee, I have something to show you.” Manuel
gave her a wink and went into the tent, leaving Morgan alone outside.

“It's,”
Morgan looked at the watch on her wrist, “seven-twenty-six AM.
I don't have to hurry to do anything.” She took a slow,
deliberate sip, even though he couldn't see her.

“And
clearly,” he shouted from within the tent, “someone
isn't
a morning person.”

“I
do just fine with mornings, thank you very much. Just not wi...”
She was about to give him a playful insult when he came back into
view, wearing nothing but shorts and flip flops. She'd seen him the
night before, but something about seeing him in the daylight took her
breath away.

“Cat
got your tongue?” He took the few steps that closed the
distance between them, and his mouth came down hard on hers. It was a
brief kiss, but one that shook Morgan to the core. He quickly put the
fire out, and turned back to Morgan. “Let's go.”

She
didn't even remember that she was trying to play tough, trying to get
the last word, trying to drink her coffee slow. All she knew was that
her hand was in his and her mind was racing as they walked to
somewhere.
She didn't even care where, she couldn't even think
about it.

Something
else took over. Since her first day of training, going back to the
day with Dennis, Morgan had learned that she had to make the men want
her. To play the game, and make them long for her. Morgan realized
in that moment, she wasn't doing her job. She realized...

I
want
him.

Chapter
Five

“Wow!”

“I
know.” Manuel kicked off his sandals and threw the bag to the
ground that he'd been carrying.

“This
is absolutely amazing. So beautiful.” Morgan walked toward the
water's edge and bent down to touch it. He'd taken her nearly a mile
from camp, to find the spot he'd remembered from years before. It was
a secluded area, full of waterfalls, and crystal clear water.

“I
figured we could...
shower.
” He pointed toward the falls.
Morgan's eyes widened even more at the beauty before her. She
stepped over the bag, filled with bathing sundries, as she approached
the scene.

“This
was worth the walk.” She wiped the sweat from her upper lip as
she walked closer to the water's edge. It was breathtaking, and left
her almost speechless. Almost. “But...,” her eyes moved
to his profile, then to the large round white rocks at her feet, “is
it alright for us to bathe here?” She wasn't quite sure if
soaps and shampoo would be acceptable to use in the seemingly
untouched water. Manuel's soft laughter brought her gaze back to him.

“Don't
worry. My mom always made us use nature friendly stuff. You know,
organic soap and shampoo, whenever we would come here.” His
eyes moved quickly across her face, as his features gently warmed.
“You think like her. It's nice.” His hand raised from his
side until he found her waist, then he pulled her close. “I,
uh...have a confession, Morgan.” She watched as he shifted his
gaze from her eyes to her mouth, then back. “I asked you to
spend the rest of the week with me because...well...it was already
paid for, “

“By
you.” Morgan smiled, as did he.

“Yes,
by me. And..I thought you were beautiful.” He took a deep
breath, as his eyes roamed her face. “But now...I'm...”
Morgan smiled at the discovery that Manuel actually had a shy side,
“I..like you. I mean, you're pretty awesome, Morgan, and I'm
just happy that we met and that...we have this time together.”
Morgan raised to her toes, needing only to feel his lips against her.
“Don't move.” His tone was rugged, sexy, and made her
raise even more to meet his lips. “Morgan,” his teeth
were held tightly together, and the very air between them changed.
“Don't....move.”

His hand lowered from her waist and he stepped slowly to the left,
towards the water, letting one foot land in the cool spring. She
wanted to know what he was doing, to ask why she had to stay put and
he was moving, but his eyes that flicked quickly to hers, clearly
told her to remain silent as well. In one swift move, after bracing
himself for what he was about to, he grabbed Morgan around the waist
once again and picked her up from the ground, and threw her several
feet into the water. She surfaced, shocked and shivering, at the
exact time to see Manuel reach down and grab something.

“Oh
shit! Oh shit!” Morgan backed up in the water, her hands
covering her mouth as she watched him hold a five foot rattlesnake
behind its head, then throw it in the opposite direction. His head
moved to the left, then right, and finally, he walked towards the
area that he had grabbed the snake.