Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (22 page)

“Anshwer
it, pweesh,” she requested, still with a mouthful of bubbles.
Clay laughed and gave a quick okay, then hit the answer button.
Before he could speak, Angel bombarded him with information.

“Knock
knock, Sticky Bitch! Who's there? That's right, muthafuckas, Angel
is! Baby girl, I'm in Vegas!” Clay held the phone away from his
ear so he wouldn't lose one of his precious drums, then slowly walked
to the bathroom door. “Stick?”
“Hi, Angel,”
Clay smiled and answered.

“Oh
fuck, you ain't Morgan. You're the Nebraskan dude with the golden
nuggets!”

“Huh?”
Clay laughed, but had no idea what the man on the other end had
said.. From what Morgan had told him about Angel, he could only guess
what the flamboyant man meant by golden nuggets.

“Nothin',
Boo. Where's my girl?” Angel tapped his shoe on the floor of
the airport and was starting to get impatient. Not with Morgan
exactly, but for the fact that he'd been there for nearly two hours
already. His flight had brought him to Las Vegas before Cedric, and
he was still waiting for him to land. Since it was supposed to be
sometime between one and two o'clock that Cedric was to arrive,
Angel thought he'd give Morgan a ring and give her the heads up.

“Right....”
Clay opened up the bathroom door and saw Morgan dabbing her mouth
with a towel. She could see the slight look of worry on her client's
face and her brows came together as she held her hand out for the
phone. Clay just popped one of his own brows and a smirk formed on
his full lips. “...here,” he finished his thought with
Angel, then handed off the phone. He should probably tell the girl
that Angel had arrived early, but his fun loving nature wouldn't let
him. No, she would have to hear it for herself.

Morgan had already removed her clothes, and wrapped a towel around
herself until she found something to wear for the day.

“What's
up, McBubblebutt?” Morgan was feeling goofy and a compliment to
Angel's firm and round ass seemed like a good way to start the
conversation. She walked out of the bathroom and looked to Clay with
her head to the side, then pointed at the phone. She mouthed to Clay,
WHAT'S GOING ON?

Clay
put his hands up and shook his head back and forth like he had no
idea and Morgan gave him her own head shake and a one-finger salute.
She couldn't believe that the man wasn't willing to give her at least
a small warning on what her best friend was up to. As Angel was
answering, she put the call on speaker and set it on the dresser, but
she only caught the last part he'd said and asked him to repeat it.
“Bitch, I said I'm in Vegas!” Morgan's eyes darted to
Clay and he quickly ran out of the room like his ass had
spontaneously combusted.

“You're
IN Vegas? Like...right now...here?” Morgan brought her hand to
her face slowly and ran her finger across her bottom lips.
Why is
he here now?

“Ri....right
now? Yes, that's what I said! Right the fuck now. I'm waiting for
Cedric to get here, then I'm going to the hotel that your ass is
going to book for us.”

“But...I...you
didn't tell me..” Morgan was confused. Of course, it was naive
to assume that if she didn't buy their plane tickets, then nobody
did, but she didn't know who else would have had the money for it.
Angel certainly couldn't afford it... “Did Cedric buy the plane
tickets?

“Mhmm.
Now, what casino are you putting me at? Nevamind, I want to stay at
Caesar’s Castle! They got them men with their big chiseled
boobies walking around in those sheets. Oh baby girl, I'm sweating!”
Angel fanned himself rapidly and plopped himself down in the chair
he'd called his own for the past few hours. “Make that shit
happen and call me back.”

“He
hung up!” Morgan made a sound similar to a growl and turned her
own phone off, then stormed over to the bag to dig for an outfit.
“Clayton Shaw!” No answer. She shut her bag again and
stood and was stomping across the room when she nearly ran right into
the man she was looking for. Thankfully, she noticed in time because
he was carrying exactly what she needed. “Just so you know, I'm
only happy the coffee was saved...not because I was hoping it
wouldn't bu...”

“Oh,
come on, what was I supposed to say?” Clayton laughed when
Morgan snatched the hot mug from his hand and went back to the spot
near her bags.

“I
don't know. Oh, Morgan, it's Angel. By the way, he's here!” She
wasn't really upset and actually laughed at her own theatrics. “Shit.
He wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow.” Her hand ran
through her long hair a few times and she finally let out a long
breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding hostage. “I
thought I would at least have a day to find him a room.... it's short
notice to....”

“It's
okay. We'll find him a room. Remember, I know people.” Clayton
winked at her, then turned to leave the room again to make a few
calls.

“He
wants to stay at a place with....”
Sheets?
“Toga
guys?” Morgan called after him. “Oh, he called it
Caesars
Castle.
” She laughed at her friend, and looked
back at Clay.

“Gotcha,”
Clay didn't turn around when he answered and she watched his bare
back disappear around the corner.

She
sipped her coffee while looking through her clothing options,
thinking of the plans that had to be altered. There was still one
full day and night left with Clay, so she wouldn't be getting a room
yet with Angel and Cedric.
But Clay will be working all night...

“It's
all taken care of.” He came back into the room and approached
her, smiling as if he had a secret that he was about to let her in
on. His hands came out to her sides, and she looked up, taking the
small step towards him to close the gap between their bodies. He
leaned his head forward, and she closed her eyes, ready for the
morning kiss that was sure to follow.

“Hey!”
Clay ripped the towel from her body, and ran to the other side of
the room. She started to cover herself, then felt silly for her
immediate reaction.

“That's
fine... I'll just stand here and wait. Go ahead, stare...,”
she put her hands at the nape of her neck and ran her fingers through
the back of her hair, “we'll just pick up my best friend when
you're ready.” She turned around, and pretended to find the
view from his bedroom window quite interesting. “Oh, and our
little joke can wait too. I mean, really... what's the rush?”
That was all it took to get her towel back, because if there was one
thing that Clay couldn't pass up on, it was a practical joke that
someone
actually
deserved.

It
took exactly an hour for both of them to get dressed, finish their
coffee, and get to the airport. Morgan nearly jumped from the car
before Clay had even put it in park, and he shook his head and smiled
at the memory of Morgan doing the exact same thing when he first took
her to his house. “You're going to hurt yourself one of
these....,” she was already out of the car, and standing at
the back, waiting for him to join her, “days.”

“Okay,
I'm engaged, remember?” Morgan pulled the diamond ring out of
her purse and slid it over her ring finger, then observed it in the
sun for a few moments before heading into the airport. Clay nodded
and smiled, ready for the fun to begin.

Morgan
saw him as soon as they walked in, but Angel's back was turned and he
looked to be on the phone. She ran up to him, and screamed in
delight as she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

“Dammit!
You can't just muthafuckin' molest me without telling a bitch
first!” He turned and grabbed her in return, and he lifted
Morgan several inches from the floor. “You look good! Damn!
Nebraska has been good to my Sticky Buns!” He put her down,
and both Morgan and Clay, who had finally joined them, spoke in
unison.

“Nevada!”

“Whatever.
Sit with a bitch, I'm bored as fuck sittin' in this busy shit
place.” Morgan shook her head, hoping that Clay hadn't been
offended with hearing that Vegas was a 'shit place,' according to
Angel. “No, not Nebraska... just this fuckin' airport.”
He put up his hand when Morgan and Clay opened their mouths to
correct his state again. “Whatever.”

“I've
missed you!” Morgan hugged him again before the three of them
sat in the lobby, then she introduced the two men once they were
settled. Angel shook his hand, and mentioned something about nuggets
again, and what Morgan thought also sounded like a reference to
Clay's chest that was barely contained by the tight black tee that
he'd put on that morning. After twenty minutes, Morgan looked at her
watch and saw that it was twenty past one. “What time is he
supposed to be here?”

“Few
more minutes, keep your panties on. I've sat my ass here all
muthafuckin' day and I think you can...”

“Whoa!
Someone is worked up!” Morgan giggled and brought her hands
over his, then brought all four of their hands to his lap, over his
bouncing knee. “That's it, breathe,” she spoke softly and
took a long, slow breath.

“Bitch,
I don't need a fuckin' twelve step program.” Angel pulled his
hand out from under hers and snapped his fingers in her face, then
his eyes went back to her hand. The ring. Cedric's ring.
Oh fuck
me. Cedric, you're gonna fuckin' kill me.
His eyes grew wide and
he swallowed hard, bracing for what he had to say. “But baby, I
need to talk to you.”

Morgan's
eyes shot to Clay's, which were behind Angel. He shook his head and
did the well known slash across the throat motion to tell her that
she better divert that conversation right the hell then. She gave
just the slightest of nods to her client and stood, leaving Angel's
hand to fall back on his lap. “I have to pee, I'll be right
back!”

“I'm
trying to talk to you, hooka.”

“Sorry!”
Morgan called out, but kept on walking to the restroom. She wasn't
completely sure about what Angel had to tell her, but if it was about
the ring, she couldn't risk him ruining their whole joke by telling
everyone Finlay hadn't sent it. She went into the last stall and shut
the door behind her and fell against the cool tiled wall with a short
huff of air. A smile formed on her lips as she twisted the diamond
around her finger. She had to admit, it looked good there, but nobody
was taking that spot any time soon. Morgan sighed again after a few
minutes had passed, she had to bide her time until Cedric showed up,
but any longer and Angel would send a Search and Rescue team after
her.

I
just have to stall him until we can go through with the rest of the
plan.
Morgan walked out of the stall and walked up to the mirror.
One coat of lip gloss and a hair fluff later, and she was walking out
of the restroom. Halfway back to Angel and she realized Cedric still
hadn't shown up, but it had bought her a few minutes that she didn't
have to sit and distract Angel from talking about the forbidden
topic. Just as she was about to reach Clay and Angel though, her
phone rang. Morgan halted and pulled her phone out of her back
pocket.
Clay. Oh, you're good. So good.
She smiled as she
pressed the answer button and brought the phone up to her ear.
“Hello?”

Her
eyes casually went to Clay where she saw his hand move slightly
inside the pocket of his hoodie and she smiled wider. The man had
managed to call Morgan, without looking at his phone, and gave her
the 'out' that she needed. “Jessica? Oh my god! It's been so
long!” Morgan added the edge she needed to her acting skills
and sounded excited, just as she'd done when she had told Angel about
her fake engagement. “I know!” she squealed as she sat
down in the empty chair next to Clay. “Your mom, is she still
running the cafe?” Morgan kept talking to Clay's phone, as if
it were a dear friend, as she put her finger up to Clay as if to ask
for a minute to finish her conversation.

Clay
brought his hand over his mouth and turned away from Angel so he
wouldn't see his smirk.
You're good,
Clay thought the same
thing about Morgan.

“Really,
bitch?
This
is the time to take a muthafuckin' walk
down...Cedric!” Angel was in the middle of yelling at Morgan
when he saw the man of the hour coming down the escalator.

“Jess,
it was so nice to talk, but...uhm...I'm kind of in the middle of
something, so I'll have to call you back. You too! Okay, bye.”
Morgan
hung up
and stood quickly, following the blur that was
Angel.