Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (35 page)

There
was no fireplace, but it was warm outside so she could deal with
that. She didn't see a television either and hoped he had one
somewhere else. She took a few steps forward and looked left. There
was the kitchen, just as she'd suspected, and the big doors leading
outside. She was just about to investigate more closely when Te
opened the front door behind her.

She
moved out of the way so he could enter with her bags, but he still
didn't say a word. She wondered if she had another shy client on her
hands, but she was in such a good mood, she was up for the challenge
if that were the case. “Thank you...Te. Is that how you say
it...
Tay
?” She hoped Angel was right.

He
smiled and gave a slight nod. “Yes, but my name is
Te
Aomarama.” Morgan giggled.

“Can
I just call you Te?” He nodded again.

“It's
a mouthful. Uh, I've got a room set up for you...if...well, follow
me.” He took two of her bags and began to walk toward the
staircase. “Kekoa!” His sudden outburst made Morgan jump
back and she almost tripped over her own feet.

“Bless
you!” Morgan had no idea if he'd just sneezed, but just in
case, she gave him the common courtesy.
Maybe
it's a curse word. Maybe it's a custom he does when he passes the
first step. Maybe it's a secret signal to someone upstairs.
Morgan
clasped her hand over her mouth for the millionth time that night to
stifle her giggles. By the time they reached the top of the stairs,
she got herself under control, but she lost it again when she
realized Kekoa wasn't a sneeze...it was a person.

“I
got this.” Kekoa took the bags from Te's hands and led the
pack to the third room at the end. Morgan followed
them
all the way into the bedroom,
her
room for the week, and stopped giggling when she took a good look
around. It clearly wasn't Te's room. There was a beautiful canopy
bed, stark white, with a light pink comforter. It also had bright
pink and white zebra print pillows at the top, and a large white shag
rug at the foot of it all. She looked at the dressers and noticed
two expensive bottles of perfume, and a collection of cosmetics that
would bring tears to Angel's eyes.

“Yeah...
this is my sister's room.. when she's here. I thought you'd be more
comfortable... you know.. with a room of your own?” Morgan
nodded slowly, trying to figure out how she felt about the
arrangement. She was certain that Julianne's other girls would be
perfectly content with having their own room, but Morgan liked for
things to be
a
little more personal. In seconds, though, she nodded again and told
him that it was perfect. It wasn't what she'd expected, but it might
be nice to have her own private space. Hopefully, she thought, he
wasn't obsessed with things and times like Dante had been. He too
had given her a room of her own.

“Thank
you.” She walked to the large doors that opened up to a
private balcony, and took in the warm salt filled air. Te joined her
and stood at her side, then told Kekoa that he could leave. Morgan's
stomach filled with small flutters as she saw the look on his face.
She knew that look, and her first kiss was going to happen right then
and there. He leaned forward, and raised his hand to her face.
Then, he removed a small piece of grass from her hair, which most
likely had been picked up during her fall from the truck.

“There,
that was driving me crazy!” He laughed and stepped away, and
told her that if she needed anything, to tell Kekoa. “Sleep
well, Morgan.” He left the room, and no kiss was to be had
that night.

She
stood on the balcony for several moments before returning to the
room. Her bags had been placed next to a door, one that she opened
slowly and found that she also had her own private bathroom as well.
“Now this... I like.” Kekoa had walked back into the
room right then, and laughed at her approval.

“Good.”
She turned around right as he was placing a tray on the end of the
bed. “I put a few things together in case you were hungry. If
you want something different..”

“No,
that's perfect. Thank you.” The tray held a few squares of
cheese, butter crackers, and an assortment of fresh fruit that she
couldn't wait to devour. He also asked what she'd like to drink, and
when she asked for her favorite wine, he shook his head.

“Sorry,
I don't have that here. But I promise to have a few bottles for you
by morning.” He smiled and she felt the flirting vibes flow
between them.

“You're
not gay?” Tired Morgan did it again, and they both laughed at
her rude question.

“No,
I'm not.” He stepped closer and his arm brushed against hers
as he took the bag from her hand and carried it the rest of the way
to the bathroom. “This is where you were taking it, right?”
She smiled and nodded, not wanting to embarrass herself again.
“Well.. goodnight then.” She nodded once more, then
walked him to the door and shut it behind him.

She
knew instantly that she needed a photo or two of the butler, Angel
would enjoy him as well. “I bet you won't call him
nice
.”
She shook her head as she walked back to the bathroom to change her
clothes for the night. A few moments later, she was ready to eat.

Morgan
took her tray of food outside, and watched the waves fall against the
sand in the moonlight. It was a moment that had filled a place in
her heart that she knew would never leave. Life doesn't usually
offer those moments in large quantities, so she was grateful to have
yet another piece of time etched into her heart and mind.

She
never stopped watching Nature's show as she enjoyed her food, and she
also didn't stop thinking about Te. Life seemed easy for him, even
in uncommon situations, and she liked that about him. He might be a
touch shy, she thought, but even that was yet to be determined. She
expected the man to be a little more cocky, with his good looks and
enormous stature, but he wasn't. They were going to get along
perfectly, she knew that much, and she stretched her arms over her
head as she left the balcony and crawled into the pink wonderland.

Morgan
only had one thing left to do, and she sent a quick text to Angel to
let him know that she had arrived safely.
I'm
here. He's nice. But not ugly nice, just nice. Love you.

Little
did she know, Angel read the text and fell to his side as he dropped
the phone onto Cedric's lap. “Read that shit.” Cedric
laughed as well, and even if Morgan had seen the two of them in
hysterics, she still wouldn't have understood.

Chapter
Nine

An
extremely loud noise shook Morgan from her sleep, and she cursed the
source of her entirely too early wake up call. A short round black
and red bird sat on the center of her room's balcony rail, and
screeched loudly to welcome the day. The day, as Morgan instantly
thought, hadn't officially started yet, because the sun still hadn't
risen completely.

“Go
away,” she called and pulled the blanket over her head. Another
loud screech, followed by a loud moan from Morgan. The first yelled
for a third time and Morgan took one of the pillows from beside her
and absently threw it toward the window. “Shit!” She
heard a loud crash and looked in the direction of where she'd thrown
the pillow...it wasn't even close to the window. Instead, she'd hit
the dresser, and where a beautiful glass figurine of a dolphin had
been, the zebra pillow had taken its place. “Shit!” she
called out again, then quickly jumped up out of the bed to assess the
damage.

Three
steps across the floor though, the bird screeched again and Morgan
jumped with surprise, then came right down on a sharp piece of glass,
right in the middle of her foot. A deep, throaty growl of
frustration, even more than pain, came from Morgan's throat as she
stared down the pudgy bird that sat proudly on the balcony. “Fuck.
You!” She pointed at the bird, then reached back and grabbed
another pillow and didn't miss that time. She hit the window and it
finally flew away and Morgan fell back to the bed.

She
brought her foot up to her knee to get a good look and sucked in a
sharp breath when she saw it was bleeding. “Nope, I can't just
wake up in the morning. Never. I have to break shit and hurt myself.”
Morgan limped over to the bathroom, avoiding all glass that time and
turned on the shower. Maybe that would help her wake up and restart
her morning. She thought it was too early for her client to be up so
she could get a shower, clean up her mess and work on her apology.
I'm sorry I threw a pillow at the window.. to scare a bird...and I
broke your mothafuckin' shit.
She laughed at Angel's words and
shook her head.

When
she got out of the hot shower though, the mess was already cleaned up
and her bed was made. There was even a new tray of food that was laid
out for her, including eggs, bacon, toast and more fresh fruit.
“Shit,” she whispered, knowing she'd been caught. Morgan
wrapped her robe around herself more tightly and walked over to the
tray to see what was inside the small white cup. Coffee. Well, that
was something good. There were even little sugar and creamer packets
that she was happy to use.

“Are
you alright?” The voice that caught her attention was that of
Kekoa and Morgan suddenly felt even more embarrassed, his wide smile
not helping at all.

Morgan
turned back around and looked down at her coffee and nodded, then
looked at Kekoa again. “Is he mad?” Te's butler shook his
head.

“No,
not at all. Don't worry. He makes those things all the time.”
Kekoa pointed to another figurine on the far dresser. It was a
beautiful blue and green glass sea turtle.

“He
makes those?” Her eyes scanned the rest of the room, there were
several more she hadn't noticed.

“He's
made just about everything in this house,” Kekoa told her, then
began pointing around the room. “That chair, that picture
frame, that table.”

“Oh!
The table in the living room?”

“Yep.”

Morgan
thought for a few moments. “So... is that what he does...
like... for a job?” She didn't know how to phrase the question.

“He
does very well with it, yes. But it's more of a...what do you call
it? A hobby. He owns a big store downtown where he sells the things
he makes, but he also runs most other stores on the island.”
Morgan knew he was exaggerating a little, but at least she understood
what he did for a living.

“Well...uhm...thanks
for breakfast.” She didn't know what else to say, suddenly
standing in her robe with her client's gorgeous butler, talking about
her client, felt very weird. “I...am...” she pointed
toward the bathroom and took a few steps, “going to get
dressed. Is Te here?”

“Yes,
he's outside. Guess I'll go find that wine you wanted.” Kekoa
gave her another smile that she couldn't mistake for another flirty
move and she couldn't help but smile back, but she didn't say
anything as she watched him leave.
Stop it, Morgan.

Morgan
dressed quickly in a cute light blue sundress, which should suffice
for anything the man had planned, and dried her hair straight so that
she could do more with it later if need be. The simple cotton dress
was several inches above the knee, but the color and wide straps
still made for acceptable attire for early morning.

She
managed to find her way through the house easily, and to the back of
the property through a large door in the kitchen. Morgan had no idea
where her client was, but she didn't want to sit in her room all
morning waiting for his butler to bring him to her. It took only a
few moments until she noticed movement in a large garage beside the
house, and she entered from the back. “Good morning.”
She spoke loudly to announce that she'd walked in, and he turned
quickly at the sound of her voice.

“And
good morning to you.” He smiled and motioned for her to join
him in front of a large work bench, and she happily walked over to
see what masterpiece he had been creating. “I heard you hate
dolphins.” The man turned his head to look at her, and laughed
when he watched all the color drain from her face. “Don't
worry... I'm just kidding.” She let out a loud breath, but she
didn't laugh.