Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (87 page)

“I
have no regrets,” Angel rolled his eyes and inched closer,
until his chin was resting on Morgan's shoulder.

“Here he is.” She had signed on quickly and pointed to
her next client. “Wait....,” her eyes scanned the photo
and she smiled as she spoke, “that's a new picture. I wonder
if he changed it when I confirmed our..”

“No,
he changed it for me.” Angel titled the screen down a bit and
took a better look. “Damn, Stick! If that's Poland, I can do
that all day!” Eryk Baran stared back at the two of them. His
bright green eyes nearly twinkling with mischief. He stood, leaning
deep against what appeared to be a light pole aside the street. His
light hair a bit past his shoulders was slightly lifted by the
breeze. He was gorgeous, and very well built, but there was
something more about the man that made Morgan's stomach flutter in
excitement.

“Confidence.”
She spoke the word without even thinking, and Angel nodded in
silence. “Uhm...okay...enough judging. Can we eat now?”
Angel stopped her from closing the laptop, his eyes never leaving
Eryk's.

“He's
a grown up Tan Man. Look at him, Stick,” Angel pointed
unnecessarily, “that man is exactly who Tanner will be in
another ten years. Oh...my....Moses!” Angel's mouth dropped
and his hand covered his gaping lips. Morgan took another look. Her
stomach flipped what felt like a full circle. Angel was right. The
man that smiled back at her was exactly what Tanner would look and be
like in a few more years.

“Wow.
I....uh....wonder if they're related.” It was all she could
think considering the resemblance.

“Let's
find out.” Angel pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a
text to Tanner, asking if he had family in Poland. Morgan started to
protest, but in all honesty, she wanted to know just as much as Angel
did.

*****

“Morgan
fucking Holland! You gonna sleep all day? Wake your bubble butt up
and check this shit out!” Angel jumped up and down on the bed
like a child, making Morgan's head bob like popcorn on the pillow
until she woke up.

“Angel!
Stop it!” She rolled over, her body still bouncing every time
Angel's purple socks hit the bed, and grabbed her head. “How
much did I drink?”

“Who
cares? Check out this mothafucker!” Angel fell to his knees in
a less than graceful flop, causing Morgan's head to jump again and
warranting a loud moan of pain to escape her lips.

“What?”
she groaned, then put both of her bare feet on Angel's side in an
attempt to push him off of the bed. Angel quickly swat her away, then
fell to his stomach in the empty spot beside his Sticky Buns.

“Apparently...”
Angel stretched the word in suspense.

“Apparently?”

“Apparently....”
Angel said again.

“Dammit,
Angel. You woke me up for this?”

“Patience,
bitch! I have to tell you something!” Angel cleared his throat,
and in the most masculine voice he could conjure, he started a faux
news report. “Breaking news, this shit just in....Tan Man has a
mothafuckin' brother. Guess where, Stick?” Morgan's eyes grew
wide and she sat up to her elbows, suddenly understanding where the
conversation was going.

“No...”
Morgan whispered.

“No,
what? Baby girl, that's not a guess.”

“Poland?”
She sat up a bit more and bit her bottom lip. If Eryk was Tanner's
brother, then there was absolutely no way she could go through with
having him as a client. Or could she?

“Nope.
Australia.”

“Angel!”
Morgan groaned again and fell back to the bed, after making another
attempt to push Angel off of it. “I'm going back to sleep.”

“Not-uh.
You are well aware that it's three in the mothafuckin' afternoon,
right?”

“Shit!”
Morgan sat up quickly and pushed the hair out of her eyes. “Shit!
I missed my plane! Shit!”

“Aw,
what a shame.” Angel played with one of his ringlets between
his fingers and a large smile formed across his lips. Morgan knew
better, especially when Angel was in that kind of mood. She pushed
his shoulder until his body moved enough and she had a clear view of
the clock. 5:30...in the morning.

“Why,
Angel? Why must you be such a pain?”

“Because
my ass is hungry and I want some mothafuckin' waffles. So, you need
to get up, do something with that hair, and go get some mothafuckin'
waffles with me.” Angel grabbed hold of Morgan's arms and
dragged her body across the bed until she nearly fell from the edge.

“I
don't want mothafuckin' waffles,” Morgan snapped, then felt
bad. “Fine,” she agreed. After all, it was the last few
hours she would see her best friend, and if he wanted waffles, that
wasn't so bad. “Let's go get some waffles. And aspirin.”

*****

Morgan
and Angel had found the task to be more difficult said than done, and
in the end, they had to settle for eggs and pancakes, but it was just
as satisfying. They had chosen to walk instead of using a taxi, and
they found that waffles weren't available on every corner as they had
hoped.

The two had sat in the small diner for more than two hours, giggling,
nursing their hangovers and talking about the crazy week everyone had
shared before they finally had to go back to the hotel to prepare to
leave. Thankfully, their flights were only half an hour apart, Angel
being the one to leave first.

The
goodbye to her best friend should have been the most difficult, but
to Morgan, she found it to be easier than all the rest. Perhaps, it
was because she already knew Angel was going to be there for her, and
she knew she would see him again. There was never anything to worry
about. But with the men, there was never that certainty that they
would see each other again, and Morgan knew that every goodbye could
be their last. Was it likely? No. But even so, with over twenty
clients, the goodbyes were becoming easier regardless of who they
were.

At
3:20, they shared a final embrace, and Morgan wiped the tears from
Angel's cheeks before he headed to his terminal. At 3:50, Morgan was
boarding her own flight. At 6:15, the young woman landed in Warsaw,
Poland.

The
first thing she noticed, as the plane descended upon the runway was
how sunny it was, and the announcement from the stewardess in the
front of the plane confirmed that it was indeed, warm outside.
Well,
warmer than usual,
Morgan giggled to herself, knowing how cold
most of her last few months had been and how much she welcomed
weather that didn't involve seeing the fog of her own breath.

As
usual, Morgan was one of the last ones to file from the plane, but
after being in so many airports, finding baggage claim in any airport
felt like second nature to her. She remembered in the beginning, when
every flight terrified her, and airports gave her anxiety, but most
of that had faded with time and become easier, just as had happened
with saying goodbye to someone new, nearly every week.

As
she walked into baggage claim, the first thing she noticed was her
zebra print bag, then she noticed him. Eryk. Grown-up Tanner.
Oh,
sweet Moses.
She had to take it all in by the time she was
expected to speak to the man, or something dumb, or perhaps nothing
at all, would come out of her mouth. He was beautiful, much more
beautiful than his photos. His hair was even longer, not by much, but
noticeable, his eyes were brighter, his smile wider, and his
height...that spoke for itself. He was by far, the tallest man in the
room. He wasn't as tall as Alrik, but probably very close.

Morgan's
body seemed to float across the room as she was drawn to the man, but
in reality, she wasn't floating, she was walking, and more so, she
wasn't paying attention. Morgan's foot caught in the power cord of a
man's laptop, who had the cord stretched across the path in which
people were to walk.

“You
STUPID woman!” The man's laptop crashed to the floor, and so
did Morgan.

“I'm
so sorry,” Morgan struggled to stand, but the cord had a death
grip around her ankle. “Let me just...if I can,” she
fell back to her bottom and tried to get the wire loose. The man
wasn't going to hear her apology.

“If
my computer is broken...,”

“What
will you do?” A very tall, and very unhappy Eryk leaned down,
one arm on either side of the chair, to look the man in the eye. The
man didn't move, nor speak. “Tell me. What will you do?”
The man shook his head back and forth quickly, letting Eryk know
that he planned to do...nothing. “Good. Now apologize to the
lady, and help her stand.” The man looked confused, but when
Eryk stood at his full height again, the owner of the laptop suddenly
caught on. He stood quickly, leaning back as to not get too close to
Eryk in the process, and stretched his hand out toward Morgan.

She
watched the entire exchange, mouth wide open, and then smiled at the
man's hand. “Thank you, but I'm fine.” She finally
freed her foot from its captive, and stood as she brushed invisible
dirt from the back of her jeans. Her ankle was twisted, again, but
it was worth it to see her client handle the awkward situation with
ease. Eryk winked at her quickly, then with a stern look, he told
the man again to apologize.
The Tanner wink! Oh my sweet baby
Mos..
She had to force herself to speak. “Oh, it's
alright. Uh...no harm done.” Morgan tried to play it off as
best as she could. Eryk saved the day, the rude man was put in his
place, and all she wanted to do was get on with her client. A
client, who she realized as she looked at him, that had no idea who
she was.
How sweet! He doesn't even know it's me!
Eryk, on
the other hand, wasn't going to budge until the lady had her apology.

“Now.”
He nodded his head slightly in Morgan's direction as he stared at
the man.

“I'm...sorry,”
his eyes darted to Morgan, then up to Eryk, “I'm sure.....the
computer is fine.” He took a deep breath and his eyes landed
on the laptop that was still on the floor.

Eryk
slapped the man hard on the shoulder. “Good enough.” He
then took Morgan gently by her arm, and grabbed her bags with one
hand. It was obvious that he was just removing her from the
situation, but Morgan smiled at how she was going to handle Eryk when
he had her safely away from the rude man, and was going to look for
his companion for the week.

She
walked silently with him all the way to the front lobby. “Thank
you, very much.” She smiled again as she looked up into his
face. “And what's my hero's name?” She almost giggled,
but managed a wider smile instead. Eryk smiled back and dropped his
head in a chivalrous gesture.

“Eryk
Baran, at your service.” He was absolutely adorable, and
manly, all rolled into one gorgeous man. “And you are?”
He took her hand in his.

Morgan
had a choice. She could play coy for a bit longer and enjoy her
little secret, or she could come clean and get on with her day with
Gorgeous Pants. “Morgan. Morgan Holland.” His head
popped up quickly and he watched as Morgan's smile grew even more.
Very quickly, his smile matched hers, and he nodded his head slowly.

“Well
then, I hope I've gained your trust a bit, Morgan Holland.”
She giggled and nodded.

“I
would say you have.” They laughed as he grabbed her bags once
again, and Morgan's stomach did the cannonball again as his other arm
wrapped around her middle tightly. In his presence, much more so
than looking at his photo on a computer screen, she felt that he
really was Tanner in a few years. It wasn't that Tanner wasn't
confident, he was, but Eryk had something more that Tanner was just
growing into. Was it more confidence? Morgan wasn't sure, but she
certainly planned to find out. She was still wondering about that
difference as they walked through the front doors, and toward a shiny
white car.

“Dinner
first, I'm sure you're hungry. Then, perhaps a walk around the city
if you aren't too tired. Does that sound alright to you?” He
was talking, but Morgan was far too busy watching him help his driver
place her bags in the back. All she could do was nod, then her eyes
went right back to the firm long legs that were forcing her
attention.
Damn. What's under all of that?
His button down
black shirt was un-tucked, and covered most of his back side, but she
saw enough to want to see more. Black boots poked out from the
bottom of his dark jeans, and made him just that much taller.
Mister
Baran....I'll take dinner...but I'm having you for...
“Pasta.
Everyone likes pasta, right?” He was still talking when he
helped her into the back of the car, and Morgan smiled and nodded at
his dinner plans.