Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (97 page)

As
soon as the
fasten seat belt
light dimmed, she pulled her pink
scrapbook from her carry on, then lowered her lap tray and set the
large book on it. “Oh, Eryk.” She hadn't had time to
print out any of the pictures she'd taken in Poland, but she was glad
she had been able to take some. She wondered briefly if she should
have gone back to him, if that would have been the more professional
thing to do. Certainly, Julianne wasn't going to be pleased that
another client had turned her away, especially because of another
client, but that was something she would have to deal with
later...
like when I have to tell her I'm in Ireland.

Morgan
shook her head and she pulled her camera out of her pocket. She
wondered if the other women of the trade went through what she went
through. Of course, she knew Julianne had fallen for Felix, but how
many of the women had carried several
Felixes
in their hearts?
Even Erika, one of the only women Julianne had ever fired, had fallen
for a client, so Morgan knew she wasn't alone. There would always be
emotions involved in her job, but she knew she would have to work
harder at hiding them.

She
flipped to Tanner's page, his wide smile looking back at her, then
looked at her camera, a picture of Eryk on the front, comparing the
two, side by side.
Damn near twins.
Morgan huffed a small
laugh, and shook her head once more. It was incredible how much they
looked alike. She couldn't look at Tanner any longer, and flipped to
the first blank page of her book, then grabbed a pen out of her
purse.

The
small point hovered over the page for a moment, as Morgan thought of
what to write.

Eryk
Baran – I'm sure we'll meet again one day. That's a bet I'm
willing to make.

The
memory of their game of strip poker brought a wave of heat to
Morgan's cheeks, and she closed her scrapbook.
I'll figure out
something to say later.
Morgan smiled again, as she stuffed her
book back into her bag. The image of Eryk's hard body, reflecting in
the moonlight was the last thing she remembered when she closed her
eyes and fell asleep.

*****

“Angel?!
Angel! I can't hear you...call...call me back...Angel! Stop talking,
I can't understand you!” Morgan pulled her bags through the
airport, stopping on occasion to hold one finger over her free ear.
Their connection was terrible, and it was clear that Angel was just
going to continue trying to speak. “Hang on!” She
whisper-shouted into the phone as she pulled her bags to a seat and
flopped hard into a vacant chair. “Is this better?”
Morgan leaned far over, toward the window, and listened. It took two
seconds for her to nearly drop the phone as she pulled it from her
ear.

“Stick!
Pay attention! Gio is making my perfect ass go to mothafuckin' Italy
with him and his new boo!”

“Angel,
stop screaming!” Morgan held the phone a few inches from her
ear as she spoke. “I can hear you. Why are you going to
Italy?” She pulled her legs up and sat on one, the other
dangled as she listened.

“He's
taking that tramp on vacation, and I'm the lucky bitch that gets to
wipe their asses while they live it up.” Morgan giggled as she
could tell that Angel was pacing, and trying to add more flare to the
conversation. Truth was, she knew that Angel loved the fact that he
was needed, but he still needed a little drama in his life. Morgan
finally returned the phone against her cheek.

“So,
no visit this time?” Morgan was hoping she understood
correctly, because even though she would gladly help her Angel
through his heartbreak, it would be nice to just visit Sean, then
tackle her next client without more distractions.

“No.
But we'll get this shit together soon, because I need your
mothafuckin' shoulder to cry on. A bitch can't go through this
alone, and G-Daddy-Long-Legs ain't fuckin' helpin'.” Morgan
giggled again and blew several kisses into the phone.

“I
love you. Call me when you can.” He assured her that he
would, as he held the phone up for PoPo to send a few kisses of his
own. The call ended with a loud lawn from Morgan, and a sound that
could only come from...

“Sean!”
She jumped up from her chair, forgetting her purse was on her lap and
knocked it, and all of its contents, to the ground. Both of their
eyes moved to the pile of makeup, bag of trail mix and dozens of
crumpled receipts, and after a very quick consideration, they both
decided a hug would come first.

“Still
graceful, I see,” Sean spoke in her ear as his arms wrapped
around her small frame for a tight hug. Morgan nodded against his
chest and laughed. “I missed ye so fookin' bad!”

“I've
missed you too, Sean!” They pulled apart from their embrace and
he gave her a brief, yet forceful kiss to her lips. “You
look...” her eyes scanned his body in a not-so-sublte way,
“really good.” Even under a hooded jacket and a tee
shirt, Morgan could tell he'd put on some size, nothing drastic, but
she noticed he'd definitely been hitting the gym more. His hair was
shorter than usual, and...
is he wearing gel?
Morgan smiled as
her hand moved to his and they walked back to where she'd been
sitting to address the mess on the ground. He was also wearing
cologne, and she took in the fresh scent as they began stuffing
things back into her purse.
He did all this for me?

“Ah,
thanks. Ye look amazing yerself, Morgan.” He paused to meet
Morgan's eyes and gave her a warm smile in return. “Are ye
hung...oy!” Sean picked up one of the pieces of paper, and
under it was a beautiful ring, one that Morgan had nearly forgotten
about. He held it up between his thumb and index finger. “You've
got an admirer, I take it?”

“I...uh...”
She didn't know what to say.
Oh, yeah, that little thing. It's
nothing. Just something Finlay gave to me.
“Yeah, I thought
it was pretty, so I bought it.”
That was stupid.
She was
tired of keeping secrets from everyone. Not that she
owed
anyone
total honesty, but she also didn't want anymore drama that week or to
be the cause of any other feelings being hurt.
And if I told you
that your best friend got me a ring, I don't think you'd be
necessarily happy about it.
She faked a smile and took the ring
from his fingers, then slipped it on her own right index finger.
A
reminder that I carry your heart in mine.
The words from the
note, when Finlay had sent the ring screamed in her mind. The band of
tiny diamonds sparkled as Morgan quickly shoved the rest of her
belongings into her bag.

“Aye,
it is a pretty ring.” Sean shook his head, not quite buying the
story, but he wasn't going to pry. After all, he had kept Finlay's
child a secret.

“So...”
Morgan got to her feet and pulled her purse over one shoulder and her
carry-on over another, then reached for the handle of one of her
bags, but Sean beat her to it. “How's your mom doing, since the
surgeries and all?” Morgan remembered she'd taken a nasty fall
a couple of months back.

“Oh,
mum is doing swell. She's getting around much better,” he
explained, as they made their way through the front doors of the
airport. “Still collecting her fookin' sheep.”

“Then
I think I'll have to get her another!” Sean violently shook his
head back and forth.

“For
the love of all that's holy, Morgan, don't get the woman any more of
the damned things!” Both of them laughed, knowing very well,
that before the end of the trip, Sean's mom would have at least one
more sheep in her collection.

*****

“Holy
sheep!” The first thing Morgan saw when they pulled up in front
of his home, was a whole
herd
of life-sized sheep, scattered
about his front lawn. Half a dozen, enormous sheep, including two
with horns and two with clothing, spread from one side of his
driveway, to the fence on the opposite side. “When did she get
those!?

“Last
weekend. Morgan, I don't know what tae do with 'em all.” They
climbed out of the car, and Morgan immediately ran over to the
closest one to touch it. As her fingertips grazed the head, Sean's
front door slammed open, scaring Morgan and making her fall into the
large ornament.

“Look
whit ye've done!” Sean's mom shuffled quickly down the few
steps of the porch and went directly to her fallen sheep. “Thank
ya, baby Jesus!” Gael brushed a few clumps of grass from the
beast and set it upright in its place. Morgan looked down, biting
the side of her lip to prevent from smiling, and managed to keep her
eyes off Sean who was no doubt trying to make it worse with eyes of
his own.

The
last set of eyes landed directly on the top of Morgan's bent head.
“If yer done terrorizing my babies, come in and eat.”
Morgan nodded, with her head still bent, and followed closely behind
Sean's mom. She took a deep breath before speaking, in the hopes
that the giggles wouldn't take hold, and managed a polite exchange.

“It's
so late, you didn't have to do this for me.” Without missing a
beat, the older woman replied.

“Sean
says yer always hungry. “Tis'nt a bother.” The woman
smiled, as she led the pack into the house, when she heard the soft
thud of Morgan smacking Sean's arm.

Sean
and his mom spoke briefly after the meal was placed on the table, and
Morgan gave her a quick hug as she left.

“She
should have stayed, I miss her too, ya know.” Morgan sat
across from Sean at the old wooden table. He laughed and grabbed
Morgan's plate, piling mashed potatoes and roasted pork to the point
of almost falling off the dinnerware. Morgan's eyes widened and she
finally let go of her laughter. “Wow...I hope this army of
sheep is going to help me eat that!” She looked around at the
new additions in the kitchen and shook her head.

There
wasn't one shelf that wasn't packed to capacity, and then some. The
counter could no longer be seen, and sheep were also lined atop the
window treatments. “I don't think they'll help ya much,”
he looked around as he followed Morgan's gaze, “but I will.”
He placed her plate in front of her and helped himself to an even
larger helping. Morgan was still laughing when sadness started to
creep into her light mood.

She
looked around again, at every little sheep in the kitchen, then
turned around in her chair to look through the hallway, where more
sheep lined the baseboards all the way to the front door. The one
thing she noticed most was that several of the new sheep were wearing
clothing, and most of them had little names on their shirts or coats.
It had gotten personal, and Morgan could almost hear the cry for
help that Gael was screaming through each and every white fluff ball.

“She's
lonely.” Morgan whispered
.

Sean
groaned and bit off half of the bread in hand in one bite. She
wouldn't get anywhere with him on the topic, not just then, so she
finished as much of her food as she could and excused herself to the
bedroom to change. “Dinner was wonderful and I'm officially
stuffed to the brim. I'll be right back.” She held her belly
as she walked to the bedroom, and then fell in a heap to the floor in
front of her zebra print bag. Her pink sweats and white tank were in
her hand, and she was about to stand when her phone rang from her
back pocket.. “Did your plans change, my Angel?” She
pulled it from her pocket and looked at the screen. It wasn't Angel.

“Shit.”
Tanner's face, deceivingly smiling back at her, was shining brightly
from the phone. Morgan hesitated briefly, but clicked the button in a
second of curiosity, and answered his call. “Tanner?”

A
very drunk Aussie replied. “I'll 'ave ya know, I 'ave a new
girl on her way. Julianne's girl. Are ya jealous? Are ya, Morgan?”
Her eyes fell to her legs as she adjusted herself on the floor for a
longer stay. Her heart broke for Tanner. He was obviously still
hurting, and his intoxicated self expected her to hurt as well. She
wasn't sure how to handle the man, or her own feelings, so she just
went with total honesty.