Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (28 page)

“Angel!”
Morgan ran to her phone and picked it up, then scrolled through her
contacts until she found him. Looking at his smiling face, she had a
sudden change of heart. It was her problem, and she couldn't bring
herself to pull him into the drama that she had created. On that
note, she turned her phone off completely and threw it back on the
bed.

Slowly,
she walked to the patio and sat down, then closed her eyes in an
attempt to hide from her situation. That's where she still was when
Angela knocked on the door to her hotel room three hours later.

Morgan
had fallen asleep, and jumped up from the chair when she heard the
thumping on her door. “I'm coming!” She was still
trying to wake herself up when she pulled it open and Angela rushed
past her, and dropped her bottom on the bed.

“Are
you still sick? Are you alright? Guess what?!” Angela's soft
voice threw too many questions at once to Morgan, so all she could do
was ask 'what' in response. “Kala proposed to me tonight!”
Her friend held out her hand and showed the sparkling ring in front
of her.
The
ring. Morgan's eyes widened as reality took
hold, a reality that just made her situation even worse.

“That's...wow....congratulations!”
Morgan quickly recovered from her obvious stammering, and ran to
Angela and hugged her tightly. “I knew you two would were
perfect for each other, I'm so happy for you.” She let go and
sat on the bed next to her friend.

“Is
everything alright? Do you need to lay down? I didn't mean to bother
you but the family asked me to stay at the house tonight and I ran to
the apartment real quick to get some clothes, and I thought I would
stop over and tell you. Wanna see it again?” Angela giggled
and put her hand out for Morgan.

Morgan
laughed as well, she was genuinely happy for both of them. Her
guilt, however, wouldn't give her enough breathing room to enjoy the
moment with her friend. “I..uh...I have to tell you
something.” She held Angela's hand and took a deep breath
before her confession. “I saw the ring today, in Kole's
jacket. I thought it was for....well..I thought...”

“Oh
my God!” Angela started laughing at the situation and fell
back on the bed. “That had to have freaked you out! That's so
funny!” She was still laughing when another knock sounded on
the door.

Morgan
ran and opened it, finding Kole on the other side with his hands full
of the doggie bags that his mom had put together for her. “Hey,
how ya feeling?” He walked in and put her food on the island.

“Oh,
you're going to love this! Morgan thought
you
were going to
propose! She saw the ring and thought you were going to pop the
question tonight!” Angela had gone into full snorting laughter
by the time Kole turned his gaze to Morgan. He knew. She wasn't
sick.

“You
lied. Why?” His face held the hurt that Morgan had tried to
save him from, and she looked at Angela to somehow summon the words
to be taken back. Angela saw the look, and finally realized what
Kole figured out.

“Oh...oh...I'm
sorry. I'm...oh.” She stood from the bed and made a quick
excuse to leave, then hugged Morgan quickly. “I wish you had
called Kole when you got here, then he could have taken you with him
to pick up the ring. None of this would have happened.”
Angela's uncomfortable rambling, that was meant to make things
better, actually had just escalated the tension to a whole new level.
She closed her mouth tightly, and left the room without another
damning word from her lips.

He
stood still next to the island as she made her way back to the bed
and sat down. There was no getting out of it, no way to make things
any better, it was only time for the truth.

“I
was scared. I thought that if I went to your house and told you no
in front of your family, it would hurt you even worse. I didn't know
what to do..I just..”

“Lied.
That's what you did, you lied. Not cool, Morgan. If there's one
thing that I really liked about you, it was your honesty. You could
have just talked to me about it. Even if I was going to propose,
which I'm not that fucking stupid to do after only spending a few
weeks with a woman, then you still could have talked to me before we
left.” He didn't look away when he was done, he wanted an
answer from her.

She
looked down at her hands that she had clasped in her lap, noting the
death grip that she was giving herself, and finally looked up again.
Her tears fell freely as she began to speak. “I'm sorry. I
should have, and I was wrong. I got scared, and I made a mistake. I
really am sorry, Kole.”

He
opened the bag of food and placed the containers across the island.
“My mom cooked for two days. She made blueberry muffins from
scratch, pineapple chicken because she noticed you liked it, and six
different appetizers since she couldn't remember which one was your
favorite. Here ya go, enjoy.” Clearly, he was far more angry
at the fact that she had stood up the family, more than he was about
standing him up. She tried to tell him again how sorry she was, but
he cut her off before she could get the words out. “You were
here for days and didn't even tell me, then you think that poor
little lovesick Kole is about to propose. Yeah, I can see why you
freaked out. But don't worry, Morgan, I won't force you to spend
anymore time with me.” He grabbed his keys from the counter,
and left without another word.

Morgan
cried herself to sleep that night, and when she woke up Christmas
morning, it felt like just another day. Another day, with the
exception of feeling terrible about what she had done.

Chapter
Four

Morgan
picked up her phone and saw that it was still off and shoved it into
her purse with the last of her makeup. Staying in the hotel for
another night wasn't going to be an option. She felt like she had
messed enough things up for a lifetime, so she didn't want to run the
risk of anyone calling her or coming to her door. “I don't know
what else I
could
mess up,” she spoke to the room as she
grabbed her bags and went down to the lobby.

She
checked out and asked the front desk to call a cab for her, then
asked about hotels near the airport. The woman gave her a few
options, then Morgan picked one and told the cab driver her choice as
she climbed in. At least she wouldn't have to go far in the morning.

On
the way to her new hotel, the tears formed again.
I'm so stupid.
She laid her head against the window and closed her eyes, letting
the tears stream down her cheeks like they had the night before.

*****

Over
the previous weeks, Morgan had already made arrangements for gifts to
be sent to all of her friends. In Scotland, Finlay had just received
his gift. His 'replacement' butler had been holding onto it for the
past few days and had followed Morgan's instructions that were
labeled on the front of the package. 'Do not give to The Campbell
until Christmas'. Finlay laughed when he had the box in his hands and
read the order himself.

“Lass,
ye shouldn't 'ave gotten a thing for me,” he spoke as he read
the name on the front of the box. He slid a letter opener around the
edge of the box and opened it. Inside was another box, a wooden one,
trimmed in gold with a gold clasp opening in the front. Finlay set in
on the table and opened it slowly. Inside was a beautiful oak pen,
with gold details and 'Fin' engraved on the front. “Thank ye,
Morgan.” She couldn't hear his gratitude, but he said it
anyway. There was also a letter:

I
may not make million dollar deals, but I can be there when you make
them. Merry Christmas, Fin. Love, Morgan.

“Aye,
lass. Ye'll always be with me.”

In
Ireland, Sean was giving a rather large box to his mother. “It's
from Morgan, mum,” he told her. When she looked at him
curiously, he told her it was the girl who was there last week and
she grabbed the box with a new excitement. Sean had received a
package a few days prior and inside of it had been a box nearly as
big as the first with a letter on top.
Give this to your mom on
Christmas. Happy Holidays to you both. Love, Morgan.

Sean's
mom opened the box and just as expected, in seconds, she was holding
a brand new addition to her collection. It was a whole bathtub scene
with a sheep showering, raising one hoof and washing its armpit with
a loofah. Around the tub was a moveable shower curtain, covered in
smaller sheep and fluffy blue clouds. Sean laughed when his mom got
up from the table and ran toward the bathroom with her new figure. He
laughed again when he heard things being moved around to clear a spot
for the sheep.

“Morgan,
Morgan, Morgan. Ye know I won't hear the end of this!” He shook
his head and grabbed the empty box from the table, but it wasn't
empty. There was another box inside. “What's this?”

He
lifted the cardboard lid, then moved the tissue paper out of the way
to reveal his present. “Ah, fookin beautiful!” He pulled
the sporran out from the box and turned it around in his hands to see
the front. His name, in silver lettering was embroidered into the
leather purse and the edging matched the colors of his kilt. “Ye
shouldn't have done all this,” he sighed, looking at the
obviously expensive addition to his kilt. When he opened the flap,
inside was a note and an iPod.

I
had to address the box to your mom or else you would have opened it.
Don't give me that look! I don't know much about kilts, so hope it
works with yours.

I've already added a few songs to the iPod, hope you like them too.
Merry Christmas, Sean. Love, Morgan.

Sean
closed his eyes tightly to stop the burning and set the letter on the
table to pull out the music player. Morgan had already charged it, so
it came on when he pressed the center button. When he scrolled
through the songs, he had trouble swallowing from the lump that had
grown in his throat. Every song on the list was from their night of
karaoke, even the songs that he thought nobody saw him lip-syncing.
“She remembered all of them.”

In
Brazil, Giovanni had just given Angel his gift. The flamboyant man
squealed with delight when he discovered his very own hair
straightener, wrapped in bright pink wrapping paper. It was the same
exact kind as Morgan's own. He held it close to his chest and fanned
his eyes as the tears built up. “Oh sweet, sweet Sticky Buns!”
He pulled the letter from the straighter and read it through teary
eyes.

My
Angel, make room on your counter and you can stop waiting for the
reading of my will. Merry Christmas, Boo. Lots of love, Sticky Buns.

He
wasn't going to waste one second, the man ran into the bathroom with
his new gift and plugged it in, thanking Morgan the whole time. In
which PoPo was happy to echo.

In
Australia, Tanner had a gift of his own. Morgan didn't have an option
with him, like the others, to have anyone give it to him on
Christmas, but she trusted that he'd wait, and he did. His box gave
the instructions 'Do not open until Christmas' and for three days, it
had killed him knowing what was inside.

The
box was larger than the rest, and heavier. When he opened it, he
discovered a ton of bubble wrap and underneath all of that, there was
a boat. His boat. It was an exact replica of Lady Godiva, even with
the same worn out paint on the side. On the side of the boat was
taped a letter.

Tanner,
I know you love your boat, so I took a few pictures and sent them in
to a company who makes model boats. I loved swimming with the fishes
with you and the time on Lady Godiva is one of my best memories I've
ever had. Merry Christmas, Tanner. Love, Morgan.

He
set the letter down, and slowly pulled his boat from the box. It was
roughly two feet long and his eyes watered as his fingers ran over
the intricate detailing of the workmanship. “It's the exact
same!” He, like Finlay and Sean had both tried, called Morgan,
but like the others, he had to leave a voicemail for her, thanking
her for the wonderful gift.

Julianne,
in Ohio, had just opened up her three-hundred dollar gift certificate
to her favorite restaurant, The Blue Dragon, and a box with a big,
delicious, chocolate cake. She also had a letter, in which Morgan
thanked her boss for everything and told her the certificate should
cover her dinner with Felix. Julianne had, of course, laughed at the
idea, but it was incredibly sweet. None of her other girls had ever
given her a present. Like the men, she was forced to leave a
voicemail for the young girl.