Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (39 page)

Wow.
The birthday girl
shook her head in disbelief. Tanner, Sean and Finlay came back to the
table and were in full laughter about something.
Am I in a
different world right now?
She wasn't going to question it, she
just wanted to enjoy it. Over the next hour, Morgan took her turn
dancing with each one of them, and the drunker they all got, the more
fun they had. The laughter was loud, the toasts were silly and the
stories were outrageous. When Tanner was telling a made up story
about going out on his boat and defeating a monster squid, Morgan's
phone rang out.

“Cade!” she
answered her phone, then jumped up from her chair to walk a few feet
away from the noise.

“Sugar tits! Happy
Birthday, Happy New Year!”

“Aw, thanks Cade! Happy
New Year to you too! How are y...”

“Maybe ye can take yer
skills tae Sean's kitchen and battle the fookin' sheep!”
Finlay's deep voice bellowed through the bar as he spoke to Tanner,
and Morgan laughed into the phone, cutting off her question.

“Sorry, Cade. I'm having
a little party...it's kind of loud!”

“Is...is that Finlay? The
Scot? Finlay Campbell?” Cade asked, confused.

“Yeah! They're all here!
It's a fuckin' great time! Wish you were here too!” drunk
Morgan told her friend.

“But...we just sent a
girl to him on Friday. Where is she?” Cade asked.

“Where's who?”
Morgan spun around and flashed a big smile to her friends and waved,
then took a long sip of her wine.

“His girl...Erika...he
requested company for this week...fuck. You know, never mind. Forget
I said that,” Cade realized he had said too much and shut up.

“OH!” Morgan turned
around and looked at Finlay, finally understanding. What she did was
unexpected. She laughed. “Okay, Cadey-Cade. I gotcha!”
Morgan winked as if she were giving it to Cade, then giggled at
herself again.

“Sorry, I shouldn't have
said anything. I...uhm...I gotta go. Have a good night, Morgan.”
Cade guiltily hung up the phone, then sighed loudly. “Fuckin'
A.”

Morgan was still giggling when
she sat back at the table. She was greeted by Angel who leaned his
cheek against her shoulder. “Don't tell me, another client is
on his way.” They both laughed until they nearly fell off of
their chairs, and their audience at the table laughed as well, even
though they had no idea what Angel had just said.

“No, that was Cade. He
works with Julianne.” She managed to tell him about Cade,
minus the naked details while she was in training, as she laughed at
his reaction of relief at finding out that there would be no more men
showing up that night. She also wanted to tell him about
Erika
,
who was probably sitting back at Finlay's house with Burke, but she
managed to keep that bit of information to herself.

For once, Morgan felt as if she
was on the right track concerning the men. Moments after making the
commitment not to get overly involved with any of them, she finds out
that Finlay was still using Julianne's service. Morgan had never
expected any of the men to go without female companionship, but
hearing it straight out like that had made it all come together for
her.
I'm crazy about the man, but now isn't the time to fall
madly in love with you.
She smiled at Fin as he made eye
contact, and the large man smiled back, not knowing that Morgan had
found out about his plans for the week.

Angel was still laughing when
he got up and excused himself to the restroom, and Morgan watched him
all the way to the back side of the lounge. She wouldn't be much
help if he needed her, but she wanted to make sure he safely made it
to the mens room. Finlay, Tanner and Sean left the table again,
declaring that a few shots were in order.

“You have quite an
interesting life, Morgan Holland.” Michael's words brought her
back around in her seat, and face to face with her new friend. She
nodded and smiled as she took another sip of wine.

“Yeah, it isn't always
great....but it is...always interesting.” Michael secretly
reached under the table and wrapped his fingers through hers. He
leaned in closer and lowered his voice so that she would be the only
one to hear him.

“I don't want to be here
when the clock reaches midnight, I wouldn't want to get in the line
of fire when those three fight for your New Year's kiss.” She
giggled and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “Thanks
for inviting me, Morgan. I hope I'll get to see you again.”
She nodded against his shoulder.

“I would like that.
Thanks for coming, I'm glad I got to see you again.” He kissed
her forehead and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before standing.
She wanted him to stay, but her days of asking for more from any man
were long over. She also had to respect the man for not only taking
her up on the invitation, but for sticking around for as long as he
did. The three men returned, carrying enough drinks for three times
the amount of people that were left.

Michael said his farewells to
the rest of the table, and even gave Angel a hug when the man found
his way back from the restroom. Michael leaned down one last time to
Morgan. “I put my number in your phone, call me...soon.”
She nodded again, and watched him leave.

“Ten minutes!”
Angel checked his watch as he sat down, and everyone knew right away
that he was going to give them a countdown to midnight. Sean was the
first to react.

“Well, that gives us
plenty of time for a dance.” He spoke as he walked around the
table and took Morgan's hand. Angel told him that he thought he was
asking him for a dance, and the table laughed as Sean led Morgan to
the dance floor. Finlay watched them closely, but he knew that Sean
wouldn't try to steal the midnight kiss right in front of him.

“Stop staring, Boo...
there's been enough drama for one night.” Angel's words
brought Finlay's focus back to the table,and he smiled at the man
that loved Morgan as much as he did. “Besides, she's all mine
at midnight, so keep your luscious lips to yourself.” Angel
swept his hand in the air in a tight circle, then looked out at the
two dancing in the center of the floor. “There's no need for
her to
choose
which lips she's going to meet, when mine are
right here for the taking.” There really was no other way to
keep the tension low between all of the men, and Angel looked forward
to ringing in the new year with his Sticky Buns.

Chapter Four

“
Five..four...three...two...one...Happy
New Year!” Angel pulled Morgan against him and wrapped his
arms around her neck as the entire lounge celebrated around them.

“Happy New Year, Sticky.”

“Happy New Year, my
Angel.” He put his hands at the sides of her face and gave her
a soft kiss that made her smile against his lips. When he let her
go, they both laughed at the three men that had been staring at them.
“Oh, come here!” Morgan grabbed Tanner and pulled him
to her face, then kissed him quickly before he could get too
comfortable. She let him go, and Sean was already in line. Another
quick kiss for the blonde man, and she was ready for Finlay. He, on
the other hand, wasn't going to settle for a quick friendly smooch.

“Happy New Year, lass.”
He put his hands at her hips and lifted her off the floor, holding
her in place as his lips came down on hers. The deep, very warm,
kiss lasted for several minutes, and was enough to make Morgan forget
where she was.

“Alright, enough of
that!” Angel pulled them apart to the laughter from everyone,
and kept pulling Morgan until they were safely back at their table.

They sat down at the lounge for
another half an hour, allowing Morgan to take in everything that had
happened. Her biggest nightmare, having all of the men come face to
face, turned out to be the best birthday and New Year's Eve of her
life. Aside from the incident with Kole, which she refused to talk
about until she had Angel alone, all of the men had acted as if they
all had known each other for years. She even thought she heard Tanner
inviting the Scot and the Irishman to Australia for deep sea fishing.
It was unbelievable, to say the least. She was sure she had her Angel
to thank for keeping everyone in line, but either way, they were all
well behaved.

“This has been the best
birthday I've ever had. I'll admit, I had only invited Angel and
Angela here...at least I thought,” Morgan added, looking at
Tanner and the handsome Aussie laughed. “But looking at you
four, I'm glad it turned out this way. Angel, thank you for taking
it upon yourself to invite Finlay. Finlay, thank you for inviting
Sean. I love you guys, all of you. The best gift I could have
received was having the four people I care about the most here with
me tonight. Thank you all for coming.”

“Aw, Sticky Buns, you're
going to make me cry and shit!” Angel fanned his eyes and
stood, then ran to Morgan's side. She stood for the millionth hug
that night and took her Angel in her arms. By then, Morgan's eyes had
teared up too.

“I'll admit it, I wanted
to break everyone's legs when I got here, I'm glad I didn't.”
Finlay's announcement had everyone laughing, and Tanner was quick to
give the big Scot a clink to his glass. The beer hitting the whiskey
was just another reminder of how different the two men were. That
difference, along with the mens nonsense and jokes all night, made
Morgan's jaw hurt from smiling non-stop that night.

Tanner was next to stand and
get his turn for a hug. “I'm glad I came Morgan, and thank you
for inviting me...even if you don't remember it.” There it was,
the wink that made her knees weak. When he was done hugging her, he
grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the rest of the group. “I
have to go back tonight.” Morgan nodded. It was for the best.
She didn't even want to be put in the position to choose one of them.
It would only be she and Angel for the night. “When you called
the other day, that girl....she wasn't...”

Morgan put her finger to his
lips and shook her head slowly back and forth. “Tanner, don't.
I don't need an explanation.” He nodded and she wrapped her
hand around the back of his head, running her fingers through his
hair. They both knew their terms of agreement. He had nothing to feel
guilty about, and she had nothing to be jealous of. He smiled down at
her and she knew exactly what he was thinking, so she shook her head
again. “Remember, we can think it, but don't say it.” It
was her turn to wink back. He nodded again, then brought her in for a
deep kiss. It wasn't as long as the kiss that Finlay got to share
with her, but it was good enough to hold him over until he got to see
her again. After their kiss, Tanner pulled a box from his pocket and
handed it to her.

“Happy Birthday, Morgan.”
He kissed the top of her head, then she watched him leave before
returning back to the table. Morgan wanted to wait to open the gift,
so she tucked it into her purse and walked over to Sean who had also
stood in preparation to leave.

“My flight leaves at
two,” he whispered with regret when Morgan approached him. “Got
a big building ta demolish the 'morrow,” he explained further.
“It was real nice seeing ye, lass. Good ta see yer all healed
up too.” Sean kissed the top of her head and he too handed her
a box. She didn't even remember him carrying anything inside, but
somehow, he had presented it from underneath the table. “It's
no big deal, just a wee birthday gift. Ye know I hate goodbyes,
so...”

Morgan wasn't going to let him
get away from her with just a head kiss. She wrapped her arms around
his neck and pulled him in for the kiss he deserved. “Thank
you, Sean. For everything. I don't think I told you enough before,”
she told him when he released her.

“Nae bother. Anything for
ye.” She held onto his hand for as long as possible as he
walked away, then she watched him leave the hotel as well.

“Walk me to the room,
gentlemen?” Morgan nodded toward the two remaining men,
grabbed her purse and gifts, then put her hands at her hips, leaving
her arms available for the men to escort her to her room. Angel was
first to jump up and he took her offering, wrapping his arm around
hers.

“Aye, lass,” Finlay
found her other arm and the three of them made their way to Morgan's
room. Angel spent the whole way upstairs asking Finlay if he wanted
to stay the night, explaining that there were two bedrooms and saying
that he'd keep his ears shut. Finlay and Morgan were in hysterical
laughter by the time they reached her room, but Angel recognized they
needed serious time alone, so he excused himself into the bedroom and
left the two of them in the hallway together.

“I see why ye love the
wee man so much,” Finlay was still laughing. “He really
cares about ye, aye?”

“Aye, he does,” she
answered, looking back toward the door as if Angel were right behind
her. She knew he probably had his ear up to the door anyway, so
nothing she said would be a secret, but she had no secrets from her
Angel anyway. “I'm glad you came, Fin.”

“I'm glad I came too,
Love.” Morgan stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his
thick neck, and his arms slid around her waist, then they shared
their final kiss. Finlay told her goodbye, then he too disappeared
like the rest.