Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (41 page)

*****

The next evening, Morgan was in
her cab after taking her Angel to the airport. She already missed
him, but she kept reminding herself that they were only a phone call
away from one another. She held up her bracelet and smiled at the
little phone charm, then put her hands back in her lap and looked out
the window. A smile formed across her lips as she thought of Angel's
reaction to finding out that Morgan had sent him two thousand
dollars, to be delivered by Gio upon his return. The thought of the
man taking unpaid time off work to spend it with her was enough to
make her wire the money to her former client, and ask him to see that
her best friend got the money. Of course, Gio agreed, and Angel was
sure to pop one or two blood vessels when he found out. Morgan
continued smiling about the situation, and stared out the window at
the surrounding beautiful buildings that she was sure to explore.

London was by far one of her
favorite places, and she planned to spend the next few days visiting
as much of it as she possibly could.

The car was barely inching
along when her phone rang out and scared both she and the driver.
“Sorry!” She giggled and looked at the screen.
Julianne?
Morgan didn't expect to hear from her yet, but she
answered it quickly. “Hi, Julianne!”

“Morgan, darling! I just
got off the phone with Awstin, and I told him that you would be
flying in from London. He would prefer to meet you there, if that's
alright with you?” Julianne spoke so quickly that Morgan had
to take a few seconds to make sense of everything. When she thought
she had it, she answered that it would be fine and to let her know
when and where to meet him.

“Oh, and I do hope that I
still have a few days here...alone?” Morgan wanted her time
off, client and drama free.

“Of course, I'll call you
in two days with the details. Have fun, and a Happy belated
Birthday.” Morgan thanked her, then turned her phone off right
as the cab started to finally pick up speed.

Twenty minutes later, Morgan
was back in her room and running a hot bath for her first night
in-alone. She was finding out things about herself that she had been
wrong about in the past. Alone, that thing that she had always
hated. Eating alone, sleeping alone, doing everything alone. She
laughed at the irony of it all as she stepped into her hot bubble
bath.

“Alone is something that
I plan to do a lot more!” Her announcement to the empty
bathroom was followed by a long sigh, one that she had anticipated
releasing for days. She loved her friends, and enjoyed almost every
moment with them, but having a quiet space to do nothing in was more
attractive than it had ever been. It was in that moment that she
decided that she didn't have to work
all
the time, and she
would take a few days off here and there to get her alone time.

“It's nice to be alone
with the men too.” Morgan giggled at her fickle thoughts, and
slid down to her chin for a full, and very long, soaking.

That night, and the entire next
day, Morgan enjoyed doing all the things that she had hoped to do.
She ate in all the places that caught her eye, took photos of every
building that she passed, and shopped in some of London's finest
stores. Her favorite, however, was a small antique shop right
outside of town where she found a small hand carved boat that looked
just like Tanner's boat. She was sure it wasn't identical, but he
might enjoy it nonetheless.

Her final night in London was
spent in a pub not far from her hotel. She had lunch there the day
prior, and went back for a large dinner before turning in for the
night. It was there that she discovered something else about
herself.

She watched an older couple
enjoy their meal one table over. She tried not to stare, but they
were almost too cute to look away from. For over an hour, the couple
laughed and talked while they ate, and Morgan began to wonder what
people would talk about after being together that long. She smiled
at the answer that came to mind.
I'll probably never have that
problem.
Morgan could always find something new and exciting to
talk about, no matter how many years she spent with any man.

That was when the realization
came over her. Morgan wanted that, someday. She wanted the family
life, and to grow old with her soul mate, but she realized that she
wasn't anywhere near that point in her life. Her love for Finlay was
strong, but he was currently with another escort, and she herself
would be on her way to meet a client the next day. Tanner is dating,
Sean wants nothing to do with marriage, Kole was angry with her, and
Michael was just a friend. She couldn't put her heart in anyone's
hands anytime soon, and that's when she knew that she had made the
right decision about the men. They obviously weren't ready either,
so the whole thing just felt right.

I just want to have fun, and
enjoy my job. No, enjoy my life!
She silently toasted herself,
and left the pub feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her
shoulders.

Morgan walked back to her
hotel, thinking of how silly she had been to not want them all
together. It turned out well, with the exception of Kole, and it was
because none of them were ready to walk her down the aisle. She
cared for them, they cared for her, and that's as far as she would
take it for the time being.
They always enjoy their lives, and so
will I.
As she walked through the lobby, her mind tried to
convince her that she would never be able to turn off her feelings
for the men, not even temper them, but she ignored herself and rode
the elevator to her room.

*****

The sound of Morgan's phone, in
which had a ring tone of an upbeat salsa tune, thanks to Angel, was
the culprit that awoke Sleeping Beauty the following day. “This
is...ow...not...the... dammit...way to wake up!” Morgan finally
found her phone after falling to the floor from the tall bed and
answered it in more of an exclamation than a question. “Hello!”

When she heard Julianne's soft
voice on the other end, she changed her voice and apologized for the
rude greeting. “It's fine dear, I've learned by now that you're
not a morning person...but I'll have you know, it's nearly noon.”
Morgan's eyes widened and she quickly scanned her room for a clock to
verify the time.
Shit. 11:47.
She had been up half the night
watching horror movies and devouring Chinese take out, which earned
her a morning wasted in London. She sighed into the phone and
Julianne continued, “Awstin would like to pick you up today if
that's alright with you. If you want the extra night in London,
that's fine as well.”

Morgan pulled her phone out
from her ear and looked at the front,
Thursday.
The week had
gone by so fast, she hadn't even realized she was supposed to leave
the next day. “Oh, well, sure. Yeah, go ahead and..uhm...he can
pick me up.” Morgan gave Julianne the name of the hotel and
Julianne said she'd text her with a time, but to be ready as soon as
possible.

“Just a few more
minutes,” Morgan sighed again as she set her phone on the
dresser and she fell back onto the bed, stretching her arms and legs
out in every direction.

Chapter Six

“
Holy shit! Oh, no....no!”
Morgan whispered, then sat up in the bed and strained to listen for
the sound that had entered her dream.
Knock, knock, knock.

“Hello?”

Oh, shit! Morgan, what did
you do?
The deep voice on the other side of the door that had
followed the knocking was not only real, and not in her dream as she
had hoped, but it meant that Awstin was outside her room. She picked
up her phone from the dresser, there it was, front and center, a text
from Julianne.
3:00, be ready.
She looked at the time, 2:56.
Shit!

Morgan flung her legs
off the side of the bed and walked slowly toward the door. When she
peeked through the hole, her suspicion was confirmed. There stood the
white-blonde hunk, baring roses, on top of it.
I'm such a piece
of...

“Hello? Morgan
Holland?”

Oh, say my name again...
“Awstin?” She pressed her hands softly against the
door, then leaned in to listen for a response.

“If I say yes, will ye
let me in?” his sexy voice replied. At that moment, Morgan
wanted to kick herself for falling back asleep. She could have spent
the time getting ready and he would have already been in her room,
helping her with her bags.
Or helping me undress...

“No...I
mean...yes...just uhm....hold on.” Morgan didn't wait for a
response, she pulled her hands away from the door as if it had just
caught on fire, then ran into the bathroom and turned on the faucet.
“Just a minute, please!” she yelled before splashing her
face with cold water. “I'll need more than that to get me
through....”

“Are ye naked?” She
heard Awstin just as she turned the water off, and with toothbrush in
mouth, she popped her head around the corner of the bathroom to look
at the door.

Really?
“Yes...yes,
I am,” she mumbled loudly through a mouthful of bubbles. The
man laughed, then she heard a soft thump. After a quick look through
the peephole again, she realized he had turned around and propped his
back against the door. Morgan ran back into the bathroom, finished
brushing her teeth, then looked in the mirror to assess the
situation. “Ponytail, it is.” Not exactly how she wanted
to meet the gorgeous man, but there wasn't time to fix the damage the
fluffy pillow had brought upon her head. “Wait, it's cold! A
hat!” Morgan ran to her zebra bag and dug through until she
found a cute white hat, the kind that sat behind the bangs and fell
toward the neck. “Perfect!”

She grabbed a matching white
sweater from her bag, a pair of jeans and boots, then ran back into
the bathroom. In record time, she had her clothing on, hat in
place-with a side braid-and just enough makeup that could pass for an
'I-didn't-just-wake-up-seven-minutes-ago' look. Morgan was thankful
that she'd had enough sense to pack her bags the day prior after
Julianne had told her there was a chance the man would be picking her
up...at least that was ready. She gave herself another look in the
mirror and hoping she wouldn't scare the poor man away, she went back
to the front door.

“Awstin? You might want
to get your back off the door...” The bit of advice saved him
from falling on his ass when she opened the door and after she heard
the slight shuffling of his movements, she slowly cracked the door
open.

“You know, I think that's
the quickest I've ever seen a woman get ready,” he told her as
he turned to face her.

“Holy shit, you're...”
Sexy.
“Wait, what? How did you...?” Morgan was too
distracted by the towering, gorgeous man that it had taken her a
moment to realize what he'd said.

“I was knocking on your
door for ten minutes...you were asleep, yes? No matter,” he
held out the roses for Morgan and she took them in her hand, then
brought them to her nose, mostly just to hide the fact her face had
turned nearly just as red as the flowers in her hand.

“No,” she lied.
“Yes,” she corrected herself and felt her face heat even
more. “I'm sorry, I was up late watching movies and I....”

“Shhh...” he placed
his hand on her shoulder and gently ushered her back into the room
where he followed closely behind. “It's perfectly fine, I'm in
no hurry.”

“Well, good. In that
case, I'm making a pot of coffee!” Morgan announced and walked
across the large room, her boot heels echoing softly along the way.
As she prepared the beverage, she smiled to herself at her thoughts.
Mister Price, I think you're going to be perfect to test my new
resolution with. No drama, just fun. No feelings, just feeling. And I
plan to feel every single sculpted inch of your rock hard body.

“If it's coffee ye
want, I'll go get us the best that London has to offer. As for you,
get a proper shower if ye want, I'll be back in twenty minutes.”
Awstin smiled at Morgan's shocked face, which was much like her
embarrassed face.

“Right, I'll do that.”
She nodded and turned around as he walked toward the door, and a
large smile formed across her face when she heard his quiet laughter
before shutting the door behind him.

The second the door shut behind
her, Morgan ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Twenty
minutes was more than enough time to get somewhat presentable, and
she was undressed and standing in the hot stream in no time. “Five
minute shower, five minutes to dry my hair, three to get dressed, and
seven for makeup. I got this.” Her soft voice echoed
throughout the small room as she lathered her long hair, and another
smile graced her lips as she thought about her new client.

His white blonde hair was
short, but long enough to gel the top for a sexy messy look, and his
light blue eyes would need further investigation since she couldn't
look into them for too long when they met. He was tall, at least a
few inches over six feet, and looked perfectly comfortable in his
jeans. The boots, however, reminded her of Gio and it made her
wonder which class he was in. Long leather jacket with a red scarf
could imply a class two, but his jeans and boots could go either way.
Maybe he's a mix between Fin and Tanner?
It was far too soon
to tell, but she would get to the bottom of it soon enough.