Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (110 page)

“Using
my own words against me, eh?” A part of Tanner understood that
he needed to live his own life, and stop waiting on something that
may never happen, but another part of him was madly in love and had a
hard time accepting that. “Yeah, yeah. I'll do that.” He
knew he wouldn't change, but he loved Morgan too much to argue.

“I'm
going camping for the week, so I won't have phone service. But when I
come back, I'll call you again. I have to go.” She saw the
office door open, then Manuel appear.

“Be
safe, Morgan.”

“I
will.”

“One
more thing...”

Morgan
smiled at Manuel, and lifted one finger in the air, letting him know
it would be another minute. “What's that?”

“I
love you.”

She
bit her bottom lip, and turned away from Mannie, facing the tree once
again. “I love you too, Tanner.” She hung up and slowly
walked toward Manuel. Her heart nearly screamed with happiness that
she and Tanner had made things right again, and also at her ability
to admit her feelings without strings attached. “I have two
more calls to make, just one more minute.” She gave him a kiss
on his cheek and walked a few feet away.

The
first person she called was Julianne, letting her know the change of
plans. Her boss was relieved that everything had worked out the way
it had, and thanked Morgan for keeping her updated. “One thing
I ask, child,” Julianne spoke.

“
Yes?”
Morgan twirled a piece of hair between her fingers.

“
Choose
your next client as soon as you get back. We've entered the busy peak
and I need to know who is accounted for as soon as possible. I've
also added a new section to the site, you'll see it on the left.
Check it out.” Morgan agreed that she would choose as soon as
the week with Manuel was over, and the two said their goodbyes. She
was curious about the new section, but there was no time to check it
out right then.

Morgan
sent a quick text to Sean, letting her know she missed him and would
be out of service for the week, then let Finlay know the same thing,
in case he tried to call. She knew it would be difficult keeping a
conversation with Angel short, but she had to call him regardless.

“Are
you mothafuckin' dead?”

“Dead?”
Morgan giggled, “no, I'm not dead.”

“Did
your mothafuckin' titties get eaten by a shark?”

“No,
my titties are fine...”

“Did
your eyebrow grow back and take over your mothafuckin' brainwaves?”

“No,
my
eyebrow
and
brainwaves
are perfectly good.”

“Then
why can't a bitch give a bitch a mothafuckin' call?”

Morgan
already had a tear streaming down her face, and nodded at Manuel when
he gave her a questioning look of concern. Her palm covered the
speaker, “it's my best friend.” She had already told
Mannie about Angel, and he smiled when he realized she was laughing,
and not crying. “My Angel, it has been a crazy week. I'm
sorry.”

“Can't
be that bad, Stick. At least you ain't driving, Miss Crazy.”
Morgan giggled again and wiped another tear. “How's the Lima
bean?”

Morgan
knew that he was talking about Julius, and not the place. More
specifically, she would bet the
bean
in question was referring
to Julius' personal anatomy.

“I
am not in Lima anymore, and I wouldn't know about his
bean.
”
Morgan took a few more steps away from Manuel, and quickly explained
everything to Angel, from what had happened with Eryk, to Tanner, to
Sean, to Julius and what she had done for him, to the very moment of
her going camping with Julius' brother. All of it was told in under
a minute, but Angel caught every last detail.

“Holy
shit, Stick!” Morgan turned and Mannie was walking back to the
office, which gave her a few more moments. “I need your narrow
ass shoulder to cry on and you're map dribbling all over the
mothafuckin' place. When am I going to see your sticky ass?”
Morgan nearly snorted, and wiped another tear before answering.

“It's
not map dribbling, it's globe trotting, Angel.”

“Whatever.
Answer the question.”

“Soon,
my sweet, Angel. Soon.” She knew that her answer probably
wouldn't be good enough for the man, but it was all she had to offer.

“When
the fuck is soon o'clock, then? 'Cuz if I don't get my Sticky fix
soon, a bitch is going to call Julie Annie and pay for your ass for a
week.” Morgan
did
snort that time. “Your face
needs to stop all that laughing, I have a savings.” Right on
cue, PoPo screeched and laughed exactly as Angel does. “Not
you, crazy ass!” Morgan laughed as PoPo and Angel continued to
argue, then she saw Manuel leave the office again.

“Look,
Mannie's coming back. I need to go. I love you! I'll call at the
end of the week.” She blew several loud kisses into the phone,
and she heard PoPo return them, then a loud,
call a bitch
from
Angel. Their call ended and Morgan felt elated that her world was
back where it needed to be.

“Done?”
Mannie approached and put his arm around her waist once again.
Morgan nodded, and he led her back to the car. Once inside, Morgan
finally had to ask a few questions about their week ahead.

“So,
if we're roughing it like the old days, where's our tent?” She
looked around dramatically and smiled as she raised her hands in
question. Manuel's lip rose slightly and it made her smile to know
that she could so easily amuse him.

“I'm
taking care of it.” Morgan nodded, and giggled.

“Let
me guess, you changed our plans and put us up in a five star resort
for the week?” She found that she enjoyed teasing the man, and
more so, that he enjoyed it as well. She also liked the fact that he
seemed determined to do things as he did with his family, which meant
so much to both of them. Some things, they both wanted to prove,
money couldn't buy.

“No.”
He pushed on her leg and drove slowly through the tall trees that
lined a very narrow dirt road. “I asked someone to help us, you
know, with all of the supplies that we'll need.” Morgan's head
fell back to the seat and she playfully scoffed.

“I
knew it! You threw some money around and you're probably having some
guy buy everything, drag it to our site, and set it up! And I thought
we were going old school.” She reached up and pinched the
inside of his arm.

He
pulled away, with a loud
ouch
, and pushed her arm away. “And
now you're attacking me? That's fine, see if I let you have any of my
food.” She pushed his arm and laughed when he grabbed it in
mock pain.

“You
have no idea what you're getting yourself into if you expect me to go
without food. No idea at all, buddy.” He nodded, and agreed
that it was something that he probably wouldn't want to see.

Their
banter continued over the next thirty minutes as they made their way
to their primitive site. It was far from any other campers, per
Manuel's request, and with the most beautiful view that Morgan could
have imagined. She barely noticed the pamphlet of park details that
he'd grabbed for her, and had shoved into her hand as he slowed the
vehicle. Again, she jumped out of the car before Manuel could park
properly.

“You're
going to hurt yourself if you....,”

Morgan
didn't pay attention, her eyes scanned every last detail of where she
would live for the next few days.

“
I've
never seen anything this beautiful!” The base of the mammoth
trees directly in front of her were nearly sixty feet around at their
base. Further from their site, they were even larger.
“It's...amazing.” She was in awe, even the sounds of the
ancient forest filled her very soul.

Their
site was almost entirely shaded, and completely surrounded by large
white boulders. Morgan looked down, and brought the pamphlet up to
her face, reading about the nature that she'd most likely encounter.
“Mannie! Look!” She held the paper up, and continued.
“There are like a dozen types of woodpeckers here...and owls!
Lots of owls. Oh! And Heron's, Chickadees and...oh my god!
Roadrunners! They have Roadrunners!” She heard his laughter as
his door shut, but all she could do was read and look around, hoping
to spot every bird displayed on the shiny paper.

Mannie
watched her, and knew that he'd made the right choice to take Morgan
to his favorite place. He also knew that they were in for one hell of
a week together.

Chapter
Three

“There
were a few campsites to choose from, but I had a feeling you'd like
this one the most.” Manuel wrapped his arms around Morgan from
behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“This
is amazing.” She placed her hands over his and laced her
fingers around them. In front of them was a small river, and Morgan
already knew, the sound of water splashing off the rocks would soothe
her to sleep at night. The trees were something that she just
couldn't get enough of looking at. On the way to the campsite, they
had even driven
through
one of them like a cave entrance. “It
brings me back to some of the best days of my life. The smells, the
sounds...” she squeezed his hands again, “perfect.”

“Are
you happy?”

“Yep.”
She giggled, and nodded. “Shit.” A mosquito landed on her
shoulder and was a reminder of one of the
benefits
of roughing
it.

“Don't
worry, I've got you covered. I also got something else for us...”
Manuel walked back to the SUV and opened the back hatch. There was a
cardboard box and a small cooler that hadn't been there before. He
took out the box first and handed it to Morgan, then pulled out the
cooler and walked back toward their site. “Open the box. Here.”
He handed her a knife and smiled when she took it in her small hands,
with the bright pink polish on her nails. “Are you sure you can
handle a week out here, Princess? You might chip a nail.”

Morgan
smiled back and flipped open the knife, and opened the box in
seconds. “I think I can manage.” She took out a can of
bug spray from the box and began spraying down her body. “What's
in the cooler? Beer? Please tell me it's beer?” They both
laughed, and Manuel shook his head.

“Better.”

“What's
better than beer right now?”

“How
about you start a fire and then you'll see.” Manuel took the
can of insect repellant from her hand and cocked his head to the
side, as he challenged Morgan's outdoor skills.

“Me?
Isn't that the man's job?” Morgan did a slow turn and faced her
back to Manuel, then bent over at the waist to pick up a stick from
the dirt. “But if you insist.” Again, she bent over
slowly and picked up another stick.

The
scenery
that Manuel was enjoying right then was much more
alluring than trees or water, and he was enjoying the fact that
Morgan most likely would never get their fire built.

Morgan
smiled, her back still to Manuel, and memories of hundreds of fires
that she had built, and sat in front of with her grandmother, filled
her mind. Most nights, the fireplace was their only source of heat on
a brutal winter night in Ohio. Her grandmother always told her that
it saved money to
turn the furnace down and the fire up
, and
Morgan knew that to be true, but she also knew that her grandmother
loved those nights together, and neither of them would have wanted it
any other way. Four minutes later, with the help of a few handfuls of
dry leaves, some twigs, and a little lighter that she dug from her
purse, and the fire was being
turned up
. Morgan stood and
brushed the dirt from her knees. “Anything else you need me to
do, big guy?” She winked, and Manuel's laughter filled their
nearly silent surroundings. He shook his head and offered a round of
applause.