Read Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 Online

Authors: Brandi Ratliff,Rebecca Ratliff

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica

Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (7 page)

BOOK: Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30
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Her
fingers grabbed the next page and she flipped it over. “Gio,”
she laughed out loud and flipped the page. “Aiden.” He
wasn't an option, they hadn't even talked since she'd left, but it
reminded her that she'd have to get in contact with him soon, just to
check up on him. She flipped the page. “Alrik. That's an
interesting thought.” Next page. “It's not Jake. Not
Tyler, either,” she added, flipping to Canada's page. She
skipped quickly over Portugal and then over the two after that. Lucas
and Awstin weren't likely suspects either. “I need a drink.”

Morgan
went back into the house and grabbed herself a glass of wine, then
went to her warm chair on the balcony and opened the book once more.
“Where were we? Ah, yes. Vlad. Now, there's a sweet man. But
no, very unlikely. Moving on...” She took a sip and flipped the
page. It definitely wasn't Kai and she didn't imagine the twin cowboy
from Dallas was wanting to tie the knot either. On to Argentina,
“nope, not you, Diego. Oh, Fane. You were something else...but
not my mystery proposal. Neither are you, Jordy.” Her list of
men came to an end and she felt no further ahead. Her heart still
believed it was Finlay or Sean..leaning more toward the Scottish one
than the either, but it at least settled her own 'it could be any of
them' thought.

Just
then, one of the big seagulls swooped onto the balcony and yelled out
loudly, announcing its arrival. The sound made Morgan drop her
scrapbook to the ground and before she picked it back up, she shot a
glaring look at the nuisance bird, then shooed it away. Her book had
flipped open toward the back and when she laid it back out on her
lap, she gasped loudly at what she saw. Morgan wanted to kick
herself for not realizing it sooner. “Michael.” He
wasn't even in the equation of suspects because she was only thinking
about clients.

Chapter
Six


Voicemail.
Shit. Michael.. hi! This is Morgan, uh... hey... I was thinking
about you, and.. give me a call when you can. Okay... bye.”
Morgan hit the end call button quickly and rolled her eyes at the
sound of her own voice. She never was good at leaving messages, at
least in her mind, but her bravery would have faded too soon and the
call would have been put off. Possibly indefinitely. She had worked
through her guilt of changing her mind about leaving the mystery man
in the dark, and took a bold leap by calling the next man on her list
of suspects.

Morgan
had no sooner put her phone beside her on the lounge chair when a
text, not a call, sounded loudly. It was Michael, and what he sent
her was quite unexpected at the time.
Hi. Awkward. On a date.
Miss you.

She
read the message a few times, then finally smiled at the news. He
certainly wouldn't be on a date if he were expecting an answer to a
proposal, even if it had been just a joke.

Just
as she had done with Tanner's news, Morgan sent another text to Angel
to tell him that Michael was no longer a suspect. She didn't mention
the dating part because Angel was far too protective of his Sticky
Buns, which was ridiculous considering what she did for a living, but
she knew her best friend well enough to know what to say and not to
say to avoid his wrath.

She
stretched out on the long chair and closed her eyes, letting reality
wash over her in a sea of welcome knowledge that only her current
situation could have brought her. Michael was on a date, and she
didn't care in the least. In fact, she was happy for the man, and
wished him well. They had agreed to keep it casual, of course, and
Morgan meant it when she told him that they were to continue with
their lives as they always had, and whatever happened... happened.

“And
then there were two.” She started to sit up to take another
sip, when her client walked out to join her. “Shit!”
She spilled her wine all over her legs and stood at the same time as
she was attempting to wipe the liquid from her skin. “Sorry, I
didn't hear you come in.” His laughter got her heart to slow
down a bit, and she joined him as she stood on her tip toes to kiss
the smile on the gorgeous mans lips.

“Hmmm,
how about we get you more than a liquid meal?” His eyes moved
down to her legs as he held her at arm's length to take in the
damage. Morgan nodded quickly, and gave him one more kiss before
running to the bathroom to clean up and change for the afternoon.
Ian missed her rear end when he attempted a quick swat, and shook his
head as he sat in the chair that she had just left.

Morgan's
pink scrapbook was still open, displaying the handsome, Michael. He
picked it up and looked behind him, into the main room through the
patio doors. Morgan was in the bathroom, and he took a deep breath
as he opened to the front page to find out what secrets the book
held. Ian wasn't a busy body by any stretch, but Morgan interested
him to the point of wanting to know more about her, so a quick look
wouldn't hurt.

There,
in the front, was of course Finlay Campbell. Ian noted him as a very
large man, very intimidating as well. Not that Ian was small, maybe
only a few inches shorter, but muscle wise, the Scot had quite the
upper hand. He read Morgan's notes around the page and suddenly felt
horrible for reading her secrets, but something kept him going and he
flipped to the second page. He read her notes about Tanner as well,
then Dante's. He was reading her notes about Sean and how he'd been
the one to pick her up from Portu...

“Having
fun?” Morgan leaned up against the doorway, wearing a fresh
pair of shorts and no longer wearing the sticky pink wine down her
thighs. She raised an eyebrow when he slowly closed the book and set
it down beside him.

“I...uh...sorry,”
he told her, then stood and pulled at his tee shirt nervously. Morgan
had been the one who'd left it open, but he was the one who'd taken
it upon himself to snoop around.

“Find
anything interesting?” Morgan giggled, then took a step forward
and wrapped her arm around his, then they walked into the house
together.

“Are
those your clients?”

“Most
of them, yes.” The only exceptions were Angel, Michael, Angela,
and a few pages of other butlers, including Burke, Evita and Tomas.

“You
put all of them in there?” Ian prodded again.

“Well,
I have a page for each of them, even the ones who...didn't...work
out...” She chose her words carefully. Ian caught on that it
was a sensitive subject and dropped it for the time being. He was
curious though why she wouldn't work out with any of them, but it was
a question for later, if at all.

“I
saw something about the fish charm...I guess these,” he gently
grabbed hold of her bracelet, “are from these guys too?”

“Most
of them,” she answered again, then laughed and released his
arm. “Are you going to drill me all day with questions or take
me out to eat?”

“Well,
I'd like to
drill
you all night, but I suppose we should eat,
yeah?” Morgan nodded and smiled as she walked toward the
kitchen island to retrieve her purse. The man had a million more
questions, but the fact that she personally cared about her clients
was what he really wanted to learn, and his discovery was well
received.

“We
could have food brought up. I know the owner of this place.”
Morgan cocked her head to the side, then turned around slowly and
pressed the button near the elevator. Just as she anticipated, Ian's
hands wrapped around her hips and she felt his hot breath against the
back of her neck. Morgan's soft moan of approval brought his lips to
her ear, then he placed one of his hands over hers and pressed the
elevator button again, stopping it from arriving at their floor.

“Then
I think he could make some calls,” his deep voice whispered in
her ear, sending chills up Morgan's back. “What would you
like?”

Morgan
turned back around to face Ian. “Pizza,” she paused for a
moment, “and then you.”

As
usual, Ian laughed at her boldness. “Pizza it is then.”
Morgan stood on her toes again and gave the man a kiss before he
pressed the button for the doors once more. “We don't have any
downstairs, but there is a great place not too far from here.”
The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, but stopped them
from shutting. “Don't write too much about me while I'm gone,”
he joked and Morgan stuck her tongue out at the man as he disappeared
behind the heavy doors.

“Well,
I could write that you're fantastic in bed, you have a great smile, a
perfect ass......” She giggled and shook her head back and
forth, then made her way into the kitchen. He was an easy client, she
had to give him that much. It was a good week for her to have a man
like that too. He only wanted physical company and she needed the
distraction from her real life drama anyway. It was a win-win.

“But
boring,” she reminded herself of the fact that Ian was usually
away unless it came time to eat or play. Morgan poured herself a new
glass of wine and took a long sip. She was left to entertain herself,
which under the circumstances wasn't a bad thing either. If she
hadn't been given the time to think, she'd probably explode with
emotions.

Morgan
took her wine with her back out to the balcony, then remembered her
scrapbook and stored that back in her bag before making herself
comfortable outside. The sky was absolutely beautiful, and Morgan
pulled out her phone to take a picture for Angel, but she noticed
she'd missed a message from the man himself.
Stick, you gotta call
Fin. Or Sean. Just figure it out. You're driving my ass insane.

“I'm
driving
you
insane!?” Morgan huffed and set her phone
down beside her. “I'm not calling either of them,” she
announced and crossed her arms in front of her, taking a stand
against her best friend who was hundreds of miles away.

She
wondered why the hell she had just agreed to stay in for the day, and
Morgan promised herself to do some sightseeing very soon. In the
past, she wasn't one to sit around for too long, even when she could
barely afford to put gas in her old decrepit car. It was nice to get
back to parts of her old life that she loved, and mix them with her
new life that she was still learning about.

Just as memories started to fill her mind of her prior apartment, and
all that she hated about it, her phone rang out from her back pocket.
“Angel!” Without looking, she answered the phone to
tell the man one more time that she didn't plan to call anyone.

“I
told you, it's not going to happen... so stuff that in your wet
underoos!”

“Lass?
My
underoos
aren't wet.” Finlay's sensual, and highly
humored voice left her speechless for several moments. “Yer
wee friend said ye needed te talk te me. I'm listening.”
Morgan sat on the lounge chair, feeling numb and angry at the same
time. Her words had to make a surface, she knew that much, so she
took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and willed the right ones
to leave her lips.

“Fin...
I'm sorry he called you. I.. uh.. I just,” she had no idea
what Angel had said to him, so finding the right way to get the
information from him was making the situation that much worse, “I
told him that I missed you and he must have taken it a little too...
seriously. So.. how are you?” It was a terrible effort, but
it was all she had at the time. Finlay laughed into the phone and
easily held the conversation for her.

“I
think yer friend is trying te play matchmaker. I can't say I mind
it, though.” It was way too easy, and she instantly wondered
what he meant by it.

“He
just.. gets ahead of himself sometimes. He means well. So, what have
you been up to? Anything... interesting?” Morgan's eyes were
still closed tightly, and she tried her best not to hold her breath
after each word she spoke.

“Eh,
Sean's mum's in the hospital. Not te worry, she'll be fine. The old
girl took a fall, Sean says she tripped over a box of sheep that she
was tryin' to find a proper place for. I've been at the hospital
with him, and tryin' te work from there.” Morgan's eyes flew
open, and she stood again then began to pace.

“When?
When did she fall?” Finlay explained that it was nearly two
weeks prior, but she had to endure two surgeries over that time. He
also told Morgan that Sean had been so worried about her, that he
hadn't left the old woman's side one time since she was admitted.
“Two weeks ago?” It was all she needed to cross one more
man off the list, because Sean certainly didn't take time from
worrying about his mom to play games with a ring for Morgan.

BOOK: Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30
7.18Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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