Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (24 page)

Morgan instantly felt her body heat with anger. She
hadn't meant to be rude, and he had just insulted her on purpose. “I
was just trying to figure out...”

“
You don't need to figure me out, Morgan Holland.
That's not what your job is.” He winked at Morgan, then looked
back toward Gabe, who was now standing.

Morgan's brows came together tightly, and her fists
curled shut. It was obvious he knew what she did for a living, and
that was a terrifying thought. “What...how...” She shook
her head in disbelief. “How do you know...”

“
Morgan? What do you want to drink?”

Morgan turned to face Gabe, who was standing behind her.
“I...” She quickly turned back to John, and he was
already walking away from the salad bar.
Shit.
“I'll
have some iced tea, thank you.”

Gabe handed her a plate, concern on his face. “Is
everything alright?” She took the plate from his hands and
nodded.
No.

“
I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. I just had to ask
him...” She turned around to point toward John, and he was
gone. She scanned the restaurant and he was nowhere to be seen. “It's
nothing.” Her nerves were making her shake, but she had to keep
her cool. John knew who she was, and she was going to figure out why.

“
Are you sure? Was he bothering you? Do you know
him?” Gabe scooped two ladles full of minestrone soup into a
wide bowl as he machine-gunned questions at her.

Morgan grabbed a few pieces of lettuce with the plastic
black tongs and dropped them on her plate. Suddenly, she wasn't that
hungry for lunch. “Yes, I'm sure. Yes, he was bothering me, but
I went up to him first. And no, I don't
really
know him.”
Morgan didn't want to tell him that they'd met on her flight to
Australia. Having the words come out of her mouth made them seem even
more weird.
Yeah, he followed me around Sydney for a few days,
then flew to New Guinea. Wait!
Morgan realized she had only been
in Sydney for a few days, and she was pretty sure John had told her
he was going to be there the whole week, yet...he left when she had.
He's following me.

Gabe finished serving himself and sat down at their
table and Morgan followed closely behind. If John was following her,
then he was either a crazed stalker-killer, or he wanted something
else from her.
But..what could you possibly want?

“
Anyway. How are you?” Morgan popped a
crouton in her mouth and smiled at Gabe, taking him off guard. She
would find John again, and find out the truth, one way or another. If
he was following her, she
would
see him again.

“
I...uhm...are you
sure
you're
alright?”
“Yes, yes, I'm fine. Really.” Morgan
took another bite. “Are you?”

“
Yeah. You're a bit weird.” Gabe tossed a
cherry tomato at Morgan and she barely dodged it, and the two were
still laughing when it stopped rolling across the floor.

“
Is that how we're going to play?” Morgan
picked a pea out of her soup and was just about to retaliate when a
message came through to her phone, causing the whole table to vibrate
with the alert. Gabe looked down at the phone and Morgan pulled her
spoon back toward her face, and let the pea fly. It hit Gabe right
above his left eye, and Morgan lost all control of her own laughter.
“It..hit...” She set her spoon down on the table and
wiped a tear from her cheek. “It hit you...” All she
could do was manage to point at the spot the tiny pea had hit him, no
more words were audible.

Morgan was wiping another tear from her eye when Gabe
stood, reached across the table and slapped half of a buttered roll,
right to Morgan's forehead. It stuck there, and that made Morgan
laugh even harder. The fact she didn't remove it is what got Gabe
going, and in a matter of seconds, the whole restaurant was staring
at them.

“
If you could please not throw food in the
restaurant. I'll have to ask you to leave.” A short man with an
incredible beard approached the table, and with one hand over the
other across his stomach, he reprimanded the couple.

“
Wait,” Morgan closed her mouth tightly to
avoid another burst of laughter. It was hard to be serious when a
roll was stuck to your face. “Did you just tell us to leave, or
was that a warning?”

The short man huffed loudly, and as his attention was
directed toward Morgan, Gabriel loaded ammo into his straw. “I'm
letting you know that if anymore food is thrown in this
establishment, I will have to ask you to leave.” The moment his
sentence ended, several clumps of cottage cheese hit the side of
Morgan's neck as they were expelled from the end of Gabriel's straw.
“Leave!”

“
But I didn't throw it.” Gabriel put his
arms out defensively and Morgan laughed loudly as she wiped
pasteurized curds from her neck.

“OUT!”

“
Fine. Your food sucks anyway.” Gabriel
threw his napkin down, and Morgan pulled the piece of bread from her
forehead and dropped it to her plate. That sent the two into another
wave of laughter, that wasn't controlled for nearly ten minutes, even
as they walked down the street.

“
Morgan,” Gabriel breathed between a bout of
laughter.

“
Yes, darling?”

“
I can't tell you what a breath of fresh air you
are. I haven't...
lived
in a long time.” Morgan
understood, and offered a sincere smile in return. “I've just
been waiting and I...”

Morgan placed a finger on his lips to quiet him, then
took his hand in hers and began walking more quickly. “Which
way is the bakery?”

“
Back there,” Gabe pointed his thumb behind
him, then laughed when Morgan turned completely around and began
dragging him in the opposite direction. “Why?” She didn't
offer him an answer as they came to the end of the street, then made
a right turn. Morgan remembered where they were and she could get
them the rest of the way. A few minutes later, she pushed open the
front door and pulled Gabe in behind her. “Did you want
something?”

Morgan looked over her shoulder and nodded, “yes.”
She didn't stop in front of the counter as he had assumed, and
continued walking through the bakery, all the way to the back. She
guided him into the office and closed the door behind them, then sat
down on his desk, crossing one leg over the other. With one finger,
she motioned for him to come closer, but he didn't move.

“
No, Morgan. I...I can't.” The bakery had
been his wife's creation, and having sex with another woman brought
him to a reality he wasn't ready to accept.

“
Come here.” Morgan uncrossed her legs, and
unzipped her jacket enough to reveal the round curve of her cleavage.

“
I can't.” The words fell from his lips, but
his feet moved closer. He was standing directly in front of her as
Morgan began to pull at his belt. “Morgan.” One hand came
over hers to stop her, and he took a step backwards.

“
You know what this is, Gabe?” Morgan
unzipped her jacket a bit more. “Living.”

Gabriel swallowed hard. His mind told him no, and a
part of him wanted to run right then.
I can call Ida later and
arrange another room for you.
He looked into Morgan's eyes and
fought back the burning in his own. He closed his eyes tightly and
swallowed hard. Just as he was about to make his move, to call it all
off, Morgan's touch brought him to a new realization. Her hands crept
under his tee and around his sides, to his back. Her skin against his
felt...right. And
that
scared him. “Morgan, I...”

Morgan could see the struggle deep inside of the man
and wanted desperately to help. She knew that she could push him and
it would go one of two ways; he would retreat back into his shell, or
they would do something he wasn't ready for.
You can't save him.
Instead of pressuring him, Morgan wrapped her arms around his
waist and laid her head on his chest as she stood.

Instinctively, with no hesitation, his arms went around
her small body and for a few moments, he held her tightly against his
chest. Again, he just felt
right.
She curled her fingers
against his skin as she hugged him more tightly and she felt his body
soften. It didn't tense like it normally did when a woman touched
him, and it was something they both noticed without saying a word.

Gabriel pulled one arm away and gently put a hand under
Morgan's chin and met her bright green eyes once more. “You
really are beautiful, Morgan.”

She thought to argue, but took a note from her own book.
“Thank you.”

“
Even if you are afraid of...”

“
Don't you dare say it!” Morgan narrowed her
eyes at him playfully, and with no warning, his lips met hers in the
most tender and sincere kiss she'd felt in a very long time. It left
her speechless and breathless. “I...” She had no idea
what she had planned to say, but his mouth came down on hers again,
and it was different than the first kiss. He was sure of himself and
Morgan felt the confidence in the touch of his lips on hers. His arms
returned to her back and he pulled her close as his tongue searched
her warm mouth with a desire that warmed her entire body. She had
gone from teasingly tempting him into sex to a tigress ready to
pounce with one sensual kiss. His hands moved lower until they cupped
her ass, and their lips never left one another as he walked them
backwards until her ass was against the desk. One quick lift and he
placed her on top of it and spread her legs so he could stand between
them.

His mouth moved to her neck and his hand moved to her
jacket where he pulled the zipper the rest of the way down. It was
only then that he finally looked up, and to Morgan's surprise, a
smile fell across his full lips. “I want you, Morgan.”

“
Are you sure?” She hadn't meant to say it.
Again, the words fell from her mouth without thinking and she bit her
own swollen lip, regretting her words.
Way to ruin it, Morgan.

Gabe wasn't sure of many things he had felt in the prior
months, but at that moment, he was absolutely sure of what he wanted
and needed. He nodded slowly and kissed her again as he leaned
forward, pushing her backwards so he could access her zipper. It was
easily unclasped and his warm hand moved under the fabric of her
panties, and down to her heated desire.

“
Fuck...” He moaned as he felt the heat
between her legs. It had been over a year since he'd been intimate,
and he'd actually forgotten how amazing it was to explore a woman.
“You're so wet...”

Morgan leaned further back. “Take them off.”
She nodded toward her jeans and panties and Gabe quickly obliged and
threw her clothing on the chair by the desk. She sat back up and
quickly unfastened his belt and button, then pushed his jeans and
boxers to his ankles.

“
Oh. Wow...” His cock was thick, beautiful.
He was perfectly groomed and his manhood stood like a statue on a
beautiful landscape that begged to be explored.

“
Are you just going to stare at it or are we going
to fuck?” Gabriel brought her out of her spell and his
seductive smile sent a heated wave through her body. He grabbed her
legs and pulled her ass to the edge of the desk. Morgan wrapped her
legs around his waist and leaned back, propped on her elbows. With a
deep breath, Gabe took his first plunge inside of the gorgeous woman.
“Oh my god.” Morgan wrapped her legs tighter and her head
fell back as he filled her with his whole length.

His girth was more than she expected and Morgan bit her
lip to stifle a loud moan of pleasure from escaping to the rest of
the bakery. “Holy shit.”

“
Are you okay?” Morgan nodded quickly.

“
Fuck me, Gabe.” He gripped her hips tightly
and pulled her hard against him as he impaled her again. That time,
Morgan couldn't stifle her moan, and neither of them cared. Her
demand made his cock jerk inside of her and Morgan filled the room
once again with the sound of pleasure. “You feel amazing.”

Gabe leaned forward and kissed Morgan deeply as he began
to give her what she wanted. The desk banged against the wall as he
pushed inside, louder and louder until his final eruption of ecstasy.
The room was silent for several moments, aside from the heavy
breathing of the couple.
Holy shit!

Chapter Twelve

Morgan's phone vibrated in her pocket and she took the
opportunity to check it while Gabe was grabbing a snack from behind
the counter. The one that had just alerted her was from Angel. It was
a picture of her kitchen, and another picture of the master bathroom.
While the kitchen was nowhere near the melon color she had pictured,
it was a beautiful light green and she was glad she trusted Angel's
decorative instincts. The bathroom however, had been completely
remodeled and Gran's old tub that Morgan had spent many nights as a
little girl, was now a jacuzzi garden tub. In a way, it made her sad
to see Gran's porcelain tub disappear, but on the other hand, it was
her home now and a fresh look was what it needed.

The other message on her phone was the one that had been
delivered during their food fight. “Elena?” She hadn't
heard from her since she was in Ohio, and one quick look at the
message, Morgan knew that Elena hadn't meant for the message to go to
her. “Someone is going to fucking explain this to me.”
She didn't want anything to ruin her perfect mood, so she wouldn't
push the topic at the moment, but more people lying to her was a good
start to upsetting the young woman. Morgan was talking to herself
when she noticed Gabriel walking back toward her. She quickly stuffed
her phone back into her pocket, but she had to get to a private spot
soon and figure out what was going on.