Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (52 page)

“
I
love ye too.” One final kiss was shared, and Morgan watched as
Finlay loaded his things into a taxi, then climb in. Her flight was
only two hours after his, and if Burke were to drive them both,
Morgan was sure to miss her flight. Finlay had opted for the taxi,
which she was thankful for.

Morgan
finished packing, and before she knew it, she was loading her own
things into the back of Finlay's vehicle. She took a minute to say
goodbye to the dogs, and another minute to scan Finlay's room to make
sure she hadn't forgotten anything. “Can't forget you!”
Morgan pulled her phone charger from the wall, then tucked it into
her purse before climbing in beside Burke.

“
Yer
wee friend is a pain muh arse, Morgan Holland!” Burke set his
phone down on the center console, and backed out of the driveway.

“
Angel?”
Morgan giggled, wondering what her best friend could possibly have
done from Brazil, since she knew he was back home. She put on her
seatbelt, and sat back in the large leather chair as the house began
to disappear from view. She was sure the next time she saw Finlay's
home, it would be covered in snow, and she would certainly be making
use of her new boots.

“
He
called muh phone at two in the morning, asking for my grandson's
phone number!” Morgan giggled again.
That's my Angel.

“
Did
you give it to him?”
Burke turned his head slowly toward
Morgan, and lifted one of his hairy brows at her. Finally, with a
long exhale of air, he nodded. “Aye.” His grandson wasn't
quite as flamboyant as Angel, but from what he'd gathered from Angel
so far, he knew that they would be a good match for one another.

“
You're
the best!” She was so excited for her best friend, and couldn't
wait to call him to find out all of the details. That call would have
been awkward in front of Burke, so it had to wait.
Burke's
grandson. Who would have thought?

*****

“
Wow!”
Three hours later, Morgan was stepping off the plane in Norway, and
the temperature drop was dramatic. She had looked it up before she
left, and it had only been a few degree difference, but it felt much
colder. She knew as she came to the open part between the tunnels
leading into the airport, that the feeling was because of the wind.
“Shit!” Her long hair flew in every direction, and her
carry on bag suddenly felt like it weighed as much as she.
Thankfully, it was a short walk into the baggage claim, but she
wasn't looking forward to going back outside.

“
Morgan?”
She had just made it to the conveyor belt of luggage, when she heard
her name from behind. The accent was thick, and she smiled to herself
as she stood back to an upright position.

“
Yes,”
she answered, as she turned around. “Shit...” The word
fell easily from her lips. His eyes, they were absolutely
mesmerizing. The only other time she had seen eyes that blue were
Alrik's, and they nearly took her breath away. The rest of his
features were dark, but seeing the dark eyebrows and black hair
contrasting with his pale skin and light eyes in person was entirely
different than a photo online. She had only seen him with blonde hair
in his photo, but the dark was much better. His jaw line was
prominent and his hair hung just above his eyes in a messy style that
she was sure took him effort to achieve. He was tall, and more on
the thin side than muscular, but that didn't stop Morgan from
watching his arms flex as he reached for her pink bag.

“
So
very nice to meet you, I'm Markus.” Morgan let out a sigh of
relief. Too many times had her first word to a client been a foul
one, and she was glad he had either ignored it, or didn't hear it. He
took her hand in his after setting her bag down on the ground, then
kissed it softly. Markus had a titled, mischievous smile that Morgan
was already loving. He looked like the bad boy that your mother would
never let you date, but his charm would have eventually convinced her
otherwise. Tight jeans, brown boots, brown leather jacket. He wasn't
a city boy, that was for sure. He was absolutely beautiful, and
Morgan couldn't wait to find out what he was like. “We have a
long drive ahead of us, do you have to...” He pointed toward
the facilities and Morgan felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
Truth was, she did.
Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Morgan, and I have
to pee.
She shook her head back and forth, and hoped
long
drive
wasn't as long as it sounded. “Right, then.....you're
ready?”

Morgan
nodded again, and grabbed her carry on as she began to follow behind
him. Suddenly, she realized how rude she must have appeared. “It's
so nice to meet you too, by the way!” Her boots clicked quickly
across the tile as she tried to keep up with his long strides. “And
you're not blonde.” She smiled, hoping that her words were
heard as she intended them.

He
gave her a quick smile before opening the doors, back into the
outdoors. They went to the closest vehicle along the sidewalk, which
was a royal blue truck. It wasn't new, not even from that decade, and
Morgan let out another sigh of relief, knowing Markus was not high
maintenance. He tossed her belongings in the back seat, and went
around her side to open the door. Truck or not, he was still a
gentleman, and Morgan thanked him as she climbed into the lifted pick
up.

Chapter
Twelve

Fifteen
minutes of bouncing in the front of a truck had made Morgan's bladder
nearly scream. They hadn't spoken at all as Markus spent that time on
the phone with someone that seemed to be annoying him slightly. He
smiled on occasion, which Morgan enjoyed greatly, so he was obviously
speaking to someone that he cared about. Still, Morgan wondered, the
person on the other end wasn't making the man too happy.

“
I
will. I won't forget. I know. Yeah, I know. Okay... okay... I won't.”
Markus spoke the last of his words as he ended the call, then quickly
turned his phone off. “I'm sorry about that. Lately, it seems
that anytime I talk to my mom, my grandmother will pick up another
phone and add to the conversation.” Morgan smiled and
understood completely.

“
So,
mom wants you to get something for her?” Markus smiled and
nodded, assuming the mom talk was most likely universal in nature.
“Yes, she needs red potatoes for the pot roast tonight. She
read that pot roast was an American favorite, so she's been trying to
perfect it all week.” Morgan's eyes widened as reality sunk in.

“
We're
staying with your mom?” Morgan shook her head, then spoke again
without waiting. “And she's worried about what I'd like to
eat?” She laughed, not knowing exactly how to take it all in.
It was more than strange to have a family member, let alone a mother,
know why she's with a man. Markus nodded again, and tried to explain.

The
truck bounced wildly as the tires dipped into four large holes in the
country road they'd turned onto. “Sorry about that.” He
slowed down and Morgan giggled as she held her chest in place. “My
mom, Grace, lives on the property. Well, my whole family lives on the
property....,” he looked to Morgan as she nodded in
encouragement. “There are four houses on the family land. My
mom, sister, and my grandparents all live there. Then, of course, my
home.” Morgan nodded again, but was waiting to hear why mom
would have to know about her. “Right, about mom.” Morgan
smiled and leaned back slightly as she waited. “Well, I pretty
much tell her everything. I've used Julianne's service once in the
past, and it was nice. So... here we are.” He was silent for
several seconds, then was able to finish his thought. “The
truth is, I don't want anything more right now, and life keeps me too
busy to even think about it.” He looked at Morgan and she
smiled. Being busy was something she was also familiar with. She
loved several men, some more than others, but there was no way she
could get involved with any of them at that point in her life. “I
mean, I date. I just, don't have time to get serious with anyone.
And, well, a woman's company is... nice.” Morgan tried to relax
as the truck dipped again, and finally laughed.

“
Okay,
so you live with your whole family, at least, all on the same
property. You and your mom are close and she knows you hired me and
what you've hired me for.” It wasn't a question, but Markus
nodded in agreement. “And the rest of the family, do they
know?” Markus shook his head quickly, letting Morgan know that
the topic would be off limits in the company of the rest of the
family. “So... what are we telling them?” She giggled
again, and couldn't wait to hear his plan.

“
It's
already taken care of. We met in town when you were here on business
last month. We had a brief love affair at the time, and you came back
to spend a week long holiday with me.” He seemed quite proud of
himself and Morgan laughed again.

“
And
what exactly do I do for a living?” Markus smiled again.

“
You're
a model.” Morgan laughed out loud, knowing that she could never
pull off a career in modeling, but would still do her very best. “The
family believes that you didn't get to see much of the area when you
were here, so I've offered to show you around. Unfortunately, my
grandmother wants you to stay with her. She honestly thinks that
trying to impress everyone is what life is all about.” Markus
was also very quick to point out that Morgan would be staying with
him, despite his grandmother's wishes.

“
Is
that everything?” Markus nodded, and turned again to an even
smaller road. “Good, how much longer?” Markus looked at
Morgan, and his concern was obvious. “Oh, nothing is wrong.. I
just.. well, I have to pee.” He nodded, assuming she'd probably
had to go when she got off the plane. Morgan also wanted to change
the subject. Talking about family with a client was still a bit
uncomfortable.

“
Well,
it's going to be another hour at least so I'll find you something
before we get there. We'll go through another small village, then a
larger part of the city, which is Hamar. We live just on the
outskirts in the country. It should only be a few moments longer.”
Morgan laughed and was able to finally relax. He was a normal guy,
with a normal family, and she was in for a great week.
Finally,
just a week of fun.

Ten
minutes later, Morgan took out her camera and started taking pictures
of the approaching city. “Is that a castle?!” Morgan
pointed to the ruins that sat in the middle of a large field.

“
Was.
It was a castle.” He smiled at Morgan and she playfully smacked
his arm.

“
Oh!
Look at that! Is it.. a ship?!” Morgan eyed the upside down
vessel and tried to zoom her camera in enough to capture as much as
she could. They were still too far away for her make sense of the
structure.

“
Sort
of. It's an ice skating facility that was built for the Olympics some
years back. It's called, Vikingskipet. I'll take you there if you'd
like.” Morgan nodded and zoomed her camera again. She could
finally make sense of it, hearing the description from Markus, and
was quite ready for her visit to the upside down viking ship skating
rink.

Morgan
scanned the large lake that peeked occasionally through the
buildings. The water was breathtaking, and was most certainly nearly
freezing, but she looked forward to a walk along the beach
nonetheless. The buildings, however, were also screaming for her
attention, each slightly different from its neighbor yet fitting
perfectly together. It reminded her of Germany, and how the
architecture moved seamlessly from an ancient cathedral to a modern
candy shop. Time was taken to allow the old and new to mingle in
perfect harmony along every narrow passage.

“
Will
this do?” Morgan looked at Markus, and laughed.

“
Are
you kidding me? It's beautiful! I love it!” Morgan looked out
again at the buildings along the sidewalk and brought her camera up.
Markus lowered her arm and tried again.

“
I
mean, will this place do? For... uhm...,”

“
Oh!”
Morgan looked in front of them and realized they'd stopped. Markus
parked outside of a men's clothing store and Morgan hesitated a bit.
“Here?” Markus got out and met Morgan on her side of the
truck.

“
Don't
worry, I know the owner.” He took her hand and helped her down,
then guided her into the store. “Farfar!” Markus let go
of Morgan and pointed to the small hallway to the right as he greeted
the owner. Morgan nodded and immediately left his side.

“
Well,
thank goodness for, Farfar.... because a bitch has to pee!”
Morgan giggled as she took care of her business, then quickly washed
up so that she could check her phone. “Awe... I knew you would
write.” Mustafa sent a very brief text, telling her that he
would call her soon, and that was more than enough for Morgan. “I'm
so happy for you.” She shoved her phone back into her pocket
after she replied that she would be working all week but would call
him when she left Norway.