Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (71 page)

She quit making up
hypothetical scenarios in her head when the car came to a skidding
halt, causing her to jerk forward. “Ow!”

“Are you alright?
Sorry...deer....” It took Morgan a second to realize he wasn't
just speaking words of endearment. When she looked out the window,
she saw one adult deer and two smaller ones, crossing right in front
of their car.

“Yeah, I'm
fine....they're beautiful.... darling,” she said as she admired
the animals. He could hear the smile in her words, and laughed when
she looked in his direction again. She was going to be fun since it
was clear already that the pretty girl had a great sense of humor.

“Yeah, but your rack is
better.” Colton winked at her, reminding her very much of the
Aussie and she couldn't help the flushing in her cheeks.
That
smile, too.

Their happy banter was
cut short when Morgan yawned loudly, which she apologized for when
the unladylike sound had finally come to an end. “Sorry.”
Colton just smiled, after all, it was nearly two in the morning.
Her three hour flight, adding in the two hour time difference, and he
couldn't blame her for being exhausted. He reached behind the seats
and brought up a heavy black coat.

“Here, use this for a
pillow.” He was trying to put it behind her head as they
drove, but she insisted that it wouldn't be a problem to stay awake.
What she didn't know was that Colton was a true gentleman, and he
wouldn't take no for an answer. If the lady was tired, she would be
permitted as much rest as she needed. Eventually, he won the small
battle and Morgan leaned against the coat.

“I'll just rest for a
minute.” She squinted at him, letting him know that she meant
business, and his soft laughter was the last thing she heard before
falling asleep by the slight movement of the large truck.

Chapter Four

The soft rain against the window
had turned into hail pellets that took Morgan from a semi dream
state, to straight up in bed. “Colton?” Why was she in
bed? Where's the truck? What day is it? The questions helped clear
her mind as she looked around the large room. “How did I sleep
through that?” Obviously, Colton had carried her sleeping body
into the house, and she had no memory of it whatsoever. “I
could never sleep through being carried anywhere.”

“Well, now you can't say
that... because you did.” Her cowboy walked into the bedroom,
nearly scaring her off of the bed. “It's alright.” He
laughed as he walked to the window and looked out at the storm that
was ruining his plans of a nice picnic with Morgan.

“Wow... sorry... again.”
Morgan looked around the sides of the bed to find a clock, it was
far too dark from the storm to get an idea of the time.

“It's ten.” She
turned her head quickly to question his mad mind reading skills, but
then another question came to mind. “Ten... in the morning.”
He laughed when she fell back onto the bed.

“My boss does that, she
can tell what my every thought is just by looking at me.”
Morgan pulled the blanket over her head and he heard her muffled
voice. “Now what am I thinking?” She giggled when she
heard his boots move across the wood floor.

“You're thinking that
you're hungry.” She pulled the blanket back off of her head
and sat up. “I heard your stomach. Come on, I'll make
breakfast.”

“You're an angel!”
She pulled the blanket off and was happy to see that she was still
dressed in the same clothes as the day before. Not that she would
mind a little cowboy time, but she had hoped that she would at least
be awake for it. “I'll...uhm...be right out.” He nodded
and with a quick smile, he left the bedroom. Morgan was left to check
out the room that was... “Texas.” It was her only word as
her eyes scanned the area.

The blanket in which she'd
pulled over her head had a huge Texas flag in the middle of it and
the same thing hung across one of the wooden walls. There were also
two large, brass stars on either side of the flag, and in the center
of the wall, directly in front of her, was a huge long horn steer
that nearly made her shriek when she made eye contact with it.

His room, although quite cozy,
reminded her of a barn. “But with furniture, and no animals.
Except you,” she told the bull as she walked past him toward
the bathroom. “I'm keeping an eye you,” she told him.
When she walked into the bathroom, she had no idea how she was going
to force herself to leave it. The tub wasn't spectacular, probably
couldn't even fit two people in it like many of the others, but it
was also cozy. Everything about it, from the continued country theme
of the bedroom, to the thick rugs on the floor, to the light colored
wood that surrounded the room. “I like it.”

Morgan walked back out into the
bedroom, stooped down to her bags, then found an outfit. She also
grabbed her carry on bag that held all of her cosmetics. In a few
minutes, she had her hair combed, teeth brushed, and in a long
sleeve tee shirt and jeans.
It's not a cute tank and shorts kind
of day.

It was weird for Morgan,
to see the home from the inside before even seeing the exterior. She
had no idea if the home was small or four stories and there was no
way to tell until she found her way to the hallway. There was only
one way to go, left, which helped a bit with the
find-the-kitchen-mission. When she came to a staircase, it was
obvious the home was at least two stories, and she looked over the
rail from the second story loft. The living room, dining room and
kitchen were all wide open, and the light wood walls and floors were
absolutely beautiful.

She ran down the stairs and met
Cotlon in the kitchen. “I really like your home. It's
so...inviting.”

“Well, you look good,”
he told her, cracking an egg against the counter. “Wanna help?”

“Oh, no. I think you're
handling it pretty well,” she pointed to the eggs that were
crackling in the oil in front of him.

“Well, I need more
eggs...” He gave her a sideways smile, one that told her she
was in for some kind of instructions. “Come here.” He set
the spatula down, then held his hand out for her. Morgan hesitated
for a moment, then took his hand and he guided her over to the
window.

“Wow.” It was hard
to make out through the rain, but she saw a huge barn in the
distance. She couldn't wait to find out what was inside, but that
could wait until the rain sto... “oh.” She finally
understood what he'd meant by needing more eggs. “Y'all,”
she mocked him, “don't go to the store to get your eggs, huh?”

“Come on,” he
twirled her around in a circle in his kitchen, then pulled her across
the living room, toward the front door of the home. Once there, he
wrapped a rain coat around her shoulders and she slid her arms
through the holes, then passed her a pair of rain boots. “They'll
probably be too big on ya, but you'll live.” Colton laughed at
the look she made toward the boots, then grabbed a hat from a coat
hook and threw it on his head then slipped his feet into his own pair
of boots. He didn't really need eggs, but it was a good way of
throwing the city girl into his world, head first.

Morgan hobbled over to the door
giggling at the huge boots on her feet and followed him out onto the
front porch. “I'd race you there, but...” she pointed
down and they both laughed again. By the time the two walked up the
large hill to the barn, the rain had turned to a near mist that was
more annoying than anything, but it was better than being pelted in
the face by the larger drops.

“Holy shit. That's a lot
of fuckin' chicken!” Colton's laughter echoed through the
chicken coup at Morgan's observation.

“Yup.
Three-hundred-seventy-six, last I checked. Here,” he passed her
an empty carton and nodded toward the chickens.
Well, what the
hell am I supposed to do with this?
He could read her facial
expressions, just as he'd done earlier, but he was going to see what
she'd do.

Morgan narrowed her eyes at him
for his lack of directions and walked over to a largest white hen on
the middle shelf.
Do I just grab the eggs from...
“Oh
shit! No! No, no, no! They bite! She bit me!” She had stuck her
hand under the chickens breast, reaching for an egg, and the hen made
it loud and clear Morgan had done something wrong.

“She didn't bite you,”
he laughed and walked closer to Morgan, so close, she thought for a
moment he was going to kiss her, but he didn't. Instead, he opened up
a little door, underneath the chicken and Morgan saw the small stash
of eggs.

“Oh, why didn't I look in
the trap door?! And yes, she did bite me!” Morgan huffed and
grabbed a few of the eggs, then gently laid them in the carton. When
the two of them raided the chickens' compartments until over two
dozen eggs were collected, they made a quick dash to the house before
the sky opened up again. The rest of the eggs would be removed by
the few ranch hands that were out and about on the property.

They
removed their coats and boots on the porch, but the cool wind forced
Morgan to run inside first. “I can't believe it! It's
actually a little cold here!” She ran her hands down her arms
and waited for Colton to finish what he was doing, then he joined
her.

“It
gets chilly now and then, especially during a storm, but I'll have
you warmed up in no time.” His smile had already warmed her,
but she was up for whatever he had in mind. Coffee is what she was
hoping for right that second.

“You are a mind reader!
I knew it!” The smell of coffee filled the living room and
drew her straight to the kitchen. “I didn't even know that you
had started a pot before dragging me through the back forty... in a
downpour.... to get bit by a chicken.” Morgan was already
helping herself to a large mug that was hanging on an antiqued wooden
peg above the pot as Colton made his way to her side.

“She didn't bite you.”

“She did!” They
argued a little longer while he kept his promise about breakfast, and
the two were almost like old friends by the time they were both
seated with their home cooked meal.

Morgan moaned softly as she
took her first bite of the fresh farm eggs. “This is so good!”
She almost felt guilty for stealing the chicken's eggs, but having
her first farm fresh meal had taken care of most of the guilt.
“Well, I guess I had it coming, I would bite someone too if
they stole my eggs.” Colton nearly spit his coffee across the
table, laughing at the intriguing girl.

“If you think that these
were baby chickens, you can ease your mind. Hens lay eggs all the
time, and I don't have a male in the coup.” He took a bite and
smiled at her confused face. “They weren't fertilized...
so.... no babies inside.” Slowly, Morgan nodded. “Normally
they're running all over the place, but I always bring 'em in before
a storm.”

“Oh. Oh! Then I don't
feel guilty at all!” Their small talk continued until Morgan
began to wonder why a fun and very handsome man like Colton had paid
for her services. It was time to get nosy, and she was getting quite
used to asking the most important question.

“So, why am I here?”
Morgan casually took another drink, and put her cup down in front of
her as if she had just asked for the time. Colton had been caught
off guard, but recovered quickly.

“Hmmm.... I'll answer
that if you answer a question for me.” Morgan smiled and
nodded, there was very little in her life that she wouldn't talk
about. “Your last client, what was he like?” That was
completely unexpected, and she didn't recover quite as quickly as he
had. She took another sip to buy her a little more time.

“Well... he was...
serious. I mean, he was a little fun, but all he cared about was
work. I.. wasn't... exactly what he was looking for.” Her
eyes went to her lap and Colton suddenly felt anger toward the
asshole that made her obviously uncomfortable.

“You mean, he sent you
away? Who the hell would do that to you?” It was a serious
question, at least on Colton's part, but Morgan found it funny. Her
laughter had brought a slight smile to his face, but he still wanted
to know.

“The
truth is, he wanted a robotic professional to sit in on his meetings
and to do everything, well, perfectly. I thought he just needed to
loosen up, so I tried to make him laugh all the time. He thought I
was.... too laid back. So, he asked for someone else before his
big
meeting.
” Colton
understood, but he still thought the guy was an ass for sending her
away. “So, why am I here?” She had made it through her
explanation about Kai, so she felt entitled to hear the answer to her
question.

Colton leaned back in his chair
and Morgan's eyes soaked in the view of a very wide chest that
narrowed at his circular silver belt buckle. “My brother and I
own this ranch. Well, I own most of it, so I work it the most.
Kyle, that's my brother, he tends to other interests in the oil
business. Anyway, if you didn't notice, I don't exactly live near
anything remotely civilized.” Morgan nodded as he spoke, their
run to the barn had given her a view of acres and acres of land. “It
was Kyle that actually suggested that I... you know... get in touch
with your boss. He thinks I get too lonely out here. And, the truth
is, I do.” Morgan asked a few more questions, and she found
out that he typically works from sun up to long after dark. His body
was a testament to that part, but she still couldn't understand why
he didn't have help to work such a large ranch.