Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (91 page)

Morgan
wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, she felt uncomfortable with
the topic, on the other, she appreciated hearing something that was
almost foreign to her. “Thank you. I.. don't know what else
to say... most people just think that I'm...”

“Don't
let other people define you, Morgan. Never, ever do that!”
She went on to tell Morgan how jealous she was of her, how she could
never do what the young girl did. “I'm not talking about the
physical part, although I don't think I could do that either. You go
from place to place, where you don't even know the language, and
you're fearless! You meet new people, and you seem to enjoy it, not
run from it.” Morgan put her hand up to stop her, she couldn't
hear anymore of her friend's compliments.

“I'm
not, really.... I get scared sometimes and I do the wrong thing...
often.” Morgan had to fight a smile as flashes of her previous
mistakes broke the surface of her mind. “But thank you.”
The conversation had to end, at least change course, and Morgan sat
for a few moments trying to think of something to talk about. Evita
had already thought of a new topic.

“Well,
I guess I have enough on my plate anyway, I shouldn't meddle in your
affairs.” Evita looked out the window, and Morgan had to know
what was bothering her friend. She asked what was wrong, and Evita
didn't hesitate in telling her. “Well, I shouldn't burden you
with my problems... but.... Tomas and I have been...growing close,
and I thought we had something special between us.” She lifted
her eyes slightly, and continued. “Well, he told me that I was
a nice... what did he call it.... oh yes, a nice way to kill some
time since he's in between girlfriends.” Morgan's sharp intake
of breath caught Evita off guard, and she sat back quickly in her
chair.

“That
asshole! Oh, wait until I get a hold of him, I would never
have....!”

“My
dear, it's alright.” Evita was hiding a smile behind her hand.
“He didn't say that, I was just putting you in your friend
Angel's shoes. He stuck up for you, just as you would have done for
me. Now, does all of that make
me
immature for telling
you.... if it had been true?”

Morgan
sat back in her chair, relieved Tomas hadn't really said that, but
also stuck with getting hit in the face with reality. Of course,
she'd never blamed Angel for any of it, she knew he was only sticking
up for her. She took a long, slow sip of her coffee, then set it on
the table rather hard, making it splash over the side and onto the
table. After a few moments of thinking, she'd come to a conclusion.
“Thank you, Evita. You're right. I may mess up a lot of things,
but you know what? This isn't one of those times!” She picked
her cellphone back up, then with a nod of approval from Evita, she
pressed the call button.

“Hello,
lass,” Finlay's voice came through, much more calm than the
last time she'd spoken to him.

“Finlay,
I've done some thinking,” Morgan began and Evita nodded, then
gave her a thumbs up for her assertive tone.

“Aye,
as have I,” he replied, hoping to get his side of the story out
first. She wasn't going to let that happen.

“You
said I'm immature,” she told him.

“Aye,
I didn't mean it like that.”
“No, you did, and that's
the point. I'm young, maybe too young for you, but I'm not as
immature as you keep saying I am. In fact, if you call me that
again... or a child... we're done. Do you hear me? We... are...
done!” Morgan didn't know what came over her, that wasn't the
way she'd planned on handling the situation, but it just came out
that way. Across the table, Evita was gripping her coffee cup so
hard, her knuckles were turning white, waiting for the next bit of
juicy information. “And I'm allowed to have feelings, I just
spared you from hearing it. Or do you think I'm not supposed to feel
anything?”

“That's
ridiculous, Morgan and ye know it!”

“So,
I
can
have feelings, I just can't talk about it, right?”
Evita put her hands out in front of her then lowered them in a 'calm
down' kind of way. Morgan nodded, knowing she was getting worked up.
Of course, Evita wanted her to rip the Scot a new asshole, but she
also hoped to see things work out between them because it was more
than apparent Morgan cared about the man very much.

“Aye,
ye can talk aboot it. That's my point. I just wish ye would have
talked aboot it tae me instead of going aroond the globe and telling
everyone.” He spoke quickly, knowing Morgan would probably cut
him off if he didn't get everything out fast enough. His accent came
out thicker than usual, which forced her to pause a few moments to
understand what he'd told her. Once it was clear, she was pissed
again.

“I
didn't tell the whole globe! I told Angel! Just Angel, you know, my
best friend!” Morgan put her elbow on the table, then set her
forehead on her palm with a loud sigh. “He really is my best
friend, Fin. He stuck up for me, like a friend would do,” she
looked to Evita, who gave her another nod. “He knew I was hurt
and he thought he was helping, just like you and Sean stuck up for me
with...Portugal.” She didn't want to say Carlos' name, just the
thought of the man made her feel uneasy. Morgan didn't have anything
else to say about it, at least not at that moment. Finlay expecting
an apology from her was almost as if he were wanting an apology from
Sean for picking her up at the airport. She'd told Sean her problems
and that wasn't a big deal.
I guess it only matters when it's
about you.
Morgan didn't wait for an answer, she pulled the phone
away from her ear and hung up, then set it on the table softly.

“Well,
that went well,” she sighed again and grabbed her coffee.

“You
did great,” Evita reached across the table and took Morgan's
hand. Morgan wiped a tear from her cheek with her shoulder, then
managed a half-smile to her friend.

“Well,”
Morgan cleared her throat, “these eggs look really good.”
Both of the women laughed at Morgan's awful attempt at diversion, but
it did lighten the mood. A few moments later, Tomas returned and
joined them for breakfast. Things lightened up and their incessant
flirting actually brought a few smiles to the young woman's face. Her
mind was racing with things she should have said, but it was too
late. It wasn't the first time she had wondered if she lost the man
from her life either.
At least this time, I know I wasn't wrong.

By
the time breakfast was through and Morgan had already helped clear
off the table and help Evita feed Sofia, three more calls had come
through, all of which Morgan had ignored . Evita had questioned her
each time, urging Morgan to answer her phone, but she couldn't force
her to talk to the man. As the three of them were playing ball in the
back yard with Sofia and Morgan was talking to Evita about when the
puppies were due, a text message came through.

“Well,
I guess he knows I'm not going to answer,” Morgan laughed and
pulled her phone out of her pocket.

“But
you're checking the message, so obviously you care what he has to
say,” Evita pointed out.

Morgan
rolled her eyes jokingly, not wanting the obvious pointed out to her.
“Yes, I want to know what he has to say, I just don't want to
hear him say it.” Both ladies laughed and Tomas groaned.

“Woman
logic!” He threw his hands into the air, then went over to give
attention to the one female who didn't confuse him. Sofia was happy
to get the love.

“What
did he say?” Morgan laughed at how different Evita was since
she'd spilled her English-speaking secret. She also still thought it
was funny that Evita admitted that she hid her knowledge from English
speaking clients of Diego's so that they wouldn't expect anything
from her. Like work.

“It's
not him,” Morgan spoke, actually disappointed. It was a message
from Angel, giving Morgan an arbitrary countdown of the minutes
before she got to Rio. “It's Angel. I'm going up to Rio to
visit him on Friday,” she told Evita, then looked back to her
phone to find a picture of Angel to show Evita, that's when she saw
Finlay's message. Not a new one, but the one she'd kept forgetting to
read. She read the message in her head and her eyes burned with tears
as she read it again.
I wish I would have seen this sooner.

Chapter
Ten

“
What
does it say?” Evita asked after Morgan told her there was in
fact a message from the Scot.

“He
sent it a few days ago...it's a long one,” Morgan sat down on a
concrete bench on the back patio and took a deep breath. “I'm
sorry, lass,” she smiled as the words crossed her lips. It was
one of her favorite things in the world to hear. “I had a bit
to drink after your friend called me and I shouldn't have acted that
way. If you would have talked to me about my company, I would have
told you the truth. I contacted Julianne and requested company, only
to get my mind off of you for just a wee bit. It's hard
sometimes...dealing with that....” Morgan took another deep
breath and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I'll just tell you
though, I never touched her. I was looking for a temporary
substitute, but I realized, there will never be one for you.”

“That
is so sweet,” the unexpected voice of Tomas spoke up. “I
don't know what's going on, but...uh...” Both girls smiled at
the man and he went back to the dog. “Don't mind me!”

“I
think you need to call him,” Evita grabbed Morgan's hand
briefly, then a quick nod and she headed back inside the house to
give the younger woman some privacy.

“I
feel so stupid,” Morgan whispered to herself. She didn't feel
stupid about telling him how she'd felt, she'd meant all of it. He
had
been mad at her, he
had
been mad at Angel...but his
apology was nearly enough to make up for it. Really, she felt stupid
for not reading his message days prior because at that point, it just
appeared as if she had called him back just to pick a fight. “When
really, he just wanted to talk.” She sighed and stood from the
bench, then walked across the yard so she was out of earshot from
Tomas as well, then pressed the call button next to Finlay's contact
information.

“Fin...I...read...the
message...from the other day.” His silence on the other end was
not reassuring. “You didn't have to tell me...I mean...if you
did anything with her....”

“Aye,
but I thought ye should know.”

“I...it's
not about you seeing other people. I just...I couldn't understand why
you wanted to be with her....” Morgan felt ashamed with her own
words.

“Morgan,
I did not ask tae be with her. I just got back into the database
to...” Writing his feelings had been easier in a message, but
he had to say how he felt if they were to get over it. “I just
needed a distraction. They sent me Erika.”

“You
mean she went to you,” Morgan pressed her palm against her
forehead. Of course Finlay had never
chosen
her.

“Aye,
I'd met her before, but never cared much either way. Before ye came
tae me, it was just about the sex, if I'm being honest, but like I
told ye, none of the girls will ever compare. You set the bar too
high for the rest of Julianne's girls.” Morgan snorted out a
laugh. “If I had a choice aboot it, ye know I'd have picked you
tae be here with me.”

“I...I
guess I just got myself all worked up after I met her. At my party,
when Cade told me you had company, I didn't let it bother me But
then.... I don't know...I just blurted it out to Angel. If that
wasn't bad enough, I met her...”

“Ye
mentioned that. Nice wee woman ain't she?” Finlay actually
laughed that time. “Just a fookin barrel o' laughs, she is.”

“Oh,
she's a joy, Fin.” He went on to tell her that he'd actually
left the woman with Burke for nearly the whole week, only talking to
her when she needed food or to tell her he was too busy to 'fook'.
Morgan thought it was hilarious, thinking about the horrible woman
spending day after day with the glorious and personable Burke.

“Ye
know why I thought me boys were goin' tae hate ye?” Boys,
meaning William and Wallace. “They absolutely fookin' hate that
woman. I tell ye, I thought it was just a woman thing...”
Morgan burst into laughter again. How easily he could change her
mood. Not always for the better, but it was nice when he was making
her laugh. She also loved the fact that his dogs despised her.