Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (125 page)

“Well,
if I don't have a chainsaw, I guess a spork will have to do.”
She took the white half-spoon, half-fork, from his fingers and put it
back on the table, and both of them laughed until Morgan grabbed her
side in pain again. “Son of a headless horseman! I'm sorry, I'm
not going to be much fun right now.” She tucked one hand under
her pillow, and grabbed his free hand in hers again, putting it back
against her chest.

“I
don't care what we're doing, Love. I just enjoy being with you.”
He kissed the spot between her shoulders, then put his head back on
the pillow beside her.

“You're
sweet,” she whispered. Her eyes were beginning to get heavy,
and she wondered if the pain pill the doctor gave her was making her
suddenly very tired. “But you don't have to spend the day in
bed with me.” Morgan was having a wonderful morning, and had
planned on a great day. She could deal with the fact her plans for
the day were over, but she felt guilty for ruining his day as well.”

“Just
relax. If you feel better later, we'll go get dinner or something. If
not, I'm perfectly alright with this.” His words were the last
thing she remembered, as she fell asleep. Tanner smiled as her tiny
snores took place of the silence in the room, and soon, he too fell
asleep.

Two
hours passed before Tanner's arm had fallen so numb, the pain of
moving it forced him awake. “Damn.” His whispered curse
fell from his lips, as the painful tingles began to take over. Morgan
was still snoring, as he slowly pulled his hand from underneath her
pillow, and was relieved that she didn't stir.

He
got up to use the bathroom, and grabbed Morgan's leftover pizza on
the way back to the bed. Even if they did eat later, he needed
something in his stomach. The two slices in the box weren't much
though; at least not for Tanner, someone who could easily finish a
large pizza on his own. He quickly scarfed those down, and decided to
go to the lobby to grab something else to snack on. A quick kiss to
Morgan's cheek, he put his shoes and went back through the connecting
door to his own room.

The
only thing he needed was a fresh shirt, since spooning for a few
hours had caused him to wrinkle the one he was wearing. After a quick
change, he was ready to go.

Tanner
opened the hotel door, and the first thing he saw, was a man in the
hallway. He was standing in front of Morgan's door, and although he
was wearing a suit, Tanner was pretty sure the man didn't belong with
hotel staff. “Can I help you?” Tanner's tone was direct,
as he closed his own door and took a step toward the greasy-haired
man.

Carlos'
eyes widened, as he quickly tried to think of something to say. He
wasn't quite prepared to speak to anyone, as his only plan had been
to knock on Morgan's door, and invite himself in. He got his facial
expression under control and nodded, as his hand gripped his cane
firmly. “Ah, I have received a call for room service. The woman
in here is having trouble with her,” Carlos thought of the word
for a moment. He was fluent in English, but some words were more
difficult to remember. “Thermostat.”

Tanner
took another step forward. Something seemed suspicious about the man,
but he wasn't going to make assumptions. Maybe the employee just had
the wrong room. “My wife is sleeping in there, and neither one
of us called about the...thermostat.”

Carlos
gripped the silver serpent on top of his cane even more tightly and
nodded slowly.
Wife? Then this can't be Morgan's room. Fuck!
He
had been lied to, and that was not something that would be taken
lightly. “I do apologize. There must have been
a...
misunderstanding.
”

Tanner's
brows came together and he stood between the two hotel doors until
the strange man was out of sight. “Fucking creeper.”

Chapter
Five

Morgan
woke to a dark room, with no gorgeous Aussie in sight. “I don't
blame you, Tanner. I would have left too.” She pushed her hair
away from her face as she slowly sat up in bed. “So far...so
good.” The pain was gone and all she felt was tired, and weak.
“Thank God!” She put her legs to the side of the bed,
again, making sure the pain wouldn't return, then finally stood and
stretched her body.

She
walked across the room, remembering the words of the doctor.
It's
nothing to worry about. You'll feel right as rain by morning.
Well, she thought, it wasn't morning yet but she was feeling like her
old self again.

Her
legs shook slightly as she took a bottle of water from the small
refrigerator, and her plan for the night was settled. Call Tanner,
talk him into a scary movie, and cuddle the night away. “After
a shower.”

Five
blocks from her hotel, Tanner was waiting for his dinner order to be
prepared. He'd checked on Morgan three times during the day, filled
her prescription, bought a gorgeous bundle of Hawaiian wild flowers,
and was just waiting on two orders of chicken fettuccine alfredo. It
was everything that he could think of to make her feel better, and he
was anxious to get back to the room.

“You've
got
to be fucking kidding me!” Tanner turned around at
the obnoxiously loud voice right behind him. Kole stood not a foot
from Tanner, a look of disgust on his normally handsome face. “Let
me guess....you're here for the Morgan orgy too? Fuck, does she just
carry you assholes from place to place? Hell, maybe I should get in
on the...”

The
sound of Tanner's large fist connecting with Kole's chin could be
heard throughout the small restaurant. People stared and some covered
their mouths in shock as the large Hawaiian fell straight back.
Tanner was on top of him, legs spread wide across Kole's chest as he
beat the man senseless in the middle of Rosa's Italian Eatery. It
took a full minute of flesh pounding for three large cooks to come
out from the back and pull Tanner off of Kole. They struggled to get
him to his feet as Tanner was far from finished. “You get near
her again, and so help me... this will seem like a fucking Sunday
picnic!” Tanner was removed from the place, and a little woman
ran out behind the four and handed Tanner a brown bag containing his
order. Old woman Rosa didn't care about the ruckus, she never
refused a customer. Tanner stared into the restaurant as he took
the bag and shook his hand hard to relieve the pain that Kole's face
had caused. The thought of going back in was more than tempting, but
Kole wasn't trying to get up, he had submitted, and that would have
to do.

Morgan
had just stepped from the shower and had wrapped herself in a large
fluffy black robe. The shower did wonders to soothe her mind and
body, not to mention the fact that her own monthly curse had ended.
It was then that she was thankful that everything had happened while
she was taking time off, because there's no way she could have dealt
with it all while with a client. She was just brushing out her wet
hair when she heard Tanner return.

“Hey,
I'm in here.” Tanner's face appeared around the corner and he
smiled at the red cheeks and smiling face he saw in return.

“Feeling
better, I see. Hungry?” Morgan nodded and Tanner told her to
join him when she was ready. When there's food involved, Morgan could
be ready in seconds. “Or...come on out right now.” They
both laughed as Tanner spread the dinners on the small counter, and
Morgan moaned loudly at the sight and scent of her meal.

“Oh...wow!
This looks incred ...Tanner! What the hell happened!?” Morgan
grabbed Tanner's hand, the one that beat the hell out of Kole and was
covered in blood from a few small cuts on his knuckles. He quickly
put his hand over the sink, and turned the water on to wash it away.
Tanner cursed himself mentally for not noticing the blood, and he
shook his head with knowing that he then had to explain what had
happened. “Talk Tanner. What happened?” Morgan folded her
arms across her chest and waited. Tanner washed himself and wrapped a
small towel around his fingers. He turned towards Morgan and took a
deep breath before speaking.

“I
ran...into Kole. He...he said some things and I lost my temper.”
He was quick to add, “I don't regret it, I just...”

“Didn't
want me to know?” Tanner nodded, waiting for Morgan's temper to
flare. Instead, she stood on her toes and kissed his tanned cheek.

“I
don't need to know anything else. Let's eat.” Tanner smiled and
got back to their food, and was grateful that Morgan didn't press for
more information, nor yell at him for fighting. He hated that she'd
heard and seen enough concerning Kole that she couldn't bear another
word about him, but happy that he didn't have to explain more. “And,
I'll take care of your hand after dinner.” She put her arms
around his waist and nuzzled his chest with her cheek. “Thank
you for defending my honor.” He felt her smile, as he hugged
her tightly for several moments.

That
night went exactly as Morgan had planned. She enjoyed a delicious
dinner, with pasta and Parmesan bread and a fresh salad, then fixed
up Tanner's hand as promised. Afterward, they found a scary movie,
something about a clown...in which Morgan had discovered Tanner's
fear of the colorful beings. They spent hours giggling as Tanner
jumped and covered his eyes. It was just what she needed to take her
mind off of the day's events, and rekindle her relationship with
Tanner.
Whatever that is.

Their
time together reminded Morgan of the first week she had spent with
the man. The laughter, the cuddling, the tickling, the good food. She
missed it. She missed him.

Tanner
ended up falling asleep first, and Morgan stayed up another half an
hour, finishing the movie and absentmindedly running her fingers
through his long hair. She was so thankful Tanner was there, but
there was one thing she knew for certain as she looked down at his
bruised knuckles.

I
can't stay here another day.

She
thought she could handle Kole on her own, and she probably could
have. At the very least, she could have made sure Kole was never
going to be near 'Ele's home when she was there,
but the
deciding factor for Morgan, was the fact she and her friends would
never be
sure
.

Can't
even go pick up food without the bastard starting shit.
Morgan
inched her body down the bed and placed her head on Tanner's chest
and closed her eyes.
I won't have him hurting anymore of the
people I love.

*****

“She's
not there. I paid you to find her, and she's not fucking there!”
Carlos was back in his hotel room, and resting his leg on several
pillows on a chair. The walk to Morgan's hotel had taken its toll on
his body, and his leg had become swollen and nearly unbearable to
walk on. He was in for the night, but that wasn't going to stop him
from getting answers.

“The
pictures I gave you were from this morning and yesterday. You are
clearly able to see her room number, and I assure you that
is
her
room.” Mendez had gone to the hotel, and had watched Morgan
enter her room with his own eyes. He had even seen her taking her
coffee on the balcony, that very morning.

“Then
she has a
husband
?” Carlos didn't understand. Mendez had
done work for him in the past and had never let him down before.

“Maybe
she was moved to a different room. Tomorrow, take something to be
delivered
to her, and find out what room she is in.”
Mendez chewed on the toothpick between his lips, and rolled his eyes
as he laid down on his own bed.
Fucking idiot.

“I
paid you to find her,
you
find out what room she is in!”
Carlos sat up and jerked his leg, causing him to grit his teeth in
pain.

“You're
right. You paid me to find her. I did. You want this, you pay extra.”
Mendez hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

“Fuck
you.” Carlos set his phone down and let out a long breath of
air. “Fine. I'll find you myself, Morgan Holland. I'll find
you.”

*****

“I
understand,” Tanner chewed his eggs slowly and nodded when
Morgan said she would be leaving Hawaii early.

“I
just can't deal with...” She didn't even want to say Kole's
name. It wasn't that she couldn't
deal
with him. She could.
Even if she couldn't, she had Tanner, and even Kala, that had her
back. But she didn't
want
to deal with it anymore. Most
importantly, she didn't want the people that she cared about to be
forced to deal with him because of her. If anything, she could
revisit 'Ele and not tell anyone in the future.