Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (36 page)

“I'm
so sorry. There was a bird... and a pillow... then I...,”

“Honestly,
don't worry about it.” He took her hand and squeezed it
gently. “I never liked that one anyway... that's why I put it
in Kara's room.” She giggled that time, because he seemed like
a typical brother.

They
held pleasant small talk for the next hour, and unfortunately, Morgan
didn't get to see any works in progress. He must keep them under
wraps until they're done, like most artists, so she didn't press to
see anything that he may have had.

“You
want to go out?” He was putting a few items away, clearly
ready to leave the garage, when he asked. Morgan nodded and walked
to the door.

“Yes!
I'd love to! Just let me get my camera.” He agreed to meet
her in the kitchen in a few moments, and Morgan ran to get her
things.

Ten
minutes after that, Morgan and Te left the house and she did an
impressive walk-run to his truck. There was very little in Morgan's
world that she loved more than to see new areas, and capture as much
of it as she could with her well worn camera. Te laughed as she
climbed quickly into the passenger seat, and was still laughing when
he joined her.

“You
must really want to get out of here.” She looked at him
quickly and felt horrible for giving him that impression.

“No!
Not at all! It's beautiful... I just really like to...,” she
tried to think of what she was trying to explain, “look....
at.. stuff.” It was a horrible explanation, but it was the
truth. He nudged her bare knee and laughed again.

“Just
playing. Let's go.” She would really have to get used to him,
that much she knew, but he was turning out to be pretty fun. He
wasn't as carefree as Tanner, or Sean, but he had a fun and relaxed
quality that she really liked just the same.

The
quick ride to the center of town gave her enough time for her
ritualistic once-over of her client. He was most likely aware of her
eyes on him, but she had grown used to being caught, so it no longer
mattered.

His
hair was exactly as in his last photo, long, black, sleek, and
beautiful. He had it down, and it fell in a straight soft line on
either sides of his face. At that moment, he looked much like a boy
that she went to school with years earlier. She'd met him in grade
school, then he moved away. He returned when they started their
senior year, and he'd grown almost into a man. He was Cherokee, and
his hair looked identical to Te's at that moment.

He
was also as tall as Alrik, she had to correct herself after being so
close to him that morning. He wasn't nearly as wide as Finlay, but
muscular like Gio. Clearly, he took care of himself, and she had a
feeling that the abs under his dark blue button down shirt would
prove to be very, very nice. He had full lips that looked soft, and
she found herself staring that morning as he spoke. His nose was on
the thick side, and had obviously been broken at least once, but it
gave him an even more appealing look to an otherwise flawless face.

“You
going to do this all day?” Her eyes moved up, and she met his
gaze. Morgan smiled and shook her head.

“Nope,
I'm done.” He laughed and asked if she liked what she saw. “I
did. I do. Very nice.” She tried her serious tone, but it
failed when both of them laughed. “Ah.. come on, don't tell me
that you haven't checked me out yet.” She pushed his arm just
as he was parking the truck, and he nodded as they came to stop in
front of one of his stores.

“I
have.” Morgan reached over and put her hand over his eyes.

“Okay...
tell me. What did you see when you checked me out.” He leaned
back in his seat and allowed her to keep her hand over him.

“You're
five foot six without heels, give or take an inch. Thirty two D...
natural. Bright green eyes, straight teeth, naturally pink lips.
Weight... one hundred and fifteen.. give or take twenty pounds.”
Morgan giggled and hit his leg, but was more than impressed with his
memory. “You're a daredevil, and you don't know it yet. You
try to please people, but it makes you uncomfortable. You enjoy
life, especially when no one is looking, which you'll sadly somewhat
grow out of. You're special, Morgan.” He moved her hand out
of the way and looked into her wide eyes. She never would have
guessed that their brief moments together could have given him so
much information. “I'm an artist, I see the world around me,
it's what I love to do. So, reading people comes naturally.”
He smiled again and opened his door, “let's go.” She
shook her head and laughed quietly.

“Wow.”
She whispered her only response as she also opened her door, then
joined him in front of the building. “How many of these do you
have?” It was an enormous store, filled with just about
everything one could think of. Her only thought was a tourist shop, a
convenience shop and a furniture shop all had a baby together and
that was the result.

“Four,”
he answered. “My brother has a few as well.” He smiled at
her curious nature, then pulled her deeper into his store by her
hand. “If there's anything you want, I might be able to make a
deal....”

“Oh,
a deal huh?” Morgan looked around quickly to find something of
interest. It was a tiny glass elephant with bright blue eyes. She
took it off the shelf, then did a little twirl and got in position in
front of him. “What do you want for this?” Morgan raised
a brow and pursed her lips, waiting for his reply. He only smiled
back at her. “It's pretty cute,” Morgan held the piece up
higher. “Will a kiss cover it?” She looked up at the tall
man again, giving him her best flirty eyes.

“You
can keep it. My gift to you.” Te told her as he closed her
fingers around the small figurine. Without a kiss or anything else
Morgan was willing to offer, he left her standing there, mouth agape,
in the middle of his store.
Does
my breath stink?
Morgan
sighed and walked in the direction where Te had disappeared. What she
saw was a large counter with a beautiful woman working behind it. Her
name tag, Kara.

“You
must be Te's sister!” Morgan held her hand out for the girl
with hair longer than Te's, “I'm Morgan.” The woman's
brows came together in confusion and Morgan assumed it was only
because of her calling the man Te, instead of his full name. “You
know...the super tall guy with the hair and golden brown eyes?”

A
smile spread across Kara's face, then she disappeared behind a floral
curtain behind her without saying a word. “Well, that was
weird.” Morgan shook her head and looked around for her client.
There he was, standing on the other side of the store, talking to a
small group of men. Morgan thought he was one of the most exotic and
attractive clients she'd had so far. She didn't know if it was his
size, his hair, his strong jaw or a combination of it all, but he was
simply gorgeous. Morgan turned back to the counter and almost yelled
out when she saw Kara had turned into three people, figuratively
speaking. She was standing in the middle and on either side of her
was an older woman and an older man, looking very similar to both
Kara and Te.
His parents.

“Hi...”
Morgan grabbed a bag from the counter and began nervously wrapping
her little elephant, but the older woman took it from her hand and
started wrapping it with something else. “Thank you.”

“You're
a friend of Te's?” the woman asked as she quickly wrapped and
taped Morgan's gift.

“I
guess you could say that,” Morgan smiled and looked over to her
client, then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Girlfriend?”
She looked back to the trio and their eyes were wide, waiting for an
answer.
I suppose this guy doesn't date much.
She planned to
find out later.
Morgan thought of Tyler. He'd ordered a woman
just to appease his parents, maybe something similar was going on
with Te. Morgan looked back to the parents and Te's sister.

“
I
really like him,” Morgan nodded and gave her
boyfriend
puppy
dog eyes across the room. It wasn't a yes or a no. It was a safe
answer that wouldn't ruin any plans that Te hadn't told her yet.

“We're
his parents,” the woman pointed to herself and the man on the
other side of Kara. Morgan pressed her lips tightly together to avoid
laughing. “We can't even tell you how happy we are that you're
here! Te!” She called her son over and the four of them watched
him excuse himself from his customers, then join them at the counter.

Morgan
could have sworn she saw him blushing before he answered. “Yes,
ma?”

“Why
didn't you tell us about your girlfriend?” his dad answered
before the woman.

“Taine,
leave the boy alone. Son, we're so happy for you.” She reached
across the counter and took her son's hand.
Is she crying? No
fuckin' way. She has tears! Awwww.
Morgan's heart broke for the
woman. She definitely reminded her of Tyler's mother and Morgan
already knew she was going to have her little heart broken when Te
told his mom she was gone when the week was over.

“Thanks, ma. I'm...happy too.” He took Morgan's hand and
said they were going to go find lunch. Even though Morgan was curious
to find out more, she was thankful when Te said they had to go. Once
they were outside, he let go of Morgan's hand again and walked to his
side of the truck. “I'm sorry you got attacked in there. I
didn't know they'd be in the shop today.”

“Oh,
it's alright,” Morgan assured him after she was seated in her
own side of the truck. “Your family seems wonderful. Looks like
they really... care... about you.”

“You
can say that.” He raised a brow at her then looked at the road
and backed out of the lot.

There was no way around it. “You don't date much do you? They
seemed pretty excited to find out we were... together.”

Chapter
Ten

Morgan
was thinking about Te's answer to her question in the truck, and she
still couldn't figure the man out. He didn't take them to a
restaurant as she'd expected, instead, they went back to his house
and Kekoa prepared them a wonderful meal. The meal that Te ate
quickly, then excused himself for the reason of having work to do in
town.

“He
said he dated quite a bit. But his family acted like we were about
to get married or something.” She was tired of trying to
figure it out alone and thought talking out loud in front of Te's
employee might offer a little insight. He stopped clearing the table
and looked at her for several moments, then he put the plates down
and joined her at the table. She knew that a story was on the way,
and she settled back in her chair as she twirled the glass of wine
that the handsome butler had remembered to get for her.

“Morgan...,”
he looked at his hands that he'd placed in front of him at the
table, and his light brown eyes moved from one hand to the next,
“he.... he's....,” he looked up and saw the look in
Morgan's eyes. Te had asked his butler to tell her the truth, and it
wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

“Come
on... what's going on? He's so nice, but I don't think he's...I
don't know...into me.” She became even more confused when
Kekoa began to laugh.

“Oh...I
assure you...he's not into you.” He waited for that to sink
in, then started again. “Morgan, he's gay.”

“What?
Gay? Like... gay?” Yes, it sounded stupid, and she knew it.
“Why? Why the hell am I here?” She looked toward the
front door where she'd last seen the man, and back to the one in
front of her. He nodded, and leaned back as well.

“His
family. They know he's gay, and they don't want him to be. At
least, not his parents. His siblings are happy for him, but he can't
get his mom and dad to let it go. So.... he promised them that
he'd.... try.” Morgan knew what 'try' had meant, and she was
the guinea pig.

“Wait?
He was a green flag! He had at least one woman before me. How is
that possible?” Kekoa told her that it was true, he did order
a girl once before, but he told her after the first day that he had
unexpected business. Morgan assumed the rest. “So, he was
nice and there wasn't any danger or problems.. so he got the green
flag from her.” The man nodded in agreement, assuming that's
what had happened, then stood again.