Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (46 page)

“Seven
forty-five.” She exhaled loudly and fell back down to her
pillow, shutting her eyes tightly to force out the light. The wine
was amazing, and that was the only thing that kept her from cursing
it right then and there. “But I still hate you right now,”
she groaned.

The
night before had given Morgan exactly what she needed, time to
herself. She had taken a long bath, one where she finally got to
finish her book and then, when the water was too cold, she got out,
put in a scary movie, and worked on her scrapbook. She'd also taken
extra time to take care of beauty maintenance that had been seriously
neglected. “Angel would have killed my eyebrows with a weed
whacker,” Morgan mumbled from underneath the thick blanket,
then rolled to her side, away from the window and felt for her phone
on the table beside her.

Once
it was in her grasp, she brought it into her blanket cave and turned
it on. There was a message from Julianne,
Luis has informed me
that he'll be wanting to meet with you at two-thirty. Perhaps you
should tell me where you're staying, instead of informing me that you
shaved your legs.

Morgan
flipped the blanket off her head and sat up quickly. “Julianne,
so sorry!” Obviously her boss wouldn't hear her, but it made
Morgan feel a little less guilty. She went to her sent messages to
see for herself and there were, in fact, numerous messages to
numerous people. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus, what have I done?”

To
Julianne:
Mr. Sexy Luis Pants can meet me here in the morning. If
you talk to him, let him know that my legs are silky smooth and I'm
ready for his lovin'.
Morgan felt the heat rise from her neck to
her face and she shook her head in shame, but she couldn't help but
laugh. “Sexy Luis pants? What the fuck?” She sent
Julianne a text, letting her know where she really was, then shook
her head again and carried her phone with her, reading it on the way
to the bathroom. “Great. Michael too?”

Her
eyes quickly read their brief conversation.
I tried to call...but
you're not answering. Sorry if you're on a date again. Hi.
Morgan
looked behind her shoulder to the empty bottles of wine and she gave
the meanest glare she could conjure. “This is your fault.”
She looked back to her phone and sighed. “Hi? Really?”

Michael
had written back, just a brief message. He didn't ask about her or
even say that he was doing well or not. He just said hello.
Literally. “Guess I can't expect much else.” She wasn't
going to let it bother her. Really, what could he reply to 'hi'? The
reason his message was brief was because he was between flights
though, not because he was on a date, nor was he ignoring Morgan.

She
set her phone down on the dresser near the bathroom and yawned as she
walked inside, not even bothering to shut the door behind her. It
wasn't until she came back out of the bathroom and was waiting for
her coffee to brew that she noticed who else she'd messaged. She
leaned her back against the wall and propped her foot up as she read
the other things she'd sent out in her intoxicated state. There were
more than half a dozen 'you're immature because...' messages to
Tanner, and by the time she got close to the last one, which stated
he was immature because he talks to kangaroos, she was in tears of
laughter.

Her
last message was asking if she was immature for saying he was
immature. She knew the answer was yes, at least reading it in a sober
state she knew, but like Tanner, she had alcohol on her side.
Besides, she had every right to be pissed. “That's what you get
for saying that shit, now you're gonna get it!”

Morgan
was still giggling when her coffee finished dripping into the pot.
Somewhere in the outskirts of Sydney, Tanner was staring at his phone
with a painful lump in his throat. “It worked,” he
whispered to the kangaroos that made him
immature.
It was
nearly six PM in Australia and he was sitting on his porch enjoying a
beer, watching the sunset with his
friends.
For a moment, he
regretted pushing Morgan away, especially because he knew she was
right. He was wrong, but he knew she would never care for him in the
same way that he cared for her, so in the end, he knew he had made
the right decision. “I'm sorry, Morgan. It's better if you just
forget me.”

Chapter
Seven

The
young woman, who was clueless to Tanner's real intentions, went on
with her morning in a fantastic mood. She was dressed and ready
within the hour and for the first time in longer than she could
remember, she was actually up for an early breakfast, instead of a
late lunch.

It
was pretty good too, no Finlay-made blueberry muffins, but good. Once
she was full, which didn't take much because she didn't actually have
as big of an appetite as she originally thought, thanks to the wine,
she set off for a little mid-morning shopping. Morgan got herself a
new dress, bright colors, appropriate for Spring, a few samples of
chocolate, and a new pair of sunglasses, since she was convinced
she'd left her other pair in Tahiti.

By
the time two o'clock rolled around, Morgan had her purchases stored
in her room and she was back downstairs, ready for her client.
Obviously Julianne had done her part in relaying the message, at
least the message that was important, because it wasn't long before
Luis Rivera walked into the lobby of the hotel.

“Morgan,
I presume?”

She
stood from her chair and playfully looked left and right, as if she
wasn't who he was asking for. Then she nodded and held her hand out
for the handsome man. “Yep, that's me. Luis?” He nodded.

“Are
you tired?”

Weird
question, she thought, but she shook her head. “Nope, I feel
pretty good actually.”

“Good,
let's go.” He smiled and grabbed her hand and was leading her
out of the hotel before she even realized what was going on.

“I
need my wall...”

“No,
you don't,” he was still smiling as they walked through the
hotel doors.

“My
camera!”

“You
don't need that either.”

“But...checkout
is at three.” Morgan was trying to think of anything that could
go wrong while she was gone.

“Don't
worry.” Morgan had to nearly run to keep up with his quick pace
and she was instantly reminded of her hyper friend from Florida.
Please don't be like Jake. I can't take all that activi...

“Are
you afraid of heights?” Again, Morgan shook her head, but her
brows came together as she began to wonder what the hell Mister Spain
was up to. He just smiled and nodded, then opened up the door to a
shiny red car that was parked right outside the hotel.

The
two of them made small talk about their days and whether or not
Morgan was hungry on the way to their destination, but he gave no
insight as to what was going on. When they pulled in front of a tall
building though, Morgan knew exactly what was about to happen.
A
helicopter ride. Oh my god!
She remained silent as they took the
elevator to the top floor, the up a small flight of stairs to the
roof.

“After you!” Luis offered his hand to Morgan, not
knowing if she had heard him or not over the roaring of the blades
above them. She nodded, and took his hand, then climbed into the
black helicopter. He jumped in easily and sat next to her, then slid
a pair of large earphones over her head. At that point, Morgan was
just trying to keep up with all that was happening around her, but
she tried to remember to smile and maintain a sense of dignity
through it all.

“Thank
you!” She yelled into the small microphone at her mouth, and
he laughed as he watched her face while answering.

“You're
welcome, Beautiful.” His voice was tender, and filled with
humor. It was also, not loud.

“Sorry.”
The headsets worked perfectly, and there was no longer a need to
shout, and she giggled at the thought of what she must have sounded
like to him. “So, where are we going?” She grabbed her
own seat between her legs when the craft lifted, and took deep
breaths to get her through the initial take off.

“It's
alright, you're fine.” Luis put his hand over her clenched
fingers, and gave her a gentle squeeze. She looked down and watched
the sun's reflection dance wildly from his cuff links that had been
exposed. They were tiny dragons, with red jewels for eyes, and they
had held an evil smile that made her smile in return. She was still
keeping herself busy, watching the eyes of the dragon, when Luis told
her that it was safe to look out.

“I
was just... oh... wow....,” the city below didn't offer her
many words, but her emotions were on overdrive. It was breathtaking,
and all she could do was scan everything in her view as much as
possible.

“This
is what I wanted to show you.” It was clear as he spread his
arm towards the window, that his only intention was to show her the
city. All of it.

They
spent the following two hours touring the skies above Madrid, and
Luis had moved from comforting her at lift off, to actually holding
her hand in affection. As always, it was strange for her to have
personal contact with a new man, but his touch was sweet, and exactly
what she'd needed.

He
told her that they only had fifteen more minutes to fly, and asked
what part of the city she'd like to see again. “I think I
already know, but I'd like to hear from you.” He smiled, and
waited for her answer.

“Oh,
I love it all! But... maybe.. the old buildings? They look like
castles! There are statues, and fountains.... and..”

He
spoke quickly to the pilot, smiling as he interrupted Morgan, and
they turned gently to fly over the complex of an ancient monastery,
that was combined with the royal palace. “Is that what you
wanted to see?” He pointed at the massive structure, and
Morgan nodded enthusiastically.

The
pilot flew around the area for the rest of the allotted time, and
Morgan turned as much as she could to keep it in her sights until
they returned to their original site. The tour had been absolutely
fabulous, and she was near giddy by the time they were on solid
ground once again.

“Thank
you. So very much! I loved it!” She stood on her toes and
kissed his cheek, which made him laugh loudly as they approached the
elevator to return them to the bottom floor of the tall building.

“A
woman in your profession... kissing a cheek?” He looked down
at her and smiled. “I love it!” Luis took her hand
again and held it as they rode the remaining thirty floors. When the
doors opened, she was happy to finally respond.

“A
man that can buy anything, pays for a girl to hold hands with?”
She raised her brow and he laughed again as he nodded. “I
love it!”

His
car, just as Morgan had suspected, was sitting right out front. It
was also running, and she could see that the man planned for every
second of his life.
Just like Jake.
It didn't matter though,
not as it had before their tour, because she suddenly felt up for
anything he could throw her way.

“Is
that my bag?” He held her door, and she spotted the floral
material on the back seat as she slid in. He didn't hear her, and he
shut the door, so Morgan turned in her seat to check for herself. It
was her bag, and Luis had obviously had her checked out of her room
as well. When he joined her in the car, she gave him a questioning
look, yet couldn't help but smile.

“You're
staying with me, yes? You'll need your clothes, yes?” She no
longer cared what he did with her bags, if he said 'yes' in his
outrageously sexy accent one more time, their first kiss was going to
happen on the ancient streets of Madrid.

“Yes..
we're good. Thanks.” She cleared her throat, and Luis laughed
as he pulled into traffic, and started their journey to his home. As
they passed through the streets of Madrid, Morgan got to see some of
the things she'd seen from above, and once again, she wished that
she'd had her camera. Unfortunately, it was in her.. “Did...uhm...”
she didn't know how to ask without being rude, so she just smiled
awkwardly, then looked back out the window.