Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (70 page)

“Really?”
Morgan grabbed her own cup of coffee with both hands and stood on her
tip toes for just a second as the excitement of what was to come
coursed through her body.

This
is your chance. Tell her no.
“Yes, absolutely.”
Pussy.
Rob sighed at his thoughts, but again, nodded to
Morgan.
This is going to be a disaster.

Morgan
gave him a quick smile and walked back into the living room to make a
couple calls downstairs. One for breakfast and one for a cab in one
hour from then.
This is going to be amazing.

*****

One
hour later, the two of them were headed back down to the lobby, as
the cab had arrived as promised. “Do you think we could stop by
my house...you know, so I can change.” Rob gestured toward his
own clothes, which still looked perfect from the night before, even
after sleeping in them. Normally, Morgan would have suggested that he
could just buy more, or that he was fine in what he was wearing. But,
she knew she wouldn't want to wear the same outfit as the night
before, even sans beer, and secondly, she remembered Loraine talking
about how she always picked his outfits for him. Although Angel
always picked Gio's outfits, Robbie had his laid out for an entirely
different reason.

Morgan
knew going to his house may cause issues with Loraine, but
reluctantly, she agreed. “Of course, I'm sorry, I didn't think
of that.” She climbed into the back seat of the cab as she
spoke, then inched to the far side, making room for Robbie. He
settled in the car and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then leaned
forward and gave the driver the address to his home.

“It
won't take long,” he assured her. “And, I guess it won't
hurt to see where you'll be spending the next week anyway.”
Robbie gave her a wink, and it nearly melted Morgan's heart into a
puddle.

She
watched him move along the narrow stone walkway to his home, taking
notice of the tension in his body that was obvious, even from behind.
It was strange for Morgan to see clearly that he struggled, yet she
wouldn't have even noticed if Loraine hadn't told her the truth. She
put her hand under her chin and watched until he was safely inside,
and whispered, “you're good at hiding things, Robbie. Are you
good at showing things too?” That was the question that she
had to have answered, one that gave her the kind of purpose that she
loved about life. Robbie Edwards needed to show more of who he is,
and less of what he believed he was, and that was the thought that
made Morgan smile at her reflection as she waited for her soon-to-be
client to return.

Ten
minutes later, Morgan giggled at watching Loraine try to escort
Robbie back to the cab, and Robbie smiling while gritting his teeth
at the brazen woman who wouldn't be challenged. It must have been
almost impossible for either of them to allow the other their own
way, and that in itself was making Morgan laugh behind her hand until
the entertaining duo made it to the side of the cab.

“My
housekeeper wanted to meet you. Loraine, Morgan. Morgan, Loraine.
There, let's go.” His gruff introduction made both women
smile, and they spoke a quick greeting before Robbie closed the door.
“I swear, that woman just doesn't know when to stop.”
Robbie turned his head and gave the redhead a stern look as they
pulled from the house, and Morgan watched his face as he turned
forward. His jaw had tightened, which made him even more appealing.
Dangerous.

“I
think it's sweet that she wanted to meet me.” Morgan looked
down to her lap and smiled again, knowing that all three were hiding
information from the one another. Except, Robbie was the only one
that believed he had something to hide. The man took a deep slow
breath and nodded, then his face relaxed into an easy smile.

“Sweet,
huh? You don't live with her. She practically cuts my food for me.
And this,” he held out the collar of his stark white button
down shirt, “is not something I would have chosen for a day in
town.” Morgan laughed and smoothed his collar down. She knew
that he was trying to hide the reasons behind Loraine's help by
saying that she's simply overbearing, and it was bittersweet to hear
him struggle, yet to also hear the love he had for her in his voice.

“Well,
you have her and I have, Angel. My best friend. He won't even let
me brush my own hair when he's around, so I get it. Trust me.... I
get it.” Morgan rolled her eyes at the memory of Angel tugging
the life from her hair, and Robbie relaxed with the knowledge that
Morgan had bought into his explanation of his doting housekeeper.

“So,
you haven't told me what you'd like to see today.” Morgan
watched as Robbie's hand slowly moved to his own knee nervously. His
other knee bounced up and down a few times and his right hand landed
on that knee as well, as if he were holding it in place. Morgan
couldn't understand why a man like Robbie would be shy around anyone.
Surely, he knew he was gorgeous, and a man who rode a horse at full
speed, in full armor, down a path, hitting other men at high impact
would indicate that Robbie feared nothing. Yet, his body language
said differently. Morgan briefly smiled at his hand, then raised her
eyes to meet his.

“Well,
you tell me. What is there to do in Hamburg, Germany?” Morgan
continued smiling as she waited for an answer.

“Depends.”
Robbie paused, baiting Morgan to ask the question, but she didn't.
“Do you like museums, water, restaurants, cathedrals,
musicals,” he paused to take a breath and Morgan giggled before
he continued, “historical districts, shopping, statues, zoos?”

Morgan's
smile widened across her face. “Yes.”

“Yes?
Yes. Okay. Which one?” Robbie raised a brow at Morgan.

“All
of it.”

“Today?”
Robbie sighed and looked at an invisible watch on his hand. Morgan
giggled again and shook her head.

“You
mentioned a zoo?” Robbie nodded and Morgan's smile told him
what he needed to know. He leaned forward and told the driver that
they were headed to the zoo. The short man in the front nodded and
the tiny car took the next turn, one that nearly landed Morgan on
Robbie's lap.

“Yeah,
they drive a bit,” his eyes drifted up to the rear view mirror,
then back to Morgan, “crazy sometimes. I had one the other day,
I swear, he thought he was in a race with the other drivers. Two
would be at a sign and...” His sentence was interrupted by the
loud tune of Morgan's phone.

“I'm
sorry,” she told Robbie as she dug in her back pocket to
silence the damn thing. “Ah, Angel...Oh!” Suddenly, she
realized she had never called him back the night before. “He's
going to kill me,” she spoke, mostly to her phone.

“You
can answer, I don't mind,” Robbie nodded toward the screen that
was lit up like a slot machine jackpot alert. Morgan looked at
Robbie, then down to her phone and bit her lip. Yes, she wanted to
answer, but she knew the first thing Angel was going to do was ask
about the
crazy
woman that was Loraine.

“I
better not,” Morgan silenced the ring and went to slide it into
her pocket before it rang out again. The quick redial made her react
and before she knew it, she hit answer and brought the phone up to
her ear. “Angel, I'm sorry I didn't call you back, but I'm...”

“Lass,”
Finlay interrupted.

“Oh.
It's
you.
” Morgan looked at Robbie and rolled her eyes,
pointing at the phone. “Listen, Fin, the animal foundation of
Hamburg needs me. Some...uhm...wild aardvarks ate too many...”
her hand waved in the air, hoping for a thought to come.

“Berries?”
Robbie whispered, shoulders shrugged, and Morgan snapped her fingers
at his winning answer.

“Berries.
They ate too many berries and it's my job to rub their bellies until
the...”

“Aardvarks
don't eat berries, Morgan. Just listen te me, hen,” Finlay
pleaded.

During
a time where she wasn't mad at the Scot, she would have had him
repeat
aardvark
a hundred times over, because she'd never
heard the name of an animal sound so good. “These ones do. Good
day, Finlay Campbell.” Morgan hung up the phone and brought her
hands to her lap

“Wow.
Should I ask?” Robbie grabbed Morgan's fingers that were
squeezing the life out of her phone.

“Probably
not,” Morgan shook her head with a sigh. It still felt good to
make him wait until she was ready to speak, but it still made her
heart ache for the fact she had to. “He's just...a good
friend...and he..” Her phone rang again, and Robbie nodded for
her to go ahead and check. After all, he wasn't officially her client
yet. Seeing Angel's face on her phone that time made her smile. “This
is my best friend,” Morgan quickly showed the screen to Robbie
before answering.

“Bitch,
I
know
your ass did not just forward me to the mothafuckin'
voice mail hoe. You did, didn't you?”

Morgan
held the phone away from her ear. In the car, his voice seemed louder
than usual and she instantly regretted answering the phone. She could
only hope he didn't say anything about Loraine. “Angel, I have
to call you lat...”

“Later?
Booberry, you said last night you were going to call me later. It's
later. Speak words at me, Stick. Words. Now. Fuckin' Speak them.”

Morgan
dropped the phone to her lap for a moment as she got her giggles
under control. “I'm going to the Hamburg Zoo with Robbie.
Please let me call you later.” She spoke the last sentence with
a tone that Angel would understand, one that told him there were
other ears.

“Alright
baby girl. Your ass is ditching me for a hamburger zoo, that's
alright. Tell Robin Hood this bitch needs a burger. Give to the
mothafuckin' poor, boo boo!”

“It's
the Hamburg Zoo and his name is Robbie, not Robin.” Again,
Morgan rolled her eyes, but couldn't hold back the giggles. “Bye,
Angel.” She didn't give him time to correct her again, she hung
up and turned her phone off completely. There weren't going to be any
other interruptions during her time with Robbie.

“Whatever.”
Angel got the last word, but Morgan didn't hear it.

“Your
friend seems fun.”

“Oh,”
Morgan nodded. “He is, sometimes too much
fun.
”

“I
don't think that's possible,” Robbie nudged her arm. “We're
here.”

Chapter
Six

The
day at the zoo turned into something that neither of them had
expected. Robbie assumed that he would be showing Morgan around and
filling her day with pleasant conversation and an excuse to stay out
of her hotel for an afternoon. Morgan thought she would spend that
same day trying to figure out her client and to see what she could
possibly do for him. Both were wrong.

At
one o'clock, shortly after arriving, Robbie did something unexpected,
for both of them. He took Morgan's camera from her hand and began
taking photo after photo of his date. He snapped pictures of Morgan
in front of the gorillas, Morgan laughing at the kangaroos, and
Morgan bending to take a better look at a bird that looked exactly
like PoPo who was on the ground of his exhibit, playing with an empty
container that his food had been in. Yes, Robbie captured every
beautiful moment that Morgan had that day, and it was the first time
in over a year that the man had even gone near a camera for fear of
not seeing his subject.

Morgan,
who already secretly knew that Robbie was taking an uncomfortable
step just for her, easily posed for each shot, and gave him the green
light to take as many pictures as he wanted. She certainly didn't
mind having them for her scrapbook, but seeing him let go of his
usual self restraints was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Both
of them had fun, which neither of them had considered. No agenda, no
deep rooted reasons for spending the day together. Just fun.

“Well,
I don't know about you, but I will never look at walruses the same!”
Morgan shook her head and laughed at the recent memory of having a
large bull belch loudly in her direction, then turn his enormous body
around to relieve himself right in front of them. Robbie laughed as
well, and even though he missed the sight of the animal's large mouth
opening for a ear throbbing burp, he certainly heard it. The rest of
the personal show was seen by both.