Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (72 page)

“Those
were so beautiful, weren't they?” Morgan agreed, “such
powerful creatures.” It was her turn to grab a piece of bread,
but on her way out of the basket, she curled one finger around the
rim and casually pulled it closer toward the both of them before
bringing her roll to her own lips. It hadn't even been a conscious
thought to Morgan that she'd been
helping
again, it just
happened and unfortunately, Robbie noticed.

“Morgan,”
his fingers curled around her wrist before she could actually take a
bite and he pulled her hand down, away from her face. A small gasp
escaped her lips before she'd realized what had happened, but the
look on Robbie's face told her that he wasn't just playing around.

Shit.
Shit! I did it again. He knows. Shit. He knows.
“Robbie?”
Morgan smiled and tried to wiggle her arm out of his grasp.

“Morgan,
tell me right now what you know,” Robbie's tone was stern and
took Morgan by surprise. She swallowed hard and tried to bring her
hands to the table, finally he let go and brought his hands to his
own lap. His brows came together tightly, his lips curved into a
slight frown and his eyes looked sad. Morgan knew she probably
wouldn't recover from that one, but she had to try.

“Hmm,”
she tapped her bottom lip with one finger, “I know that you are
incredibly gorgeous, sweet, intelligent, kind-hearted, tall.”
Morgan giggled with the last word, but his face didn't chance.

“God
fucking dammit.” Robbie sighed loudly and brought his hands up
to his face, hiding the sadness behind his palms. “I should
have fucking known.” His voice grew louder and Morgan sat up,
wincing at his next words. “We're done.”

“Wh...what
do you mean? Why?” Morgan felt her eyes burn instantly.
Don't
you dare cry, it's not the time for this.
She knew why though,
and it was her fault for bringing that hurt into his life.

“Don't
act stupid and don't act all innocent.” Robbie's fists came
down hard and their glasses of water rattled on the uneven surface of
the round, worn, wooden table they were seated at. “I know what
you're doing. And I'm the stupid one for thinking this could actually
work. Who told you? Loraine? No, don't even tell me. I actually
thought that you wanted to spend time with me, not take care of me.”
Robbie stood up quickly, nearly knocking the small wooden chair
backwards as he did so. His hand dove into his pocket quickly and he
produced enough money to cover the bill and he slammed that on the
table as well.

“Robbie...please,”
Morgan pleaded, fighting to push her chair out and stand before he
could leave.

A
single huff of laughter came from deep within Robbie's chest. He
couldn't believe he'd considered the possibilities of having female
company for more than one second. “Such a fucking bad idea,”
he muttered, barely above a whisper, shaking his head. “Like I
said, we're done. Fuck this, fuck Loraine, and fuck you.” Those
were the last words he spoke before leaving the restaurant.

Chapter
Seven

“
You're
kidding me! You're freaking kidding me!” Morgan stood beside
their table and watched Robbie push hard against the front door and
stomp through to the sidewalk. At that moment, a flash of lightning
lit the dining room to the point of making Morgan forget that she had
just been left alone by a very angry Robbie Edwards. A few more
seconds passed before the downpour could be heard, and it brought a
new thought to Morgan.
He's walking out there, alone, and he
can't see.

Her
first reaction was to go after him, and she made it halfway across
the dining room before her stubborn streak stopped her feet in
mid-step. “No. He left me here. He's mad because I was being
nice, and he fucking left me here.” Her words filled the small
room, and she looked around to see all eyes scanning her defiant
stance. “What?” She almost smiled as the image of Angel
flashed through her mind, and the way he never seemed to care who was
involved in his personal business. Talking to a room full of
strangers about the client-who-never-was, wasn't making her feel any
better.
I can't believe he said that to me! Fuck you!

She
turned slowly and walked back to her table, and nodded at the server
who had been standing several feet from Morgan's chair with two
plates of pasta in her hands. “Thank you.” Morgan took
one plate, but shook her head back and forth when the young woman was
about to place Robbie's food down as well. She quickly pulled it
back up, and walked from the table without saying a word. Then
again, Morgan thought, what could she say? “Oh, your date
isn't coming back? Why no, he isn't.” She played out more of
the awkward conversation as she brought the pasta to her lips, never
really enjoying the incredible dinner that he had ordered for her.

Another
loud crack of lightning lit up the room as she was finishing the last
few bites of dinner. Morgan jolted forward, having a sudden thought
to stand, but just as quickly dismissed it. “Nope. You don't
need any help.” She waved her hand absently, the fork in her
fingers moving back and forth. “You're on you're own, Robbie.”

When
the last two bites were forced down, due to the fact she'd been full
eight bites prior, Morgan slowly stood and arranged Robbie's mess of
money neatly next to the bread basket. After a long sigh, she made
her way to the front window of the restaurant and peered outside. The
dark charcoal clouds had rolled through, making the day appear as if
it should have been eleven at night. She shuddered again, realizing
the fact it would only get darker, making it even worse for her
not-client.

It was raining even harder than when her food had arrived and Morgan
watched as an empty can of soda raced along the edge of the sidewalk,
and around the corner as it floated rapidly on top of the stream that
had already formed on the street. The last time she'd seen it raining
that hard was when she thought Tanner had been lost at...
no, I
won't even think about that.

She
shook her thoughts of the Aussie, and pulled the sleeves of her
sweater down her arms as she moved closer to the front door. There
were buildings on either side, so she couldn't see much to the left
or the right to make out where she was.

“I don't even know where to go. Asshole.” Morgan's mind
tried to balance between sympathy and anger for the man, and once
again, she pushed the anger to the forefront and quickly barged
through the front door and out into the pouring rain. Two loud rolls
of thunder made her recoil and she ran to the closest awning she
could find, trying to get her bearings. Maybe there would be
something she recognized, although, she didn't even know if they were
still in Hamburg at all. “It's okay, I've got this. I can call
a...shit.”

Her phone was dead and with another loud
pop
so was everything
around her. The lights of every nearby store and restaurant quickly
flickered, then turned black. “Oh, well. This is FANTASTIC!”
Morgan yelled through cupped hands around her mouth, hoping
somewhere, Robbie would hear her. “Fine. This is great. You
know what?” She pushed the wet hair out of her eyes with one
hand and tucked her purse higher on her shoulder, then started to
walk in the rain once again. “I don't care!” Morgan
couldn't call a cab, but just standing in the freezing rain wasn't
going to help either. The temperature was dropping and it was
progressively getting darker as Morgan sloshed down the street,
muttering curse words with each step.

“Stupid
Robbie. Stupid restaurant. Stupid rain. Stupid shoes.” She also
cursed herself, because it was more than likely that those boots were
ruined. “No. Fuck
you.
Maybe I really do need to stop
helping everyone.” Morgan threw her arms in the air and stomped
in a puddle in front of her as she walked through it. She was already
soaked, it didn't matter. Her eyes moved down to her clothes that
clung tightly to her body, and she, once again, mentally told Robbie
what he could do to himself.

*****

“This
was a brilliant idea, wasn't it?” Robbie wiped the water from
his eyes for the tenth time and pushed his own short hair away from
his forehead. It was already too dark, and the only thing Robbie
could see for sure were the sporadic sparks of lightning that would
bring a quick white flash of light in his view. He had known that if
he were to leave the restaurant and take a left, that would get him
to a hotel...at least, that had been the plan. Over twenty minutes of
walking
left
in the pouring rain though, and he'd still found
no sign of a hotel. The sign he'd been looking for was actually one
of bright blue, neon letters. Little did Robbie know, the city had
lost all power and he'd passed the hotel a few blocks back.

As
he walked further down the street, his knuckles brushed against
something hard and rough, and when his hand came up to investigate,
he realized it was a brick wall. “Brick...brick....shit.”
He scanned his memory bank quickly, trying to think of any brick
buildings on that street. There weren't many in that specific area,
so there was only one he could think of. Robbie placed both hands on
the wall and walked back the way he came, until the wall ended and
made an angle with the front of the building. He took a few more
steps, “if this is that fish place...” Robbie found what
he was looking for. It was a large statue of a jumping fish in the
front lawn of the building. He didn't even know what the
establishment was, he had just always called it the fish place
because of the figure. “Fuck.” Confirming where he was
told him that he'd passed the hotel already.

He
also remembered that the
fish place
always had a bright light
that shined up at the fish, as if it were some special shrine. “Power
is out.” He spoke quietly to himself, and ran his hand over his
face once again. A quick thought to call Loraine crossed his mind,
“no. I don't need help.” Robbie walked a bit further, and
found a set of concrete steps behind the fish and sat down. He didn't
know where to go, but he sure as hell wasn't going to find help after
the production he'd made. A tinge of guilt coursed through his veins,
“you shouldn't have done it, Morgan.”

*****

Morgan
wasn't far behind Robbie, not that she knew it, but they'd both left
the restaurant and went in the same direction. She also didn't know
that the man had made camp on the steps of a building not too far
ahead. It wasn't until she found something in her path that made her
realize he was close by. At first, Morgan ignored the sound, but as
she got closer, she began to look where the noise was coming from. It
was faint, under the noise of the rain, but it was a familiar tune,
one that she thought she recognized as Robbie's ring tone. “No,
it can't be...” Morgan saw a dim flashing light on the sidewalk
ahead of her and she ran and picked up the ringing phone. It was
definitely Robbie's. On the front screen was a picture of Loraine and
a horse, one that Morgan assumed was Tobasco and the woman was
calling. It must have been at least the third time she'd called in a
row, but as soon as the ringing stopped, it began again. The fancy
case Robbie kept on his phone was waterproof, something Loraine had
gotten for him for the fact he often couldn't see if things had
spilled near it or if he'd dropped it or placed in something he
shouldn't have. She'd told him it was just because it had a neat
design, but on that night, it was really serving its purpose.

Instead
of answering the persistent ringing, Morgan ran. Robbie was out
there, in the cold, in the dark and didn't even have his phone on
him. Morgan hoped he was close, whether he liked it or not, she was
going to help him. A third time, since being in Morgan's hand, the
phone went off with its cheery tune and in the distance, she heard a
voice.

“Loraine!?
Loraine?”

“No...it's
me....” Morgan yelled back, still trying to see anything past
the curtain of rain.

“How...did...”
The voice paused for a moment. Morgan realized he couldn't tell where
she was, so she spoke again so he could follow her voice.

“You
d...d....dropped your phone.” The coldness was finally getting
to Morgan, and her teeth started chattering, just as Robbie came into
view. “Are y..you alright?” She reached up to touch
his face, and her mind cleared of the storm around her when she took
in the sight of the gorgeous man.

His
drenched hair was a mess, sticking up in places, flattened in others.
His skin was pale from the cold, and his clinging shirt offered a
view of what he had been hiding underneath. Perfection.