Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (81 page)

Morgan
caught her reflection in the mirror of the closing elevator door.
“Oh.” The single sound was followed closely by a tired
giggle because she thought of how Angel was going to react at her
hair that needed a color touch up, her brows that were dangerously
close to meeting in the middle, and her nails..., “Yep, he's
going to drag me to the nearest salon and tell them to
fix yo
shit.
”

Her
attempt at Angel's accent left much to be desired, but it was decent
enough to make her laugh and forget her cramps for the few moments it
had taken to get outside. She was still smiling as she looked to her
right and saw a small green and white sign a few buildings down.
“Hello, Darling.” The pizza restaurant was in sight, and
she turned quickly to start her short walk. “Shit!” Her
heel caught a small rise in the sidewalk and her ankle twisted hard
when she tried to save herself from a nasty fall. When she tried to
step on it again, she realized that a fall would have actually been
better. Pain shot through her foot, all the way to her lower calf.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” She didn't even care about the few
people that turned to see what was making the girl curse, because it
was taking everything she had just to stand upright.

Morgan
hopped to the brick wall of her hotel, and took several deep breaths.
She stayed in that position, foot in the air and one hand against
the brick, until the pain has subsided enough to continue walking.

*****

Tanner
spent most of the afternoon at the airport. He hadn't expected
customs to take as long as it had, and he felt as if he were starving
by the time they let him go. A brief thought of Morgan's dramatic
flair for feigning starvation every four hours brought a twitch to
his beautiful mouth.
I'll see you soon, Love.

The
blonde Aussie walked through the airport doors, small bag in tow, and
whistled for a cab. With more thoughts of Morgan invading his mind,
his decision for lunch was easy. Beer and pizza. He shook his head
as he entered the cab, and told the driver to find the best pizza in
France.

He
watched the city go by from the back of the car, and shook his head
once again. “Ah, Morgan. I'll have ya in my arms soon.”

The driver's eyes raised to the rear view mirror quickly, then back
to the road. He smiled at the lovestruck man who had recently
arrived in his city, and nodded to himself at the thought of another
young couple finding one another in the City of Love.

Chapter
Two

Morgan
was still nursing her ankle when she walked into the restaurant. The
place was soothingly warm and goosebumps crawled over her skin with
pleasure as she looked around. For a moment she forgot that she was
in Paris, because the only thing the restaurant screamed at her was
Italy.

“
You
really went all out, huh?” She was speaking to nobody in
particular, but a young man with a thick French accent asked her to
repeat herself. “Oh, nothing,” Morgan smiled and told the
man that she was the only one eating. If it was good, she knew she'd
bring Angel back.
On second thought,
Morgan remembered the
last time she'd taken him out to eat and yet again, thoughts of her
friend brought a smile to her lips.

The
man guided her to the left side of the restaurant and sat her at a
small table, meant for two. Atop the table sat a small glass bowl,
filled with red-tinted water. On the surface were five floating
candles and deep red and white rose petals. A few moments after
Morgan adjusted in her seat, a beautiful waitress approached her
table. Morgan saw her eyes dart to the empty chair across from her
and Morgan looked too, then realized what it was that was in
question.
Yep, table for one. Then I'll be climbing aboard the
Single Express and taking a trip to You're All Alone.

Morgan
looked around the restaurant. It was clear at that moment that it
wasn't exactly a place to grab a slice of pizza and hang out with
friends. That place was for couples, looking for that romantic Paris
feel. Every table held a pair of people with loving eyes for one
another. If she hadn't been so hungry, Morgan would have left right
then. It wasn't exactly the place she wanted her first taste of
Paris, but it would have to do. Morgan smiled at the waitress, then
after a very quick look at the menu, she decided on a Mediterranean
pizza, garlic bread and a glass of sweet white wine that she couldn't
pronounce.

“
I'm
on vacation, it's never too early to drink,” Morgan giggled
when the wine arrived at her table and took a sip. “Oh. My.
God.” Morgan took another sip, then another. Before she knew
it, her glass was empty and the waitress quickly brought her another.
It made her top three list of wines she'd ever tried and Morgan
reminded herself to get the waitress to write it down before she
left.

The
second glass, Morgan didn't drink as quickly. Instead, she took a sip
and set it aside, then pulled her phone out of her pocket. The
bright screen told her that she had three missed calls and five text
messages. “Really? I was asleep for hours, not days!” She
shook her head back and forth, her ponytail moving with her head and
took another sip of wine before navigating to her missed calls.
“Finlay. Finlay. Angel.” Nothing out of the ordinary.
Then again, “why...” She noticed the time on Angel's
call, it was two hours ago. “He should be on his fli...”

The
pizza arrived before Morgan could finish her thought, and just as it
was being set on the table, her phone rang. It was Finlay. Again. She
answered it on the second ring, “Fin, I have to call you back.”
For the first time, she gave him the 'I'll-call-you-back' excuse and
actually meant it. She needed to figure out why Angel had called her.

“
Lass,
I'm in Paris.” He spoke quickly, saying what he needed to
before she hung up. She heard him and her mouth fell open.

“
You...you're...no...”
She propped an elbow on the table and buried her forehead in her
palm. “Fin...” She wanted to yell at him, to ask him why
in the hell he'd come to Paris, to tell him that he wasted his time,
but she couldn't bring herself to speak any of it. Instead, she
simply whispered an “okay” and hung up.

“
Shit.”
It was the only word she could think of after the phone turned black.
Finlay. In Paris. She shook the thought and went back to Angel, then
went to her text messages.

Stick!
My flight got rescheduled. I get to see your sticky ass sooner.
Morgan's heart fluttered as she
read his message in her mind.

I'll
be there at eleven-thirty. Getting on this mothafuckin' plane now.
“Shit!” Her eyes
moved up to the top of her phone. “Two-forty. Shit,” she
repeated. Morgan waved down her waitress and asked for a box, then
moved on to the next message from her best friend.

Pick
up your fuckin' phone!
That
explained the missed calls.

My
ass has been sitting here for two mothafuckin' hours Sticky Ass. You
better have a damn good excuse!

Last
message:
Honey Buns my ass is starving. I could eat a hippo
straight out of Yellowstone Park. I'm getting a taxi and finding
something to eat since your ass forgot about me.
That actually
made Morgan giggle and by then, the waitress had returned with a box
for her pizza. Morgan exchanged the container for her credit card and
stored her food inside the box and downed the remainder of her wine
before the waitress returned.

Morgan
grabbed her phone and tucked her food under her arm, not even caring
about the mess it would make as she made her way to the front door.
She felt terrible for making her best friend wait, and in the back of
her mind, she knew she still had Finlay to deal with. He wasn't
invited, so he'd have to wait. She dialed Angel's number and brought
her phone to her ear and with a strong shove, she pushed her way
through the front door of the restaurant.

“
Bloody
fucking mother fucker!” Morgan heard a string of cursing on the
other side of the door right before it backfired and hit her as well.
Everything in her hands fell to the ground, her pizza a splattered
disaster on the fancy carpet and a dozen pieces of bread spread
around her like some kind of sacrificial circle.

“
No,
no, no. Dammit all!” She didn't care that she'd knocked someone
in the face with a door, she didn't care that her hand had just been
smashed, she didn't even care about her ankle or her best friend
right then. Her eyes watered at the sight of her food all over the
ground and she stomped her foot in anger. “I just wanted
fucking pizza!” Her hormones were already through the roof due
to her time of the month, and with one event after another, the tears
of frustration came and there was no stopping it. Morgan continued to
stare at her food for a few moments as hot streams ran down her
flustered cheeks. It was the voice on the other side of the door that
brought her back to reality.

“
What
are you crying about? Ya about knocked me out with the door, I'm the
one who should be...Morgan!” The handsome Aussie came into
view, even through blurred eyes, there was no mistaking him. His eyes
went from her to the ground, back to her. “A great day you're
having?”

Tanner.
In the flesh. “I'm...what....,” her eyes darted between
the man and her meal, “why did you do that?” Morgan
Holland was at full blown hormonal takeover, and the dead pizza at
her feet was all she could focus on. Tanner shook his head and
laughed quietly, knowing that all she needed was a bit of direction
to make her world right again.

“
Here,
Love, let me get you another...,” the thought finally hit him
that she had ordered her meal to go. To go where, he wondered.
Tanner didn't get to ask, because Morgan was wiping her face and
throwing pieces of pizza back inside the box. He bent down and
helped her until the floor was mostly clean, and he took the ruined
food and tossed it in a nearby trash bin. He took her by the
shoulders and smiled down at her. Morgan's mascara was pooled below
her eyes, her hair was sticking up on one side where she tried to
hold it back earlier, and she had sauce streaked down one arm. She
was beautiful. “Now that you're calm,” he brushed the
chunk of unruly hair down gently, “hello, sweetheart.”
He pulled her head slightly toward him and placed a gentle kiss on
her forehead. Morgan sighed and let her body lean forward until they
were touching. His arms wrapped around her waist as he held her
tightly. Several moments passed, in silence, as their embrace spoke
for them. It had been too long since they'd set eyes on one another.
Finally, Morgan raised her head to look at the handsome man again.

“
I
guess I don't have to ask why you're here.” The memory of her
announcing her vacation plans through a text came crashing back, but
she still never would have guessed that he'd show up in Paris without
telling her first. Then the matter of Finlay doing the exact same
thing. “Angel!” Morgan's mind snapped to the present,
and she pulled away from Tanner and grabbed his hand as she ran to
the sidewalk. “I need to get him, his flight was moved up, and
he's starving, and he's been wait.....” Tanner spun her around
and faced him.

“
I'll
get us to the airport, you just, he thought of Angel, and smiled
widely, “you just calm your tits.” Morgan's eyes opened
wide at what Tanner had just said, and then her laughter exploded
loudly on the busy sidewalk outside of the gourmet pizza place. The
combination of one shock after another, starving, knowing her Angel
was waiting for her, Finlay, and the horrible Angel accent that
Tanner had just tried to duplicate, was enough to send her into a
laughing fit that forced one out of Tanner as well. The two were in
tears before they climbed into a cab, and still having trouble
breathing through snorts and side grabbing as Tanner did his best to
tell the driver to take them toward the airport. Morgan wasn't sure
exactly where her friend was, but until she knew, that was probably
the safest direction.

She
tried calling Angel and got no answer, but the cell phone reception
wasn't the greatest. Hoping that a text would go through, she sent a
quick message telling him she was headed to the airport and for him
to call as soon as he could. She would have mentioned
they
were
headed to pick him up, but a part of her just wanted to see Angel's
theatrical production when he saw Tanner at her side.
Finlay too.
She'd almost forgotten that the big Scot was in town as well.
Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.
Morgan knew she couldn't
do that, but he would still have to wait until Angel and her stomach
were taken care of.