Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (100 page)

He
didn't sit down though, instead, he asked her if she were hungry.
“Actually, I'm starving!” she admitted, having not
realized it until he mentioned it. She'd slept though both meals on
the planes so she hadn't eaten since she was in Brazil. She reached
her arm above her head and he pulled her off the ground with ease.

“It'll
be roaring when we come back up,” he told her, still smiling.
The man smiled just as much as Morgan, but she thought it was
probably a factor of his shyness. How could a man built like a God be
shy? She didn't know, but she still planned to find out.
And we
will
be cuddling later, Mister.

When
they reached the bottom of the stairs and were back in the kitchen,
No Name asked her what she wanted to eat. “Well, I'm about to
eat your centerpiece,” she pointed toward the large glass vase
in the center of his table, “so I'm not picky!”

“Okay,
not picky. That works.” He began rummaging through his cabinets
and fridge, pulling out random items.

“Can
I help you? I'm not anything of a cook, but uhm...I can grab
things...” She started to stand up and he asked that she stay
there, but the way he quickly closed the fridge made her curious.
“Come on, just let me...” She walked another couple of
steps and he stepped in front of his refrigerator as if he were a
body guard.

“Don't
look in there,” he told her, with a twitch of a smile.

“Why
not?” She crossed her arms in front of her, then when she saw
he'd dropped his defenses, she made a break for it and wiggled in
behind him. Before he could figure out what she'd done, she had the
fridge open. Then the giggles came.

“That's
why,” he sighed, then went back to rummaging through the
cabinet. It was nothing to worry about, just a few containers of God
only knows that were sitting in the back of his fridge to be
forgotten about for all of eternity. Another thing probably reserved
for his cleaning crew, but Morgan wasn't concerned.

“Really?
You're being a big baby about bowls in your fridge?”

“I
forgot to clean them out before I left...” Again, she loved his
shyness. This man, who didn't even seem to know his own size or how
incredibly sexy he was, was worried about leftovers.

“Well,”
she was still looking over his fridge and she reached for one of the
mystery bowls, “this looks like it was spaghetti...” They
both laughed as she dumped the contents into the trash. “Which
actually sounds really good right now.” She hadn't had a good
spaghetti dinner in quite some time, and she also tried to block out
the worst she'd ever had in Italy.

“You
want spaghetti?” She stopped washing the bowl for a moment and
looked over to him, then nodded enthusiastically. It turns out, the
man was an excellent cook, among other things, so she was in for
quite the treat.

Morgan
continued cleaning the fridge while he gathered everything that he
needed, then she took a seat at the island again and watched the man
in action. His graceful movements didn't match his body, and she
remained entertained with the show until there was a knock at the
door.

Morgan
leaned back and turned her head toward the front of the house, trying
to see who had just opened her client's door. His deep rich voice
sounded out just as loudly as her client's, but she had no idea what
they were talking about. The two men were still talking when they
joined her in the kitchen.

“Morgan,
this is Cezar, my dear friend.” Morgan smiled and shook his
hand, telling him that it was a pleasure to meet him. “He
stopped by for a drink, but he can't stay.” The large man eyed
his friend, and all three laughed as the meaning spilled through the
room.

“Yes..
it's true, I forgot that I had something else to do. What was that
thing I had to do again, Fane?” As Morgan began to laugh
again, her eyes widened at the information that Cezar had just handed
her.

That's
your name, big boy! Fane!

Chapter
Seven

Fane
humored his friend and
reminded
him of that thing he had to
do, then walked Cezar back to the front door. Morgan didn't hear the
made up excuse, as she was far too proud of herself for the
accidental discovery. She was also playing his name over in her
head, thinking of how it would sound if she said it during...

“I
apologize. He stops over several times a week, but I didn't have a
chance to tell him that I would have company. Morgan just waved it
off, and smiled at the man.

“Oh,
I don't mind at all! Just do what you normally do, you don't have to
change things for me.” She meant what she said, as the most
fun that she usually had with her clients was when they were in their
natural element. He stirred his pasta, then sat down across from
her.

“If
I did that, I'm afraid I would bore you to the point of running back
to the airport, screaming for someone to entertain you.” He
smiled as he spoke, but it wasn't the same and she knew that a large
part of him meant what he said.

Morgan
looked him over as he sat staring at his hands. He was absolutely
gorgeous, and she just couldn't figure him out. His eyes, that
usually held a secret, were so unique that she longed for any chance
to look at him without seeming to stare. They were silver, and that
was the only way that she could ever describe them. His lashes were
long and black, much like Dante's, as well as almost black brows that
made the color of his eyes appear even lighter. His head was shaved,
but the small black growth she could see told her that the dark
haired man could have a full mane if he chose to grow it out. His
lips were full, and his teeth were beautifully straight except for a
tiny chip in the front right. Fane's other imperfection was the
small bump at the top of his otherwise straight nose. It had been
broken at some point, and mixed with his size and good looks, it made
the man even more attractive to her.

Morgan's
eyes went down his torso, and she appreciated how tight his black tee
was. Then again, it probably wasn't easy to find clothes that would
fit him properly, and that was another endearing trait that she
couldn't help but like about him. She guessed him at being at least
a little over six and a half feet, and although she was horrible with
weight, her guess was that he would probably be in the high two
hundreds.

“When
you're done, can I look you over as well?” Morgan's eyes shot
back to where they were supposed to be, on his face, and saw that he
had already turned red at taking the chance to be just as bold with
his words as she had been. She laughed and nodded.

“Of
course.” Morgan stood from the chair and walked slowly around
the kitchen, pretending to admire the cabinets and counter as she
pushed her ass out on occasion to bend and look at the antique
handles. The silliness of the moves should have made the man laugh,
but instead, his eyes couldn't stop moving to take in each and every
detail of the girl. She finally stopped and backed up to the counter
top, facing him. “Do you need more time.... to... look?”
She turned her head to the side and loved the reaction that she was
getting from him. He lowered is eyes, and shook his head.

“No.
Thank you.” He was still embarrassed, but the small smile
that she could see told her that he was beginning to get a little
more used to her.

As
she sat again, she thought of Cezar, his best friend. The two were
loud, and probably spent the better part of a visit laughing and
telling jokes to one another. It was with that thought that she
unlocked a vital piece to the puzzle of Fane. He wasn't exactly shy,
he was just a person that needed a little time to get comfortable
with someone before he was himself around them. Time wasn't
something that they had a lot of, but Morgan was willing to work with
what they had.

*****

“Morgan?”
Fane pushed softly on her arm again, but she shooed him away and
rolled over, then covered her head with the blanket.

“Go
away, Sofia,” she mumbled from under the thick comforter, still
wiggling into a comfortable position.

Fane
had no idea who Sofia was or why Morgan was telling her to go away,
but he figured he was going to have to go into town alone. Unless...
“If you get up, I'll make sure Sofia goes away and...I made
coffee.”

“You're
not Sofia!” Morgan threw the blanket over her head and sat up,
but did it so quickly, she got tangled in the blanket and nearly fell
off the bed. She put her hand over her heart in surprise and tried to
catch her breath as she looked over to the man that obviously wasn't
the big German Shepherd. After a few seconds of gathering her
surroundings, Morgan fell back to her pillow in relief, then did her
morning stretch.

“Nope,
not Sofia.” He plopped himself down on the bed next to her, if
it had been a water bed, she would have gone flying across the room.
“Do you want to wake up or go back to sleep?”

“Sorry,
she's a...friend's....pet. It's a big ass German Shepherd....Sofia, I
mean. And....did you really wake me up to ask me if I wanted to wake
up or sleep?” She couldn't help asking the silly question that
came to her mind. The smile that grew across his face showed he was
amused by her smart ass reply.

“What
I should have asked was, do you want to go back to sleep or accompany
me into town?” He stood back up and pretended to look for
something in his closet. It had been a while since he'd had a woman
in his bed, even fully clothed, and never so beautiful. Seeing her
long blonde hair spread out on the pillow made him want to touch it,
push it away from her cheeks, but he didn't want to do anything that
would make her feel uncomfortable. Unknowingly to him, Morgan would
have more than loved for him to put a move on her. Since they had
only slept next to one another, minus cuddling, she was ready for a
little Fane action.

“I'd
love to go with you,” she told him, then when he wasn't
looking, she took a peek at her new watch. Six-thirty.
Damn.
“Did
I hear something about coffee?” She'd need it.

“Yes,
I made a kettle of water. Go ahead and do what you have to do, I'll
be in the kitchen when you're ready...just try to be downstairs by
seven.” She didn't know what the hurry was or where they were
going, but she nodded. It was nothing new to her to get ready
quickly. The queen of five minute spruce ups watched the Grizzly walk
from the room, then she jumped up and ran to the dresser they'd
unpacked all of her clothes into the night before.

After
dinner, they'd gone back up to his room, and by Morgan's choice,
she'd thrown in one of her DVD's into the player closest to his bed
and they listened to it while unpacking. She'd also taken a long,
leisurely bath in his claw tub in the second floor bathroom. That was
when she'd also taken it upon herself to do a little tour of her own
of the second and third floor. What she discovered though was that
nearly every room was empty. It wasn't until later that she found out
why.

Touching
more on the topic of Fane keeping the home of his parents, she
realized there was more to the story when it was brought up later.
His mother had died from the flu when he was a young boy, so he was
raised by his father. About ten years prior, his father had been
diagnosed with cancer, so Fane had taken care of his dad in the home
until his last days. After that, Fane had, of course, kept all of the
things that were meaningful, but most of the furniture and clothing
were donated to those in need. Morgan thought it was an incredible
gesture of kindness.

Their
conversation went through her mind as she washed her face. She knew
the reason he had given her for staying in the home, but out of the
whole house, it seemed as if he only used his bedroom, the living
room, kitchen and bathroom. There were at least eight other bedrooms,
another full kitchen and five bathrooms...at least from what Morgan
had counted in her short self-guided tour.
I'd be lonely in a
house this big too.
She remembered what it was like in her small
apartment, sure, she'd felt lonely at times, but she couldn't imagine
how it would have felt if she could have had access to every room in
the whole apartment complex and one after another was filled with the
same thing...emptiness. It wasn't just a Fane thing though, as she
thought before, most of her clients probably felt the same way.
Tanner had rarely ever mentioned family, neither had Fin. Sean had
his mom, but not much of an exciting family life beyond that.