Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (5 page)

Finlay
didn't offer any words. He wasn't sure if anything even needed to be
said. Before he stood, he planted a soft kiss to the side of her
head, then made his way back to the kitchenette to put the pizza in
the oven. “I'll go get that wine.” With that, he left the
hotel room.

On
the way downstairs, Finlay couldn't help but smiling. It was a relief
that he didn't have to try to impress her by acting like the wee
Australian man, but he was a bit embarrassed that he had made it so
obvious that she had caught on. When he got back to the room, Morgan
already had two glasses ready for them and Finlay filled each with
their own wine choices.

“If
we're being honest, I'd rather not watch the wee movies.”
Finlay tipped his glass and waited for her reaction. When she
laughed, he took a large sip of his wine then nodded with relief.
“It's true, I doona like to watch bloody films.”

“Bloody?
As in there's blood in them, or bloody as in,
bloody hell,
Morgan, what did ye do?”
Her accent was getting better,
but it was still bad enough to be adorable. He leaned closer across
the table and kissed her smiling lips.

“I
mean..I doona like wee body bits flinging aboot.” That was it,
Morgan came unglued and nearly fell from her chair laughing.

“Wee....bits...flinging!”
Then, came the snorting. Finlay leaned back in his chair and
laughed with her, enjoying every perfect moment with his Morgan.

The
following hour was spent talking about what films he did like, and
Morgan learned of his love for documentaries, namely, those on
history. She confessed that she had never watched any, but she vowed
to give it a try...someday. But the best part of the hour for her,
was seeing Finlay more relaxed than he had ever been with her. It
felt right, and it was also toward the end of dinner that she
internally agreed that their last night together would be better
spent out of the sheets.

“Well,
I'm full again...I know...shocking....so how about we go sit in the
hot tub for awhile?” Morgan cleaned the pizza boxes and plates
from the island as she waited for his answer.

“Aye,
but nothing more.” His smile defeated the warning that he was
trying to send her with the rest of his look. She smiled back as she
dropped the empty box in the trash.

“Nope,
I won't try a thing. In fact....,” she walked to his side and
wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, “I agree with
you.” She kissed his neck before letting him go, and nearly
had her nose whacked by his head when he spun around.

“Ye
do?” She nodded, and her face held a sincerity that he
couldn't question. “Let's go then.” He took her hand
and led her to the balcony. Once outside, his manners were on full
display as he turned his back while she undressed, then she too
looked out toward the ocean as he removed his clothes.

Their
silent intentions were to stay apart and enjoy their time in the tub,
but only five minutes into their relaxation, Finlay pulled her close
and tucked her in at his side. The temptation to explore one another
under the water was fierce, but they resisted. Their time was spent
with their heads leaned back, staring at the stars as Finlay's finger
traced circles between Morgan's elbow and wrist.

The hot water mixed with Morgan's cold wine, was the perfect recipe
for sleep. She wasn't ready for their night to end, especially since
she had already been told by Finlay that he was leaving at noon the
next day, but her body thought differently as one yawn after another
flowed freely from her lips. Even as she was leaving the bathroom,
after putting her night shorts and tank on, the loud yawn forced one
from her sleep-only companion.

He
was already in bed, still naked unfortunately, when she crawled in
next to him. “I may need to get undressed, since you're not
playing fair.” She raised one brow at him while she rested on
one elbow to meet his gaze. Finlay pulled her down next to him, and
once again, tucked her tightly against his body.

“Let's
not make this hard...more difficult than it has to be.” They
both laughed until Morgan's yawning had taken over again. “Sleep
well, Morgan.” He kissed her head and turned on the television.

“Night,
Fin.” She kissed his chest and pulled her leg over his,
nestling in for the long haul. The sound of the television was
soothing, and she smiled to herself when she heard statistics from
the war of eighteen twelve.
Enjoy your documentary.

*****

“Are
you serious?” Morgan had only been awake for three minutes,
still rubbing the sleep from her eyes when Finlay told her that he
had to leave. He tried explaining that his meeting had been moved up
to early that afternoon, but she was still too groggy to make sense
of what he was saying. “You can't leave! We still have
like...” she twisted in bed to check the clock, “four
hours left.”

“Love,
I have to go. My meeting is at one, and if I don't catch the next
flight, I'll miss the whole reason for me being in the states...other
than being able to see you that is.” He moved her mass of
blonde hair from the side of her face and kissed her quickly before
checking the room for anything that he had forgotten to put in his
bag.

She
got out of bed and pulled the pony tail holder from her wrist, and
managed a decent messy bun as she made her way to his side.
“Fin...this...sucks.” She dropped her head against his
chest and he couldn't resist one last warm hug.

“I'll
call ye, tonight.” He brought her chin up, and tried to make
her smile before he left. “I promise, and I'll expect ye to be
in the wee tub when I do.” Still no smile, but she did nod and
let go of his waist.

“I'll
miss you.” The tear that was sure to fall wouldn't be seen by
his eyes, and he quickly turned from her and opened the door.

Without
turning around, he managed to reply. “I'll miss ye more than I
have words for Morgan.” He walked quickly out the door, and
she closed her eyes as it shut behind him.

“Shit!”
She went back to the bed and sat on the side. “Shit!”
Then she stood and paced in front of the kitchenette, looking at the
coffee pot that was already full, thanks to her Scot. “Shit!”
Morgan made her way into the bathroom and started the water for a
long deserving shower. If the tears were going to take over, she
would rather have the streams of hot bliss wash them away as they
escaped.

Crying
in the shower wasn't something new for Morgan, and as her body heaved
in emotional pain, the memories of past loves that had brought that
misery out in her, flooded her mind. She announced in the shower
that 'they're all jerks' but by the time her water started to chill,
she had come to terms with the fact that Finlay was nothing like the
jerks from her past. Finlay was a good man, and her tears weren't of
pain that he caused her, but tears of sadness because she would miss
him. It was completely different, and that realization made his
leaving a little better.

“Angel!
I need Angel!” She ran through the room, trying to wrap and
tuck the thick towel, and got it close to acceptable as she picked up
her phone. She had already turned it on by the time she landed in
the center of the bed. She clicked on his smiling face, and waited
for two long rings before hearing his voice.

“Sticky!
Did you ride that beastly man when he came back? I know you did,
how was it? Did you make him
howwllll
like one of those big
Scottish wolfy things? Tell me!” Morgan was already laughing
by the time he had finished.

“Oh,
I miss you! No, I didn't ride him like a....they're called
Irish
Wolfhounds...but he came back like you said. And now..he's
gone.” Her laughter went quiet when she admitted the last
part.

“So!
What's the problem? He came to see you and he had to leave, it's
not that big of a deal. You weren't planning a wedding this weekend,
were you?” When she said that she in fact, was not planning to
marry him that weekend, he started again. “Then everything is
perfect! He came, he..wait! What? You didn't ride him? Oh hell
no! Why the fuck not, have you lost your damn mind?” She
could almost picture him, sitting suddenly on the nearest piece of
furniture, crossing his legs quickly and staring down anything in his
sight.

Again,
she had to laugh. “We...chose not to. You know, just enjoy
each other without...that.” Morgan twirled a long strand of
hair that had escaped from her towel.

“Oh
Sticky! That's dangerous, don't do that. Don't do...
that
.”
She knew that the
that
in question was to not have sex, but
she couldn't figure out his reason. When she asked, he was more than
happy to tell her. “
That
leads to life long love, and
that
isn't what you need right now. Fuck the hell out of him,
Sticky, but don't do
that
ever again. Not unless you plan on
white doves and shit in the very near future.” Yes, she
finally understood, because
that
was exactly what had
happened. She had grown much closer to Finlay by not not doing
anything, and she had to give the man credit, her Fin was pretty good
at getting what he wanted.

“Angel,
I love you! And I promise, no more of
that
!” She
smiled again, knowing that the Scot had played her perfectly, and she
made a mental note to give him a swift kick in his perfectly chiseled
ass the next time she saw him. Then, she would make up for the lack
of sex that he had put them through.

“Love
you too, now go fuck Canada and forget about this mess, I have to get
Georgina's clothes ready for tomorrow before the bitch cries in his
souffle, but call me when you're settled.” After a few quick
loud kisses into the phone, their call ended and Morgan was left
feeling absolutely wonderful.

Chapter
Five

The
next morning, Morgan woke up to the tune of her phone. Her first
attempt to silence the beast resulted in the phone hurling to the
floor with a loud thud. “Dammit!” She stopped sweeping
the nightstand with her hand and flicked on the little lamp, then
looked at the time on the digital clock. “It's not even
morning!” At least four AM didn't count as morning in the would
of Ms. Holland. She reached over the bed and blindly felt for the
phone. “Gotcha!” What she wanted to do was turn it off
and sleep until a normal hour, but her conscience told her it might
be important.

“Julianne!”
Morgan read the name of the sleep-interrupting culprit, then read the
message. It was to tell her that her flight had been bumped up to
seven AM. “Shit!” Her heart raced and she checked the
time again. Four-oh-eight. She was relieved that all of the planets
had aligned for her to receive the text. Her phone was on, sound was
up and she hadn't decided to wait until later, because later probably
would have been around noon. She was also relieved that Finlay had
already left, because she wouldn't have wanted to leave him like
that. Morgan thought about sleeping for another hour, but it wasn't
worth the risk. Instead, she cursed her phone and made her way to the
bathroom.

She
didn't even have the chance to shut the door because her phone rang
out again. That time, it was a call. Morgan ran back over to the
little bastard and saw Julianne's name again. “Hey,
Julianne...” Morgan's sleepy voice answered the call.

“Just
making sure you were up, dear. I moved the flight up because there is
a big snow storm headed toward Winnipeg this evening and I need to
get you there before all flights are delayed.” Morgan nodded
into the phone, listening to Julianne's voice.
Who checks weather
reports in the middle of the night?
Julianne was more on her game
than Morgan gave her credit for.

“I'm
up, I'm up. I'll be there, thanks Julianne.” When they hung up,
it hit Morgan what had just been told to her. Snow. Lots and lots of
snow. “Okay, shower, pack, breakfast...and if I have time, I'm
getting gloves and a....shit.” She remembered that she was in
Miami and finding gloves and a scarf probably weren't on every
corner. “Oh well.”

In
less than an hour, Morgan was showered, ready in her warmest
clothing, and completely packed. Before she left the hotel room, she
took off the thick sweater and opted to put it in her carry-on bag
along with the faux fur coat Alrik had bought her. She was happy that
she didn't snag it again on her bracelet like she did last time, and
she put her hand around her wrist out of habit. “It's gone!
Shit, no! No!” Morgan looked around the floor, forcing her
brain to give her a clue on the last time that she had it on. “The
dresser, I took it off for Fin! I never put it back on!” She
ran to the dresser and moved the phone and lamp as she searched.
“No!” It wasn't there, and it wasn't under the dresser,
the bed, the coffee table, the nightstand or anywhere else that she
looked. She even tore the blankets and sheets from the bed, but it
was gone. After her third search in the bathroom, she sat on the
side of the tub and let reality take over, it was truly gone.