Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20

Around
the World in 80 Men

Collection
of books 11-20

By:

Rebecca
Ratliff

&

Brandi
Ratliff

Around
the World in 80 Men

Copyright
© 2012 by Brandi Ratliff

All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods,
without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain
other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events
and incidents are either the products of the author’s
imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

*****

Want
to know how the authors perceive Morgan and her clients? Check out
the official facebook page for photos, excerpts, release dates and
more!

facebook.com/aroundtheworldin80men

Canada

Book
Eleven

Chapter
One

“Oh
my God! Fin!” Morgan repeated herself. She couldn't even
believe what she was seeing.

“Morgan!
Who in fook's name did that to ye!?” Before she could register
the question, Finlay had his large thumb caressing over the cut on
her forehead. “Did he hurt ye? Morgan?” His voice was
filled with anger.

“Uhm..”
Morgan backed away a step with a wry smile, taking his hand in hers.
“I did. It shouldn't surprise you, I fell.” Finlay didn't
buy it. He cocked his head at her as if to say he knew she didn't
just
fall
on her forehead. “Well, I was taking a bath,”
she hit him on his chest when he gave her an 'of course ye were'
face. “And I had fallen asleep and when Jake came in, he turned
on the shower. I jumped up, slipped, and hit my head on the sink.”

“The
bastard! I knew it!”

“Fin,
I
fell. It's not like he pushed me.” Morgan giggled, but
his face was still sincere. “It's not his fault.” She
quickly dropped the subject, then brought her attention to the pizza
that he had set on the bed. “I just ordered steak...”

“Aye?
That's fine.” Finlay carried the pizza to the kitchenette, then
walked over to the hotel phone. Morgan could hear him telling the
woman downstairs that whatever room 327 had ordered, bring another.
He had to repeat himself a few times to get the woman to understand
his thick accent, but eventually, the order was made. When Finlay
hung up the phone, he could see Morgan was still confused. She was
staring at him as if he shouldn't be there. Which was somewhat true,
Morgan racked her brain for a moment, then remembered that during her
rambling, she had told him what hotel she would be at, but how did he
know what...

“How
did you know what room I was in?” She hadn't told him
that...she hadn't even known at that point. Another knock at the door
sounded through the room and Morgan thought for the second time that
her food had arrived, but it was only the bellboy bringing up
Finlay's bags.

“Lass,
I have money.” He set the bags down and walked up to her and
kissed her forehead, above the cut. He felt awful that she had been
hurt and wanted to make it right.

“Oh,
so you can just pay people for information, huh?” Morgan raised
her hands up to his shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, which
made her fingers look tiny in comparison. He nodded and Morgan just
smiled. She didn't know what else to say. Finlay was there...in her
hotel room. She shouldn't be nervous around him, but the butterflies
swarmed more than ever in her stomach. “Well, I'm glad you're
here, Fin. I've missed you,” Morgan managed to find her voice
long enough to speak the two sentences.

Finlay
kissed her again on her head, then went back to the bed to get a
beer. He lifted one up to Morgan and she nodded, then luckily caught
it when he tossed it in her direction. It was in that moment that it
finally hit her.
Pizza...beer? You've got to be kidding me?
She had been too excited by his arrival to fully grasp what he had
brought along with him, but when it sunk in, Morgan had to run into
the bathroom to hide her laughter. She covered her mouth tightly with
a towel to muffle any escaping giggles.

“Ye
alright in there?” Morgan brought her head up at the sound of
Finlay's voice, then quickly reached over and turned the water on to
further drown out the noise.

“Yep!”
She pulled the towel away just enough to speak, then brought it back
to her lips again.
Beer. And. Pizza. He's so jealous! They're both
jealous.
Her memories traced back to the night with Tanner...
this
is like the complete opposite!
He had tried to match Finlay, with
an expensive dinner and fancy attire, thinking that it was what
Morgan wanted. Then, Finlay shows up with pizza and beer, wearing
jeans and a tee, thinking
that
is what she wants. It was
almost too much for Morgan and the laughter continued even as she
finally made her way back to the bed.

Just
as Finlay was about to ask the girl what was so damn funny, a knock
at the door saved Morgan from an awkward answer. She knew she was
going to have to explain to him, just as she had done to Tanner, that
it wasn't about all that. She liked the men for different reasons and
it wasn't about trying to one-up the other one.

Fin
grabbed their meals from the man at the door and Morgan asked him to
carry everything out to the balcony while she grabbed their beers.
“Thanks for the pizza and beer. I..uhm...I didn't know, or I
wouldn't have ordered...” she pointed at the food to finish her
sentence and sat down in one of the long chairs across from her
company.

Finlay
popped open his beer and took a long swig before answering. “Nae
bother, lass.” They enjoyed their meal together, as well as a
gorgeous sunset. Morgan avoided the topic about his casual behavior
for the time being; mainly because she was interested to see what
else was in store, but also because she just wanted to enjoy a nice
evening with the man. The normal Finlay would have shown up in a
business suit, demanding she wear her best gown and would have taken
her to the nicest restaurant in Florida, so the beer and jeans Finlay
was new.

When
they finished up their meal, Finlay surprised the girl, yet again. He
cleaned up their dinner and set the tray outside the door then went
over to his bag and pulled out a pair of swim shorts and told Morgan
to get her suit on. It still wasn't dark enough to walk out on the
balcony in their birthday suits, otherwise, clothing would have been
completely optional. Morgan nodded and excitedly did as she was told.

She
changed into her pink bikini, then grabbed another beer and met Fin
at the hot tub. It was already roaring loudly at the sound of bubbles
and the steam was thicker than usual in the cool night air. The water
felt amazing, but not as amazing as Finlay's body felt against her
own. As soon as she stepped into the hot water, the gorgeous Scot
acted a bit more like himself and was quick to pull the girl at his
side. He held her hostage with his thick arm wrapped around her waist
and she rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the stars
begin to make their appearance in the sky.

They
caught up a bit while in the tub. Finlay explained why he was in the
states, and Morgan told him more about the hyperactive Jake. Fin
still wasn't happy about the cut and he made it clear by threatening
the man under his breath again. Morgan reaffirmed that Jake was
harmless. She also appreciated that Finlay's interest in New York
property had allowed him a few days to spend with her, but she
wondered why he would be interested in buildings so far from his
home. In time, she thought, she would ask, because cuddling was the
only thing on her mind at the time.

Morgan
snuggled her head deeper into Finlay's neck, but just as she was
getting comfortable, the man's phone rang in the other room. “Do
you have to get it?” She looked up at him with her best
puppy-dog eyes.

“Aye,
lass. I do,” Finlay got up, leaving Morgan in the hot tub alone
while he attended to the ringing. She wasn't going to sit out there
by herself, so she got out as well and entered the chilly hotel room.
Finlay was already deep in conversation but she mouthed toward him
that she was going to change and he nodded. After she was dressed in
her light green night shorts and tank, she came out of the bathroom
and saw Finlay wasn't even in the room anymore.

“Wow...”
Morgan shook her head back and forth and examined the room. She
couldn't expect him to stay at her side the whole time, but if he was
already starting with the business calls, she imagined his visit was
going to be short lived.
It won't be long before he has to leave
again...
“Oh well!” She ran to the bed and did her
cannonball jump, then grabbed her phone from the nightstand. It was a
good time to call Julianne...after all, she hadn't gotten to tell her
boss how happy for her she was.

Finlay
had stepped out into the hallway to finish his call, not that he
intended to keep anything from her, but he wanted business to be the
furthest thing from their weekend together. Morgan heard him lean
against the door, and realized where he had gone. She refused to let
herself read anymore into his call, and turned her own phone on to
find Julianne's number.

“I'm
so freaking happy for you! Tell me everything....leave nothing out!”
Morgan wasn't about to waste time on the typical 'hello's', she dove
right in as soon as Julianne answered her phone.

“It's
Felix. He found me, he actually found me!” Julianne's voice
had lost at least twenty years, and her excitement was that of a
teenager; all of which made Morgan's heart race. Of course, Morgan
wanted to blurt out everything that she knew, but she played it cool
and worked on getting more details from the woman.

“Felix,
so that's his name.” Morgan's face had heated at her own
deception, but she took a deep breath and continued. “And when
will you and Felix be getting together? Soon, I hope.” The
pause that followed wasn't exactly what Morgan was expecting.
“Julianne?”

“I'm
here. I...I'm not ready to...see him. Not yet anyway. Soon. I
think. I don't know, it's just so nice to see him, even if it's
online. We have to catch up, child. It'll take time, but...yeah,
it'll take time.” Morgan nodded slowly as she held the phone,
she finally understood.
She's afraid.

“Oh,
I'm sure the two of you can take as much time as you need. I'm so
happy for you! For you both!” Morgan knew not to push, so she
added that she would call her soon, and to keep her updated on all
things Felix related.

“Will
do. And Morgan...thank you.” Those simple words tugged at her
heart, she knew how much meaning was behind them, and she assured
Julianne that it was her pleasure.

After
ending her call, Morgan looked over the messages that were piling up
since she had turned her phone back on. Her finger was itching to
open a few, but she knew it would take longer than a few minutes to
catch up with everyone, so she resisted the temptation and started to
turn it off again. The next urge that she had to resist was throwing
her phone across the room when it rang out in the loud reggae tune,
scaring her to the point of hitting the green button just to make it
stop.