Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (111 page)

“Aye!
She is! I requested company because I missed her, but it wasn't
enough. You weren't enough! It was her that I wanted, that's why I
never laid a hand on ye! Now if ye don't leave mah home in the next
five minutes, I'll throw ye out myself! And don't ye ever come back
here, is that understood?” Morgan's jaw dropped again, she
couldn't believe that Finlay had gone from all smiles to yelling
threats to the wicked witch. She also tried to process what he'd
just said. He didn't lie, and it made a smile come over her face
that made Erika even more angry.

“Oh,
this isn't over! This is so far from over! Little girl, you have no
idea who you're messing with! I'll have you fired by the end of the
day!” She started to turn and leave, but Morgan's sudden
laughter made her stop.

“What's
so fucking funny? You think I'm joking?!” Erika stepped back
into the kitchen and stood next to Finlay. She would have stepped in
further, but he walked in front of her to make sure she didn't get
anywhere near Morgan.

“Oh,
I was just wondering...,” she looked down to her growling
friends, then back up to Erika, “how fast you can run in those
ugly heels.” Morgan heard a chuckle from the laundry room, and
smiled at the hidden caretaker who obviously was enjoying the show.
Finlay interrupted the women by walking to the table and picking up
his phone. They watched as he clicked the screen a few times, then
put it to his ear.

“Julianne,
this is Finlay Campbell. We have a problem.”

Chapter
Four

“
You're
not serious right now!” Erika took a step forward and Finlay
put his arm up to stop her.

“Mr.
Campbell? What's wrong, dear?” Julianne asked, not hearing the
woman in the background.

“I've
used yer service for a while now, aye?” Finlay began, narrowing
his eyes at the skeletal woman. Julianne agreed, then he continued.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but ye like ta keep things
professional?” Morgan couldn't believe he had made the call,
she could do nothing but sit slack-jawed, in awe. Again, Julianne
agreed, still confused. “If that's the case, Ms. Marks, ye
might want ta reconsider who ye have working for ye. One of yer girls
stopped by my house, uninvited.”

Julianne's
mind immediately went to Morgan and she brought her hand up to her
forehead with a long sigh. As far as she knew, Morgan was the only
woman who would ever visit the Scot without being paid for it. “Oh,
Mr. Campbell, I do apologize for the inconvenience. This kind of
behavior is not accepta...”

“Aye,
it's no' the bad part. See, now she won't leave and she's making
threats against another one of yer girls.” He looked over to
Morgan and his lips raised slightly with a smile. Julianne was
instantly confused. Another one of her girls?

“Mr.
Campbell, please explain what's going on?”

“You're
not even talking to her,” Erika's head went back with an evil
laughter, coming from her bright red lips. After a moment, she
straightened up, then reached for the phone. Finlay turned his back
on her, then put the phone on speaker so everyone could hear.

“Who
was that? Er...Erika?” Erika was still relatively new, hired
just shortly after Morgan, Julianne didn't have any kind of
relationship with the woman, nothing aside from the original
orientation. Julianne wouldn't have even hired her if she hadn't been
so desperate for new girls at the time. So far, it seemed as if she'd
done her job well enough, but Julianne wouldn't settle for any of her
clients being displeased.

“Aye,
Erika is here.” He turned back around to face the red head and
saw that she had brought her long fingers up to her mouth in horror.
A smile crossed his lips, a full one that time. “She thinks
Morgan should be...fired.” His voice was full of amusement as
he knew Julianne cared very much for Morgan.

“Mr.
Campbell, please put Erika on the phone,” Julianne requested.
Finlay curled his finger inward, telling Erika to take a step
forward. He wasn't going to put the phone off of speaker, nor let
Erika walk away and spew lies. “Aye, here she is,” he
told Julianne, then raised an eyebrow at the wicked witch.

She
cleared her throat, then brought her hands to her chest, her fingers
intertwining tightly with nervousness. “Julianne?”

“Erika,
if Finlay has not requested company, why are you there?”

Without
thinking, Erika spewed the first thing that came to her mind, like a
child putting blame on their sibling. “This blonde...bit...”
she stopped herself, “..one of your other girls is here too!”
she snapped, giving Morgan a dirty look as if it were all her fault.

“I
didn't ask you that, did I?” Morgan had to hide her smile
behind her cup. She loved her boss.

“N...no.”
Erika stuttered.

“Erika,
I'll ask again, why did you go to Mr. Campbell's house, uninvited?”
Julianne's voice was calm, but inside, her heart was pounding. Finlay
was one of her wealthiest clients and he'd already referred three
other men to her. She couldn't risk to lose him, at least not at the
doing of one of her own girls.

“I....I
just....he...” She was reeling, not sure how to say the real
reason she'd come to his home. For the first time, the
full-of-herself woman was on edge and her defensive wall was
crumbling.

“Erika,
do we stalk our clients?”

“No...I
only wanted to...”

“And,
tell me, how were you planning to get Morgan fired?” Erika, not
knowing the relationship between Morgan and Julianne thought it was
the perfect opportunity to get back into the game. She knew, just a
few words and she could turn it all around to the big-breasted blonde
bimbo and have the heat on her instead. Then again, she remembered
the phone was on speaker, so she had to word things carefully.

“I
was just about to call you. This...this woman...I can't even believe
she works for you, honestly, I'm shocked!” Erika began. Her
lips curled into a smile as she believed she had the upper hand.
Finlay though, his hands were clasped into tights fists at his sides.
A warning look from Morgan told him to let her hang herself with her
words and he remained quiet. “She...she showed up here, I was
here first, only to stop by and see a friend. I didn't mean anything
by it, really. She shows up and oh, Julianne. You should see her. You
would be ashamed. She's wearing a shirt that says 'I fuck for
money'!”

Julianne
didn't want to hear anymore. Finlay hadn't called about Morgan, in
fact, Julianne was more than aware of their little romance. Julianne
was also wise enough to put it all together. Both girls had shown up,
Erika didn't like Morgan being there. Simple as that. “Erika, I
am booking the next flight available from Scotland, back to Virginia,
and I am revoking you from the database immediately. You no longer
work for me.” Julianne ended the call, and Morgan loved it
that her boss didn't say goodbye.

“This
is ridiculous! You had me fired! Go to hell, both of you!”
Erika clicked loudly through the house to retrieve her bags, and
that's when Burke finally came out of the laundry room, and into the
kitchen.

Morgan
was still laughing at the whole situation, and Burke had sat at the
table with her and was laughing quietly as well. Finlay couldn't
help but join in, and when Erika heard all of them having a laugh at
her expense, she threw her bags in the floor of the foyer and
marched back into the kitchen.

“You
really think you're something, don't you?!” She directed the
question to Finlay, but all he could do was laugh. “You're not
as great as you think, you know that? You're not worth.....”

“Oh...
he is worth it. He is so worth it!” Morgan spoke through her
laughter, and wanted to reach across the table and take Finlay's
hand, but she had to hold the dogs' collars to keep them at her side.
She had actually started to struggle in keeping them there, as the
closer and louder Erika got, the more aggression the dogs displayed.

Burke
finally got himself together, and stood, then walked to Morgan's side
and took the dogs from her. His intentions were to put them in the
backyard until the bitter woman was out of the house. That is, until
Erika took another step forward and opened her mouth.

“And
you, you worthless old piece of...”

“What
would ye say, three seconds, Campbell?” He asked the odd
question of his boss, in which Finlay seemed to think it over before
responding. As everyone watched him, he shook his head slightly then
answered Burke's question.

“They're
no' as young as they used to be... I'd say four... maybe five.”
Both women looked back and forth between the nonsensical banter,
then followed Burke's eyes to the dogs that he held at his sides
behind Morgan.

“Aye,
true enough.” He nodded as if he had just learned something,
then a slow smile crept over his weathered lips. Erika finally put
an end to the ridiculous conversation.

“All
of you are crazy! Four seconds to do what?!” She had barely
spewed the words when Burke answered her.

“Four
seconds for the hounds te get te the front door. How long will it
take you I wonder?” He laughed as he let go of the collars,
and raised his hands in the air as if it were a 'stick up.' Both
dogs starting spinning out on the slippery kitchen floor, but were
well on their way for a full on tackle of their enemy.

“Shit!”
Her ugly heels actually carried her pretty quickly, even though she
broke one while throwing her luggage out the front door and jumping
to safety before slamming it behind her. Burke was kind enough to
retrieve the heel from the foyer, and throw it out the door in her
direction.

The
house nearly rumbled in laughter as Burke returned to the kitchen,
and Morgan just held her pounding head while she tried not to
outright snort.

“Ye
goin' te be awrite then?” Burke gave her a soft pat to her back
as he sat back down, helping himself to one of the still-warm
muffins. It was something Morgan quickly noticed and put together.
Burke and Finlay seemed to be getting along much better. Things were
never bad between them, not at all. Finlay had usually just kept
things more on the professional side, including Burke not helping
himself to Finlay's muffins. Apparently though, something had changed
since her last visit, allowing the man to join the couple at the
table. Morgan wouldn't have cared either way. As far as she was
concerned, Burke deserved every damn one of the muffins.
Okay, not
all of them,
Morgan corrected herself mentally as she reached for
another. What Morgan didn't know, was that she was the reason for
the change in both of them. Her kindness toward Burke had sparked an
awakening in both men, which added a layer of softness between them.

“Yeah,
wow...I'm...I'm speechless.” She was still trying to get her
giggles under control, but she really had no idea what to say about
what she'd just witnessed. Erika...fired? “I guess I made an
idiot of myself....again.” She picked a berry out and rolled it
between her fingers, watching it turn.

“No'
a all. I cannae even imagine how it must 'ave look ta ye. After
all...” Finlay looked to Burke, not wanting to give out too
much of his own personal life, and kept it vague,
“that...happened...” Morgan knew what
that
he was
referring to and nodded.

“It
looked pretty bad,” she confirmed and smiled at the big man.
“I'm sorry for calling you a liar...”

“Nae
bother, lass,” he told her, then walked over to her slowly and
held his hands out. Morgan raised a brow, then gave him a sideways
smirk and slowly set her muffin down on the table, then took his
hands. He lifted her from the chair and pulled her in for a hug.
Finlay needed to feel the woman's touch. “I guess ye weren't
kidding about soon,” he whispered against her head, sending
tiny prickly bumps across Morgan's arms.

“I
should have called,” she replied, realizing that probably would
have avoided everything.

“I
told ye you're welcome in my hoose any time a' all and I meant it. Ye
don't need an invite, doll.” Morgan nodded, then set her head
against his large chest. After a few moments though, she smiled, then
leaned back so she could see his face.