Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (114 page)

“Oh,
sure. I'll just see you then.” She agreed, then ended the
call and dropped her phone. All she could think about was getting
back to holding her foot and swearing at the room around her.

“SHIT!”
It was the best she could do to relieve some of the pain right then.
A few more curses through bared teeth, then she laid back on the bed,
hoping the throbbing would subside if she didn't move her foot. Her
cheekbone was throbbing as well and it was hot to the touch. The hit
to her face had given her a headache from hell., one that would have
her calling back Jordy and scheduling their meeting for the next day
if she didn't get it under control, soon.

She
rolled over to the side of the bed, then got up to her one good foot
and hopped over to the damned cherry dresser that had brought the
wrath of pain upon her in the first place.

“Fuck
you,” she told the piece of furniture as she snatched her purse
from the top of it. A few quick jumps with her bag in hand, and she
found herself in the kitchenette. She dug through her purse and found
both
the good stuff
that she still had left over from when
Sean had given them to her after her visit in Portugal and
the
regular stuff
that should at least help with the swelling and
pain enough to get through a meeting with Jordy. She decided on the
regular pain killers, not wanting to be a loopy mess when meeting the
man. “Then again, I already gave him a wonderful first
impression.” She sighed, then popped two of the pills into her
palm and filled a small glass of water to chased them with.

Another
deep breath followed and she hopped over to her big pink bag that
contained most of her warmer clothing. Her plan had been to go with
sexy, but after the foot incident, she'd have to plan her whole
outfit around a pair of brown boots. She had one pair with a rounded
toe, which she didn't wear often because they were a half size too
big and she thought they looked funny. It was only in her mind, of
course, because they looked fantastic on her, especially with a pair
of skinny jeans. On that day though, she was thankful for the extra
room because any other of her shoes would have squeezed her toes
together, making walking unbearable.

“Okay,
brown boots. We'll go with...,” she dug through her bag until
she found her long white sweater, then a pair of dark denim jeans and
her thick brown belt that would go over her sweater. “Not
exactly sexy, but it'll do.” Morgan grabbed her outfit, then
stood back up to her foot and hopped into the bathroom.

“Oh,
shit.” Her fingers went up to her cheek where it had already
began to swell and change color. There was also a small cut, similar
to the one she'd gotten in Florida, only that time, it was below her
eye. The bruising wasn't too bad, at least for right then, but only
time would tell on that one. She silently thanked Angel for the new
compact he'd purchased for her because it was the only hope of hiding
the damage.

Years
of working for any small scraps that she earned in life had taught
Morgan at an early age that showing one's flaws was never a good
thing. She worked when she was sick, sore, tired, or injured, and
she never complained through any of it. It was ironic that she was
making more money than she ever dreamed possible, and her need to
keep going without interruption hadn't changed from when she waited
tables for pocket change. She wasn't like most people, and she had
no idea how different she truly was.

Chapter
Six

At
nine o'clock, Morgan stood on both feet for the first time since
breaking her toe. “Okay,” she winced, testing the pain.
She knew she'd have to try and walk normal if she didn't want Jordy
to notice, so she shut the door to her hotel room behind her, then
took in a large intake of air and held it in as she took her first
step. Her foot was wrapped up in two pairs of socks underneath her
boot, providing a little padding, but at that moment, she wondered if
it was a bad idea because her toes were actually being squished
together. “Shit.” It hurt to put pressure on it, but
she'd live. “Just have to take it slow.”

She
limped down the hallway until she came to the elevator, then took it
down to the first floor. “Bacon, that's one good thing about
this morning,” she talked to herself as the wonderful scent hit
her. Morgan found herself a table in the small diner of the hotel and
decided on a small breakfast. As she waited for a server to approach
her, she pulled out her cellphone and took a picture of herself, then
found Angel's contact to send it to him.

Notice
anything different about me?
He'd be honest with her, she knew
that much. Right as the server appeared in front of her, her phone
rang out with a notification of a message. “Hi, I'll
have...this,” she said, pointing at a picture on the menu. It
seemed like most of the people she'd met out in town spoke English,
but just to make it easier on the employee, pictures always explained
things in a better way. The woman nodded, then Morgan told her she'd
also like a coffee. The waitress nodded again, then walked away.
Morgan picked up her phone again, hoping to find good news.

Fuck
me, this is one of those muthafuckin' girl tests isn't it? Uh, shit.
Your eyebrows...they look good.

Morgan
laughed, but accidentally kicked her foot out and whacked it on the
pole under the table. “Fuck you, too,” she told the
table, wincing in pain. She checked the time on her watch and sighed
when she realized she still had to wait an hour or two for another
dose of pain killers.

It
was a test, and you passed. I fell...on my face. You can't tell?
Meeting Jordy in an hour.

Her
food arrived before Angel's next message. It was a small plate of
eggs, two pieces of bacon and an amazing croissant, identical to the
one at the market. As she took her first bite, her phone buzzed.

Stick,
you look fanfuckintastic, as always. Horny Jordy ain't gonna know
what hit him when he sees your fine ass. Tell me Boo, how's brussel
sprouts? Did you go see the Grand Palace?

Again,
Morgan found herself giggling quietly as she stared down at her
phone.
Brussels, Angel. I'm in Brussels and it's the Grand
Place...not palace. But yes, I went, it was beautiful.

Whatever.
Dunk that sprout into some warm cheese and call me. Miss you like
mad.
Morgan whispered back to the phone that she missed him like
mad too, then finished her breakfast. It was nearly ten when she
finished her fourth cup of coffee, and she paid her bill quickly then
left the lounge.

Sitting
for nearly an hour had proven to make her foot much worse, or it
could possibly have been the strangling socks, either way, Morgan did
all she could to stop from limping when she turned the corner to the
hotel. The small restaurant that she agreed to meet him in was right
inside the very next door, and she refused to allow her injury to be
noticed by the man.
Fuck! Oh shit! Oh my God!
She had to
stop and rest right before pulling the door open, and she felt tears
rolling down her cheek again as the icy wind slashed at her face.
She wiped it quickly with her coat sleeve, and took a deep breath,
then pulled the door open.

“Morgan?”
A man that almost made her forget that she wanted to gnaw off her
own foot in the doorway, stood and greeted her before the door was
even shut in her wake. She smiled at the man and nodded.

“Hi.
Jordy, I take it?” He nodded once and returned the smile, then
led her to his table not a few feet away. Morgan held her breath as
she walked as normally as she possibly could, then sat down and
released the breath slowly. He was too busy flagging over their
server to notice that Morgan was lifting her leg under the table and
pulling it over top her good foot.

The
two didn't speak as their server approached, and Morgan tried to
think of a polite way to tell the man that she had already eaten. It
was a judgment call on her part, and being prepared had won the
mental battle. However, she was then stuck with telling her client
that she couldn't meet him earlier, but that she'd already had
breakfast. In the end, the pain had snapped her back to reality and
she wasn't able to sugar coat anything at that point.

“Uh..
I just had... breakfast. I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if we were just
meeting.. or if we were...”

Jordy
put his hand up to let her know that it was alright. “So did
I, before you arrived.” They both laughed, and agreed to one
more cup of coffee before braving the elements and heading to his
home.

Morgan
relaxed in her seat a little more, and looked the man over as they
waited for their drinks. He was digging in his jacket for his bank
card, so she had a few seconds of stare time until he found it.

Oh,
Angel would freaking love you.
He was exactly her type, at
least, her type before the change in professions. He was the asshole
type, at least by appearances. Black hair, very short on the sides
with a touch of gray showing above the ears, a perfectly fit body,
black leather jacket, and a deliberate smile that he knew looked
great on his face. She felt her body react exactly like it had done
for Jack Dalon, and every other jerk that she convinced herself that
she had to have. That time, unlike in the past, she allowed herself
to enjoy her own reaction and looked forward to having the
asshole
all to herself for the week. She also realized that he was nothing
like Fane, and there would be no shell to crack.

“Do
you approve?” His voice brought her eyes back to his face, and
she smiled and nodded quickly.

“I
do. At least, for now.” She giggled at his playful shocked
face, and his warm laughter made her wonder if he really was an
asshole.

They
made small talk over their coffee, which actually turned into two
cups before they agreed to leave. Jordy told her that he hadn't been
home in several weeks, and that he looked forward to getting to the
house and relaxing. She too looked forward to getting to his house,
but mostly because her foot throbbed so badly she was ready to rip
her boot off right then and there. Morgan had to look down and hide
her smile that crept up on her as she pictured herself hurling her
leg into the air and announcing that she had a bad
boo boo
.

“So,
you're here, right?” The two were walking outside when Jordy
pointed to the hotel next door. Morgan had been in the middle of a
mental battle of trying to walk straight and keep the ugly grimace
off her face when he asked, but she recovered quickly and put on a
fake smile and nodded. It was definitely time for another dose, her
foot was screaming in pain with each step.

As
they made it into the hotel, it took all of Morgan's being not to
groan when she remembered she was on the fifth floor and her room
couldn't have been further down the hallway from the elevator.
Thankfully, though, Jordy had common sense and walked right up to the
front counter, then in perfect French, he ordered for someone to go
up to her room and retrieve her things.
Of course, why didn't I
think of that?
Even that late in the game, Morgan still wasn't
used to having people do things for her.

They
made more small talk while they waited for one of the men to return
with her bags, which Morgan was also thankful for because somehow, it
helped ease the pain. His accent made her knees weak and her heart
beat faster, but then again, maybe it was just the way he was looking
at her; his dark eyes, scanning every inch of her body as they spoke.

“Do
you approve?” It was her chance to ask since his eyes had
remained on her chest longer than need be.

“I
do. For now,” he mocked her. There was that smile again. Yes,
he definitely knew he was gorgeous
.
When her bags arrived to
the main floor, the two of them followed the man with the cart
outside, then waited as her luggage was loaded into an awaiting cab.
No driver?
As if answering her thoughts, he spoke again. “I
live downtown, so no use in making Cedric come out here,” he
placed his hand on her ass, guiding her into the open backseat of the
car.
Nope, you're not shy at all.

Morgan
winced as she pushed her body to the other side of the car, making
room for Jordy. She wanted to ask who Cedric was, but she knew at
that moment, if she were to speak, it would only be a rainbow of
words that her client probably wouldn't find very classy.

“You
alright?” For just a split second, he thought he saw a look of
pain on her face as he slid into the seat next to her.