Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (84 page)

“Uh...it
was my cellphone,” Morgan quickly gave an excuse to cover for
the dog who'd wanted his toy. She wished then that she'd taken the
toy so there wasn't a chance of him squeaking it. She didn't know why
he didn't approve of the dog, but at the very least, she could help
hide him while she was there. She thought about prying more about the
dog, thinking there had to be more to the story, but she was going to
take him up on his word. “And, I'm awake,” she told him
as she laid back down on the bed.

Diego's
abs, and the rest of him, settled on the side of the bed again. “Did
you want to dress for bed?” Morgan smiled, she had put it off
until she knew if the man wanted naked time not. She nodded, and
assumed they were still in the 'not' phase of their arrangement.

“I'll
be right back.” She grabbed a tank and shorts, then went to
the bathroom for a quick change. It took all of two minutes, even
with a quick teeth brushing, and returned for her much anticipated
talk. “Really?” The man was under the blanket, head on
pillow, and sound asleep.

*****

“What
time is it?” Morgan rolled over, not ready for the day yet,
and waited for Diego to respond. “No! Go!” She opened
her eyes enough to see the Shepherd staring at her, then he nudged
her arm again, just as he had done to wake her. Her mind was still
foggy, and she thought Diego was beside her, and the dog was going to
get into trouble for being in the room.

Her
fog cleared when Evita barged into the room and whistled quietly, in
which the big boy turned and followed the woman without looking back.
“What, not even a goodbye kiss?” Morgan laughed at
herself as she pushed the hair from her eyes, and felt more than
relieved at seeing the empty space beside her. It would have been
nice to wake up to the man and grill him a bit more, but it was
better that he didn't see the furry intruder.

Morgan
spent extra time on her appearance that morning, mostly because she
assumed that Diego had gone to work, and she didn't plan on rushing
through her morning routine for Evita's benefit. She did think about
what it would take to get on the housekeeper's good side, but Morgan
wasn't going to put that much effort into something that probably
wasn't going to happen. It would be best, she thought, to just keep
a safe distance from the staff and let her week play out with Diego.
If he's ever home.

Skipping
down the stairs, after an hour of mirror time, Morgan was ready to
find something for breakfast.
Breakfast... lunch...
She still
had no idea of the time. By the time she reached the kitchen, she
had discovered that Evita clearly hadn't prepared anything for either
meal, and the only person that seemed to be in the house was Tomas.
“Good Morning!” Morgan knew that the man didn't speak
English...

“Good
Morning.” His thick accent, mixed with a warm smile, caught
Morgan off guard. She came to a halt on her way to search for a
coffee pot on the counter.

“Hey!
I didn't know you spoke English!” She laughed, and so did the
driver.

“Does
it matter?” He was much more relaxed without Diego around, and
it was refreshing to have someone to talk to.

“Yes...,”
Morgan gave up the search and sat at the small table with her new
friend, “I would could have said something totally stupid,
thinking that you didn't understand me.” They both laughed,
and Tomas nodded as he believed she probably would have done just
that. He also told her that their day would have been more
entertaining if he would have kept the secret a bit longer. “Our
day?” The man laughed again.
I guess Diego's going to be
gone all day again...

“Yes,
I'm to take you anywhere you want to go.” He stood, letting
her know that he was ready for their adventure to begin. Morgan
thought for a few moments, the truth was, she had no idea what there
was to do in Buenos Aires, so she would need a little help with the
decision making.

“Well...
I like antique shops, book stores... oh... and food! I really,
really like food!” She held her stomach as it was always happy
to make the point for her. They left the kitchen, and Tomas yelled,
what sounded like to Morgan, a friendly goodbye to an unseen person
in another room. The person in question, must have been Evita.

The
two were pulling out from the long driveway of the massive estate
when Tomas told Morgan where they were going. “First stop,
food. Then... I'll take you to a place that I'm sure you'll enjoy.”
She pulled her cellphone from her pocket and opened up to Angel's
contact.
Spending the day with Diego's driver. I swear, Diego is
gone more than Gio!
In a matter of minutes, Angel's reply came
though.
Is he gay?
Morgan,
no.
Angel,
Good. I just
had to make sure I didn't have to put my jealous panties on today. I
am your only gay boyfriend and we're going to keep it that way! Gotta
go, speaking of G, his panties are twisted so far up his ass today, I
don't know if a backhoe would get that shit straight.
Morgan
stifled laughter as she read his message again, then after a quick
reply, stating she would never cheat on him, she stuck her phone back
in her pocket.

On
their way to find breakfast, or lunch, Morgan took the time to ask
more questions about the area, and she even asked if they could drive
past some of Diego's buildings. Tomas was more than happy to
accommodate her wishes, and the girl got to see the beautiful
buildings that her client owned. It was nice to see how well they
were kept, and she smiled as they drove past the last building,
grateful that the man wasn't a slum lord. “You wouldn't even
recognize some of these buildings if you saw them a few years ago. It
used to be his thing. He'd pick the ugliest building in town and turn
it into a, well, that.” Tomas casually pointed behind him as
the building passed by. Morgan laughed, thinking that was something
she would probably do.

“He's
done a good job with them, that's for sure. Looks like his hard work
has paid off,” she told the driver as she caught one last
glimpse of the gorgeous apartment building.

Tomas
nodded and smiled in the rear view mirror at Morgan, but it seemed as
if something had come over him. Something Morgan couldn't quite
pinpoint. “It's nearly noon. Would you prefer breakfast or
lunch?” Finally, she knew what time of day it was, and it was
also a good reason to get a double cheeseburger that she suddenly
craved. Morgan was more than happy to tell the man what she wanted,
and he drove directly to a small coastal restaurant that had what she
wanted.

“I
haven't had a cheeseburger in years,” Tomas admitted after
they'd made their orders.

“How...what?”
His words just didn't even make sense. “Oh, right. Diego
doesn't really seem like the cheeseburger type.” She smiled as
she took a drink of her iced tea.

“He's
not,” Tomas laughed. Morgan took the chance to eye him over.
Late forties-early fifties. Salt and pepper hair, heavier on the
pepper. Lighter eyes than both Diego and Evita, but still brown and a
warm smile. His eyebrows could have used a trim, but otherwise, he
was quite handsome. “Well, not lately, anyway.”

“He
used to be a cheeseburger kind of guy?” Morgan's smile
displayed amusement.
Hmm, maybe I can learn about the man through
his driver.
They're like the hostess of a restaurant...always
know what's going on with everyone. Filled with juicy gossip. Gossip
that Morgan hoped Tomas would spill.

“He
used to be a lot of things, including the kind of guy who'd eat a
cheeseburger or sit down with a beer.” Morgan giggled as she
tried to imagine her client sitting down with a beer. “I know,
hard to imagine now, huh?”

“Kind
of like those buildings, I suppose.” She held her smile, but
his faded away.
Shit, I've probably already said something wrong.
Morgan had only assumed he wasn't
that
kind of man anymore
because of his ambition and drive for work, but Tomas' face told her
that there was more to the story, just like the dog.

“Exactly,”
he finally replied, taking Morgan by surprise. “I'm not sure I
should tell you, but you should probably know who you're dealing
with.” Her look of worry made him realize how his words must
have sounded. “No, no, nothing like that. I just want you to
know, so maybe you can...help...”
Help.
Morgan was
starting to hate that word and as far as she was concerned, she had
no intentions of helping any of her clients again. After all, the
last one she'd tried to help had sent her away.
Okay, maybe that's
a bit exaggerated. Well, let's hear what problem Mr. Torres has.
Fix-it-all Morgan is here to...help.

She
nodded for him to continue. Asking 'what's his problem?' didn't quite
seem appropriate. “It's a combination of things, really. Last
year, his father died.”

Morgan
stopped playing with her straw and looked up. “That's terrible,
I'm sorry to hear...”

“Well,
he took it pretty rough, to say the least. It was like,” Tomas
snapped his fingers, “that. Just overnight, he changed his
whole way of thinking and...well, I guess he stepped into his
father's shoes.” Morgan didn't understand. Of course, she
hadn't known Diego before then, but it didn't seem like he had
any...issues. He worked hard, maybe took things a bit seriously, but
it wasn't out of the ordinary. “Like I said, you might not
notice, but I've known him since he was a boy.” Tomas went on
to explain that he'd worked with the Torres family for nearly three
decades, so he knew Diego better than anyone. “He's lost touch
with who he used to be.” He was going to go on, but the burgers
arrived, giving Morgan a chance to gather her thoughts as well. She
knew what she wanted to know though.

“When
you say he's changed...” She opened the bottle of ketchup and
doused her fries as she dug deeper into the mystery of her client.

“When
his father passed, Diego took on many aspects of the man. Maybe it's
because he believes if he walks in his footsteps, then life will
return to the way it was before, I'm not sure, really.” Morgan
thought of Awstin. He'd changed after his wife had passed away too.
He'd gotten rid of the horses, something he loved so much, just so he
wouldn't be reminded of the loss. It was as if Diego had gone in the
opposite direction and taken on his father's persona, so everyone
could remember.
I still don't know what I'm supposed to help him
with.
She didn't know him, so she couldn't tell him he was
different, and so far, she had no examples of 'who she was dealing
with'.

She
then remembered what Tomas had told her in the car. He used to take
on the worst buildings...
used to.
“You said in the car,
Diego used to be known for fixing up the ugly buildings...”
Morgan didn't know how to phrase it to make her question make sense,
but he understood the meaning.

“That
was who he was before. He used to take risks, that's how he acquired
most of his wealth. He would pick out the building nobody else
wanted...the buildings that everyone told him he was going to lose
everything on...and he'd make it work. His father on the other hand,
he never took a risk. He played it safe and went for the sure thing,
always.”

“I
guess that answers why I'm here...” Morgan seemed to finally
understand.

Tomas
sighed and nodded. “Relationships. One of the greatest risks of
all.” He took a drink of his coffee, then continued. “He
was going through a rough break up, during the same time.”
Same
time his father died,
Morgan assumed. “He let her into his
heart, asked her to marry him and she not only tried to rob him
blind, but she broke his heart...then stepped on it. Figuratively
speaking, of course.” Morgan wasn't going to pry any further
about the break up. That answered more questions than anything he'd
said so far. It explained why he was apprehensive when it came to
discussing money, it explained why he'd avoided telling her why she
was there and it explained...

“I'm
guessing his father didn't like dogs either...” Morgan took her
own risk and smiled. Tomas returned one and nodded.

“Diego
always wanted a dog. Oh, since I've known the boy, that's all he
talked about. A German Shepherd, even. He used to watch those cop
shows and want a tough canine to call his own.” Tomas got
carried away with his short walk down memory lane, but Morgan didn't
mind. “But of course, Diego senior would never allow that in
his home. Dogs were dirty and loud and chewed things up.”