Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (94 page)

He
had already started the process of booking the room when she huffed
her way into the lobby. “Sticky, don't sweat.. it ain't even
cute.” She smacked the man on the arm, then started digging
through her purse. “You best be looking for a cosmetic to fix
your melting face, 'cuz you ain't payin' for shit.”

Morgan
smacked at him again, but he dodged the swing and grabbed a pen to
sign for their room. “Angel! Let me do this, I'm the one that
invited myself here!” Angel simply stuck his face in the air
and swayed his lean hips as he left Morgan standing in the lobby,
with her
melting face.

He
was out of earshot, obviously going to the car to get her bags, when
Morgan took matters into her own hands. “Excuse me.”
She turned and looked at the young woman behind the counter, hoping
that she spoke English, as the interaction between the girl and Angel
hadn't been. “I need to pay for our room... here.” She
slid the card across the smooth surface, and pinched her brows
together when the girl shook her head. “No? Here.. this too.”
Morgan pulled a hundred dollar bill out and slid it across as well.
Once again, the girl shook her head.

“She's
my cousin, and I already told her that you'd try that shit. The room
is paid for, get over yourself and let's go have some fun!”
Angel laughed in her face as he walked by her, struggling with all of
her bags in the process. Morgan caught up to him and took some of
the load off the man. In the elevator, he explained that four of his
family members worked there, so he already knew how nice it was. It
was still a last minute decision to stay there, as there was another
nice hotel a little further down that he was still considering.
Either way, he had family that worked there as well, so no matter
which one he chose, it would have worked out for the man.

`They
were on the top floor, in one of the best rooms that the hotel had to
offer. “Wow! Oh Angel, I can't let you pay for this. I'm
serious, please let me take care of it.” Morgan walked through
the main room and went directly to the double doors that led to the
balcony, and the breathtaking view of the ocean below. Angel's
laughter behind her, as he walked out and joined her, was what broke
her from the trance that the scenery had put her in.

“Boo....
G Boss gave me his card... said to show your pretty ass a good time.
He may be a bitch from time to time, but you know he has a heart
under that ugly ass lavender shirt that he loves so much.”

“Well...in
that
case!” Morgan shook her head and both of them broke
out in laughter. She still wasn't comfortable with Gio paying, he had
nothing to do with the fact she wanted to see Angel. “So, he
actually gave you the week off?” She ran over to the bed,
spotting the little treat and plucked it off the pillow.

“Mhmm,”
Angel hummed between his lips, then went over to the other bed and
grabbed the chocolate. “Catch,” he called as he threw his
little square to her. Morgan asked if Gio was taking care of PoPo and
Angel laughed at the ridiculous question. “It's his bird,
technically, but I don't think he's fed PoPolicious since Jesus of
Nazareth took a mothafuckin' razor to his face. So, no. His bitch ass
ain't taking care of the baby...but Po is good until tomorrow.”

“Does
that mean...” Morgan wondered if she'd have Angel to herself
for the day.

“Boo,
I'm all yours all day! Now, let's get some food in you. You look
skinny...all..withery and shit like you gonna blow away with a good
breeze.” She didn't have time to argue, nor admit that she'd
put on a couple of pounds since he'd last seen her. Of course, Morgan
knew she and Angel would be running around non-stop all week, so to
lose the three extra pounds Evita's home cooking had rewarded her
with would be no problem.

“I'm
not withering!” Angel was already dragging her across the room
so they could look at the menu together. “Oh, that looks good!”
She pointed at a ginormous cheeseburger that was displayed front and
center of the menu.

“We'll
get two of those bitches,” Angel told her then picked up the
phone. Morgan could only assume he was discussing burgers with the
person on the other side of the call as she just sat and admired the
way his native tongue easily spilled from his lips. “Here's
what we're going to do...you're going to get into your sexy little
pajamas and we're not leaving this room all day.” Morgan
giggled and nodded.

“Sounds
perfect!” She had a pair of pj's out of her bag and on her body
in less than three minutes.

“Oh,
Boo, love the pink!” He did a turn of his finger so Morgan
would spin and she did. She loved the way she could be herself around
Angel. Her pink tank and purple booty shorts was not a typical outfit
she'd wear for a client, but she knew her friend wouldn't judge her.
“Look at that booty!”

Nope,
definitely no judgment there. He walked across the room and gave her
a slap on her round ass as he made his way to their bags. “Angel,
you don't have to do that right now,” she told him as he picked
up her zebra print bag. He was already lugging it to one of the
dressers and she knew what he had planned.

“Sticky,
if I were at G's right now, I'd be making lunch or picking weeds or
pressing the princess' panties. I don't even know what to do with
myself.” He had her bag opened and was already sorting the
jeans from the shirts before his sentence was finished.

She
knew she wasn't going to win. He was a man of habit and if putting
her bras into a drawer made him happy, she wouldn't argue. Of course,
she plopped herself down next to him and helped until their food
arrived.

After
devouring their burgers, Angel got back to putting their bags away,
and by the time that was finished, it was dark outside. “How
about we try out the hot tub?” She nudged him with her arm and
wiggled her brows as she pulled him off the ground with both hands.

“Baby
girl, I'm gonna do more than try it out!” He told her to go get
her suit on, because one, she needed a bathing suit on, but two, he'd
just felt his phone vibrate and he had to check it. If it were from
Tanner, he didn't want her knowing about it.

Once
she was behind the bathroom door and out of sight, he found that his
suspicions were correct. One message from Tanner read,
I'm on a
layover...I'll be landing in Rio around 6:30 a.m., will you be up?

Angel
laughed, then stifled himself.
Tan-Man, you bet that ass of steel
that I'll be there. G-Puff usually has me up at five, six ain't no
muthafuckin' problem.

He
laughed again and set his phone on the dresser, then grabbed his own
pair of swim trunks and quickly made the swap with his jeans. By the
time Morgan got out of the bathroom, he already had the tub started
and bubbling.

“So,
tell me, did you really call Fin and apologize?” Morgan walked
out on the balcony in her favorite white bikini, holding two glasses
of her favorite wine for the two of them.

“Mhmm,”
he told her, nodding as he took his glass of wine and helped her step
into the tub. “I don't know what you said to Fin-lay-me-down,
but he was happy as a cat in a fuckin' Christmas tree.” Angel
had called Fin, and he had apologized. Finlay took it well and
accepted his apology, but Angel had already called Tanner. He'd been
so pissed off at Finlay that he wanted to give Morgan something to
get her mind off of him. Tan-Man should definitely do the job.

Chapter
Two

Morgan
rolled over and smashed her pillow on one side to get the proper
amount of fluff under her head, then settled back down into a deep
sleep. Angel had stopped moving, hoping that she was just
readjusting, and was happy to see that she was.

That's
right, keep sleeping Sticky. Your Angel is bringin' you a bitch of a
wake up call.
The man walked-ran on his toes to the hotel door,
then wedged out of the few inches that he gave himself to squeeze
through.

Angel
was leaving the hotel parking lot at exactly six o'clock, and made it
to the airport as Tanner was walking toward baggage claim.
“Tan-Man!” Tanner turned, hearing the 'Tan' part of
Angel's greeting, and smiled as Morgan's friend ran in his direction.

“Angel,
how are ya?” The smaller man fanned himself at hearing
Tanner's delicious accent, and the blonde picked him up from the
ground and gave him the same type of hug that Angel had given Morgan.

“Do
that again and I'm stopping at the jewelry store to pick out my
fuckin' ring.” Tanner's loud laughter made Angel even more
giddy, and he snaked his arm under Tanner's as he escorted the tall
Aussie to baggage claim. Tanner took it all in stride, and allowed
Angel to play the role of the perfect host.

The
drive to the hotel had been mostly Angel talking non-stop to his
tired companion, but both men enjoyed catching up on everything that
had happened since Morgan's birthday bash. “So, she still
doesn't know about me being here... right?” Tanner had serious
reservations about accepting the invite without Morgan's knowledge,
but in the end, his love for anything spontaneous had won, and he
agreed to the trip.

“No,
she doesn't.” Angel, on the other hand, let it be perfectly
clear that he had no reservations about making the arrangements.
“She needs someone that's....,” he had to think of the
right words, and he looked at Tanner for a few seconds before
finishing, “more like her.” That was it, Morgan had been
sent away by a man because she laughed too much, then called immature
by a man that she cared deeply for. Angel had wanted Tanner there to
remind her that she was more than good enough, and that she wasn't
alone in the way that she saw the world. What Angel didn't know was
that he, himself, was the perfect person for the job, as he was the
only man that Morgan had ever known that she could absolutely be
herself with.

They
had just walked out of the elevator on the top floor when Angel
stopped walking and put his arm up for Tanner to do the same. The
Tan-Man wanted to laugh at the awkward military move that Angel had
made, but he kept his face stern to hear what the little
soldier
had to say. “Now, you're going to crawl in bed with her... and
don't shake shit up, try not to wake her. I'm going downstairs to
get some food, a bitch can't be planning all this on an empty
stomach. You text me when it's safe to come back.” Tanner
nodded, and raised his brow in question, silently asking if it would
be alright to start walking again. Angel wasn't quite finished.
“Thanks, Boo. You're good to her, and I appreciate it.”
His serious demeanor was unusual for Tanner, and he quietly told
Angel that he wouldn't miss the visit, with both of them, for
anything.

The
mood was light again as they reached the door, especially as Tanner
watched the man making faces at every little sound the lock and
handle made as he slowly opened the door. “Go on, text a bitch
later.” Tanner nodded at the whispered instructions, then
quietly walked to the center of the room.

Morgan
was beautiful, even though it looked as if someone literally threw a
handful of hair over her face. He smiled and watched her for several
moments before leaning an arm against the wall and removing his
boots. She never heard a thing as the exhausted man crawled across
the bed, and settled in beside her.

Nearly
two hours later, Morgan finally stirred, but Tanner, whose exhaustion
had caught up to him, was in a deep sleep. She stretched her legs out
in front of her, then curled her toes a few times to shake off the
night. She loved sleeping in hotel beds, that one was no exception.
It didn't matter how rich any of her clients were, hotel beds usually
seemed more comfortable.

Morgan squinted her eyes toward the window, wishing that the small
opening in the curtains wasn't there. Its one beam of light had to be
shining right in her face. After blinking a few times to adjust to
the light, she rolled to her side to wake up Angel, but it wasn't her
best friend laying beside her.

Tanner
had rolled to his side as well, so the only thing Morgan could see
was his long dirty blonde hair, connected to a man who obviously
wasn't Angel.
Oh, fuck! Who the fuck is this? Oh no! This isn't
good! Where's Angel!?
The questions ran through her mind a
million miles per hour and her eyes darted around the room as she
thought about her next move. She sat up in bed, inching slowly away
from the man. The first gut reaction, hit him with something...the
first thing she saw, her makeup bag on the small table next to the
bed.