Around the World in 80 Men Series Boxed Set 1-10

by Brandi Ratliff

  Morgan sat on a small floral chair and looked out the window. The view was a bit different from her new room, but she could still see the Indian restaurant down the street. She sighed openly as the memories of Finlay flooded her mind, and Morgan closed her eyes to try to block them from taking over again. At the sound of her rumbling stomach, her attention was finally able to go somewhere else.

  She tried to remember the last time she had eaten, and the memory of her gift of blueberry muffins came storming in. “Stop!” Her word cut the silence in the room, and the drunk girl stood and left the room in search of food.

  “I need a cheeseburger, but nothing to drink. I already had something to drink, and I don't need anything else...to drink.” Her slurred words brought a genuine smile from the young bartender.

  “Aye, nothin' to drink then.” He walked away to fill her order, and Morgan put her head down on the bar to wait.

  In her drunken state, she still had enough sense to stop. She wouldn't have another episode in Scotland, at least not in public. Especially considering the fact that she couldn't remember anything that happened when she last was drunk.

  “You're alone, want some company?” Morgan turned her head just enough to take a peek at who had the nerve to talk to her right then. She sat up quickly when she saw who it was. Boy-next-door!

  *****

  Finlay walked through the house, looking for any signs of life. He had ended his business early, and all he wanted to do was find Morgan to see if things were better between them. He had missed the girl more than he cared to admit, but he wasn't going to deny himself one moment longer away from her.

  Just as he was walking to the kitchen, after exhausting his search upstairs, he heard the front door open. Turning in that direction, he called, “Morgan?!” She didn't answer.

  “She's not here.” Burke's answer caught the large man off guard. After asking enough questions, Finlay got all of the information, and promised to deal with his employee later. But even through Finlay's anger, he knew that Burke always meant well, and that he didn't blame the man for wanting to put an end to his misery.

  His boss spoke as she walked out the front door, “I'll bring her back.”

  When the door closed, Burke responded, “aye, I was afraid of that.”

  *****

  “Let me take you upstairs, I can have your food delivered to my room.” Creepy guy from the airport had his arm under Morgan's elbow, trying to coax her from the bars stool.

  She pulled her arm back, and shot him a daring look. “If you touch me again, I'll scream so loud that they'll hear me in the States. I'm not going anywhere with you. Leave. Me. Alone.” She turned back to the bartender who was just returning right then with her dinner.

  The man had no intentions of giving up. He watched Morgan walk into the lounge, and anyone could see that she had had one too many. Although, she wasn't exactly falling all over herself, she was still a little drunk and he intended to take full advantage of the opportunity.

  Morgan's head had finally stopped spinning. She knew that after she ate, she would feel a lot better, but getting rid of the barking dog at her side would take more time. He had sat himself right beside her.

  He put his arm completely around her, “I said, let's go to my room. I can make you feel so good.....,” he put his face against the side of her head, “I...,”

  She didn't let him finish, and she pulled away quickly, “I swear, if you don't get your hands off of me...,”

  “Decisions. Ah, should I break yer arm at the wrist, or the elbow, mate?” Both Morgan and the man looked up. What they saw brought shock to both of their faces. Morgan, because she didn't expect to see Finlay that night, and the asshole because he was looking up a man that looked to be giant. A very angry giant. A very angry giant that was staring directly at him.

  “Hey, uh, this is between me and my girl.” He tried to act brave, and make the man leave, but his opponent's size was overwhelming.

  Finlay smiled, the kind of smile that most men would never want to see directed at them, and replied, “lad, the lady is mine.” He put his large hand around Morgan's waist, and picked her up from her chair. After placing her behind him, he continued, “let's take a walk outside, aye?” Finlay nodded toward the front door of the lounge, and challenged the young man to settle it like men.

  Finlay didn't get what he wanted, because creepy guy was quick to bow out. “Forget it, she's not worth it anyway.” He got up and started to walk out, but he got no further than one step from the bar.

  Finlay put his hand down on creep's shoulder, and with an iron grip that the terrified young man couldn’t break free from, Finlay led him easily through the front door.

  By the time Morgan gained enough sense to see what was happening, Finlay was already walking back inside, greeting Morgan as she had made it halfway across the bar.

  “Let's go, love.” He took her gently by the elbow, and led her to her room. On the way up, he caught of glimpse of Finlay's knuckles, they were red and swollen. Morgan didn't want to think about what they had made contact with. She didn't speak the entire time as they rode up the four floors to her room, as her mind refused to process anything that had happened.

  Once inside, Finlay motioned for her to sit down across from him at the small table in her room. Once there, he began. “Love, I read your letter.”

  “What?!” Her eyes opened wide, and she tried her best to remember all that she had written, and how it could have gotten into his hands. Burke. He had my purse, it must have fallen out. Shit! “Fin, I'm so sorry.” She put her head down, and the words stung as they left her mouth. “It seems that's all I've done since we met, apologize.” Tears began to gather in her eyes as he lifted her chin to force her to look at him.

  “Morgan, don't cry. You're so young, and ye have much to learn. But that's normal. You're human, lass. You've started something that ye knew verra little about, and what yer going through are just wee growing pains.”

  “Growing pains? Exactly how long am I going to have these growing pains? Because it seems like I've messed up at everything since we met.”

  Finlay laughed, and picked the girl up and placed her on his lap. “Love, never. I still go through them when I try something new, it's part of life is all. Now dry your eyes, I can't have ye ruining our last night together with yer tears.” He wiped her eyes, and she enjoyed his touch until she realized what he had said.

  “Wait? What? Our last night? You're...you're sending me away?” The pain that she felt at that moment was almost more than she could bear. I don't blame him

  “Love, that letter, it said all the things that I would have said to you. I care for ye as well, and we can't keep doing this. Yer so young, and ye have your whole life ahead of ye. If we continue, it's just going to be harder to let go.” He brought her head against his chest, and smoothed her hair as the tears fell.

  “I hate this. I hate that I can't do this without having feelings. What am I supposed to do, Fin?” She held on to his shirt tightly, burying her hand inside the black material.

  “Shhhh it's awrite, love. You're going to go on, and you're going to be fine. I promise ye that. But, “ he lifted her head again to look at her beautiful face, “I expect ye to keep in touch with me. Someone needs to look out after ye, and I'd be honored if ye let me.” She searched his eyes, and his sincerity touched her heart as nothing had before.

  “Fin?”

  “Aye, love?”

  “Can I still come and see you? I mean, when I have my own money, can I come and spend some time with you?” She hoped he would agree, but was worried that he wanted to keep a safe distance from her to protect both of them.

  “Aye, I'd like that verra much.”

  Epilogue

  The next morning, Morgan had felt much better about leaving Scotland. She and Finlay spent a perfect night together, making love and talking until the sun began to rise.

  After a few hours of sleep, Morg
an woke to an empty room, and a knock at the door. All of her luggage had been returned, and a note was delivered by the room attendant.

  “Morgan, I've called Julianne and told her that I had a wonderful time, but some pressing business came to my attention and I had to leave. You are to call her when you wake.

  I'll think of you always, and I look forward to when I can hold you in my arms again. Grow with grace, Morgan, the pains can't stop you from being the beautiful woman that you already are.

  Your friend, Fin.”

  She folded the note, and placed it inside of her pink suitcase, holding her hand against her heart in a pitiful attempt to keep herself calm. She took a deep breath and wave a relief crashed over her. A bit of her original confidence came back and she knew there were a lot of changes she needed to adapt to, but she had the feeling it was going to be easier with the next one. She had learned her first hard lesson, and planned to use it for the rest of her career. She actually smiled as the thought of the word, career. “I can do this. I just have to grow.”

  When she called Julianne, she did better than she had hoped in making the situation sound as normal as possible.

  “Julianne, Finlay said that he had some business come up, so I guess I'm free to find another client.” She knew that Finlay had already told her that, but she had to act natural, to act as if she didn't know.

  “Yes, dear, he called me this morning. So, I've sent you four profiles to choose from, they should be on your phone by now. Just click the one that you want, and I'll make all the arrangements. I'll call you after you've decided. Oh, and Morgan, how did it go?”

  Julianne's friendly voice was exactly what she had needed to hear. The weight had been lifted somewhat from her chest, and the idea that she would move on to more adventures started to feel just a little more appealing.

  “It was wonderful, Julianne.” She meant it. After all that had happened, she made a connection with the handsome Finlay, and learned more than she ever thought possible.

  When the women ended their call, Morgan sat on the bed and opened her messages. “John Stevens? No. Mike Feller? No. Tanner Collins? Hmmm...Tanner....you're cute. Not in a I'm-going-to-make-myself-crazy-like-I-did-with-Finlay-cute, but very cute.” She hesitated briefly, then took a deep breath. “The only way to move on, is to move on.” She pressed the button beside his name, and put her phone in her bag.

  “Well, Scotland. I hope to see you again soon. But today, I'm going to Australia.”

  Australia

  Book Three

  Chapter One

  The flight to Sydney wasn't nearly as stress inducing as the flight had been to Edinburgh nearly a week prior. Morgan had still relied on a little help from some friends, Mr. Vodka and his girlfriend, 7-up, to get her through takeoff. She had been a little more relaxed, and there was no sign of any stalker boys-next-door.

  “Oh, Tanner, you had better be as damn cute as your picture shows you are,” Morgan sneaked a glance at her phone when the flight attendant wasn't looking. She traced her finger over his dirty blonde hair, “you look like a bunch of trouble.” Maybe he'd be the carefree kind of guy to get her mind off of Finlay. He wore a sideways smirk, the kind that said he had a secret...or just full of himself.

  She thought of Cade during her first practice session. Yes, he had worn that same smirk. Morgan then smiled to herself and slid her phone back into her purse. I'll just fuck his brains out and absolutely, no, and I mean, NO, warm fuzzies this time.

  Over the duration of the flight, all twenty hours, Morgan had balanced her time between a few hours of sleep, watching Kung Fu Panda, and getting lost in thought. She thought of all the things she needed to change about herself. When it finally came time to land, she felt a bit rejuvenated and certainly ready to take on her next client. She put her thoughts of Finlay on the back burner....well, okay, they were still on the front burner, but she turned it down to simmer...and turned her thoughts to Tanner.

  As she walked off the plane and made her way to luggage pick-up, she couldn't help but hope Tanner would be on time. She didn't feel like she could bear another no-call, no-show; not that it had been Finlay's fault, she just was in no mood.

  “Eh,” Morgan put her hand on her stomach as it yelled out, pleading for attention. “I did it again!” Morgan exclaimed, realizing she had not eaten since the turkey sandwich she had had when she first boarded the plane, twenty-some hours prior. Her stomach protested again, and she thought of Julianne's advice, 'always have a snack, you never know what will come up' and shook her head, wishing she had taken action to her madam's words of wisdom.

  Morgan's heels clicked along the long hallway as she pulled her bright pink bags behind her. “Shit,” the young girl nearly dropped her purse when she saw the crowded lobby. “I'll never find him!”

  Her ears flooded with hundreds of welcome back's, how have you been's, and how long are you staying's as she pushed her way to the front. Just...get.....out....side....She pushed by several people, then rounded a large man who was loitering by the spinning doors leading outside. “As if you have a chance, tubby,” Morgan murmured under her breath, noticing the young vixen he was trying to flirt with.

  Karma caught up with her, and she landed on her hands and knees as someone pushed the spinning door too quickly, knocking her forward. She looked up to make sure nobody had seen the ground attack her, and to her horror, she had an audience of many, including a certain Aussie that happened to look just like....

  “Fuck,” a single word escaped her lips and she realized who was staring directly at her.

  She sat there, frozen on all fours, for a moment, unable to look away. Morgan had a way with first impressions, and she would be damned if she didn't continue the tradition of humiliating herself each time she met a new person.

  He's coming...oh shit, shit, shit! Is that him? It has to be? Oh, no, it can't be....Morgan got off her hands and was sitting on her knees when the man approached her. A huge smile curved around his lips, and Morgan looked everywhere but him. But he gave her no choice in the matter and squatted in front of her until they were eye-level.

  “Morgan, I take it? You know, I didn't think we'd start so soon, but if you're game,” he unsnapped his belt buckle, keeping his eyes on the embarrassed girl. The expression on her face must have been priceless. Tanner laughed loudly, as he snapped his belt shut and stood. He held his hand out for her and she took it, allowing the man to pull her off the ground. “You look good on your knees though.”

  Did he just wink at me? Morgan finally smiled and thanked him, brushing the dust from her jeans. “How did you know? I mean, know it's me?”

  “Girl, the way you were eye-fucking me, it was pretty obvious. Besides, Julianne gave me a little heads up. Let's see, blonde hair?” He tousled her hair, “yep. Green eyes?” he leaned down to get a better look, their lips just inches apart. “Yeah. Long, sexy, legs, mhmm...” Tanner took a step back and admired the shape of her body, as his tongue ran along the length of his bottom lip. Then got close to her face again, “but she didn't tell me you had such nice tits.” His hands wrapped around her sides and he slowly ran then up her waist. Her body instinctively responded, pressing up against his hips. “Mhmm,” he said again.

  Hot damn, he's even hotter than his picture! His bright blue eyes sparkled in Sydney's bright sunlight. He wasn't built like Finlay, but he was definitely athletic. Morgan was already picturing the abs beneath that brown leather vest....wait? Leather vest?

  Morgan took a step back and got a good look at Tanner, she had been so distracted by her own falling that she hadn't taken a full look at her client. “Holy shit,” she blurted. “You look like fuckin' Crocodile Dundee!”

  He thought it would be a great way to break the ice, so he overplayed the American stereotype of an Australian man. His hair was held back by a black hat, sans the crocodile teeth, and he wore a brown leather bracelet to match the vest. Her eyes strolled over his jeans, his tight-in-all-the-righ
t-places jeans, then to his leather boots and back to his eyes. When he thought she had her fill of the front, he did a turn for her, oh, that's a nice ass!

  “I love it!” Morgan admitted. “Do you, uh...is this how....you always dress?” She didn't care if it was true, she was just honesty curious as to the answer.

  Another bout of laughter. She liked the way his white teeth contrasted with his tan skin, it made for a gorgeous smile. “No, darling, I just thought you might like it,” he winked at her again and retrieved her bags. “How about we get out of here. I hear that stomach rumbling over there, and you must be exhausted.”

  She wasn't sure if it had been in her own mind or not, but she was sure he had mumbled something along the lines of 'not as exhausted as you're going to be'. She smiled behind his back as they made their way through the airport parking lot, I look forward to it.

  There were buses everywhere, leading people to their hotels, or back to the airport to return home or straight downtown to begin their vacations. She pictured herself on one of those double-decker buses, filled with half-naked men...Hi everyone! I'm Morgan Holland and I'll be your whoreguide today. Anything you'd like to see along the way, let me know, and I'll be sure to expose myself. I want you all to enjoy yourselves..

  Tanner gave her a brief bio on the way to the hotel, and explained to her that he was relatively new money. Morgan had figured as much, he didn't look much older than twenty-five. “Twenty-seven, actually,” he corrected her when she asked. He explained that when he was sixteen, he had started working on a local charter boat and worked his way up from there. With his good looks, sense of humor and friendly demeanor, he picked up more than average tips from the tourists when they'd go out. When he was twenty-one, he had bought his first boat and began working on becoming a boat captain. “Cheap as hell, ugly as fuck and barely ran, but she was mine,” he had told Morgan.