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

by Brandi Ratliff

  “Okay, I'll be back in a bit then,” he got up and pulled on a pair of sweats and a tee and kissed the top of Morgan's head before he left the room. Morgan heard the jingling of two dog leashes, followed by the barks of anxious dogs and she smiled to herself all the way to the bathroom.

  “Scottish Terriers, sheesh.” The thought of the name made her think of Finlay. The memories of the night before flooded her thoughts. Initially, she wanted to call him right then and tell him what a prick he was for the stunt he pulled, but she thought about his last words, 'call me in the morning', and she wasn't about to give him exactly what he wanted. She already knew it would go right to him trying to get her to join him, and for the time being, she just wanted to enjoy a hot bubble bath. She started the water and went to her overnight bag to grab her bubbles and heard her phone's ba-doop sounding from the other side of the room.

  “Crap. Where is it?” She walked toward the sound, but had no idea where she had put her phone. Another text came through and the sound led her to her jeans. Her soaking wet jeans. “Dammit. No, please, no....” she dug the phone out of her back pocket and rubbed the foggy screen against her shorts, then pressed a few buttons, testing it. The 'home' button was a little sticky, but everything seemed to still be working. “Whew!”

  At that moment, she was thankful she hadn't upgraded her phone in several years. She was the only person she knew who still carried a flip phone, but she knew that the second she bought a fancy one, she'd somehow manage to drop it from the tallest building in town. Then it would bounce along the road, get driven over by an 18-wheeler, and meet its final demise in the ocean....the bottom of the ocean...and it would get eaten by a shark; a Great White shark.

  Morgan laughed out loud at her theatrics, but it wasn't too far fetched. Her little phone had been to hell and back. The front screen was cracked and hardly any of the factory paint remained in tact, but it got the job done.

  “Ah, I suppose I'll give in an upgrade. I can afford a new one now if it gets eaten by a shark,” she flipped her phone over, running her fingers over each chip and memory that came with it. She opened it again and navigated to the text messages . It came as no surprise that Finlay had texted her, but there were more.

  Tanner. Morgan's heart flipped in her chest when she read his name. She clicked on the message and never had a simple 'call me' meant so much to her. That's exactly what she needed. She needed to talk to Tanner. He'd know exactly what to do.

  She grabbed her bubble bath bottle again and took it and her phone into the bathroom with her. After she added a hefty amount of liquid into the tub and allowed it foam to the maximum amount of bubbles before overflowing, she turned off the tap, and climbed in the old tub.

  The view from the bay window was absolutely stunning. The window sat parallel with her head, giving her the perfect view of the water outside. It was an overcast day, residual clouds from the night before, and she was actually thankful the sun wasn't beaming down on her. She didn't know if she could handle its bright rays at the moment.

  Morgan dunked her head completely under the water, hoping it would wake her up. She pushed her hair from her forehead and dried off her hands before reaching for her phone.

  She did a quick calculation of the time difference in her head and figured it was only eight-thirty PM in Australia. She hit the call button. After two rings, Tanner picked up.

  “Well, look who it is! Hey beautiful!” Tanner's deep voice came through load and clear. Oh, how nice it was to hear him.

  “Hi, Tanner! How are you?”

  “Better now,” he slowly replied. His words made her pulse race. They spent the next few minutes catching up on their days. Tanner wasn't surprised to find out Morgan was taking one of her bubble baths while talking to him, but he genuinely wished she was at his house instead.

  “How did everything work out with that Fin guy?” Tanner finally asked.

  Morgan started to explain everything from her texting Finlay, telling him no, to Finlay's phone call and finally to him showing up at Sean's house.

  “He just showed up? What did he think was going to happen? As if any man would leave you!” Tanner laughed into the phone, with an obvious condescending tone toward Finlay.

  “Well, he did. He left me,” Morgan announced, knowing that only added to Tanner's disapproval of Finlay.

  “Well, I say you just see how it goes, babe. There's a good chance when you're done with the Sean guy, that he's going to go back to everything being normal and he's just being a dick right now. But if he still tries to keep in contact with you after you're done with this guy, then I guess he cares,” Tanner reluctantly offered his advice.

  Morgan thanked him and told him she would keep him up to date with how it goes. “What about you? Any girlfriends?” Morgan asked.

  “Well, I saw Veta yesterday. She asked me how you're doing, actually. We got some pizza and caught up. I hooked her up with a friend of mine, so she's happy.”

  “Oh, what I would give to have that pizza! God, was that good!” Morgan practically missed the whole part about Veta. Her mind went to sitting on the bed of the hotel with Tanner, enjoying the best pizza of her life, then having wild sex....before she broke his leg, that is. She sighed into the steamy air of the bathroom.

  They spoke a while longer, but Tanner was the one to end the conversation this time due to a mechanical problem with one of his boats. They agreed to call each other soon and hung up.

  Morgan thought for a moment as to whether she would call Finlay, and once again, decided she would just shoot him a text. She didn't think she'd be able to control her temper, and having Sean walk in while she was having an argument with his best friend wasn't on her agenda.

  She clicked through Finlay's messages. One in particular caught her attention. I'm going to tell him everything.

  “You wouldn't!” Morgan felt her blood pressure rise at the thought. Her fingers pressed the keys as fast as they would allow her, 'what you did last night was bullshit, Finlay. If you tell him, I will never forgive you.'

  Morgan snapped the phone shut and put it on the floor beside the tub. She was furious, and then that turned into fear. “What if he does? I could get fired...and....waiting tables again by Monday.” She looked over the side of the tub and stared down the phone. “Please don't ruin this for me, Fin.” Her soft words floated through the steamy little room, and she sunk further down in the water again as she tried to block it all from her mind. Just as she shut her eyes in a pitiful attempt to relax, the sound of jazz made her sit up quickly, splashing water over the edge of the tub. “Shit!” She looked down at the source, “I knew it, shit!” It was Finlay calling, and she held her hands together in front of her as she debated her next move.

  She sat up enough to look outside quickly, and she didn't see Sean or the dogs anywhere in sight. With a deep breath, she reached over the side and grabbed her phone. It nearly fell to its death as she fumbled with the button.

  “What?” Her voice was shaky, and she just wanted to get the ordeal over with.

  Finlay sounded exhausted, and defeated. “I'm sorry. I truly am, and I won't tell him anything.” She heard a long exhale when he finished speaking. She had been ready for battle, but what she got instead was a broken man on the other end.

  “Fin, why? You know that this is my job, why are you doing this?” She knew that answer, he was just upset that he couldn't have what he wanted.

  He hesitated before answering, “I've always put work first, but...I'm realizing that sometimes there are more important things than just working all the time. Like you.” His confession caught her off guard, and her anger for the man had been lifted completely.

  “Fin, I don't know what we have, if we even have anything, but I do know that we can enjoy ourselves when we both get time. But you can't just dump me anytime you want because I have a life too.” As the words left Morgan's lips, she realized that it was probably the first time in her life that she had 'deman
ded' something from a relationship, and it felt empowering to have her first time be with a man as powerful and handsome as Finlay Campbell.

  “Aye, love, I know that now. I want ye to enjoy Sean, as much as that makes me want to break his wee legs, and I'll be happy with any time that I have with ye.” Morgan had no idea what to say, and her silence make him speak again. “I'll let ye go for now, please...call me and let me know where yer going next.” Then he added, “I don't want to lose ye, Morgan.”

  “I'll call you, Fin, I promise.” With that, she closed the phone and held it against her chest. Lose me? Does he think that he has me? “No, I'll enjoy myself with Sean, and worry about all of that later.” She smiled with contentment as she put the phone back on the floor and quickly washed herself. She couldn't help but to feel that life had gotten much sweeter in the last few minutes; Finlay wasn't angry, she had finally set boundaries, and her handsome Irishman would be back anytime.

  When she was done, she wrapped herself in a thick blue towel that was covered in images of smiling little white sheep. She laughed at their little faces, and went to the bedroom to get dressed.

  Sean didn't arrive back until another hour later, but she was grateful to have the extra time to make herself presentable. She chose a pair of light colored jeans and a thick red sweater that cut just low enough to show off the effect of her push up bra. She straightened her hair just enough to keep it tame, because she assumed that if she spent anytime outdoors, any style she chose would be blown to hell and back.

  Just as she made her way to the kitchen to find coffee, Sean and his two furry buddies walked in. “Ah, I see yer about to fight with the sheep. What do ye need, I'll find it for ye.” They laughed as Morgan pretended to lose her hand in the small field on his counter.

  “Coffee...I asked this guy..,” she picked up a stuffed four inch sheep that proudly sported a tiny green bow tie, “but he wouldn't tell me much.”

  Sean walked to her side and the smell of raw sweaty man, mixed with hours of sex, nearly melted her to the yellow linoleum floor at her feet.

  “Ah, he wouldn't tell ye because I don't keep coffee. I'm a tea man.” He plucked the little sheep from her hands, and put it back in its place. Then he pulled her arms around his waist. “Let me get a shower then we'll walk doon the street for yer coffee.” He ran his cold lips across hers and she licked the taste of the salty air from his mouth.

  “Sounds perfect.” She smiled and let her hands fall as he pulled away.

  “Ye know what's perfect?” He spoke to her as he was just about to walk into the bathroom. She raised her brows in question as she smiled. “Your fookin' tits in that shirt, and I'm going to enjoy the hell out of playin' with 'em today.” His sexy lips spread wide across his overly amused face.

  Morgan shook her head and laughed as he walked from her sight. “I couldn't keep that to myself, could I?” She had tried, but there was no stopping her body's betrayal. Oh, I look forward to that magical mouth of yours.

  Chapter Seven

  “This place is great!” Morgan snapped several pictures of Sean who was sitting across from her in the small cafe. He laughed at her excitement, just as he did during their short walk together to get her coffee. He watched her take at least two dozen pictures of the surrounding buildings along the way, and was more than willing to pose for her in almost each one. Her happiness made him want to show her as much of Dublin as he possibly could.

  “Ye must love traveling, and taking your wee camera with ye.” What she told him was the last thing he thought he would hear from her, considering how much she seemed to enjoy seeing new things.

  “Actually, this is the first time that I've been out in a place and just... enjoyed it. I've wanted to, but it just didn't work out the way I had hoped.” She continued to look around and smiled at everything she saw. The cafe was beautiful with a high dome ceiling that filtered the light in to give the place a subtle orange glow. There were light fixtures hanging everywhere that resembled old lanterns from days long gone, and every seat was filled with smiling locals as well as awe-struck tourists. “I didn't imagine the streets being so narrow though, but I love it! I love everything about this place!” Yes, Dublin proved to be the perfect location for Morgan's first dive into the whole tourist scene.

  What bastards! Who would deny her the chance to look around? “We'll spend the day going anywhere ye want to go. And we'll get ye more batteries for the camera, I don't imagine they'll last long with what yer doing the poor thing.” His heart warmed at the sight of her wide smile, gratitude danced in her eyes as she put her hand over his.

  “Thank you.” Morgan was beyond thrilled and she leaned across the table and kissed him slowly on the lips. “You have no idea how much that means to me.” When she sat back down, his urge to take her back to the house was causing a strain in his lower region.

  “Aye, I think I do.” He smiled at her and suggested that she finish her drink so that they could get started. He took a quick look at her perfectly round breasts and mentally promised to attend to them later.

  Their first stop was the National Museum of Ireland, a place that Morgan decided should be on the to do list of every tourist in Dublin. She marveled at the exhibits showing Irish treasures and artifacts from the Stone Age to Medieval times. She could have spent the entire day there, but allowed Sean to drag her out to their next adventure.

  They visited Collins Barricks, Kilmainham Gaol, Glasnevin Cemetery, National Botanic Gardens, and rounded the early evening off with an Irish Dancing show at the Jig. When the amazing dances ended, she applauded with the kind of enthusiasm that made Sean laugh out loud and hug her tightly against him.

  As they walked out, Sean waved for a cab and asked, “now what would ye like to see?” Her answer was already leaving her lips.

  “Oh! A kilt! I want to see men in kilts!” She knew that Irishmen didn't wear them much anymore, except for special occasions, but she hoped that there would be a place where they did, so that she could admire how they would have dressed long ago.

  “Aye...a kilt is it then?” He smiled behind her as he helped her into the back seat of the cab. He told the driver where to go, and Morgan recognized Sean's address. They were going back to the house, and she was slightly disappointed.

  But she'd had the best day so far, and if he was too tired to continue, then that was alright with her. Morgan grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. “Thank you so much, I had a great time.” She sat up and kissed his cheek.

  He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her, her warm body fit perfectly along his side. They didn't speak for the rest of the way to the house, they just sat quietly and enjoyed the feel of one another.

  When they arrived back at the house, Morgan ran inside and sat on the large floral sofa in the living room. She was already flipping through her hundreds of photos by the time Sean had let the dogs into the back yard and joined her. “You'll have to make sure ye bring yer camera tonight.” His amusement nearly sparkled in his eyes as he watched her turn to face him.

  “Tonight? We're going back out?” The thrill of the day returned, and she was ready for anything.

  “Aye, I'll just need to change first.” He ran his finger along her cheek then left the room.

  Fifteen minutes later, Morgan watched Sean as he returned to the living room, and she nearly fell off of the floral couch. “Oh, shit!” She scanned his body from head to toe, making sure to take in every single detail on the gorgeous man.

  He gave her the most perfect view of an Irishman in a kilt. He wore a stark white long sleeve shirt, with enough buttons opened in the front to see enough of his muscular chest that made her body nearly tingle at the sight. But that wasn't the best part, it was the black and dark green kilt that hugged his waist, the waist that screamed for her to wrap her legs around right then. “Oh shit!”

  She walked slowly towards him, “I believe ye said that already.” He laughed, but she didn't take her eyes off
of him.

  As she stopped in front of him, she reached up and ran her hand through the opening in his shirt. Then lower, and along the side of his body until she reached his kilt. “I know where ye think yer putting that wee hand of yers, and you'll have to wait to get the answer to that question.” He put his large hand over hers, and laughed when she openly pouted.

  Sean took care of the last minute things to allow them to leave again, and Morgan still didn't take her eyes from him. She even envied the dogs who got to jump against his legs when he brought them back in. She told them as much when they ran by her, “lucky little fluffy bastards.” Sean's laughter rang through the kitchen, and Morgan's face reddened when she realized that he had heard her.

  “I called a taxi, it should be here soon.” He nodded in the direction of the front door, and Morgan still wondered if they had time for a quick game of peek-a-boo before they left. But that question was answered when they heard a car out front.

  Sean walked quickly to the door and checked through the small window, “bloody hell, it's my ma again.” Morgan laughed, and looked around for a place to hide. She also intended to ask him what the deal was with his mom always showing up, and more importantly, why she ran off women who might be spending time with her son.

  The tall man ran through the hallway and grabbed Morgan's hand as he passed her, “let's go.” She laughed as he pulled her through the rest of the kitchen, then out the back door. The couple ran behind the house and ducked their heads below the windows as they duck-walked to the corner of the front yard. He gave her the finger-to-the-lips shhhh sign, and they both giggled as they waited for her to walk in. Once it was safe, they ran to the road and stood in front of a barrier of trees that hid them from the house.

  Just as their laughing fit had nearly taken them over, their taxi pulled up, and they jumped in quickly like two runaway teenagers. Through fits of laughter, Sean managed to tell the driver where to go, and they made their way to the Dame Tavern.