Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (23 page)

“
Do you want to go to the gym with me?” Gabe
held up his bag and nodded in the direction of the fitness center.
Morgan's smile and lack of response gave him the answer he needed.
“Okay then. Well...” Gabriel wasn't used to having to
explain any of his actions to anyone, and telling someone he was
about to work out, suddenly felt very awkward and foreign to him.
“I'll see you in a while, then.”

He was ten feet away when Morgan offered, “I pee'd
the bed until I was six!”

Gabriel raised one hand as if to silence her, yet never
turned around as he continued to walk. “Boxes!”

Morgan nodded, and giggled as he walked away. He was so
cute, and so sweet. He just needed to continue to come out of his
shell, and she hoped she would be able to help. “But first, I
need to pick a color scheme or I'll lose my interior decorator.”
She decided on the stairs so that she could make her call to, Angel.

“
These mothafuckin' paint sniffers have no clue
what they're doing! Stick, I'm about to fire all of them and go to
Idaho my own damn self!” Morgan held the phone tightly against
her ear when she realized his voice was actually echoing in the
stairwell.

“
We're not firing anyone, Angel. Just tell them
what you want and they'll make it happen.” She truly didn't
care what colors he chose, because she knew that he would make her
home fabulous. Even if it meant driving her crazy for the next
several months until it was completed. “I actually need help
with something. Focus.” Morgan waited, knowing Angel was
looking for a place to sit, and nodded when he told her that he was
ready.

PoPo danced on the back of the chair to the clicking
sound of Angel's shoe tapping Gio's marble floor right outside of the
guest bathroom. “Stop that shit Po, we need to help our
Stick.” Angel kissed his beak and cleared his throat. “Say
words.” Morgan laughed as she walked through the door at the
bottom of the stairs, and into the hallway that led to the lobby.

“
Okay. Here's the thing,” she looked around,
making sure Gabriel was nowhere in earshot. “My client went
through a really sad thing, and he's not ready to...well...let go.
And if he doesn't let go, he'll never move on. How,” she looked
behind one last time as she entered the lobby. “How can I
convince him that love is still out there? You know, to get him to
date again? To try?” Morgan sat at the bar and whispered her
order of coffee, and sat back in the soft bar stood to wait for
Angel's brilliant reply.

That was an easy one. “You can't.” Morgan's
head tilted as she attempted to process his answer. “Fix your
face, and
you
focus.” Morgan's eyes widened as she
realized he knew her all too well. “First off, it's not your
mothafuckin' job to fix people. Second, and this shit's important, no
two people can heal from shit in the same way so stop trying to find
a magic cure for these men. You hear me, Stick. There isn't one.”
Morgan shook her head slowly, not accepting what he told her. “He'll
be ready when his mothafuckin' heart is ready, and there's nothing
you can do with those titties of yours that's going to make it go any
faster. So quit it. Let the man have fun and you leave the heart shit
to Stupid.”

“
Cupid, Angel.”

“
Whatever. You heard a bitch, now go shake your
fine ass for the man and let him fix his own shit.” Morgan
didn't agree, but she knew that he was done giving advice. She was
about to thank him, when he offered a few more words that she wasn't
expecting. “Stick.”

“
Yes.”

“
I
looked for the magic cure for
you
.
I tried for months. Baby girl, I would have found it and made your
heart and mind better if it was out there. It's not. Guinea Pig will
fix his own shit, just like you did.”

The words were true, and they made sense to her. It was
in her nature to
fix
everything, but Angel was also right in
the fact, everyone heals differently. She nodded silently as she
turned around and retraced her steps across the lobby. Pacing was
always something that made her feel more at ease. “Thank you,
Angel.”

“
Call a bitch if you need anything else. And send
me a mothafuckin' picture of what color you want the big ass
bathroom. I'll do my best to match that shit.” Angel didn't
wait for an answer, and he hung up, knowing Morgan would text him.
She giggled and rolled her eyes as she stuffed her phone back into
her pocket. That would have to wait until after breakfast.

Morgan went back to the elevator and back to their
floor. “There's the stinky girl!” She bent down to greet
Cleo as she walked into the hotel, and hoped the dog had gotten
everything out of her system. “Yes, you're a very stinky girl.
Don't do that anymore, okay?” Cleo followed Morgan into the
kitchen and sat by her feet as she prepared a pot of coffee. One
small cup from downstairs wasn't going to cut it. “Are you
hungry?”

“
Yes.” Morgan heard the deep voice and
turned to Cleo out of sheer surprise, and Gabe's laughter brought her
attention to him.

“
You scared me!” She covered her heart in
shock and the two of them laughed at the sight of coffee grounds all
over the counter. She began to scoop them all into a paper towel when
she spoke again. “That was a quick workout.” Morgan knew
she'd only been on the phone for a few minutes, and she smiled at her
own sarcasm.

“
Gym is closed for maintenance.” He dropped
his bag against the wall and leaned back as he considered their
options for the day.

Chapter Eleven

“
This is amazing!” Morgan stood in awe at
the thirty or more tiny houses that literally stood in the water.
They were held above sea level by concrete stilts and each house had
a brightly colored roof that was different from their neighbors.
“What a life they must lead.” Morgan tried to imagine
living as a local, possibly a fisherman, and waking up to the
insanely beautiful ocean view.

They had spent the morning walking along the beach,
shopping, and talking about life in Port Moresby. Gabriel explained
that he had been born there, but his family moved all over the world
when he was young. His father was the heir to a small yet lucrative
plastics factory, and had built it to a fortune 500 company in less
than twenty years. It has been passed on to Gabriel, who sold the
business to his cousin. He explained that his cousin loved the
business, and had worked with Gabriel's father since he was a
teenager. It was the right thing to do, to offer the company at below
market value, to someone who would continue to nurture it. “I
knew my heart wasn't in it, and I would never take the risk of
ruining something that my family worked so hard for.

Morgan admired him for knowing his limits. It was
something that most people will never learn, possibly, including
herself.

“
So, you sold the family business. Now you
just....enjoy life?” She wasn't sure how to ask what he
currently did for a living, or if the bakeries were his only
interest. Gabriel led them to a bench and they settled in to watch
the boats move slowly through the harbor.

“
Well, I had planned on moving actually.” He
looked sideways to catch her expression, “to the States.”
Morgan's eyes grew wide as she smiled. “I also planned to
travel, like I did when I was younger. In fact, I would probably be
in Morocco next week for one of their world famous festivals.”
He smiled, then looked down to the ground when he spoke again.
“But... Maria wanted to stay here. She loved it here.”
His tone changed and Morgan instantly changed the subject.

“
I'm glad you stayed! It seems like you have a
wonderful life here.” She nudged his arm and he smiled in
response. “Oh, and did I ever mention that I sat next to
smartest girl in my class? And that throughout most of the ninth
grade, I cheated off of her?” Gabriel stood and took Morgan's
hand. They began walking again as they both began to laugh.

“
Boxes.”

*****

“
We can't keep doing this.” Gabriel groaned
loudly to the point of bringing attention to them, as he put Cleo on
the beach. “Really, we can't.” Morgan turned her head
quickly as sand from Cleo's frantic dig flew in her direction. “Ah,
see that...she does that when she's stressed.” Morgan turned
back in his direction slightly and nodded. She silently agreed with
Gabriel, and bent to the ground to console the beautiful dog.

“
Okay, you need to go back home, huh?”
Cleo's lower body wagged before sending her tongue the entire length
of Morgan's cheek. “I'll take,” she pulled her sweat
jacket sleeve over her hand and wiped the slobber from her skin,
“that as a yes.” It honestly was getting too difficult to
sneak her in and out, and to try to keep her quiet when she ate.
Morgan had never heard a dog so loud at meal time, until Cleo.

As they watched her run ahead, they both agreed that she
wasn't going back in the room again. “I'll call, Ida. She can
come and get her for me.” Morgan's eyes narrowed in thought,
wondering again why he and Ida wouldn't consider dating, and simply
nodded.

The three spent the following thirty minutes running
with Cleo, and pulling newly found aquatic friends from her mouth.
Gabriel laughed each time, swearing that she never chewed on anything
at home. A batch of seaweed was her last victim before Ida joined
them.

“
Come on, trouble maker.” She grabbed the
leash and began to walk the dog to the car. Morgan looked to Gabriel,
then to the back of Ida.

“
Hey!” Morgan ran after her, and almost
collided head to chest when the other woman turned around. “Ha!
Sorry about that.” She took a few steps back and continued.
“Want to stay for lunch?” Ida smiled and looked to
Gabriel, then back to Morgan. The man was waving his hands
frantically in a
don't-do-it
gesture, and his head shaking
back and forth forced Ida to stifle her own laughter.

“
No, I still have so much work to do. But I'll
catch up with you two in a few days.” Morgan turned around,
hoping to get Gabriel to help her convince Ida to stay. Gabriel hands
were in the air, and immediately went down to his head, and through
his hair. She had no idea why he was acting strange, but decided to
drop her plea for right then.

“
Your boss is a weirdo.” Ida laughed, and
agreed.

“
That he is. And he's all yours.”

Gabe and Morgan waved goodbye to Ida as she pulled out
of the parking lot. “So, where do you want to go for lunch?”
Morgan rubbed her stomach as it growled loudly.

“
You just ate breakfast.” Gabe laughed,
pointing out the fact they had just eaten less than an hour ago.

“
That wasn't a breakfast. That was torture.”
Morgan raised a brow, making her point. Gabe tried to eat healthy
whenever he could, and Morgan had done enough by compromising with
the cold hard-boiled eggs and tasteless oatmeal. “
You
might
not be hungry.” Morgan poked his stomach, knowing he'd eaten at
least half a dozen of those eggs, and a bowl of oatmeal. “But I
am.” She had barely picked at one egg, and even after adding
butter, cream and sugar to her oatmeal, it still hadn't been edible.

“
There's a good soup and salad place down the
road. Will that work for Her Majesty?”

“
I was kind of thinking pizza. But I suppose that
works.” Morgan giggled and poked at his stomach again before
running away. She loved salad and soup, but teasing the man couldn't
be avoided.

“
Women!” Gabe laughed and took Morgan's hand
in his. It took her by surprise, but she didn't flinch. It
was...
nice.
She knew it wasn't part of their little game that
time, and she smiled to herself as they began to walk down the
sidewalk.
Ida would be proud to see this.

It was a ten minute walk to the restaurant, and it was
filled with pleasant conversation about the weather, Cleo, and the
bakery. It wasn't until Morgan walked into the restaurant, that she
found no words.

There, standing alone at the salad bar was John. “Excuse
me, one second please.” Morgan smiled up at Gabe and he nodded,
assuming she was headed to the ladies room. When he watched her walk
to the handsome man's side, he felt his body tense with a feeling he
hadn't had in a very long time.

Gabe was seated by an attractive young blonde, but as he
walked across the restaurant, he never took his eyes off Morgan.
How
does she know him?

“
Seriously? How are you everywhere I am?”
Morgan crossed her arms, and leaned a hip on the metal shelf in front
of the arrangement of salad toppings.

John laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I was
here first. Actually, I still think you're stalking
me
.”

“
You wish.” He walked around Morgan's body
and she turned around to face him, arms still crossed. “What's
your deal?”

“
Deal?”

“
Yeah. You're always alone and...” Morgan
didn't realize how it had come out of her mouth and she felt bad for
saying it. “I didn't mean...I just...you're traveling alone,
and...” He'd said he was on vacation, but something about the
man just didn't sit right.

“
Well, I'd like to thank you for pointing out that
depressing fact. Some people might just like to travel alone.”
He added some black olives to the top of his salad as he spoke, then
turned and looked toward Gabe, then back to Morgan. “And you're
with a different person each time I see you. To each their own.”
He added some croutons and shrugged again.