Free Around the World in 80 Men by Brandi Ratliff Page A

best part, she would pick them out beforehand, and
it had worked perfectly each time. She was feeling great, she had
more confidence than she had ever had in her life. That is, until
Julianne's phone rang.
    “Hello?” Julianne held the phone to her ear,
and her business like expression told Morgan that it had to be one
of her clients.
    “I see.” The woman nodded to the speaker, as
if he could see her. “Very good, I'll have it arranged. Goodbye.”
She ended the call, and dropped her phone back into her bag.
    Morgan wasn't going to ask, it's rude to
inquire about someone's personal call. But again, Julianne saved
her from curiosity.
    “That was Finlay. He's been out of town for
a month, and thought that he would be back on Sunday. However, he
will arrive in Scotland tomorrow morning, and he would like for you
to be there tomorrow evening. So, let's get back to the hotel and
get you packed.”
     

Chapter Nine
     
     

“ Will you stop that pacing
for just a minute?” Julianne scolded the anxious blonde.
    On the way back to the
hotel, Morgan's heart could do nothing but back flips in her chest.
She rubbed her palms together, warding off the nervous
perspiration. Less than twenty-four
hours... her mind replayed over and over
again. When she got back into the room, she had immediately thrown
off the heels and got to work wearing a path from her room of the
suite to the bathroom, to Julianne's room, back to her room. She
would grab an item every so often and throw it into her pink
suitcase, then remove it and replace it with something
else.
    Morgan ignored Julianne's demand, returning
to the closet for another trip. She grabbed the red gown, draping
it over the chair and took a pair of old jeans from the suitcase,
refolding it for a third time in an attempt to make more room.
    “Stop this, child,” Julianne
grabbed Morgan's wrist in mid-fold and took the jeans from the
young woman's hands. “Do you really need to take these?” Julianne asked, holding the
tattered jeans up at the waist. There was a large hole around the
butt pocket and an unsightly grease stain on the front.
    Morgan dropped her head, shaking it slowly
back and forth. “Go through your things, decide what you want to
keep and I'll handle the things you no longer want....or need,”
Julianne added, looking at the jeans again. They both giggled and
Morgan agreed. “This is your new life, dear. You're starting
over.”
    Half hour later, Morgan had ultimately
decided on trashing every piece of her past, all but one night
shirt that she couldn't bear to part with. She had had the shirt
since she was sixteen, and it showed its age. It hung to her knees,
and was a baby yellow color, with sunflowers and bumble bees
scattered about haphazardly. Her grandmother had given it to her
before she passed away, and at the time, Morgan hated the shirt,
even telling her grandmother that it was embarrassing. It wasn't
until she died that summer that Morgan first wore it and realized
it was the most comfortable damn night shirt in the world.
    She gave the shirt a fold in
half, then rolled it tightly and stuck it in the sock compartment
of her suitcase, knowing she wouldn't be seen wearing it anytime
soon. She giggled to herself again, imagining walking out of a
fancy bathroom, donned in her sunflower shirt for Finlay. I bet that would turn him on.
    A hot bath ran as Morgan made her final
adjustments to her suitcase and another bag filled with her new
shoes and accessories. She set the two bags by the front door and
made her way back to the bathroom.
    She soaked in the tub until her fingers and
toes turned to raisins and her feet were relieved of the damage the
new pumps had caused. “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll be in Scotland,
tomorrow,” she sang to herself, blowing a handful of bubbles from
her hands. The hot bath had been the perfect remedy to relax her
nerves and she was back to wearing a giddy smile as she climbed out
of the tub.
     
    *****
     
    “Morgan, darling,