Chapter 3

CHAPTER3

Logan Airport

Boston, MA

“I’m not sure that this is a good idea,” Morgan mumbled weakly as she pressed her forehead against the window as the taxi pulled to a stop.

“It’s a great idea,” Eric said, although, to be fair, this probably wasn’t going to end well, mostly because of the woman who hadn’t stopped blowing up his phone since she realized that he’d changed the password on the account so that she couldn’t get her hands on the airline tickets he’d paid for.

“Make. It. Stop,” Morgan mumbled against the window, making his lips twitch as he turned off his phone and noted that they’d finally reached the whinny stage, which, if he was going to be honest, was his favorite stage.

There was the happy stage, the sad stage, the vomiting stage, which was normally followed by the begging for a quick death stage that he really wasn’t a big fan of, followed by the regret stage, the acceptance stage where she realized that she couldn’t hold her alcohol, the remorse stage where she promised never to touch another drop of alcohol again, and then finally, the whinny stage where she got adorably pouty, mumbled and grumbled.

It also didn’t hurt that this was usually the stage where he was able to get away with pissing her off, which would come in handy in a few minutes when she realized what he did. With that in mind, Eric reached past her and opened her car door and felt his lips twitch when the move caused her to drop forward with an adorable squeal.

“I really hate you,” Morgan mumbled sadly as he caught her before she could land face-first on the pavement.

“I know you do,” Eric said, not really concerned that she’d slipped back into the sad stage since he knew that she’d bounce back as soon as he got some caffeine in her.

As he watched Morgan climb out of the taxi, Eric considered throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her inside just in case she changed her mind and tried to make a run for it, only to decide against it since it would probably end with Homeland Security taking notice and giving her a chance to get out of this. Since that really wouldn’t work for him, Eric decided to play it by ear as he climbed out of the taxi and made his way around the trunk as Morgan was forced to slap her hand against the side of the taxi with a muttered, “Oh, God…”

After making sure that she wasn’t about to make a run for it, Eric grabbed her backpack and handed it to her, noting the murderous glare she was sending him. God, she was just so fucking adorable, Eric thought with a heartfelt sigh as he watched Morgan hug her backpack against her chest as she glared only to wince, groan, and then finally returned to glaring at him. Shooting her a wink, mostly just to piss her off because it made him happy, Eric turned his attention back to the bags and-

Prayed like hell that she didn’t change her mind about going with him because he honestly wasn’t sure how he would get through this without her. Telling himself that this was exactly what he needed, Eric grabbed the bags and set them down on the sidewalk before he paid the driver. Once that was done, he turned around to find Morgan standing on the sidewalk, frowning down at his bags.

Slowly blinking, Morgan glanced from his bags to the taxi pulling away from the curb and back again. “Umm, Eric?”

“Yeah?” he murmured absently as he double-checked to make sure that he had the ticket vouchers he’d printed this morning.

“Where are my bags?” Morgan asked as he slid the papers back into his pocket.

“In my living room where I left them,” Eric said, watching as she tried to make sense out of what he was saying as she frowned down at his bags before once again glancing at their taxi as it drove away and then, finally, looked back at him.

“Why would you do that?” Morgan asked, still trying to make sense out of what was happening as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“Because it gave me great joy to leave your collection of tee-shirts and baggy jeans behind,” Eric said, enunciating every fucking syllable with a satisfied sigh as he watched her eyes narrow dangerously on him.

Slowly nodding, Morgan said, “You’ll pay for this.”

With that, Morgan turned around and-

Tripped over her own two feet.

With a grumbled, “Stupid feet,” Morgan trudged ahead, shifting her backpack over her shoulder as she went. So fucking adorable, Eric thought with a heartfelt sigh as he carried his bags inside to check them in while Morgan somehow managed to find her way to a bench without falling on her face.

While he stood there waiting for a middle-aged couple to finish arguing over a carryon bag, Eric found himself watching Morgan as she hugged her backpack against her chest with the saddest fucking pout that he’d ever seen as he thought about just how badly he’d fucked up his life. In his defense, he’d never expected it to end like this. He’d hoped with time that he would be able to…wonder what had the little brat suddenly perking up.

Frowning, Eric followed Morgan’s gaze past security only to glare when he realized that she was looking at a rack of tee-shirts placed outside a souvenir shop. She really was a pain in his ass, Eric thought as he glanced back at Morgan to find her watching him with a smug little smile that slowly disappeared when he mouthed the words, “Your wallet,” because he’d been prepared for something like this.

Eric watched as she tore through her backpack, searching for her wallet as he pulled it out of his pocket and held it up with a satisfied sigh. When Morgan saw it, her beautiful blue eyes narrowed on him and he knew, just fucking knew, that she was going to make him pay for this.

That was more than fine with him.

If she managed to get her hands on another tee-shirt, he was going to-

“Just married?” came the curious question that had Eric tearing his glare away from the woman that was probably trying to figure out what she was going to do with his body to find the baggage clerk watching him with a warm smile. At his questioning look, she said, “I can always tell.”

Once upon a time, he’d hoped for more, but…

Shaking his head, Eric pulled the vouchers out of his pocket and placed them on the counter. “Best friend,” he said, watching as she began nodding only to frown when she saw the note the travel agent made at the bottom of the voucher.

“It didn’t work out,” Eric said, answering the unspoken question as he watched her clear her throat uncomfortably as she looked up from the special note announcing that he was on his fucking honeymoon with a murmured, “I see,” and a pitying smile that really just fucking said it all.

This was a mistake.

He should have canceled this fucking trip and ate the cost, Eric realized while he stood there waiting for the clerk that kept sending him pitying looks to finish checking him in as he resigned himself to the bullshit to come all because he’d booked the honeymoon package.

He really was a fucking idiot, Eric thought as he glanced back at Morgan and-

Felt his lips twitch as he watched Morgan grumble to herself as she dropped down onto her side on the bench with a heartfelt sigh. She honestly was too fucking adorable for words, Eric thought as he absently murmured, “Thank you,” to the clerk and grabbed their tickets as he realized something important.

There was no fucking way that he was going to be able to do this.

At least not without a plan, Eric thought, watching Morgan as he made his way to join her. It would definitely make things easier, he thought, in no fucking mood to deal with pitying looks, questions, or anything that would remind him of just how badly he’d fucked up his life. For the next week, he wanted to forget about all the bullshit and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he had to deal with pitying looks and questions about why he was on his honeymoon without his wife, which meant…

He was going to have to ask Morgan for one more favor.