Chapter 4

CHAPTER4

“I’m never flying coach again,” Morgan mumbled weakly to herself as she stood there, taking in the wonder that was the First-Class lounge.

She was also never leaving this lounge, Morgan decided as she took in the coffee bar to her right, a breakfast buffet a few feet away from that, a full bar on the other side of the room, leather chairs and couches of every size placed throughout the room, large flat-screen televisions on every wall, and-

“Bless you,” Morgan mumbled with a watery smile and a sniffle when the hostess handed her a cup of coffee.

“If there’s anything else that you need, please don’t hesitate to ask,” the wonderful woman, who’d come to her rescue, said as she handed Morgan a plate filled with every delicious breakfast baked good known to man.

“Thank you,” Morgan mumbled with another sniffle as she made her way to the inviting-looking leather couch by the windows.

Definitely never leaving, Morgan decided with a heartfelt sigh as she carefully placed the cup of coffee and plate of delicious-looking danishes that were going to make her day better on the coffee table before dropping her bag on the couch and sat down. After shifting to get more comfortable, Morgan picked up her coffee and after savoring the soul-reviving aroma, she took a sip as her attention shifted back to the lounge doors and-

“Congratulations, Mr. Bradford.”

-wondered if she’d ever seen Eric this pissed before. She watched as he ground his jaw as the wonderful woman that Morgan adored informed him that he’d picked the perfect destination for a honeymoon. This wasn’t going to end well, Morgan realized as she watched that angry glare lock on her as she took another sip of her coffee before placing it down on the coffee table and reached for the blueberry danish, only to sigh when Eric plucked it out of her hand as he dropped down on the couch next to her with a glare that dared her to bitch about it.

“Problem?” Morgan asked, reaching for the apple danish only to grumble when the jerk that was determined to piss her off snatched it out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth, all while glaring at her.

“I thought you could use another one,” her new favorite person on earth said as she placed a small plate with two large blueberry danishes on the coffee table in front of her before she made her way to help a group of businessmen that would never appreciate her the way that Morgan did.

“Thank you,” Morgan said with a sniffle as she reached for a danish, only to once again find herself glaring at the big jerk that better stop stealing her food.

“I need another favor,” Eric said, finishing off the last bite of danish before grabbing the muffin off her plate and devoured it with a groan.

“And you felt the best way to go about that was to glare at me while stealing my food?” Morgan asked, blinking at the man narrowing his eyes on her.

“Yes,” Eric bit out, his glare never leaving her as he reached over and forced her to snatch the mini chocolate chip muffin off the plate and shove it into her mouth before he could steal it.

“And my bags?” Morgan asked, following that up by snatching the small piece of coffee cake off the plate and took a large bite of it, making sure to savor every last morsel simply to piss him off.

“Gave me great joy to leave them behind,” Eric bit out as he reached over and snatched the last bite of coffee cake out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth, his glare never leaving her as he finished it off.

Nodding slowly, Morgan said, “Whatever it is, the answer’s no.”

For a moment, Eric simply glared at her before he said, “You owe me.”

“I really don’t, though,” Morgan said, swiping the last apple danish off the plate before he could grab it and took a bite before she added, “and if I did owe you anything, which I don’t, I would say that me being dragged along on this trip more than makes up for whatever imaginary debt you think I owe you.”

“You really think so?” Eric asked, reaching over and swiped the danish out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth.

“I really do,” Morgan said, knowing that she’d more than paid back any favor that she owed him by going on this trip. In fact, some might say that he owed her after this. Not that she was going to be around to collect on that debt, but still. She-

“Summer camp,” Eric said, taking his time enunciating every syllable as she sat there, trying to remember how to breathe.

“You promised we’d never speak of it again,” Morgan mumbled hollowly, swallowing hard as she thought about that summer they-

She wasn’t ready to think about what happened. Not now, and definitely not without the help of a trained professional.

“You. Owe. Me,” Eric bit out as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box.

“But…” Morgan mumbled helplessly, shifting as she licked her suddenly dry lips while she watched as Eric opened the box and-

She was going to be sick.

“I need you to pretend to be my wife.”

When she could only sit there, struggling to wrap her mind around what he was saying, Eric continued. “I don’t want to have to keep explaining why I’m on my honeymoon without my wife,” Eric said as he pulled out the larger of the two black wedding bands and slid it onto his finger while Morgan sat there, telling herself that this was all a dream, a really horrible dream and that she would wake up at any moment.

“I don’t think you’ll have that problem,” Morgan mumbled, wondering why he was doing this to her. She-

“We wanted to do something special for your honeymoon,” the wonderful woman that Morgan adored said as another platter of baked goods was placed on the coffee table in front of her seconds before a small navy-blue duffle bag was placed on her lap.

“Congratulations,” came the warm words as Morgan’s attention moved to the bag in her lap.

“Thank you,” Morgan mumbled absently, unable to help but frown as she opened the bag and-

Gasped when she saw the neck pillow waiting for her. Wondering what else awaited her, Morgan tore through the bag, barely aware that Eric had taken her hand in his or that he’d slid the other ring on her finger as she took in all the free goodies, a notebook, a lovely pen that would come in handy, a thin blanket, several chocolate bars, and…was that a tee-shirt?

Yes, yes, it was, Morgan thought with a satisfied sigh as she pulled out the neatly folded tee-shirt and-

Glared when the large bastard plucked it from her hands and shoved it in his bag.

“I need you to focus,” Eric said, dropping his bag on the floor before helping himself to another danish.

“And I’m going to need you to stop pissing me off,” Morgan grumbled, admittedly pouting as she reached over and grabbed another danish as she sent one last wistful look at Eric’s bag before shifting her attention back to the bag on her lap and-

Were those headphones?

Yes, they were, Morgan thought as she reached into the bag and-

Once again found herself glaring at the large bastard toying with her emotions as he placed the bag that was rightfully hers on the floor behind him. When she only sat there, glaring at him, Eric reached over and plucked the danish out of her hand and finished it off in one bite.

“I’m not doing this,” Morgan found herself mumbling hollowly as she stared helplessly down at the black wedding band on her finger, forcing herself to ignore just how good it felt.

“So, you’re breaking your promise?” Eric asked with a look that let her know how badly he needed her to do this.

Swallowing hard, Morgan found herself wondering what she was doing here. She should have made a run for it when she had the chance. It would have been so easy. As soon as Eric stepped into the bathroom to grab a shower, she should have followed through with her plan. Her bags were packed, her gas tank was full, and-

She couldn’t do that to him.

She also couldn’t pretend like this wasn’t going to end badly or that this wasn’t going to destroy her when it was all over. She thought that she could do this and even told herself that this was a good idea, but now, she-

God, she really was a pushover, Morgan thought as she absently traced the wedding band on her finger. She could be in New Jersey right now, wallowing in self-pity while she vowed never to touch another drop of alcohol. Instead, she decided that it was a good idea to go on the ruined honeymoon with the man that she’d never planned on seeing again because she’d somehow convinced herself that this was the right thing to do.

She really was an idiot, Morgan decided as she once again told herself that she could do this. Not that she was delusional enough to truly believe that this was a good idea. She was fully aware that this was going to end badly, but even knowing that wasn’t enough to make her walk away.

Instead of finally putting herself out of her misery and taking the escape that she’d worked so damn hard for over the past year, she was going along with this plan, knowing how this was going to end.

Badly.

At least, for her.

Eric, on the other hand, would probably move on to the next woman that he didn’t love, telling himself that this could finally be the one and-

She really didn’t want to think about the next one, Morgan thought even as she realized how incredibly stupid this was. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t. She needed to tell him that this was a bad idea, tell him that she changed her mind, anything to get out of here before it was too late and as soon as she made her escape, she would keep going.

Except…

She couldn’t do that to him, Morgan reminded herself because no matter how much this hurt, she just…she couldn’t break her promise. It was stupid, but they’d always been there for each other and they never broke a promise. She’d always been able to count on him.

Always.

Eric had been there for her in kindergarten when Jacob Harris decided to pour green paint on her during naptime by shoving Jacob’s head in a bucket of paste and followed that up by shoving his head in a box of green glitter. When their neighbor yelled at her because her kickball rolled onto his property and made her cry, Eric decided to earn extra money by walking all the dogs in the neighborhood, ensuring that Mr. Andrews had something special to step in every morning for the next two years. That was followed by making sure the girls that were making her life a living hell in high school-

Well, she really didn’t like to think about that, mostly because of the nightmares, but what he did for her when her father died…

For that alone, Morgan would see this through.