Training Days
Page 27
“I don’t want your money,” Ally, still teary, cried that night in a phone call to Morgan, who was in Ireland at the time. “What gives them the right to say something like that?”
“Oh, baby,” Morgan soothed over and over. “I know you don’t. Just ignore it.”
“I’m trying.” Ally fingered the extremely expensive gold chain and diamond pendant Morgan had presented her with for their three-month anniversary, and her hand moved to the matching bracelet she’d gotten for their six-month celebration. She looked around Morgan’s multi-million-dollar apartment and out of the expanse of glass to its priceless views. She’d moved in two months prior, giving up her apartment in Croyden the day her lease expired. And she thought to the environmentally friendly hybrid car that Morgan had given her just two weeks after that, to mark the fact that another of her houses was to be featured in Architectural Digest. “But you’ve given me so much . . .” Ally swiped at her eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears. If she were an outsider looking in, she might describe her as a gold digger too.
“I wish you were here. I miss you right now.”
“I miss you right now too, baby,” Morgan whispered. It was one of their more often repeated phrases, spoken via phone each day she was on location.
As was usual, that sentiment had led to a discussion of what they would do together when next they met. On that occasion it was a Sunday afternoon barbeque at Ally’s folks’ place. As Ally had predicted, her mum, and her dad too for that matter, had taken immediately to Morgan, and invitations for them all to spend time together were offered frequently. The first time Morgan came to dinner they’d gone to the extreme of laying the table. But they’d reverted to form for all subsequent visits, and casual, plate-on-the-lap dining was now the order of the day. Morgan loved it. And Ally loved it that Morgan had been so readily accepted as part of the family. She also loved the fact her parents had so readily accepted her “lifestyle change,” announcing that their only desire was to see their daughter happy. Which she obviously was.
This evening, however, Ally wasn’t exactly brimming over with happiness at their plans. Because what they had planned to do a few hours down the track was even more unsettling to Ally than the constant media attention that surrounded their relationship. They’d finally scheduled the activity she had successfully bid on at auction all those months ago, and tonight she and Morgan were to do the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb.
“Come on, Ally,” Morgan urged her when, after another ten or so minutes, they were still purportedly waiting for Paterson to show. “If you want to have dinner before we ‘do it’ then we need to get going soon.”
“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I was feeling sick?” Ally said, only half joking.
“Nope.” Morgan pulled her to her feet.
“What if I said I am medically unable to go more than a meter above sea level?”
Morgan smiled wickedly. “Then I’d wonder why you were able to perform so brilliantly each time you’re in our ‘way above sea level’ bedroom.”
Ally couldn’t help but smile back. “What if I said I just didn’t want to do it?”
“Then I’d remind you of all the other things you didn’t want to do this year but have.” She drew Ally into her arms. “For a person who hates being the center of attention, you’ve certainly handled it very, very well.”
“Only because you’ve been there to hold my hand,” Ally murmured, reveling—as she always did—in the feel of Morgan’s body against her own. She still could not get enough of her. “What say we have a nice dinner then an early night? You’ll need it, what with your day of rehearsals tomorrow. We can’t have the host of the Logies looking like a worn-out wreck . . .”
“Nice try.” Morgan laughed. She held Ally at arm’s length. “Do you remember what you said the first time we ever had a shower together?”
Ally thought hard. It was in Barcelona, she remembered. But she’d been in such a state she could hardly think at all, never mind concentrate on specifics. “No,” she admitted.
“You said ‘I’ve got you,’” Morgan said softly. “And tonight, when we climb that bridge, I’ll be right behind you. So if you feel you’re going to slip or fall, you need not worry, because I’ve got you too.”
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN