Stroke of Luck - Opal Carew Page 0,11

and she’d left it on her bedside table. The hospital staff made sure it was passed on to the orphanage with me.”

“I didn’t know that you were abandoned,” Quinn said. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Yet you just told Austin.”

She glanced to Quinn. “He asked,” she said simply.

Quinn frowned, and Austin knew he needed to have a discussion with Quinn about this later.

“Why do you want to keep a necklace from a woman who abandoned you?” Austin asked.

She held the pearl between her fingertips.

“Because it’s all I have in the world that’s truly mine.”

Her words tore at Austin’s heart.

3

Quinn had hated watching that whole thing. The pain in April’s sapphire eyes tugged at his heartstrings and made him want to pull her into his arms and promise to take care of her forever.

But he couldn’t let himself feel that way. If he went down that path, he might start caring for her again … wanting her to be a part of his life. And that would be foolhardy.

She would probably be all too happy to start dating him again. Marry him. Because he had a big enough bank account now.

He watched her walk to the small pile of clothing that was left, along with her bag of toiletries, and gather them up.

“Where do I sleep?” She didn’t look to him or to Austin. Just kept her gaze cast downward.

Austin sent a querying glance at Quinn, and he realized his friend thought Quinn might be considering having her in his room.

“I’ll show you,” Quinn said.

He pressed his hand to the small of her back and guided her down the hall to the guest room where Austin had put her luggage earlier. She dumped her stuff on the bed, then started sorting the clothing items.

“I have an idea,” said Austin, who was leaning against the doorjamb. “Why don’t we all go for a swim? We have this great pool right in the suite, so we should enjoy it.”

Quinn knew that April loved the water, so it was a great idea to cheer her up.

“Sorry. I don’t have a swimsuit,” she mumbled.

She had pulled several bikinis out of her luggage, but Leslie and Renee had claimed them all as part of the list. They must have been designer pieces. Not that Quinn would know the difference.

He did know that the sight of one of them, made up of a couple of triangles of fabric held together by strings, had sent his imagination running wild with erotic images of her practically naked body, setting his groin on fire. And his cock started to swell now as the images returned to haunt him.

He never would have believed that April would wear a thing like that. But then, had he ever really known her?

“We can figure out something,” Quinn said. He walked to the bed and picked up a simple black bra and panties. “Here, wear these.”

She frowned. “You want me to swim in my underwear?”

He examined the bra. “Why not? You can’t see through it. It covers all the necessities. In fact, it covers more than the bathing suits you owned, from what I saw.”

She gazed at him doubtfully.

“Come on, April,” Quinn said. “Don’t spite yourself. I know you’d love to go in that pool. We’re all adults here. What does it matter if you’re wearing black panties and a bra instead of a black bathing suit?”

She tugged the bra and panties from his hand. “Okay.”

“Good.” Quinn turned and joined Austin at the door.

“We’ll see you out there,” Quinn said, then closed the door.

* * *

April stripped off her dress, then her lacy coral bra and panty set trimmed with black ribbon. She picked up the black panties and pulled them on, then the bra. Once she had it fastened, she looked at herself in the mirror.

The lingerie wasn’t very revealing. The panties had a low-rise waistline and flattering high-cut legs. The bra had smooth cups and only showed a slight swell of her breasts. Both were a simple black satin finish with no lace. What she wore could easily pass as a modest two-piece bathing suit.

But the thought of walking out there in front of the men in this … her underwear … made her uncomfortable.

She stared at the rest of her clothes still spread out on the bed. She’d been trying to sort it into piles, but there were only a couple of T-shirts, a pair of jeans, and a sweater. She scooped