Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,23
man had wished her luck. Given Bodine’s lovesick expression, Gunner was fairly sure he was the plant manager April had wanted to avoid. But she didn’t seem too worried about keeping her distance from him now. Bodine had been helping her at every opportunity, choosing her club for her, showing her the right way to hold it, demonstrating a good swing. She was cutting her flirting teeth on him, and the poor bastard didn’t even know it.
WHEN THEY RETURNED from golf, April talked Gunner into taking her shopping. But as he followed her through the open-air bazaar in town, he didn’t have much to say. “You seem kind of grumpy today,” she complained. “Is something wrong?”
He told her there wasn’t, but April had noted a distinct change in him since their Jacuzzi experience and was a little mystified that he wasn’t more pleased with her progress.
“Are you tired?” she pressed.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Why were you flirting with Keith Bodine if you’re not really interested in him?” he asked.
She blinked in surprise. Gunner sounded almost…jealous. But he couldn’t be jealous. Which meant he really believed she’d been unkind or irresponsible in some way.
April reflected on the afternoon and couldn’t come up with a single comment she’d made that might lead Keith to believe she was interested in anything more than being his friend. Gunner had been there, posing as her boyfriend, for Pete’s sake. She’d just been thrilled that at last she felt in charge of her love life and her sexuality, that she felt confident enough to offer poor Keith a kind word and a smile.
“I wasn’t flirting.” She weaved through showcases of silver jewelry and tables bearing T-shirts, tequila shot glasses and Cabo San Lucas bags, mugs and key chains. “I was merely being nice.”
“Nice includes letting him put his arms around you?”
She struggled to remember when Keith might have put his arms around her and finally it came to her. “Oh, that.” She dismissed his words with a shake of her head. “He was only helping me with my swing.”
“He was doing a lot more than that,” Gunner muttered.
April didn’t really understand why Gunner had a problem with how she’d behaved today, so she shrugged it off. Propping her hands on her hips as they came to the last row of merchandise, which was very similar to what they’d seen in at least a dozen displays so far, she sighed. “They don’t have what I need. I guess I’m going to have to ask someone for directions to a store that sells what I want.”
“What are you looking for?” he asked.
“Underwear.”
“You didn’t bring enough?”
“I didn’t bring the right kind.” She grinned. “This is part of my transformation. I need to buy some underwear that reflects my new liberated self.”
She started toward the woman who ran the stall, but Gunner caught her by the shoulder. “What kind of underwear are you talking about?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why you’re here. You have to help me pick out something that really appeals to a man.”
“I can only pick out what appeals to me,” he said hesitantly.
She nodded. “But there’s bound to be some crossover, right?”
The fact that she didn’t particularly care whether she pleased him or someone else grated on him.
“I’m thinking a couple of thongs might be fun, if I can get used to wearing them,” she confided.
Thongs. That was it. Gunner was tired of letting April Ashton beat him at his own game. Tonight he’d seduce her on the beach, touch and taste her everywhere, make her shudder in his arms while murmuring his name. He’d show her he wasn’t interchangeable with any other man.
Except that his breath grew short and his body hard at the very thought of making love to her. And for the first time in his life, Gunner was afraid he’d be the only one enslaved by the experience.
“You can pick out your own underwear,” he said. “And you can do it later. Let’s go back to the hotel.”
She seemed hurt by his gruff tone, and definitely surprised. “I’m not ready to go back.”
“I am, but I can’t leave you here alone.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure it’s safe.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m an adult. I shop here by myself almost every year.”
“Fine.” He started to go, but she stopped him.
“Have I done something to offend you?” she asked, obviously bewildered.
He wasn’t sure even he understood what was happening to him. He certainly wasn’t ready to explain it to her. “No.”