Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,28
his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
APRIL WOKE UP in Gunner’s bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, he’d taken off her cover-up and the top of her bikini—or she’d done it herself. Her breasts were against his bare back, and she had one arm wrapped possessively around his waist as if she thought he might try to get away during the night. But he was still wearing his pajama pants, and she was still wearing the bottom of her swimsuit. Which meant she hadn’t missed too much.
A good thing, she decided. If she and Gunner ever made love, she’d want to remember it.
Sliding away from him, she started to get up to brush her teeth. It was her first time waking up in a man’s bed. She had to vanquish her margarita breath—even if it meant pirating his toothbrush. But the slightest movement made her head threaten to explode, so she shifted gingerly onto her back and tried to figure out how she could get hold of a bottle of Tylenol, and then a toothbrush, without having to move or wake Gunner.
He rolled over a moment later and opened his eyes. “Hangover?” he asked, taking one look at her face, which she knew, from the way she felt, had to be ashen.
“Tylenol,” she said.
He chuckled at her one-word answer and called the front desk to request a bottle of painkillers and some soda water. Then he called room service and ordered a plate of steak and eggs and a stack of pancakes. “It’ll help if you eat something.”
“Maybe you could do me a favor and just shoot me now.”
“Want a massage?”
“Is that how I lost my top?”
“Don’t look at me,” he said with a shrug. “You took it off. You were practically begging me for more intimacy lessons.”
“I was?”
“Would I lie to you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, maybe I would. But you were drunk, and I was a total gentleman.” He let his fingers slide lightly over her stomach, raising goose bumps. “If you want, we could start advanced classes as soon as we get rid of your headache. I’d like to repeat yesterday morning’s get-naked experience—and have it end with a little less frustration.”
April would have laughed, except the mention of “advanced lessons” had triggered a Bill Sossaman flashback. “Um…I’m afraid I have some bad news,” she said, finding some of that clarity she’d been searching for.
He sat up, his expression guarded. “What kind of bad news?”
“The kind you won’t like.”
“Does anybody like bad news?”
“This isn’t all bad,” she said.
“Then give me the good news first.”
“I care about you and I’m willing to trust you enough to risk my heart.”
He seemed to think that over. “So what’s the bad news?”
“I believe in waiting.”
She could tell from the blankness in his eyes that he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “Waiting for what?”
“You know…”
Suddenly he straightened, and she knew her meaning had just registered. “For a ring?”
She winced at his incredulous tone. “I know it sounds old-fashioned to want to see if a commitment develops before we make love, but…”
“We’ve only known each other for a few weeks!”
“Exactly. And you’re probably not the marrying kind. I’m honestly not pushing for anything you’re not ready to give. It’s just that, well, there are a few things I need in my own life, Gunner. And I’m simply not cut out for casual relationships. You might have noticed.”
He didn’t answer. He was still looking shocked. And then the phone rang. Dragging his gaze away from her, he answered—and sagged against the headboard as if his morning had just gone from bad to worse. “Hi, Dad.”
CHAPTER TEN
APRIL LISTENED as Gunner talked to his father for a few minutes. The conversation sounded a bit formal for a father and son, but April didn’t have time to think about it. Her painkillers had arrived and room service came immediately afterward with breakfast. She ate wearing one of the fluffy robes provided by the hotel. But when she started to feel better, she began worrying about her own father, and his chest pains, and the fact that she’d been so preoccupied with breaking out of her thirty-year cocoon that she hadn’t focused much on Walt.
She pulled on her bikini top and waved to get Gunner’s attention because he was still on the phone. “We have reservations to go deep-sea fishing with my parents today,” she said. “I’m going to visit my dad and check on my mother. I’ll see you in the lobby