Mother, Please! - By Brenda Novak & Jill Shalvis & Alison Kent Page 0,35
not going to let life knock either one of us down just before the finish line.”
A single tear escaped and ran down his cheek. “Thank you, Claire.”
APRIL KNOCKED hesitantly on Gunner’s door. She’d missed him at dinner and knew just how crazy she’d been to fall in love with a famous playboy. She probably shouldn’t have come to his room tonight. It would only make her infatuation worse. But she was so head over heels in love that she couldn’t stand not taking advantage of what time they had left.
He smiled when he opened the door and saw her standing there with her arms full of vending machine snacks.
“Wow, looks like we’re going to be playing for a while.”
“I thought I might need to spot you a few snacks before the night was through.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t start feeling sorry for me just yet.”
“So you think you’re going to do better tonight?”
“I certainly hope so,” he muttered.
She detected an unusual tone, one she couldn’t quite identify. But he was already getting out the cards so she didn’t question him.
The first hand she won, but before she could feel too confident, Gunner beat her on the next three.
“You’re not saying much now,” he teased as he raked in the heap of candy bars.
“The game’s not over yet.”
“No, it’s not.” He set something small, round and shiny in the middle of the bed. “But the stakes are changing.”
“What’s that?” April asked, even though she could see quite clearly that it was a ring.
“Pick it up and see.”
Tearing her eyes away from Gunner’s face, she lifted the ring and held it to the light. A huge baguette diamond glittered in a white-gold setting with two emerald-cut diamonds on either side.
“It looks like an engagement ring,” she said.
“It is an engagement ring,” he replied, and it had to be the first time she’d ever heard any insecurity in his voice.
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did you get it?”
“In town.”
“Tonight?”
“That’s why I missed dinner.” He touched her cheek. “What do you think, April? Do you want it?”
Of course she wanted it. But this was crazy. They were so different. “This is what you’re betting?”
He nodded and, taking her hands, kissed her fingertips. “That’s not all.”
“What else?” she breathed.
“My heart.”
She must have heard him wrong. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in America. He couldn’t be offering his heart to her. “Is this a joke?”
“No.”
“But you’re not—I mean, we’ve known each other only a short time. And what about all those other women?” Women who were so much better suited to him!
He scowled. “I haven’t been a saint, April. But I haven’t been as bad as you seem to believe. I was kidding about the fifteen hundred notches in my bedpost. You know that, right? And I’ll always be true to you, I swear.”
She swallowed hard at the sincerity in his voice. “But…what’s the hurry? Shouldn’t we get to know each other better?”
“I already know you well enough.” He rose up on his knees, kissed her temple, her forehead, her mouth. “Come on, April. Take a risk,” he murmured. “Take a risk on me.”
She couldn’t find any words.
“Well?”
“I’m thinking. At least, I’m trying to think. My brain isn’t really cooperating.”
“I don’t want you to analyze this. Some decisions have to be based on pure gut instinct. This is one of them.”
“You know more about instinct than I do,” she admitted. “Just tell me one thing, Gunner. Because…I have to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you love me?” She held her breath as she waited for his reply.
“I’ve never proposed to a woman before, April. Does that answer your question?”
April closed her eyes as she felt the most powerful emotion she’d ever experienced. “Okay,” she whispered, letting her lips curve in a smile. “I see your ring, and your heart, and will match it with my own.”
He grinned. “What kind of wedding do you want?”
“A family-only church affair in California, okay?”
“Perfect. You plan the wedding. I’ll plan the honeymoon.”
“What about my father’s business?”
“I’ll leave that up to you. We can buy it if you want. But I should probably warn you that I’m going to be busy for the next few years.”
“Doing what?”
“Oh, different things. Buying you a vacation house down here, since you like it so well. Helping out with the kids, giving them racing lessons—”
“Did you say racing lessons?” she broke in. “As in car racing lessons?”
“Um, I meant I’ll be coaching their soccer teams.”