Mother, Please! (6 page)

A
PRIL HESITATED
outside her room, her key at the ready. Claire was crying. She could hear her mother’s weeping even out in the hall.

Had something happened? Or was her mother crying over the same old problems?

Closing her eyes, April slid down the wall to sit on the Spanish tile floor, wondering what she should do. She knew if she went inside, her mother would choke back her tears and suffer in silence. Claire wouldn’t open up and talk, wouldn’t admit she was upset. She hadn’t in the past four months. So how could April help her?

April sat listening for a few minutes. Then, feeling guilty for shirking her duty as a good daughter, she let her breath out decisively and stood up. She had to go inside, just in case her mother needed her. It wasn’t as if she had siblings who could take on any of this responsibility.

But as soon as entered the room, her mother fell silent, just as April had known she would.

“Mom, are you asleep?” April whispered, giving her the opportunity to talk if she wanted to.

Her mother didn’t answer. Obviously Claire wouldn’t or couldn’t share her grief. As usual. She’d probably go out tomorrow and get her navel pierced instead. Or maybe she’d have a fling with the young man who handed out pool towels.

April set her shoes quietly inside the wardrobe as if she was fooled by her mother’s silence. But she couldn’t bring herself to go to bed. Suddenly the room felt too small for both of them. April didn’t want to be here, knowing her mother was crying only a few feet away, didn’t want to pretend she didn’t know.

Leaving her shoes and glasses, she slipped out of the room and hurried down the hall, putting some distance between her and Claire. When she’d been out on the beach with Gunner, she’d momentarily forgotten about her parents’ divorce. She’d even forgotten about work.

Maybe it was simply too soon to return to reality.

I’m in room three forty-four if you change your mind.

His words tempted her. She had no intention of sleeping with him, but she knew that just being in the same vicinity would provide the escape she needed so badly.

It wasn’t until she’d spent the next hour dangling
her feet in the Jacuzzi, however, that she seriously considered knocking on Gunner’s door. If his suite was anything like hers, he had two double beds. They could talk. Or sleep…

Telling herself this was the modern world and she shouldn’t think twice about it, she took the elevator to the third floor. For a short distance, the corridor was more of a bridge, so she could see the pool where she’d sat for so long reflecting the stars overhead. The serene, beautiful sight helped to calm her, but she still didn’t want to go back to her own room.

Her knock on Gunner’s door was far more timid than she’d meant it to be. Good manners made it difficult to disturb him when he was probably asleep. But, leaning closer, she heard the television even though the volume had been turned low, so she knocked louder.

When he came to the door, he was wearing nothing but a pair of khaki shorts, and his chest looked every bit as good as she’d imagined when she’d felt his muscles earlier. “Hi,” he said, his face registering surprise.

April struggled to keep her eyes from wandering below his neck. “Any chance you’ve got an extra bed?”

He took in the fact that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Maybe he noticed that she’d left her glasses
behind, too. He didn’t seem to miss much. “I do,” he said. “Come on in.”

She stepped inside and immediately recognized the scent of his aftershave. Almost equally appealing, and far safer, was the box of Godiva chocolates lying open on the desk.

“A welcome gift from your father,” he said when he noticed her interest.

“I didn’t get a welcome gift.”

His teeth flashed as he smiled. “Help yourself.”

She crossed the room, slumped down in one of the chairs beside the desk and settled the box in her lap. One chocolate led to another until she’d eaten most of the top layer. Somehow there didn’t seem to be enough chocolate in the world to dispel her sudden depression.

Gunner had folded his arms and was leaning against the wall, watching her. “Are you trying to make yourself sick?” he asked at last.

She squinted at a chocolate she’d pulled from the lower layer. “Do you know if this one has a cherry in it?”

“I have no idea,” he said. “I pretty much stick with traditional candy bars. But they’ve got a vending machine downstairs, in case you’re running low there.”

She put the chocolate back. “I hate cherries. What’s in the vending machine?”

“Are you planning to tell me what’s going on?”

She licked her fingers and scowled. “Being an only child sucks.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Are physicists even allowed to say ‘sucks’?”

“I use words like that occasionally with people who don’t know me well. It makes me come off a little less stiff.”

“I don’t think it’s working for you.”

“Figures.” She grimaced. “Well, I’m getting tired. I think I’ll go to bed.”

His eyebrows rose. “That’s it?”

“What’s it?”

“You really came here because you want to
sleep?
”

“My mother was crying when I got to my room. Would you want to spend the night with a woman sniffling into her pillow, refusing to tell you what’s wrong?”

“Now you know why I never married,” he said, straightening. “I’ll get some change for the vending machine.”

A
N HOUR LATER
, Gunner propped the pillows behind his back as he watched April study her cards. They were sitting on his bed, playing Texas Hold’em, and she’d beaten him three hands already. But he was pretty sure that was beginner’s luck. At
least he hoped it was. The ace of spades, ten of diamonds and king of clubs were turned faceup between them—not bad flop cards. He should be able to make something out of
this
hand. “I can’t believe you’ve never played poker before,” he said while he waited for her.

She was obviously preoccupied with the decision-making process. “Gambling hasn’t been very high on my list of priorities.”

“But you didn’t know how to play
any
of the games I mentioned.”

“Most people learn to play games like this while they’re young, or maybe in college.”

“But you didn’t?”

“I was fifteen when I started college, so I wasn’t invited out much.”

He scratched his chest. What an odd childhood. He couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, thinking of all the fun she’d missed. “You were old enough to associate with college-age people when you were working on your Master’s and Doctorate.”

“True, but behavioral patterns are learned very young. I was shy and reclusive at that point, and there weren’t a lot of men in school who seemed to feel comfortable with me.”

“So you’ve never been to Vegas for spring break?”

“No.”

“Never been anywhere just to party and have fun?”

“I’m here in Cabo, aren’t I?”

“A company trip with your parents is your idea of a party?”

“I’m having fun. Aren’t you?”

“I guess.” He chuckled. What a life.

She stretched out across the foot of the bed, the flop cards and the pot between them. “I’ll match your Twix bar and raise you a bag of Doritos.”

“You must have quite a hand,” he said, trying to bait her into giving herself away.

It didn’t work. She arched her eyebrows coyly. “Maybe I’m a good bluffer.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“I’ve won three hands already.”

That was a slightly sore subject. Anyway, Gunner had an excuse. “Anybody would’ve won with the hands you were dealt. It’s beginner’s luck. And the game’s not over yet.”

“You’re overconfident. About a
lot
of things. That’ll get you in trouble.”

He could tell from her tone and expression that she was talking about their relationship.

“It remains to be seen which of us is overconfident about the other,” he said.

“You must be
pretty
self-assured where I’m con
cerned. You tried to talk me into playing strip poker a few minutes ago,” she told him.

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to disappoint you. I have a reputation to uphold, remember?”

April glanced eagerly at the candy bars and other snacks in the middle of the bed. “So do you have the guts to call my bet? Or are you going to fold?”

“That depends on the next flop card.” He turned over another ace. “Interesting.” He had an ace of his own, which gave him three of a kind. He could possibly get a full house on the next round. Tossing in a roll of Life Savers and a Snickers bar, he considered what he had left to bet with and added a bag of pork rinds.

“Sorry,” she said. “Pork rinds don’t count.”

“Why not?”

“I hate them.”

“You’re not going to win.”

“Oh, yes, I am.”

“How do you know?”

She smiled sweetly.

Damn. Maybe she
was
a good bluffer. No…April Ashton couldn’t lie or cheat. She was so straitlaced and prim that she hadn’t even known how to kiss properly—although she did now, thanks to him. She must have four of a kind or better.

Just for the heck of it, he leaned forward to see if he couldn’t get a peek at her cards, but she im
mediately drew them close to her chest. “Uh-uh,” she said. “No cheating.”

Gunner’s betting reserves were running low. He was down to a $100 Grand bar, his favorite, and some wintergreen Life Savers he liked to carry with him. If he lost anything more than he’d already bet, he’d be out of the game. So he gave up on the pork rinds and simply called her bet, only to have her throw four more candy bars into the pile.

“I’ll match your two and raise you two,” she said. “Your turn.”

He flipped over the last flop card, hoping for a seven, or even another ten or a king. But it was a two of hearts. He didn’t have his full house, and considering how cocky she was, she had to have something pretty spectacular.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to cut his losses now and try to take her on the next hand. “I fold.”

“Really? You?” She sounded surprised and inordinately pleased with herself.

“Really,” he said with some irritation. He hated folding, even though it kept him alive for another hand. He’d never had a lot of practice at losing.

Setting her cards carefully in front of her, face-down, she started to rake in the pot. He reached out to see her hand, but she stopped him. “Sorry.”

“What do you mean, sorry?”

“You don’t get to see what I was holding.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll just use the information to try and figure out what my facial expressions mean. Why should I give up that information?”

“Fine.” He pretended to accept her refusal and began reshuffling. But the moment she shifted her attention to her snacks, he grabbed her cards and turned them over to reveal a three and a four.

He blinked in stunned dismay. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You had nothing.”

“I told you I was a good bluffer.”

He’d underestimated her. Probably because she was so damn appealing with her honest smile and wide dark eyes.

He made a mental note never to do
that
again.

“I have enough junk food to keep me busy for a while.” She sorted through her snacks. “If you want to switch to strip poker now, I think I’m up for it.”

Only because she thought she’d win. “No way,” he said.

“Why not? It was your suggestion.”

“That was
before
you kicked my ass. I’m not going to be sitting here butt naked with you fully clothed. A man can only take so much.”

She laughed, so freely and sincerely it was almost childlike. “You’ve lost your nerve?”

“I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”

Standing, she stretched, and he tried not to notice how her shirt lifted to reveal a smooth, flat stomach. “Well, if you’re not going to strip, the game’s over.” She eyed his pork rinds with disdain. “There’s nothing else here I want.”

“Except to see me naked?” Ordinarily he wouldn’t have been surprised. The women he dated were generally pretty warm to that idea. But this was April….

“If you lose, you lose,” she said.

“Or we could forget about the game and take off our clothes together. Then we both win.”

“No, thanks.” She peeled open a Butterfinger. “Too bad you didn’t win one of these.” Closing her eyes in appreciation, she took a bite and moaned, acting as though it was food for the gods.

He narrowed his eyes and gazed meaningfully at her mouth. But instead of getting nervous, as he’d expected, she licked her lips in a slow, seductive manner.

“I could take it away easily enough,” he warned, standing up and moving closer—in case she didn’t realize she was starting a whole new game, one with higher stakes than the last.

“There’s that overconfidence again.”

She was flirting with him. April, who’d only just learned to kiss. Moving more quickly, he swept her off her feet and pinned her beneath him on the bed.

“What were you saying?” He fit one leg snugly between hers and purposely applied pressure where he knew she’d like it most.

Her eyes widened as she stared up at him, and he offered her a challenging smile. “I think you’re in over your head. Are you sure you want to provoke me?”

“Maybe not entirely,” she admitted breathlessly.

He chuckled. Then, bending his head, he trailed kisses up her neck and used his tongue to outline the firm ridge of her ear. “What about now?” he murmured.

She shivered. “I…like that.”

He lowered himself between her legs, so she could feel his arousal. “And now?”

Placing her hands on his cheeks, she held his face as she looked into his eyes. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but he knew it couldn’t be anything bad when she gave him the softest, sweetest kiss he’d ever had.

“You taste like heaven,” he told her, and meant every word. He wasn’t prepared for her response.

“I think
Crimson Tide
is on pay-per-view.”

G
UNNER WOKE
to the sound of running water. Pulling the pillow off his head, he blinked, looked around the room and remembered that he’d had a
sleepover. With a woman. And she hadn’t spent the night in his bed.