Free Blocked by Lisa N. Paul Page A

public display of displeasure, Decker laid money on the table where they were dining and ended their date. From that point on, his parental status was disclosed up front, then he watched as the ladies either ran or swooned. Either way, he wasn’t interested in a relationship, so their reactions didn’t matter—but April’s did.
    Sucking in a deep breath, Decker touched the green button at the bottom of the screen instead of tapping out another text. He placed the phone to his ear and listened intently to the dull ring.
    “Hello?”
    Just one word from April’s husky voice soothed his nerves and hardened his dick. The question in her tone had Decker grinning once again. She obviously knew who was calling. After all, she had contacted him first. Yet for some reason, she sounded surprised. Then again, there was a part of him that hadn’t expected this call either, so he supposed the surprise was valid.
    “Hello. May I please speak to April?”
    “Umm…” There was a quick pause. “Decker, is this you?”
    He could hear confusion in her voice, which eased his nerves and caused a chuckle to escape from his chest.
    “Yeah, April, it’s me,” he answered casually. “I wanted to show you that we all have parents who drilled rules into us when we were kids. For my brother, Ford, and me, it was phone etiquette. Our mother went berserk when we answered the phone like ‘fools,’ her words, not mine.”
    Her warm giggle covered him like a blanket fresh from the dryer. “Decker, phone etiquette is a normal thing for a parent to teach their children. Orgasm desertion is not. But thank you, thank you once again for reminding me that I told you that tidbit of information the first time we actually spoke.”
    He could tell by her light tone that while she may have been embarrassed, she was in no way upset with him for poking fun. A beautiful woman who could laugh at herself was a heady combination.
    Padding from the kitchen to the living room, Decker sunk into the plush leather sofa and placed his bare feet on the coffee table—thank God his mother was more concerned with teaching them about respecting people and less about furniture, because he was a feet-on-the-coffee-table kind of man. Finally comfortable, Decker decided it was time to come clean. “You may find this crazy, but in a way, it was you telling me about the whole no-phone-calling thing that really sealed the deal for me.”
    “What?” Her inquisitive voice held humor.
    “I’m not kidding, April. I told you from the start that I thought you were beautiful, but when you shared that information, be it intentional or not, it brought you to a whole different level.” He ran his fingers through his still-damp hair. “I knew then that I’d call.”
    “But… you didn’t,” she whispered.
    Decker rested his head on the back of the couch. His eyelids lowered as he swallowed the lump in his throat. If she doesn’t want Charlie, then why would you want her? The truth was he wouldn’t want her even for a minute longer, but in that moment, they still had a chance, and in that moment, ignorance was bliss.
    “You’re right, I didn’t call.” He sighed loudly. “When I got home from the gym the other night, my mom was at my place, picking head lice out of my daughter’s hair.” The silence that filled his ear was so deafening that he checked to see if the connection had been severed. “April?”
    “You have a child?”
    Hearing the detached way she asked the question sent a chill up his spine. “Yes, I have a little girl,” he confirmed softly. More dead air filled space and time before he heard what sounded like a humorless snort.
    “Figures.” Her snapped reply may have been short, but in that one word, all traces of the soft tenderness he’d adored were gone, replaced with a cold, hard front. “That’s what I get for answering questions about my relationship status instead of asking them.”
    Decker shivered as he felt her iciness seep into his