Free Mother, Please! by Brenda Novak, Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis

you, I can take them off in front of just about anyone.”
    Oh, boy. Somehow he wasn’t bothered about her waking him up so early anymore…
    “I mean, what could a little skinny-dipping hurt? Most people do it long before they reach my age.”
    He felt a moment’s guilt because he didn’t seemto be a very good influence on her. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”
    She wasn’t listening. “I’m slowly realizing that there’s more to life than work, and if I’m not careful, it’s all going to pass me by.”
    His conscience was bothering him a little, but not enough to stop her. “I’ll put on my suit,” he said, hoping to hurry things along before she lost her nerve.
    The telephone rang.
    He planned to ignore it, but he didn’t communicate his wishes to April quickly enough. She answered the extension in the bathroom. “I’m fine, Mom,” he heard her say. “Nothing to worry about… No, I’m just about to go skinny-dipping with Gunner… Of course I’m serious… So? Maybe I’m ready to take a few risks… I’ve got to go…Okay, see you this afternoon.”
    “What did she say?” he asked.
    “‘It’s about time.”’
    “Really?”
    “I don’t think mothers are supposed to agree with something like this. Sort of takes the fun out of it.”
    “Not for me,” he said.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    A PRIL PRESSED her bare backside to the bedroom wall and tried to peek around the corner into the bathroom. Gunner was waiting for her in the tub, just like she’d asked. His hair was wet and curling around his ears, and the steam rising from the water made his chest gleam. He looked gorgeous, of course, but he was getting a little impatient. Probably because he’d been sitting in that hot water long enough to start sweating.
    “April, are you coming?” he said.
    She considered backing out, but the memory of her mother laughing skeptically and saying, “I’ll believe that when I see it,” wouldn’t let her. She could be bold and daring….
    She just wished bold and daring didn’t make her feel as if she was about to faint.
    Maybe she needed to do this by degrees. That concept was used for conquering all kinds of difficult challenges, right? Today she’d go topless. Tomorrow she’d take it all off.
    Maybe.
    But a compromise wasn’t easy to arrange because she didn’t have anything of her own she could wear into the tub. Her sarong wouldn’t work, and her panties were the kind that screamed, I have no love life. She’d rather go naked than wear those panties in front of Gunner.
    So she opted for his boxer briefs. Boxer briefs were sexy. Women were wearing them on billboards all across America, advertising perfume.
    “April?” he called again.
    “I’m coming,” she said as she pulled on the boxers. They rode low on her hips, falling well below her navel, but a glance in the mirror told April that was a good effect. She almost didn’t recognize the woman peering back at her—but that could’ve been because she didn’t have her glasses on.
    “What did you say?”
    Somewhat reassured to be wearing at least one article of clothing, she headed to the bathroom.
    “Here goes,” she said, and stepped into the open.
    Gunner looked up at her, and she felt her stomach plummet to her knees. Her first instinct was to cover up. But she refused to chicken out so completely. She was what she was, she told herself. It didn’t matter that he’d seen better. She was breaking out of her humdrum life, tossing away routine, overcoming her fears….
    “Say something,” she said, her heart thumping wildly when his gaze dropped immediately to her breasts and his mouth fell open.
    “You—” He cleared his throat. “You did it.”
    A sense of empowerment brought a victorious smile. She’d never dreamed she’d see that stunned expression on any man’s face—least of all Gunner Stevens’s. “I told you I can overcome my inhibitions,” she said, and stepped into the hot water.
     
    W ITH AN EFFORT