Free Wild Bride by Jill Sanders Page B

consider them close friends. She thought that their friendships were not only helping her, but them as well.
    But at this point in her life, all she knew for a fact was that no one was going to come between her and Maggie.
    As she watched Billy with his friends, she wondered how she’d gotten into this whole mess in the first place. Sure, Billy was a good friend. Actually, he was one of the only guys in town she had always deemed just a friend.
    He’d been there during her long on-again, off-again relationship with Travis. She glanced over at Travis now and saw him reach under the table and take Holly’s hand in his own. She had to admit, the pair looked good together, like they were really in love. It was strange. She would have never pegged Holly as Travis’ type. But she’d gotten to know and understand Holly over the last few months and could see why the two of them were good for one another.
    She supposed Billy wasn’t really her type ether, yet they had ended up sleeping together. She glanced next to her and tried to hide the fact that she was studying him. But it wasn’t as if they were together, together. She had to admit, he had always been very sexy.
    He had a nice side profile. His nose was straight and he had a strong looking chin. But what really set him aside were his dark eyes and jet-black hair. She knew it was rich and thick under her fingers, and she had loved running her hands through it.
    Shaking her head, she blinked and tried to focus on the conversations around her. Maggie had fallen asleep in Holly’s arms and she desperately wished for the shield of her daughter in her lap.
    Then Billy reached over and took her hand and she forgot about everything else. His hands were warm and strong. There were a few rough spots along his palm, but she didn’t mind.
    She couldn’t remember how they had felt against her skin. In all honesty, she couldn’t really remember much about the few times they’d gotten together.
    Glancing over at him, she frowned a little as he smiled at her. She knew that most people in town were expecting them to be together once he returned to town, but honestly, she didn’t know what was going to happen. Only that she was living at his place and she wasn’t willing to give up any time with her daughter, even a minute.
    She’d had a few friends in high school whose parents were divorced. She knew that they had spent their childhood being ushered from one parent to the other. She glanced over at her daughter again. No matter what, she wouldn’t want that for her daughter. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to be with Billy full-time. After all, she didn’t really know him.
    By the time everyone was starting to leave, her stomach was in knots. She wished the decision would be taken out of her hands. Her parents hadn’t been much help in the last few months. All they talked to her about was how well Billy was doing and how nice it would be for him to return.
    “Everything okay?” Billy asked as he shifted Maggie’s sleeping body into his arms.
    She looked over at him and tried to smile. “Sure.” She almost missed a step as they walked back towards the house.
    He chuckled. “Really? Because it looks like you’re about to jump out of your skin.”
    She frowned at him. One thing she’d always prided herself in was the fact that she could hide her emotions well. She’d been the talk of the town for as long as she could remember, and ever since her party on her sixteenth birthday, she’d hid what was inside her from everyone else.
    Pushing her shoulders back, she pasted on her “everything’s fine” smile and nodded. “I was just thinking about something else.” She pushed her hair behind her ear and started walking faster.
    Billy took her hand and stopped her, turning her around. “I know this probably isn’t what you had planned.” She waited and watched him. “You know, between us.”
    Her eyes darted around. This was not the place she wanted to have this