Free Holding Haley (The West Contemporary Romance Series) by Jill Sanders

second for him to react. First he shot the one who was hovering above him in the eye, then the one who was standing behind his friend, taking the last two out as they ran to help their friends.
    When it was all over, he sat with his back against the beam, blood running out of the large gash on his left leg. Five of his best friends lay lifeless on the dirt floor and the four men who had killed them were dead or bleeding to death.
    He started to crawl over to the radio so he could call for help. When he moved one of the attackers, he realized the man was no older than fifteen. When the kids eyes flew open just as he leaned over him to grab the radio, he noticed how green they were.
    Waking with a jolt, he realized it was Haley’s green eyes staring down at him. The light on his nightstand was on and she’d pulled on one of his old shirts and sweat shorts. She sat cross-legged next to him, her hands resting on his shoulders like she’d been shaking him.
    He ran his hands over his face and sat up. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
    She nodded. “It was a bad one.” The worried look in her eyes said it all.
    Usually his dreams didn’t lock him in that long. The nightmares almost always ended before the men had searched him.
    “Are you okay?” she asked, scooting closer to him on the bed.
    He nodded and glanced over at the alarm clock. Why was it always the same time? He sighed and leaned his head back against the headboard. Keeping his eyes closed, he reached for her and pulled her down next to him.
    “Just let me hold you for a while. It’s too late to explain and I don’t want to keep you up for the rest of the night.”
    She snuggled next to him and ran her hands over his chest slowly. “I don’t mind. If you want to talk about it.”
    He looked down at her and smiled slightly. “I know you won’t rest until you hear it.” He chuckled when she nodded and rested her head against his chest.
    By the time he was done telling his story, she was sitting up, looking deep into his eyes, concern written all over her face.
    “What happened next?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t remember much. I blacked out when the kid pushed me off him. When I woke, the radio was lying next to me and the kid was gone. I was air lifted to the hospital, then to the VA in Germany where I spent the next month learning how to walk again.”
    “I’m sorry you went through all that.” She leaned back against him again. Then reached up and kissed him. “I’m thankful you survived.”
    He nodded. “I dream every night. Nothing I do seems to stop it from coming.” He closed his eyes, afraid to tell her that he’d hoped the dreams would stop when he was with her.
    “It may just take time.” She ran her hands over his chest. His hand rested over hers.
    “ I suppose.” He scooted them down further until they were laying side by side. His ran his hands underneath her T-shirt until she moaned and started moving under his hands.
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Seven
    W hen Haley walked back to the house the next morning, she couldn’t keep her mind off the differences she’d seen and felt in Wes. He wasn’t the same boy he was when he left almost six years ago, and she wasn’t just talking physically.
    Hearing his experiences had opened her eyes to the fact that he’d been through so much more than she had over the course of their being apart. She couldn’t explain what it did to her, hearing what he’d endured. She’d seen the limb. The whole town had. Since his folks weren’t big on gossip, everyone speculated about what had happened. Nothing had come close to the story he’d told her last night.
    She’d missed having him around, being with him. He used to be the only person she could talk to for hours and hours without feeling strange about it. They would talk about their hopes and dreams, about the places they would travel to, about anything and everything.
    Could they be that again? He’d been