Wild Bride (6 page)

He kept wondering what she was wearing underneath, but then his mind would snap to the fact that they were walking down the street in the middle of town.

“Here we are.” She smiled and nodded towards the coffee shop. Holly’s sat right on the corner across from Mama’s diner, the only place in town to get a good meal. He hadn’t been in Holly’s since they’d remodeled a few months back, but he’d heard that the place was a huge success. He’s also heard that Travis and Holly were now engaged.

“What are we doing here?” He reached out and took her hand in his to stop her.

She looked up at him and smiled. “You’ll see.”

As he looked down at her face, he realized how much she’d changed. She’d lost all the weight she’d gained when she was pregnant. Actually, it looked like she’d gone even farther down in size and he frowned a little at seeing just how skinny she really was.

She’d cut her hair a little shorter than the last time he’d seen her, and she’d colored it a little darker. He liked the style and the color more than her former bleach blonde locks. The style made her look more mature, more feminine.

“Savvy,” he whispered, “I’d rather take you back…” He pulled her close and right there in the middle of downtown Fairplay, kissed her for the whole town to see. He pulled away and chuckled when Maggie’s little hands reached up between them.

Smiling, he looked down at Savannah and noticed that her blue eyes were cloudy and unfocused, which made him smile even more.

“Come on, let’s get the surprise over with so I can take my two ladies back home.” She blinked a few times and then turned and started walking towards Holly’s.

When he stepped in the front door of the newly remodeled place, he was surprised to see how well the place had turned out. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he’d just stepped into a coffeehouse in downtown New York.

There were a few customers sitting around the front tables drinking coffee and enjoying baked goods.

“Here,” she said and tugged him towards the far corner, near the fireplace. He noticed a group of people including Travis and Holly and a few other people he knew. When they approached, Travis stood and shook his hand.

“Good to have you back.” He patted him on the arm and then Corey shook his hand, followed by a few of his other close friends. Maggie was taken from his arms and a beer was shoved in his hands.

When he finally sat down next to Savannah, he set his beer down untouched and reached for his daughter again.

“Thanks.” He smiled over at her.

She tilted her head and looked at him in question. “For what?”

He chuckled. “For this. It’s good to see everyone again.” He nodded to the group of people who were easily the loudest group in the place.

She frowned a little. “Don’t thank me. I mentioned that you were coming home the other day when we were here for play time and the next thing I know, Holly had put it all together,” she whispered as she leaned closer to him. He got a quick whiff of her scent and instantly the desire for her was back full force.

“Do you think they’d mind if we left now?” He smiled and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. He hadn’t expected to see her frown and bite her bottom lip.

“Billy,” she started to say, but was interrupted by Travis.

“So, tell us all about your job.” Travis leaned closer to them. “We heard you had a bunch of protesters up there at one point.”

Billy sighed and leaned away from Savannah. “Yeah, it’s funny, the news said they were peaceful, but shooting a few dozen holes in our generators and destroying a few thousand dollars of equipment doesn’t seem peaceful to me.”

Everyone listened as he talked about the last six months. Then he turned the tables and smiled at Travis.

“Heard you popped the big question.” He nodded towards Holly.

Travis laughed. “Yeah, we figure we’ll get married this fall when her mother we’ll be in town.”

Billy shook his head. “Dropping like flies around here.”

Travis laughed. “Everyone except Corey there.” He nodded to their friend who was busy flirting with April behind the bar.

“Corey?” Billy smiled at his friend. “Corey is a habitual flirt. It’ll take a miracle to get him to settle down. He smiled bigger when his friend started walking back to the table. “Besides,” he said a little louder, “who would want someone so ugly.”

Corey laughed. “You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. Besides, everyone knows you’ve already gotten yourself a woman.” Then he laughed. “Well, two of them now.” He nodded to the sleeping baby that Holly was holding.

His smile wavered a little as he looked over at Savannah, who was looking like she’d rather be anywhere but sitting in this room full of old friends.

S
avannah tried not to let her nerves show. Everyone was too busy chatting and joking with each other to pay her any real attention.

In the last six months, she’d done a lot of thinking and soul searching. She’d enjoyed the time she spent with Tracy and Carmen, even though she still didn’t 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 conversation, nor was it the time. Shrugging her shoulders, she started walking again, this time more quickly. “It’s funny how life changes.” She looked over her shoulder and was glad when she noticed him following her. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way you planned. If you can’t adapt, then life is going to suck.” She smiled and hoped that would be the last of the conversation.

He was quiet the rest of the walk to the small house. She unlocked the door and he disappeared into Maggie’s room, no doubt laying her down so she could finish her nap. Savannah knew that it wouldn’t last much longer and smiled when she heard her start to fuss from the next room. Walking in, she saw him standing by the window, rocking Maggie in his arms.

When he heard her, he turned and smiled. “Looks like she doesn’t like to be set down.”

“She’s probably wet.” She walked over and held out her arms, but he shocked her by shaking his head.

“No, I’ll take care of it.” He stepped over to the changing table and laid her down.

This was going to be interesting. She remembered the first time he’d changed Maggie’s diapers and cringed. Walking over, she sat down in the rocker and watched the show.

Maggie, for her part did, everything possible to make the situation go badly, even peeing on Billy when he’d finally managed to get her clean and powdered.

Savannah laughed as Billy cursed under his breath and started the whole process over again. “You’re not making this any easier,” he said over his shoulder.

“Oh, was I supposed to?” She smiled and watched him fumble with the sticky strips of the diapers.

He didn’t answer since he was too busy trying to hold wiggly Maggie down.

“She likes to be naked.” She laughed when her daughter flipped over again.

He looked over his shoulder while his hand held Maggie on the table. “If I remember right, so does her mother.” His smirk caused her heart rate to spike. He’d never done that before. She frowned at his back as he continued to fumble with their daughter.

Her eyes ran over his wide shoulders and she felt something stir inside her. His hips were narrow and his butt looked absolutely delicious in his worn jeans. His brown work boots were dusty and even his faded blue shirt was making him look rugged and sexy, something she would have never said about Billy before.

Then again, she’d gone over a year without sex and the last person she’d actually slept with was standing across the room from her. Just that thought caused her heart to skip a beat.

She felt her hands shake and quickly shoved them under her legs. Her eyes watched his every move as he gently dressed their daughter again. He was chatting to her about all sorts of things and she hadn’t even really been paying attention to what he was saying.

Closing her eyes, she tried desperately to get her emotions under control again. She hated that pregnancy had cause so many emotions to flood to the surface. She just couldn’t get a handle on why she was so nervous around him all of a sudden.

“If you’re tired, you can go lay down. I’ll take this shift.” When she opened her eyes, Billy was standing over her with Maggie on his hip. Maggie was running her little hands over his chin and jabbering.

She smiled and shook her head. “No, I was just thinking.” She moved to stand up. “Would you like some dinner?”

He stepped back so she could stand next to him and nodded. “I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in months,” he said, following her out of the room.

“Didn’t you cook while you were away?” she asked, taking her apron off the hook and wrapping it around her waist.

“Sure, but I’m not very good at it.” He smiled at her and shifted Maggie on his hip.

They looked good together. Maggie’s hair had lightened up a lot to where it had a few highlights of blonde throughout it. They had matching eyes and grins and when Maggie laughed, she could hear Billy’s laughter match hers. She wondered if him being back was going to be a good thing. After all, she and Maggie had gotten used to being alone around the small place.

She knew there was still gossip going around town about her and Billy, especially with the younger crowd. Most everyone her age and older knew about his job, and that he was back in town.

She glanced over at Billy and Maggie again and smiled when she saw that he’d pulled the little girl up to his face and was giving her kisses on her tummy. His lips made funny noises as Maggie giggled and yanked on his hair.

Her mind flashed to an image of his lips running down her ribs, towards her lower belly, her fingers gripping his hair as he pleased her.

He glanced up at her and when their eyes connected, she felt her face flush with her inner thoughts. He stilled and his smile grew as he looked at her. She could see heat flood his eyes and, from across the small room, she felt herself heat even more.

Turning, she blocked the thoughts of Billy touching her from her mind as she pulled out the makings for fried chicken. She tried to busy herself, but every time she looked, he was watching her.

Billy couldn’t keep his eyes off of Savannah. Not only was the dance of cooking exciting, the little white apron she’d tied around her waist had caused her clothes to hug her curves. She’d gained her sexy hourglass figure back and he couldn’t stop himself from watching her backside as she dropped the chicken into the hot oil.

“Ouch.” She jumped back a little and held her finger. He sat Maggie down in the playpen that sat just inside the living room door and rushed over to take Savannah’s hand. She was running her left hand under cold water in the sink, and he pulled her hand up to look at it. A nasty white welt had started on the backside of two fingers.

“Here.” He held her hand up. “Let me see.” He pulled her closer to the back kitchen window so the light would stream over her hand. Then he used the dish towel to softly start wiping the water from the welts.

Reaching back, he pulled out a packet of burn cream from the medicine cabinet.

“I can—” she started, only to be shushed by him as he ripped open the small packet and began dabbing the white cream on the burns.

“My chicken is burning.” She frowned at him.

He reached over, still holding her hand in his, and removed the pan from the burner. Then he went back to gently rubbing the cream over her two fingers.

“You should wear gloves when you fry foods.” He frowned at the welts and knew they would blister and could leave tiny scars.

She shook her head. “I don’t usually drop the chicken in that quickly. But you were distracting me.” She frowned as he pulled out a box of Band-Aids. “I can do this myself,” she said, still frowning at him.

He shook his head. “I don’t mind.” He took two Band-Aids out and carefully put them on her fingers. “There.” He smiled down at her. “Now, what’s this about me distracting you?” He made sure to keep her close and he noticed her eyes heat when he backed her into the cabinet.

Her breath hitched and he saw her beautiful chest move with each labored breath.

“I…” she said, but then her eyes moved down to his lips and she shook her head a little. Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip and he felt like groaning. She’d worn soft pink lip gloss, something he’d never seen her wear before. Her usual style was dark lipstick. He liked the softer look and wondered if her lips would taste as good as they looked.

Using just his fingers, he nudged her until her hips were up against his. He watched her eyes open in shock as she felt his desire next to her stomach. He couldn’t help it; he smiled a little more.

When he slowly dipped his head for a taste, he watched her eyes for any sign of denial, but all he saw was heat and uncertainty.

When their lips touched, he did groan. They were softer than they looked, and he couldn’t stop himself from exploring their softness. She tasted like strawberries and cream. His hands moved to her soft hair and tilted her head so he could get a better taste.

Her fingers gripped his shirt and when he pulled her closer, they wrapped around his shoulders and held on as he took her mouth more quickly. He hadn’t planned on pushing her this quickly, but after just one taste, he’d had to have more.

Hoisting her onto the edge of the countertop, he moved between her legs, her core next to his desire, which was pushing up against the zipper of his jeans and wanting out. Wanting into the softness that he knew would be hot and ready for him.