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

here?” She knew it came out a little whinier than she intended, but at this moment, she didn’t care. He was invading her life.
    Before she realized what he was doing, his arms were around her and her mind went blank. She looked up to tell him to let her go, but when she saw the heat in his eyes, everything else disappeared. The world could have been on fire and she wouldn’t have noticed.
     

    Wes couldn’t stop looking at Haley’s face as he held her. He wanted to pull her closer, but she held herself so stiff that he knew she would pull away if he tried.
    “You smell wonderful,” he whispered.
    She blinked a few times and he could see her green eyes focusing again. He’d always loved that he could see her emotions reflected in them. They were almost like mood rings, letting him know when to move in or when to back off. Now they were telling him to take a step back, so he dropped his arms and leaned away.
    “Going for a walk?” he asked, knowing he was switching subjects before she could reprimand him for being at her place.
    When he’d asked her to stop by his place, he’d known she wouldn’t come. After sitting on his porch for half an hour, he’d started walking and had ended up here.
    “Listen, Wes…” She looked over her shoulder, towards the house.
    “ Don’t. Just take a walk with me. I haven’t seen you in over five years.” He knew he was pleading, but he wanted to spend time with her. Even if she couldn’t stand him, he still wanted to just be with her.
    She sighed and rolled her shoulders, a move he knew meant that she was doing some serious thinking.
    “Fine, but only to the shed and back.” She nodded to the light on the old water shed.
    “ Great.” He took up her hand and started walking slowly. “So, my mother has told me a little of what’s happened in town since I left. Maybe you can fill in gaps.” He looked over at her and saw that he’d successfully confused her. She was expecting him to talk about them, but he wanted to keep her mind off the fact that he was going to win her back, slowly. He’d learned how to be stealthy the first year in the army. Sneaking in and catching the enemy was sometimes the only way to get what you wanted.
    She sighed and dropped his hand. “Well, you heard all about Lauren and Chase?”
    He nodded a little. “Mom told me that they’d been married the day after your father’s funeral.” She nodded, as he laughed. “Then just last year when he moved back, they fell in love. Not the usual order of doing things.”
    “ Yes,” Haley smiled. “They make such a wonderful couple. Now with Ricky they are perfect.” She looked off ahead and sighed again.
    “ And Alex and Grant. Tell me how that happened,” he asked, humor lacing his voice.
    Haley laughed and stopped to lean against the fence along the path. “No one seems to know, other than the fact that it was much needed. Grant came in at the right time, I guess.” She smiled. “Of course, he’s changed a lot from when he was a kid.” She turned and looked at him and he noticed in the dim light that her cheeks turned a dark shade of pink.
    “What?” he asked, leaning his foot on the bottom rung of the fence. He was close to her and could smell her sweet scent. How he’d missed that smell over the years.
    “ Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. Then she turned away, leaning back against the fence. “Chase has worked so hard to fix the house up.” She nodded towards the house.
    There were lights that hung on the back deck, in the trees, and along the awnings, making it look very romantic. He could hear the crickets and frogs as they chirped their nightly ritual. There was no place on Earth that he wanted to be more than right there, with Haley.
    “He’d doing a fine job. He’s started work on the place I’m staying in, too.” He laughed. “Actually, that’s why he’s allowing me to stay there. I’m helping him out by painting the place next week.”
    Haley turned to