Summer Kisses by Theresa Ragan, Laurie Kellogg, Katie Graykowski, Bev Pettersen, Lindsey Brookes, Diana Layne, Autumn Jordon, Jacie Floyd, Elizabeth Bemis, Lizzie Shane Read Free Book Online Page B

head. His left eye was shaded in pinks and purples.
    “What happened to you?”
    “Just a little misunderstanding.”
    “You ruffled somebody’s feathers, didn’t you?”
    “Ruffled feathers?”
    Jill rolled her eyes. “I don’t have to be Hermann Oberth to see that you have a knack for pushing one’s buttons.”
    “Hermann Oberth?”
    “A rocket scientist,” she explained. “One of three founding fathers of rocketry and modern astronautics.”
    Derrick frowned. “You could have just said you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that I have a knack for pushing people’s buttons.”
    “So, I was right.”
    “About what?”
    “About you having a knack for pushing people’s buttons.”
    He sighed. “You look different,” he said, obviously in an attempt to change the subject.
    “I just had a baby.”
    He cocked his head for a better look. “No, really. Your hair…everything…you don’t look like the same woman.”
    She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you saying I looked fat before?”
    “No, of course not, I-I thought you looked great then…you just look different, that’s all.”
    She rolled her eyes because she’d been kidding. “Why are you here?” she asked, giving up on humor since she couldn’t even get the man to smile.
    “I was hoping we could talk,” he said. “I met with a judge and I thought you might want to hear what she had to say.”
    Jill gave him the twice over as she tried to imagine what her parents would think when she told them she and Derrick Baylor were dating. For some reason, the idea of such a ridiculous notion sent a chill right through her. It had been over a year since she’d been with a man. She’d made love to a total of three different men in her life. Well, that is, if she counted Roy Lester. No, she quickly decided, she didn’t want to count Roy. Two men, she amended. She’d made love to two different men in her entire life. Derrick Baylor didn’t look like the sort of man who made love. He probably had hot passionate sex every night on the hood of his car. She blushed at the thought.
    Sex was dirty.
    That’s what her mother used to tell Jill and her sister. Thomas had always been a perfect gentleman in bed. Thomas was the cleanest, neatest person she’d ever met, always making sure not to mess her hair or ruin the bed sheets if and when she could manage to get him in the mood.
    “Are you all right?” Derrick asked when she failed to respond to whatever he’d said about meeting with a judge.
    “I’m fine. I have a lot on my mind and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
    “Is Ryan okay?”
    “He’s great. How did you know his name?”
    “A reporter told me when I showed up at the hospital as planned.”
    “Oh.” She felt a stab of guilt. “So what did the judge tell you?”
    “The judge assigned a court appointed mediator to help us figure out how to deal with our situation.”
    “Sandy thinks you want to take my baby from me. Is that true?”
    “No. Never.”
    Jill caught a whiff of his aftershave. He had to be wearing Gucci or Chanel. God, he smelled good. She didn’t have any shoes on, but either way, Derrick Baylor was tall…very tall. Her neck was beginning to hurt from the strain of looking up.
    “Why did you leave the hospital without talking to me?” he asked.
    “It’s complicated.”
    “I have time.”
    The little angel, if you could call it that, sitting on Jill’s left shoulder told her to tell him the truth: that she’d been confused and had done what she always did…followed orders. Sandy had told her she needed to get away from Derrick Baylor, and so that’s what Jill had done. She’d run.
    The devil with the red spiked heels sitting on her right shoulder also told Jill to tell him the truth. But while she was at it, kill him with kindness and make him believe she wanted to be friends. At least until her parents showed up. Then she’d really have to turn on the charm. After her parents