Victoria Pade - The Maverick's Christmas Baby

Not that what had gone on today was anything like he and Nina Crawford coming together, he told himself when his own thoughts alarmed him a little.

He just felt responsible for her for the moment. Because he was the other party involved in the near-collision that had put her in the hospital.

There wasn’t any more to it than that.

If he could just stop recalling every minute of being alone with her in his backseat.

“Dallas Traub? What are you doing here?”

Now that was a Crawford that Dallas recognized.

“Nate,” Dallas answered in a whisper, glancing up to find Nina’s brother Nathan Crawford in the doorway with their parents—Todd and Laura, who had also been front and center through the recent mayoral election in support of their son—who had lost the race to Dallas’s brother, Collin.

Dallas stood instantly to face them. “Didn’t Gage tell you what happened?” he whispered, both in response and as a signal to keep voices low.

“He said Nina went off the road and had to be brought here. He didn’t say anything about you,” the matriarch of the Crawford family whispered back harshly, obviously having taken the cue.

But the attempt to keep things quiet was already too late because from the bed Nina said, “Stop. Dallas isn’t to blame. It was all my fault. I couldn’t see him coming until it was too late and I’d pulled out in front of him. We both swerved to keep from crashing.”

“Still bad enough. What are you doing here now?” Todd Crawford demanded.

“Daddy, Dallas has been great!” Nina informed her father. “He took care of me until the sheriff got there and even then he didn’t let Gage move me, and he had Gage follow us to make sure we got here all right. And here he is, even now!”

Dr. Axel joined the group then and Nina seemed to seize the sudden presence of the obstetrician as help in mediating, because she said, “Hi, Dr. Axel. Could you maybe take my family out in the hallway and let them know what’s going on with the baby?”

The doctor did as requested, herding the other Crawfords from the room.

“Thought I needed to be rescued, did you?” Dallas said with a laugh, moving to stand directly at the foot of the bed.

“Three against one—bad odds,” she answered, sounding groggy and worn-out.

“I didn’t want to leave you by yourself,” Dallas explained his continuing presence.

“That was thoughtful.” She gestured in the direction her family had gone. “I’m sorry that was your reward for being so nice.”

“No big deal,” he assured her, finding that what was feeling like a big deal to him was the idea that he was going to have to leave her now....

“Everything with you and the baby is fine, you know that, right?” he said then.

“I do. I’m giving you credit for that.”

“Nah. I didn’t do anything.”

“You did—”

“I’m just glad you and the baby are okay.”

“And that you didn’t have to deliver it,” Nina said with a smile that let him know she was teasing him.

“That, too,” he agreed, laughing in return and basking in the warmth of that smile that he liked more than seemed possible.

“Is it still snowing?” she asked then.

“It is, but the wind stopped so it isn’t as bad out there.”

“You should get home, then. To your boys.”

Dallas nodded. He did need to get home. He just couldn’t figure out why he was so reluctant to leave Nina. Nina Crawford, he reminded himself, as if that would help. “I suppose your family can take over from here.”

“They will. And everything is okay anyway, so there isn’t really anything to take over. I’ll lie in this bed and get waited on tonight, then go home tomorrow.”

Again Dallas nodded, lingering. “I’m sorry for all of this. That it happened,” he said, although that wasn’t strictly the case. He was sorry for what had happened. Just not for the time he’d had with her after it had happened.

“I’m sorry, too,” Nina said. “I’m sure you had better plans today than to end up stuck on the side of a road in a blizzard thinking you might have to turn your backseat into a delivery room, and then sitting at this hospital for the past four hours.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve had worse days,” he declared with a laugh.

The reappearance of her family and the doctor at the door made it clear that he had to go whether he liked it or not. “Anyway, since you’re in good hands, I’ll head for home.”

“Thank you,” Nina said in a tone that had some intimacy to it.

“Anytime,” he answered with humor.

“Be careful going back.”

“I will be,” he promised.

And that was that.

But for another moment Dallas stayed there, still finding it oddly difficult to leave. To walk out and put this day behind him. To sever the connection that somehow seemed to have formed between them through the adversity they’d shared. To return to the way things had been before—to barely being aware that Nina Crawford existed.

He had to go, though. What else was he going to do? Especially when her family and doctor all came to stand around her bed, the Crawfords’ scorn for him thick in the air as they pretended he was invisible.

He stole one last glance at Nina, whose big brown eyes met his, who gave him a smile that spoke of the connection they’d made, if only for a little while today. Then he raised a palm to her in a goodbye wave and finally did manage to leave.

Wishing—for no reason he understood—that a lot of things might be different.

And realizing only as he got back on the elevator to go down to the lobby that for just a little while with her he hadn’t felt so bad....

* * *

By Friday, Nina was home in her small apartment above the General Store and feeling good again. Better than ever, in fact. But she was still following doctor’s orders not to return to work until Saturday.

Her mother had been hovering. Laura Crawford had even spent Thursday night with Nina. But over lunch Friday afternoon, when Laura was still there and giving no indication of leaving, Nina had convinced her that everything was back to normal, and that Laura should go home.

Once she had and Nina was alone, her thoughts turned to Dallas Traub.

Since Wednesday’s near-collision she’d been finding it nearly impossible not to think about him and had used the presence of family to distract herself. But, finally left to her own devices, she couldn’t seem to think about anything but the swaggeringly sexy, blue-eyed Traub with the great head of hair who had taken such kind and tender care of her.

She wanted to thank him again for everything he’d done on Wednesday.

That was all there was to her constant thoughts of him, she told herself. And it was reasonable to want to express her gratitude.

After all, not only had he put aside whatever petty differences their families had, but he’d gone out of his way for her at every juncture.

Until her family had arrived and been rude to him.

And even then he’d been calm and courteous. He’d absorbed their scorn and contempt with aplomb and without dishing out any of his own before he’d gone on his way.

She owed him more than gratitude, she decided.

But thanking him again was a start, in order to let him know just how much she appreciated everything.

And if she also felt the need to hear his voice again and make some kind—any kind—of contact with him?

Maybe it was an odd phenomenon where a person developed a sense of kinship with their rescuer.

That seemed possible.

It seemed more possible than any kind of alternative. Like wanting contact with him because she was attracted to him....

How crazy would that be? she asked herself.