Judy Duarte - Christmas Baby - A Baby Under the Tree / A Baby For Christmas / Her Christmas Hero

Still, he figured they were taking another step in the right direction.

“You don’t have to come to bed now,” she said. “Your side will be waiting for you whenever you’re ready.”

He’d rather hear that she’d be waiting for him, but there was no need to press for more at this point. They had twelve more nights together, which meant that there was still plenty of time for a sexual relationship to bloom.

Their lovemaking had been too good for it not to.

“I’m ready to turn in, too,” he said. “But I’m going to shower first.”

Ten minutes later, Shane entered the bedroom wearing a pair of boxer shorts, even though he usually slept in the raw.

Jillian, who smelled of shampoo, lotion and lilacs, was lying on her side, facing the wall.

Was she asleep? Or only pretending to be?

It was hard to know for sure, but either way, she was tempting as hell. Still, he’d always been able to hold firm when he wanted to, so he climbed into bed, careful not to bounce or jiggle the mattress.

He lay still beside her for the longest time, tempted to reach out to her—with his words or his arms—and deciding not to do either.

But, interestingly enough, when dawn broke over downtown Brighton Valley, bringing a faint light to the bedroom, Shane woke to find himself cuddling Jillian as if their bodies had minds of their own.

They lay spooned together, her back pressing against his chest. One of his arms was under her head, the other lay over her waist.

He’d awakened like this before—in her suite at the hotel. On that morning in early March, he’d slipped out of bed quietly. So now, given a second chance to sleep with her, he had an almost overwhelming urge to wake her with a kiss and a gentle yet eager caress.

Just the thought of drawing her closer to him, pressing his growing erection against her bottom, brought a smile to his face.

As he continued to hold her, relishing her lilac scent, she stretched in his arms, like a waking cat that had been snoozing in the sun. Then she rolled over, facing him. As her eyes opened, as she woke to the reality of where she was and who she was with, her lips parted.

Shane smiled, but he didn’t move either his arms or his hands. “How’d you sleep?”

She blinked, and surprise swept across her face, yet she didn’t pull away. “I slept okay. How about you?”

He’d certainly woken up a lot better than he’d slept, but he wasn’t about to reveal that.

“Much better than the night before last,” he said.

She slowly pulled away, as if reluctant to leave his arms.

He wasn’t ready to let her go, either, and once again, he fought the urge to give her a blood-stirring, heart pounding kiss.

But he didn’t want to push her. Waking up in a lover’s embrace would have to be good enough for now.

As the sun stretched high in the East Texas sky, Shane and Jillian drove nearly ten miles outside downtown Brighton Valley to the Walkers’ ranch. He was looking forward to showing her the place where he worked, but he also wanted her to meet the couple who had become his close friends.

While traveling along the county road, they passed the Sam Houston Elementary School, Roy’s Feed and Grain, and the Flying K Auto Parts Store before reaching open land again.

“How much farther is it?” Jillian asked.

“Just another couple of minutes.”

She nodded, then glanced out the passenger window at the passing scenery.

“Like I told you before,” Shane said, “Dan and Eva are great people. You’ll really like them. Of course, Eva might ask about our plans for the future, but if she does, she’ll do it gracefully.” He chuckled. “In fact, she’ll be so nice about it that you might not even know that you’re being quizzed.”

Jillian placed a hand on her distended womb and turned to him, her brow furrowed. “It’s hard enough talking about the future with you. I’m not sure I want to discuss it with anyone else at this point.”

“I can understand that. But keep in mind that if Eva asks, it’s only because she wants everyone to be as happy as she and Dan are.”

Of course, Shane had reason to be skeptical of the whole white-picket-fence dream and to be leery about making the same mistakes all over again. And Jillian certainly did, too.

“Are you sure they’re going to be okay with…things?” she asked.

“You mean about us staying together in a one-bedroom apartment? Or about you expecting my baby when we’re not married?”

She nodded. “And maybe for us having a one-night stand.”

“First of all, that night in Houston was incredible. And it fulfilled a need in both of us that went beyond sex. So it wasn’t a one-night stand, especially with a baby on the way. And even if it was, it’s no one’s business but our own.” He stole a glance across the seat, saw her nod in agreement. Yet her expression remained pensive.

For a woman who’d once hobnobbed with Houston’s high society, she appeared to be more self-conscious than Shane had expected her to be. But then again, maybe it was her experience with that particular social circle that had her so apprehensive now.

“What did those people do to you?” he asked.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What people?”

“Your ex-husband, his family and friends.”

“What makes you think they did something?”

“Because I don’t see you as normally self-conscious, but I figure your self-esteem probably took a hard blow when that jerk cheated on you.”

She arched a brow. “What makes you think that?”

“I have good instincts when it comes to reading people.”

He reached across the seat, took her hand in his, then gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about what other people think. You’re ten times the person most of them are.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Jillian shrugged. “But I’m more to blame than anyone. I got caught up in a fairy tale. And while my life might have appeared to be picture-book-perfect on the outside, it was actually sad and lonely most of the time.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, thinking that he’d actually felt a little better after telling her about Joey.

She seemed to ponder his question for a moment, then eased back into her seat. “Our wedding was really over-the-top—almost fit for royalty. We took a three-week honeymoon in Europe, and Thomas and I moved into a spacious family-owned estate in Houston. I was given carte blanche to decorate the house any way I wanted to, but after that was done, I had very little to do, other than getting dressed up and going to various charity events.”

“Were your in-laws good to you?”

“Outwardly, yes. They were very generous. But they were also very controlling and pushy. They interfered more times than not.”

Marcia had said the same thing about Shane’s family, and for a moment, he wondered how Jillian would feel about the outspoken Hollisters, but he didn’t dwell on it.

“So your in-laws created problems in your marriage?”

“I guess you could say that—although indirectly.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted more out of life than attending social functions, and Thomas couldn’t understand that. Instead, he insisted I get involved with his mother’s philanthropic projects. And he implied that we’d both be miserable if I didn’t yield to her wishes.”

“So you gave up your dream for his world.”

“More or less.” Jillian was quiet for a moment. “I’d always been a good girl who’d never given my grandparents a bit of trouble, so rebellion never came easy for me. And as a wife, I fell into the role Thomas—and his mother—expected of me. And it was a lonely, unfulfilling life. I’d hoped having a baby would be the answer, but after a couple of years trying, I wasn’t able to get pregnant.”