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

The thin cotton fabric of her white cotton gown was probably a little more see-through than she’d realized.

      As his gaze lifted and met hers, a shot of awareness rushed through her. For a moment, she was tempted to let her hormones take the lead, but it was the maternal hormones that kicked into play and insisted she heed them.

      What if having sex caused that pain to return? What if Dr. Ramirez was wrong about it being something minor?

      So in spite of wishing things were different, she tried to put a platonic spin on things.

      “So what did the sheriff eat tonight?” she asked.

      “Pot roast with all the fixings and apple pie.”

      As Shane set out the food on the table, he asked, “How do you feel about going for a little drive tomorrow?”

      “Where?”

      “I thought I’d take you to Wexler. There’s a store that sells baby stuff. And since we know the baby’s going to be a girl, I thought it might be fun to check things out.”

      Jillian hadn’t planned to purchase anything until she got back to Houston, since it wouldn’t do her any good to buy things in Brighton Valley and haul them home—or have them shipped. But it might be nice to see what was available and to get some decorating ideas.

      “Sure, that sounds like fun.” As she started for the table, where he’d set out their meal, he looked up, his gaze again sketching over her.

      With the light behind her, she suspected that he was taking in every curve of her body, from her breasts, to her hips, to her belly. And while she really ought to be a little concerned by the raw hunger in his eyes, she felt a sense of feminine power, too.

      Of course, as heady as that was and as tempted as she was to make love to him again and experience all the passion she’d felt in his arms, that wasn’t going to do her any good this evening, when she was determined to follow the doctor’s orders about taking it easy.