A Baby in His Stocking Read Online Free PDF Page A

her feet. From there, with surprising tenderness, he brushed gravel from her palms. His warmth came as a shock, causing her breath to hitch. Awareness of his size, his strength, the decadence of melted chocolate on his breath, melded into a confused knot in her chest. Was she coming down with something? “There you go,” he said. “All better. Damned kids. Should’ve watched where they were going. But you need to be careful. This is starting to be a habit.”
    â€œTh-thanks.” He released her hands, but not her gaze. Which, if only for a few seconds, was too intense.
    He looked away before asking, “Is the rest of you all right? You know, like the baby?”
    Natalie nodded. “I think so.”
    â€œGood.” Hands in his pockets, he looked to the sky, then the wagon. “Well, I should check on the horses.”
    Just like that, Wyatt was gone.
    Natalie should’ve been fine with his leaving, but oddly enough, she felt lonely.
    Â 
    â€œW HAT WAS THAT ABOUT ?” Dallas asked.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Wyatt checked the horse’s harnesses.
    â€œThat thing with Nat. You’re not thinking of starting something with her, are you? In case you forgot, you’re breaking your mother’s heart in just under a month.”
    Wyatt shot his brother a dirty look. “For the record, your daughter’s hellion friends knocked Nat down. I was doing a good deed. As for Mom, with as many rug rats as you’ve got running around the ranch, she’ll never notice I’m gone.”
    â€œTrust me, she’ll notice. She already asked if she should hire a bodyguard for you in case your trip gets dicey. Don’t know why you can’t just stick around here and pop out some grandkids for her like the rest of us. Would that be so hard?” Stroking one of the horse’s cheeks, no doubt when he thought Wyatt wasn’t looking, Dallas rechecked the harnesses. Classic Dallas. Always in his business. Never trusting Wyatt to competently handle a job. Ignoring the fact that since Wyatt had taken over the oil side of the ranch, they’d made money hand over fist. Ever since his big brother had the twins, he’d seemed to equate success with the number of kids a guy had. Considering his own shortcomings in that field, Wyatt figured he’d had just about all of his brother’s wisdom he could handle.
    Wyatt said, “How about I take the truck back to my place and you handle the wagon?”
    â€œWon’t work,” Dallas said. “We need you here to—”
    â€œHow about making it work.” Beyond angry, Wyattstrode to the vehicle. Nine times out of ten, Dallas left the keys in the ignition.
    This time was no exception.
    Wyatt started the engine, hit the lights then bucked it into gear, in the process damn near hitting Natalie.
    â€œWhere are you going?” she called over the ancient V-8.
    â€œHome. Had enough family togetherness to last the next year.”
    â€œMe, too,” she said, fumbling with her fingers at her waist. Had it always been huge? How could he not have noticed? “Would you mind taking me to my car?”
    For a split second, Wyatt thought about turning her down, but then his mind flashed on just how pleasant his past couple meetings with her had been. Natalie was the anti-Dallas.
    Meeting his brother’s glare, Wyatt said to Natalie, “Hop in. Let’s go lookin’ for trouble.”

Chapter Three
    â€œWhat was that about?” Natalie asked once they were well away from the bonfire’s glow.
    â€œYou really don’t wanna know.”
    â€œWouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.” She rolled down her window. Sweet wood smoke laced the air rushing across her flushed cheeks and chest. “Your mom, bless her heart, just pressed my hot button nine ways to Sunday. Way I see it, I’ll tell you my frustrations, then you can vent yours.”
    â€œDeal. Do you like