Merry Christmas, Baby Read Online Free PDF Page A

should’ve made it back by now, and she realized her cramps were most likely stress. Please be okay … Because he had to be, she would accept nothing less. Restless and uncomfortable, she shifted in her chair for the millionth time, to no avail.
    “You okay?” Ford asked.
    “Always,” she said.
    He smiled at her. “Tough girl to the end.”
    When the music sped up, Chloe set down her glass and stood. Time to stop dwelling. “I want to dance.”
    Both sisters opened their mouths to protest, but it was Jax who leaned in. “Honey, Dr. Tyler wanted you to stay quiet.”
    Chloe snorted. “Dr. Tyler didn’t say that; Sawyer said that. And he’s not here, so who’s going to dance with me?”
    When both brothers-in-law stared at her, she tugged on Ford’s hand.
    “Why me?” he asked.
    “Because you love me the most,” she said.
    Sap that he was, Ford smiled and led her to the dance floor. Then he pulled her into his arms, shifting in a natural rhythm with the music. He stroked a hand down her back, rubbing her aches and pains, making her moan.
    “Here, darlin’,” he said, pulling her in tighter. “Since you’re wearing sneakers instead of your usual ballbuster heels, you can stand on my feet and let me do all the work.”
    She hadn’t realized how utterly exhausted she was until she let her weight go, allowing him to hold her up. “Mmm,” she said, eyes closed, her head on his chest. “Wake me when the New Year comes, okay?”
    He laughed softly and hugged her as he danced them slowly around the floor. “The most hardheaded woman I know having a child with the most stubborn man on the planet,” he marveled. “God help the two of you.”
    “Don’t you mean the three of us?” Chloe asked. “Me, Sawyer, and the baby?”
    “Nah,” he said. “The baby’s going to be fine. You’re going to make a great mama.”
    She knew her hormones were in overdrive when her throat tightened. “You think so?”
    He squeezed her gently. “I know so.” Then he took her hands in his and looked into her watery eyes. “Hey, you okay?”
    “Yeah.” She let out a shuddery sigh. “It’s just that my back and legs hurt, and I have cramps.”
    “Let’s sit down.”
    “Not yet,” she said, and didn’t lift her head from his shoulder. She thought maybe she could sleep right here. Ford’s arms were strong and warm.
    Not as strong and warm as Sawyer’s, though. No one was as strong as Sawyer, inside and out. From the very beginning, he’d both driven her insane and made her feel protected and safe for the first time in her life.
    “He’ll be back soon,” Ford said quietly.
    “You a mind reader?”
    “No, you’re just not all that good at hiding your feelings.”
    “Last week, I couldn’t sleep. At midnight I decided I had to have cran-apple juice. Cran-apple juice, Ford.”
    “So you got thirsty.”
    “At midnight,” she reminded him. “Sawyer told me he’d go first thing in the morning. The poor guy hadn’t gotten home until ten, and he had to be at work early for a meeting. I knew he wouldn’t have time to go in the morning so I threw on sweats and drove to the store. I stood there in the aisle of the grocery store and burst into tears because there was no cran-apple juice. There was a gallon of cranberry juice and a gallon of apple juice, but no cran-apple. I was going to have to buy the two gallons and mix them together. But the gallon jugs were too heavy for me to lift.”
    Ford sighed. “You’re such a nut.”
    “I know!”
    “What happened?”
    “Sawyer had followed me to the store. He bought the two gallons and shepherded me home.”
    Ford laughed. “The man’s a sucker.”
    “The man’s got to be insane to still want me.”
    “Chloe, look at me.”
    He waited until she lifted her head and met his gaze. “He’s taking these jobs because he wants to build the addition to your house for the baby, not because he wants to be away from you.”
    “Are you sure?” Chloe asked with