The Maverick's Christmas Baby. Victoria Pade

beer.”

      Confused, Nina looked from the youngest Traub to Dallas and found Dallas grimacing. “We met an old friend of mine earlier today. He was a lot heavier than the last time I saw him and I razzed him about his beer belly.”

      “Ah...” Nina said.

      “But you,” Dallas went on in a hurry, obviously doing damage control. “It doesn’t seem like you’ve gained an ounce anywhere but baby—you really look...well, beautiful...”

      It sounded as if he genuinely meant that—not like the gratuitous things that often came with people talking about her pregnancy. And that, too, pleased Nina. And when their eyes met once again, when she really could see that he didn’t find anything about her condition off-putting at all, and when Nina had the feeling that there was suddenly no one else in the world but the two of them, it made her all warm inside.

      But there were other people in the world, in the room, in fact. His kids.

      And just then Ryder said, “I need to get to Tyler’s.”

      Dallas seemed to draw up short, as if he, too, had been lost in that moment between them and was jolted out of it by his eldest son’s reminder.

      “His friend Tyler is having a sleepover,” Dallas explained. “And I still need to pick up a few things downstairs—our houses and the main barns were spared by the flood but some of the outbuildings and lean-tos had some damage. I thought we’d fixed everything but the blizzard showed us more weak spots, and I came for some lumber and some nails.” He paused, smiled slyly, then said, “And I figured if I came here rather than going to Kalispell I’d get the chance to ask how you’re doing...”

      “I’m doing fabulously,” she answered as if he’d asked her.

      The sly smile widened to a grin that lit up his handsome face.

      “I told Tyler I’d be at his house by now,” Ryder persisted.

      Dallas rolled his eyes but allowed his attention to be dragged away. “Okay, cups to the kitchen,” he ordered in a tone that sounded reluctant.

      “I’ll take care of it,” Nina said.

      “Not a chance.” Dallas overruled her, even cleaning up after her by taking her hot chocolate mug, too, and leaving her to merely follow behind them all with the cookie plate.

      Once the cups were rinsed and in the sink, and coats were replaced, Nina went with them to the apartment door, opening it for them.

      The boys immediately went out and headed for the stairs.

      “Wait for me right there,” Dallas warned as he lingered with Nina.

      Then he glanced at her again with the same look in his blue eyes that had been there when he’d told her she was beautiful. “I’m really glad to see that you’re okay. Better than okay.”

      “It’s all thanks to you,” she told him.

      He flashed that one-sided smile again. “All me, huh? Doctors, the hospital—none of that had anything to do with it?”

      “They just did the checkup. It was you who got me through the worst. And then took heat from my family for it.”

      “Just happy to help,” he said as if he meant that, too.

      “I owe you....”

      “Nah. You don’t owe me anything.”

      Nina merely smiled. “I’m glad you came up today.”

      “Me, too.”

      “Dad!” Ryder chastised from the top of the stairs.

      “In a minute,” Dallas said without taking his eyes off Nina. He was clearly reluctant to leave. “Guess I better go. Take care of yourself. And that baby,” he advised.

      “I will,” she agreed.

      Then he had no choice but to go, and Nina leaned out of her apartment door so she could watch him join his sons, so she could watch the four of them descend the steps.

      And all the while she was still smiling to herself.

      Because she’d thought of a much, much better thank-you gift than a fruit basket.

      A gift that would put her in the company of Dallas Traub one more time.

      Chapter Three

      “You have to be kidding. You want me to tie a Christmas tree to the top of your SUV so you can surprise some Traubs with it?”

      It was after five on Sunday. Nate had dropped by the store just before closing and Nina had asked her brother to do her a favor so the teenager who was running the Christmas tree lot didn’t have to stay late to do it.

      “Dallas needs a tree,” she told Nate matter-of-factly. “And it’s the least I can do after Wednesday. It’s a thank-you Christmas tree.”

      “Thanks for running you off the road and nearly killing you?”

      “I pulled out in front of him,” Nina repeated what she’d said to her family numerous times since the near-collision. “I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

      “You wouldn’t have ended up in a ditch.”

      “Nathan!” Nina said in a louder voice, attempting to get through to her brother. “Dallas Traub saved me and my baby!”

      Okay, maybe that was somewhat of an exaggeration, but in the thick of things on Wednesday, Dallas had felt like a lifesaver.

      “I want to repay him with this Christmas tree,” she insisted.

      “We don’t owe any Traub anything,” Nate said, scowling at her.

      “I owe Dallas,” Nina said firmly and succinctly.

      She’d always been a strong, independent person who acted on her own instincts and answered whatever beliefs, desires or drives she might have, even if they went against popular opinion. Like having this baby on her own. And like giving Dallas and his boys a Christmas tree whether anyone in her stubborn family approved or not.

      “If you’re bound and determined to give a Traub a tree then have it delivered,” her brother reasoned. “Why do you have to take it out to him yourself?”

      “I want to take it out to him myself,” she said defensively, trying not to think about just how much she wanted to do this herself. “He inconvenienced himself and even put himself in danger by taking me into Kalispell during a blizzard when he could have just let the sheriff do it and gone home to his own family. Delivering my gift in person is only right.”

      Which she believed.

      But she also couldn’t stop thinking about Dallas and wanting to see him again—that was a strong part of her determination to do the delivery herself, too.

      Of course, she told herself that now that she’d met Dallas’s kids, now that she knew Dallas was having trouble getting into the holiday spirit those kids deserved—the holiday spirit that every kid deserved—it just seemed appropriate that she step up and provide it. In her time of need, Dallas had come to the rescue. Now, in this small way, maybe she could come to his.

      And getting to spend a little time with him in the process was inconsequential and meaningless—that was what she kept telling herself.

      “Some Traub will probably shoot you on sight when you drive onto their property,” Nate said.

      Nina rolled her eyes. “This isn’t the Wild West anymore. Besides, I’ve been asking around at the store yesterday and today to get an idea of the actual arrangement of the houses at the Triple T ranch. Dallas and his boys have their own place that sits on one of the borders of the ranch. I can get to it from a side road without going any farther onto the property.”

      “He’s still likely to shoot