Free Expecting a Christmas Miracle by Laura Iding Page B

be resting.”
    She took her feet off the table and struggled to her feet. “I’ve been doing nothing but resting.” And despite the fact she’d already been up to the bathroom several times, she needed to go again. She paused long enough to put a hand on Jadon’s arm. “Thanks, Jadon. I mean it. I appreciate how you went out of your way to bring everything over here.”
    “Hey, having you move in was my idea, remember?” he joked. But he placed his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. “Everything will be fine.”
    She wished, really wished that were true. If only he’d see her as a woman, and not as a burden to care for.
     
    Jadon couldn’t sleep. Across the hall he could hear Alyssa’s bed frame creaking as she tossed and turned, and figured she wasn’t getting much rest either. For long moments he stared at the ceiling, fighting the urge to check on her. She’d claimed he was hovering too much, and he supposed she was right.
    He couldn’t help it. The very idea of Alyssa delivering the twins early sent him into panic mode.
    She’d be fine. The twins would be fine. He couldn’t control her labor. He had to lighten up a bit.
    He jerked upright when Alyssa cried out. In alarm, he leaped out of bed and dashed into her room.
    She was moaning, thrashing in the covers, obviously caught in the throes of a bad dream.
    “Alyssa,” he whispered, putting a calming hand on her shoulder. “Wake up. It’s only a dream.”
    He had to repeat himself several times before his low voice penetrated her subconscious.
    “What?” She blinked at him through the darkness. “Jadon?”
    “I think you were having a bad dream,” he told her, sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing only his boxers. “Are you okay?”
    She stared at him for several heartbeats and then slowly nodded. “It was a bad dream. Some guy was chasing me and being pregnant I couldn’t run fast enough to get away from him. For some reason he wanted to hurt my babies. When he grabbed me I thought I was going to die. Sorry if I woke you.”
    “You didn’t wake me. I wasn’t sleeping.” He was glad he’d come in. What an awful dream. “Do you want me to get you something?”
    “No.” She pushed up and propped herself on her elbows. “But now that I’m awake I need to go to the bathroom.”
    He chuckled and held out his hand. She took his hand, using his strength to lever herself out of bed.
    “Thanks,” she murmured, moving past him. Her hair brushed against his bare chest, leaving tiny shocks of awareness.
    Jadon took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he should go back to his own room. Alyssa was fine. He wasn’t needed here anymore.
    But he waited until she returned. Her white nightgown left her sexy shoulders bare and he had to swallow hard not to show his reaction. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
    “Yes.” Her nightgown rose a bit as she swung her legs back into bed. “The dream was far too real, though.”
    He didn’t want to leave, but forced himself to move toward the door. “Call me if you need me.”
    “I will. Uh, Jadon?”
    He swung back toward her. “Yes?”
    “You don’t think my dream is some sort of a premonition of something bad happening to the babies, do you?”
    “No, of course not.” He came back and sat next to her.
    She shivered. “It was just so real.”
    “Do you want me to stay with you for a while?” He didn’t want to leave her like this. “I’ll hold you until you can fall asleep.”
    She must have been more shaken than he’d thought because she nodded. “Maybe, just a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”
    All of his senses went on red alert. Lying beside her didn’t sound like much, but he was already half-aroused; he wasn’t sure he could trust himself to be so close to her.
    But his thoughts didn’t make it to his mouth. “Sure,” he heard himself say. “I don’t mind.”
    “I’m sorry to be such a problem,” Alyssa said as he slid beneath the covers on the