The Cowboy's Way(15)
Of course, getting a boat to cross the floodwaters would be contingent on them still living on the Circle W. And unless a miracle happened, enabling her to pay the back taxes on the ranch, she was going to lose her home and she and her son would have to live elsewhere.
Just the thought of losing the place her family had owned for several generations was more than she could bear, and she decided to wait until she returned home to consider her options. At the moment, the feel of T.J.’s hand at the small of her back, guiding her as they climbed the steps, was distracting and every bit as disconcerting as him giving her a companionable hug.
Heather wasn’t the least bit comfortable with what she was feeling. She already had too many things on her plate to worry about an unwanted attraction to her sexy neighbor.
Her heart skipped several beats. She thought T. J. Malloy was sexy? Dear lord, she needed to get home and regain her perspective.
When they reached the room she and her son were sharing, Heather reached to take Seth from T.J. “Thank you again for all you’ve done for us.”
“I’m just doing what any good neighbor would do,” he said, shrugging.
T.J. placed Seth in her arms and as T.J.’s eyes locked with hers, she felt as if she could easily become lost in the compassion she detected in his hazel gaze. But as they continued to stare at each other, the air seemed to fill with a charged tension that she hadn’t felt in a very long time—not since her fiancé had been killed in an industrial accident shortly after they discovered she was pregnant with Seth.
As the moment stretched into an awkward silence, she cleared her throat and reached for the doorknob. “I’ll, um, see you in the morning.”
He continued to stare at her for several seconds before he nodded and reached up to trace his finger down her jawline. “Sleep well, Heather.”
His deep baritone saying her name and the feel of his feather-light touch caused her heart to flutter wildly and it took everything she had to stop herself from leaning closer. “G-good night, T.J.”
Before she made a complete fool of herself, Heather quickly carried her son into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. Had she lost her mind? She still wasn’t entirely certain she could trust the man. Why was she feeling flustered and breathless from staring into his mesmerizing hazel eyes? And why hadn’t she protested when he touched her?
She wasn’t looking for a man to add one more complication to her already difficult life. She had a child to raise and a ranch to try to hold on to. The last thing she needed was any kind of distraction. And that included a seemingly well-meaning cowboy with a hypnotic gaze and the unsettling ability to remind her she was a woman who hadn’t been held by a man in quite some time.
Three
The following afternoon, T.J. stood in his driveway and watched Heather’s gray sedan drive down the lane toward the main road. Stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he sighed heavily. She was almost completely recovered from having the flu and at this point, he was pretty sure there wasn’t any danger of her becoming ill again. So why wasn’t he all that happy to see her leave?
He still wasn’t sure he even liked her. She seemed to take offense to just about everything he said and trying to get her to accept his help when she clearly needed it was like trying to convince birds not to roost in the trees at night. And although they had established a truce of sorts, it was an uneasy one at best.
After last night, when he hugged her in the family room, then touched her cheek as they said good-night at her bedroom door, things had turned awkward between them. This morning they had both seemed grateful to have Seth to focus on over breakfast and in the hours before she left to go home. Heather read a book to him that she’d had in the diaper bag and T.J. had gotten down on his hands and knees to give the little guy rides around the man cave. So why did he feel let down that she and her kid were leaving?
But as T.J. stood there gazing at the taillights of her car, he had to be honest with himself. He suspected he knew the reason behind her haste to leave the Dusty Diamond and his reluctance to see her go.
And it had nothing whatsoever to do with her wanting to check on her horses or his concern about her having a setback.
Last night he had seen the same awareness in her expressive blue eyes that he was sure she had seen in his. The slight sway of her body when he touched her cheek told him that she’d felt the magnetic pull between them as strongly as he had.
When he watched her car reach the end of the lane and turn onto the main road, he shook his head at his own foolishness and headed toward the barn. Just because Heather Wilson revved his engine didn’t mean a damned thing. She was an extremely attractive, single woman who had been staying with him in close quarters and he was a man who had been neglecting his libido for longer than he cared to admit. Naturally he was going to notice how long her legs were and wonder about how they would feel wrapped around him as he sank himself deep inside of her.