“You’d better watch out, T.J.,” Ryder said, grinning back at him. “You could be next. The smell of a clean shirt always seems to make my daughter nauseous.”
The most easygoing of the band of brothers, Ryder was also the most courageous. A rodeo bullfighter, he used to save bull riders from serious injury, or worse, on a regular basis. But since he’d married Summer and they had little Katie, Ryder had cut way back on his schedule and only worked the rodeos Nate and their brother Jaron Lambert competed in. T.J. suspected it was because Ryder wanted to make sure his brothers were well protected from the dangerous bulls they rode in their quest to become national champions. T.J. also knew Ryder would never admit that was the reason he hadn’t completely quit being a bullfighter.
“Will you be at the party, Mariah?” Lane’s wife, Taylor, asked Bria’s younger sister.
“Probably not,” Mariah said slowly. She paused as she glanced across the table at Jaron. “I’ve met someone and he’s asked me to go to a New Year’s Eve party with him at one of the clubs up in Dallas.”
Everyone looked at Jaron to see how he would react to Mariah’s news. The entire family knew the two had been attracted to each other practically from the moment they’d met. But Mariah had only been eighteen at the time and at twenty-six, Jaron had decided—and rightly so—that he was too old for her. Unfortunately, in the seven years since, Jaron hadn’t changed his stance and Mariah had apparently become tired of waiting on him and decided to move on.
“Congratulations on the new guy,” Jaron said tightly, breaking the awkward silence. “Have a good time.”
To the outward eye, his brother looked sincere, but T.J. knew better. By nature, Jaron was more reserved and quieter than the rest of the men, making it hard to figure out what he was thinking. But when he was pissed off, his voice took on an edge that was rock-hard, ice-cold and impossible to ignore. That edge was present now and T.J. knew Jaron was warning the rest of the men that he wasn’t in the mood for their affectionate teasing about Mariah, now or later. T.J. also knew every one of his brothers would respect Jaron’s need for silence on the matter.
“What about you, Nate?” T.J. asked, counting on the man to ease some of the sudden tension in the room. “Are you bringing someone this year?”
Nate shook his head. “I bought the Twin Oaks Ranch over by Beaver Dam a few weeks ago,” Nate stated proudly. “I’ve been too busy lately to think about anything but what I’m going to do with the place.”
“When did this happen?” T.J. asked, astounded. “I don’t recall you mentioning it when we were together at Thanksgiving.”
“I didn’t want to jinx it in case the deal fell through,” Nate said as he shoveled a big bite of red velvet cake into his mouth.
Nate’s superstition didn’t surprise T.J. one bit. Every rodeo rider he knew was superstitious about something. Even he’d had certain rituals he went through before he climbed on the back of a rank bucking horse when he competed.
“You’re finally putting down roots?” Sam asked, looking like he couldn’t quite believe Nate was serious.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, bro, but I never thought I’d see the day you settled down,” Ryder said, shaking his head.
“I just bought a ranch,” Nate said, grinning. “I never said I was settling down.”
“When do you move into your new den of iniquity?” T.J. asked, handing baby Katie to Summer for the rest of her bottle.
“I won’t be moving in for a while,” Nate said, taking another bite of the red velvet cake in front of him. He shrugged. “I’ve got some work I need to do on it first. I’m going to knock down a couple of walls to make a great room and the plumbing and wiring need to be upgraded. I also need to make a few repairs to the fences and maybe build a couple of new barns before I bring in livestock.”
“Just let us know when and how we can help and we’ll be there,” Lane said, speaking for all of them.
“I’ll do that.” Nate smiled at the women seated around the table. “And I’m counting on these lovely ladies to help out when it comes to decorating the house.”
T.J. raised an eyebrow. “Even the master suite?”
Nate shook his head as his grin turned suggestive. “I’ve got my own ideas for that.”
“I’ll bet you do,” Ryder said, voicing what the rest of the men were thinking.
“We can skip the details on your choice of decor for your bedroom,” Bria said, handing T.J. a slice of cake.