The Cowboy's Way(25)
What had she been thinking? Getting involved with T. J. Malloy—or any other man—at this point in her life would be insane. She had a ranch she was trying to hold on to. She had her son’s welfare to think about and the last thing she needed was to add to her stress by entering into any kind of emotional or physical involvement.
Of course, she could be overreacting to the situation. Just because there was an undeniable chemistry drawing them together didn’t mean anything. All most men needed to become aroused was a warm, willing woman.
Her cheeks heated as she thought about her reaction to him. She certainly hadn’t shown even the slightest bit of reluctance. He probably thought she was an easy conquest. Or worse yet, desperate for the attention of a man.
Shaking her head at her behavior, she put their coffee cups in the sink and walked down the hall to check on her son. T.J. was most likely only looking for a good time, and although she hadn’t exactly shown him differently, she wasn’t a no-strings kind of woman. She had a little boy who was counting on her to protect him—from homelessness and from men with no intention of getting serious about a family—and that was exactly what she intended to do.
As she looked in on Seth, she made a silent vow to be stronger and wiser than she’d been before. She wasn’t going to allow T.J. to get too close and risk her son becoming too attached to him only to have T.J. move on when he’d had his fill of her. Her suffering the disappointment of being rejected by a man was one thing, but she’d walk through fire before she allowed it to happen to her son.
* * *
“Do ’gain,” Seth said, laughing.
“Again?” T.J. let loose with an exaggerated groan. “Wouldn’t you rather play with the barn that moos when you open the door?”
“No,” the toddler said, giggling happily. “Wide hossy.”
He knew that when he gave Seth another ride around the living room perched atop his back, the little boy would want more. But the kid seemed to enjoy listening to T.J. groan about it and Seth thought it was extremely funny when T.J. gave in. Knowing the toddler was having fun was all it took to keep T.J. on his hands and knees and crawling around on the floor.
“The two of you seem to be getting along pretty well in here,” Heather commented as she walked into the living room from the kitchen.
“Hossy,” Seth said, patting T.J. on the back of the head.
Nodding, she looked from T.J. to Seth. “He’s a great horsey, but it’s time for you to have a bath, little man, and get ready for bed.”
“No,” Seth insisted. “Wide hossy.”
“Seth.” There was a warning in Heather’s voice that T.J. new wouldn’t be wise for either him or Seth to ignore.
“Would it be all right for me to give him one last ride?” T.J. asked, mindful that it was Heather’s call. He didn’t want to disappoint the kid, but he didn’t want to piss off the boy’s mother by interfering with her parenting, either.
“Pease?” Seth begged from T.J.’s back.
“Please?” T.J. echoed, grinning.
“Ganging up on me is not fair,” she warned. “But all right. One more ride then it’s time for your bath and bed, Seth.”
“Otay,” Seth said happily as he tugged on the back of T.J.’s shirt. “Go hossy.”
Groaning, T.J. got the giggle out of Seth he was looking for and made another trip around the living room, stopping in front of Heather.
“Okay, partner,” T.J. said, straightening when she lifted the little boy from his back. “Time for you to take a bath and me to chill out for a little while in front of the TV.”
“I’ll be back in few minutes,” she said, carrying Seth down the hall.
While Heather gave her son a bath and got him ready for bed, T.J. sat down on the couch and used the remote to turn on the television. He really wasn’t interested in watching a show, but when Heather returned a distraction might help ease the awkwardness that had developed between them since he’d left the house to go out to the barn earlier that afternoon.
When he’d fed her horses that morning, he had noticed several stalls in need of repair. So, this afternoon, when he’d had enough adrenaline flowing through his veins to bench-press a dump truck, he’d hammered nails into every loose board he could find. By the time he returned to the house an hour or so later, Heather hadn’t had a lot to say to him and he was pretty sure he knew why.
He was willing to bet everything he had that while he’d been trying to expend his pent-up energy, she had been thinking about the chemistry between them and how fast it had threatened to flare out of control. He’d seen the heat in her eyes after that kiss and, knowing the way women had of stewing on things, she had probably talked herself out of letting it happen again.