The Cowboy's Way(35)

He had talked to Heather about exploring what was drawing them together, but beyond that he hadn’t mentioned anything about pursuing a relationship. Would it even be wise to introduce her to his family before they were even dating? What if nothing came of their seeing each other?

Turning his truck onto the lane leading up to his house, T.J. knew what he was going to do. Besides the fact that he wanted to spend time with her, he couldn’t stand the thought of Heather and Seth sitting over in the Circle W ranch house by themselves while he and his family had a good old time seeing in the New Year together. But he knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince her to join them.

He couldn’t help but smile as he drove the truck into the garage. Fortunately he was up for the challenge.





Six

T.J. positioned the extension ladder he had brought from his ranch against the side of Heather’s house, then walked back to his truck for one of the buckets of roof patch he’d had his foreman pick up at the local hardware store the day before. As soon as Tommy Lee finished taking care of Heather’s horses, he would work with T.J. to fix the roof. Then T.J. intended to talk to her about the New Year’s Eve party at his place the following night.

“T.J.?” Heather called from the porch. When he stepped around the corner of the house to see what she wanted, she was coming down the steps holding Seth’s hand. “I’m sorry to bother you, but when Seth found out you were outside he insisted he had to see you.”

T.J. grinned. “Hey there, partner.”

“Hi!” Seth said, grinning from ear to ear. As soon as they stepped off the bottom step, Seth pulled his hand from Heather’s and ran toward T.J.

Bending, T.J. caught the toddler in his arms. “How are you today?”

Seth’s excited rapid-fire answer and the waving of his hands had T.J. looking to Heather for an interpretation.

“He’s trying to tell you about helping me make lunch for you and your hired hand,” she said, walking up to them.

“I’ll bet you were a big help for your mom,” T.J. said, smiling. “What did you help her fix up for us?”

“Scetti balls,” Seth said proudly.

T.J. glanced at Heather. “Spaghetti and meatballs?” When she nodded, he tickled Seth’s stomach, causing the toddler to burst into a fit of giggles. “We’ve had that before, haven’t we, partner?”

Seth nodded. “You house.”

“That’s right,” T.J. agreed, laughing. “You ate almost as much as I ended up wearing.” When he spotted Tommy Lee walking out of the barn, T.J. set the little boy on his feet. “Time for me to fix the roof, but I’ll be in as soon as I’m finished to eat lunch with you and give you another ride. How does that sound?”

“Please be careful,” Heather said as she took Seth by the hand.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” T.J. asked, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her waist.

She looked confused. “I thought you were going up on the roof.”

“Not without a kiss,” he said as he pressed his lips to hers. With Seth hanging around nearby, T.J. made sure to keep the kiss brief. When he lifted his head, he stared at Heather for several long seconds. She was so damned beautiful, it was all he could do to keep from kissing her until they both collapsed from lack of oxygen. “To be continued in the very near future.”

“We’ll be inside,” she replied softly. “Come on in when you two get done.”

As he watched her turn and lead Seth back into the house, he took a deep breath and waited for Tommy Lee. “Once I get up on the roof, all you have to do is hand me the bucket of roof patch.”

“Fair enough, boss,” the man said, looking relieved. “I’m not all that gung ho on heights.”

“You climb up in the barn loft all the time,” T.J. said as they walked around to the side of the house where he had put the ladder.

“I never said it didn’t bother me,” Tommy Lee admitted.

“I’ll tell Dan to send Harry up there from now on,” T.J. said, starting to climb up the ladder. When he reached the roof, he turned for the bucket. “You don’t have any kind of problem with needles do you?”

“Nope.” Tommy Lee handed T.J. the patching material. “Why?”

“Because Harry breaks out in a cold sweat every time he thinks about having to help the veterinarian,” T.J. answered. “From now on you can help inoculate the horses.”

“Sounds good to me,” Tommy Lee said as he climbed back down the ladder. “Funny that Harry never mentioned that.”