The Cowboy's Way(38)

Smiling, she had to catch her breath before she was able to speak. “Thank you, I’m fine. I need to let Seth play a little bit more, then give him a bath and get him settled down for the night.”

“While you do that, I’ll set up that little portable bed you brought with you,” he offered as he pulled her to him for a quick kiss. “If you’re not too tired, I’d like to talk to you about something after we get him in bed.”

“All right,” she said cautiously. “What do you want to discuss?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said, giving her a smile that caused her toes to curl inside her cross-trainers. Stepping back, he picked up Seth and headed toward the basket of toys he had mentioned keeping for his niece and nephew’s visits. “Right now, I’m going to occupy my little partner here, while you put your feet up and relax for a while.”

“You don’t mind?” she asked.

He shook his head as he walked back over to her to brush her lips with his, then whispered close to her ear. “You need the break, sweetheart.”

Tingles of excitement raced through her as Heather stared at him for a moment longer before she wandered over to the huge sectional sofa at the end of the room and sat down. Having help with Seth was a unique experience for her. Over the past two years, she had been so used to taking care of him on her own, she wasn’t sure she even remembered how to relax.

As she sat there watching T.J. play with her son, she briefly wondered if this was the way it would have been if Seth’s father had lived. Would he have been as helpful with their child as T.J. had been? Somehow, she doubted it. Although she knew Mike Hansen had loved her and would have adored Seth, he just hadn’t been the thoughtful type.

A few minutes later, when she saw Seth yawn, she rose from the couch. “Time for a bath, sweetie.”

“No,” Seth said, frowning. “Wanna pway.”

“I think we better listen to your mom,” T.J. said, smiling. “She knows what’s best.”

Seth rubbed his eyes with both fists and shook his head. “Wanna pway.”

“Tell you what, little partner.” T.J. picked up her son and tickled his tummy. “I’ll carry you upstairs for your bath and I promise we’ll play again tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Heather’s chest swelled with emotion when Seth threw his arms around T.J.’s neck to hug him. “Otay.”

Although it frightened her to think that she might be setting them up for a tremendous amount of disappointment, she couldn’t keep from being grateful for the attention T.J. had given Seth. In the past several days, it had been like watching a flower bloom. With T.J., Seth had opened up and become more talkative and outgoing than she could ever remember him being with anyone but her.

“Thank you,” she said as they walked down the hall to the stairs.

T.J. put his free arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “For what?”

“For watching Seth and being so good with him,” she answered.

“You’ve had a pretty rough day and I thought you could use a few minutes to catch your breath.” His grin warmed her entire body. “And to tell you the truth, I’m having as much fun as he is. He’s a great kid.” As they entered the bedroom, T.J. handed her son to her and picked up the folded play yard she had brought for Seth to sleep in. “Now, while you give him a bath, I’ll get this set up.” T.J. leaned forward to kiss her. “I’ll meet you in the man cave in about an hour for our little talk.”

She had no idea what T.J. thought they needed to discuss and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know. What she was focused on—and what was far more unsettling than anything he could possibly say—was the excitement building inside of her at the thought of spending a little time alone with one of the sexiest, most remarkable men she had ever met.

* * *

While he waited for Heather to finish getting Seth to sleep, T.J. sat at the bar in his man cave drinking a beer and pondering how he could have gotten in so deep so damned fast. Whenever he was around Heather he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her. All he wanted to do was hold her, kiss her—and do a whole lot more. And when he was away from her, he couldn’t wait until they were together again.

Then there was her little boy. The time he spent with Seth was more special than T.J. would have imagined. The kid could melt rock with that cute grin of his and a couple of times T.J. had caught himself thinking about all of the things he could teach Seth when the boy got a little older.

He shook his head. Although he had no idea where they were headed and it definitely had him questioning his sanity, T.J. knew he couldn’t turn back now. Come hell or high water, he would see this relationship through to the end, whether that came two months down the line or lasted an entire lifetime. If he didn’t, he had a feeling he would end up regretting it for the rest of his life.