“It can’t be that bad,” she said, shaking her head.
“Believe me, it’s not that good,” he replied.
She cupped his lean cheek with her palm as she gazed into his eyes. “Why don’t you tell me and let me decide?”
“Tobias Jerome,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what my mom was thinking when she hung that name on an innocent little baby.”
“It’s not bad at all,” she said, wondering why he didn’t like it.
“Do I look like a Toby or a Jerry?” he asked, raising one dark eyebrow.
“Well, not really,” she admitted. “You do look more like a T.J. than either one of those two names.
“That’s why when we have kids there won’t be any of them named Tobias Jerome,” he said, laughing.
“How many children do you want?” she asked, loving the idea of Seth having a brother or sister and no longer worried at all that T.J. wouldn’t have enough love for all his children, biological or adopted.
“I’ve got a big house with lots of bedrooms,” he said, grinning. “How does seven sound?”
“We’ll revisit that subject later,” she said, laughing.
His expression turned serious. “I love you, Heather.”
“And I love you, T.J. With every breath I take.”
Epilogue
“Well, we’re down to two unmarried brothers now,” T.J. said as he and his brothers stood at the bar in his man cave-turned-family room, celebrating his and Heather’s wedding.
They had decided on a small intimate ceremony, with only his family in attendance, and that suited him just fine. The fewer guests they had, the sooner he could whisk Heather away for their honeymoon.
“Who do you think will be next?” Sam asked.
“Well, it isn’t going to be me,” Nate said. “I’m about ready to swear off women for good.”
“And if you believe that, I’ve got some prime real estate in Death Valley to sell you,” Ryder said, laughing.
T.J. looked lovingly over at his beautiful wife, who was talking with his sisters-in-law and Bria’s sister, Mariah. “That’s what I said, Nate. And look at me now. I couldn’t be happier.”
“Yeah, but Heather is a great woman,” Nate retorted. “She’s not as unreasonable as you once thought and she’s definitely not as unreasonable as most women.”
T.J. couldn’t help but smile. None of his brothers had any idea about what he and Heather had worked through to get to where they were now. And he wasn’t going to enlighten them.
“It could be Jaron,” Lane suggested.
When Jaron didn’t protest immediately, they all turned to catch him staring at Mariah again.
“What?” he asked, clearly unaware of Lane’s comment.
“We were just speculating on whether you or Nate will be the next to take a trip down the aisle,” Lane said, grinning.
Jaron shook his head. “You better bet on Nate,” he said emphatically. “If you’re betting on me, you’ll lose.”
“I’ve got Nate,” T.J. said, plunking down a hundred-dollar bill on top of the bar.
“Who’s going to hold the pot this time?” Ryder asked.
“I’ll do it,” Sam said.
As T.J. watched his brothers each place their bets on who they thought would be the next to get married, Seth ran up and threw his arms around T.J.’s leg. “Mine daddy!”
Laughing, T.J. picked up his son. He and Heather had told Seth that T.J. would be adopting him and would be his daddy. That was all it had taken for the kid to abandon calling T.J. Hossy and to start calling him Daddy.
While the brothers continued to speculate on Nate’s and Jaron’s prospects, T.J. carried Seth over to the woman they both loved with all their hearts.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m about ready to start our honeymoon,” he whispered in her ear.
Her smile robbed him of breath. “Me, too.”
“Did you get Seth’s things together for Sam and Bria to watch him while we’re gone?” T.J. asked, setting Seth on his feet to go play with his new cousin, little Hank.
Heather nodded. “Bria had Sam put Seth’s suitcase and car seat in their car just before the ceremony.”