The Cowboy's Way. Kathie DeNosky
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with the fact that the man drawing that emotion from her was T. J. Malloy, she asked, “Would you mind watching him for a few minutes while I take a quick shower?”
“Not at all,” he said, shaking his head. “Take your time. You’ll probably feel a lot better.”
“I’ll feel better when we get home.” She stared down at the jeans and sweatshirt she still held. “Seth is going to need diapers and we both need clean clothes.”
“Not a problem,” Malloy answered. “I had one of my men drive up to Stephenville this morning to pick up a few things I thought you would need. I had him get both of you a change of clothes, as well as diapers and some kind of little kid food.”
“How did he know what sizes to get?” That explained where Seth’s new pajamas came from.
“I told Dan to take his wife along for the ride.” Malloy looked quite pleased with himself. “They have three kids under the age of five and I figured if anyone would know what you both needed, it would be Jane Ann.” He pointed toward the dresser. “Your clothes are over there in the shopping bag.”
“I’ll reimburse you for everything,” she said, thankful to have clean clothes to put on after her shower. “Do you still have the sales slip?”
“No, I don’t and no, you won’t pay me back,” he said, firmly.
“Yes, I will.” She didn’t have a lot in reserve and hoped it didn’t cost much, but she did have her pride. She wasn’t the gold digger her fiancé’s parents had once accused her of being when she’d called to let them know about Seth’s birth. And besides, considering her past with Malloy, she wasn’t inclined to have him complaining about some other way she’d been negligent.
Malloy released a frustrated sigh. “We’ll discuss it later.”
“You can bet we will,” she vowed.
Deciding there was no reasoning with the man at the moment, Heather tugged at the shirt she was wearing to make sure it covered her backside as she got the bag of clothes from the dresser, then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
When she looked in the mirror, she groaned. Her long hair resembled a limp mop and other than the few freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheekbones, she was the color of a ghost—and a sickly one at that.
But as she continued to stare in the mirror, the weight of reality began to settle across her shoulders like a leaden yoke. A shower and clean clothes could make her feel a little better physically and T. J. Malloy could offer as much neighborly help as he wanted, but nothing could wash away the worry or the hopelessness she faced when she returned home.
Unless something miraculous happened between now and the end of the January, she and her son were going to be homeless. And there didn’t seem to be a thing she could do to stop it from happening.
* * *
When Heather went into the adjoining bathroom and closed the door, T.J. sat down on the rocking chair with Seth and released the breath he had been holding.
What the hell was wrong with him? The woman looked thoroughly exhausted, was just getting over the flu and, without a shadow of doubt, was as irritable as a bull in a herd full of steers. So why was he thinking about how sexy she looked wearing his shirt? Or how long and shapely her legs were?
Earlier that morning, he had damned near dropped the breakfast tray he had been carrying when she opened the door. She hadn’t bothered with the top couple of buttons on the flannel shirt he’d given her to sleep in and he’d noticed the valley between her breasts. What was worse, she had been too ill to even try to be enticing and she had still managed to tie him into a knot the size of his fist.
“You’re one sick SOB, Malloy,” he muttered, shaking his head.
As he sat there trying to figure out what it was about her that he found so damned alluring, he frowned. He wanted her out of his hair as much as she wanted to leave. So why did he keep insisting that Heather needed to stay another night? Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut, help her get her son buckled into his car seat and wave goodbye as they drove away?
Looking down at the little boy sitting on his lap, T.J. shook his head. “Be glad you’re too young to notice anything about girls. They’ll make you completely crazy with little or no effort.”
When Seth looked up at him and grinned, T.J. suddenly knew exactly why he was being overly cautious about them leaving. He couldn’t stop comparing Seth’s situation with T.J.’s own as a kid. Every child deserved to have their mother with them for as long as possible, and although Heather was clearly over the worst of her illness and thought she was ready to go home, he wanted to make sure there was no possibility of a serious complication. If she had her hands full taking care of a kid and a ranch while she continued to recover that would increase the chances of her having a relapse—or worse.
“I’m just trying to keep your momma upright and mobile for you, little guy,” T.J. said, smiling back at the child.
The little copper-haired boy on his lap gave him a big grin and patted T.J.’s cheek as he babbled something T.J. didn’t understand. He figured Seth was thanking him for taking care of his mother and an unfamiliar tightening filled T.J.’s chest. As kids went, Heather’s was awesome. Friendly and well-behaved, Seth was no problem to watch and if he ever had a kid, T.J. wanted one just like him.
He gave Seth a hug. “I’ll make sure to see that you’re both taken care of so that you can be together a long time.”
He had a sneaking suspicion there was more to his interference than that, but he wasn’t going to delve too deeply into his own motivation. He wasn’t sure he would be overly comfortable with what he discovered. Hell, he still wasn’t comfortable with the fact that he found his nemesis even remotely attractive.
The sudden crack of thunder followed closely by the sound of rain beating hard against the roof caused T.J.’s smile to turn into an outright grin. “It looks like Mother Nature agrees with me about the two of you staying put,” he said, drawing a giggle from Seth.
A few minutes later, when Heather walked back into the bedroom after her shower, T.J. noticed she wore the new set of gray sweats Jane Ann had picked out for her. He wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but damned if the woman didn’t manage to make baggy fleece look good.
His lower body twitched and he had to swallow around the cotton coating his throat. Heather was as prickly as a cactus patch and tried to reject everything he did to help her, but that didn’t keep him from wanting to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.
Unsettled by the wayward thought, he focused on telling her about how the nasty weather would change her plans. “You don’t have a choice now. You’re going to have to stay here until tomorrow.”
Her vivid blue eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me that you won’t allow me to leave?”
“Nope. I’m not telling you anything of the sort,” he said, quickly deciding that he needed to watch the way he phrased things. He had seen that warning look in his sisters-in-law’s eyes when his brothers made a verbal blunder and he wasn’t fool enough to ignore it. “I’m just making an observation.”
Heather frowned. “Would you care to explain that?”
“Listen.” He pointed toward the ceiling and knew the moment the sound of rain pounding on the roof registered with her from the defeated expression on her face. “It’s coming down like somebody’s pouring it out of a bucket. With as much rain as we had yesterday, the creek is full and it’s a good bet the road is already starting to flood again.”
Groaning, she sank down on the side of the bed. “I have things I need to do at home.”
T.J. shrugged. “The livestock are already taken care of. I’m sure whatever else there is you need to tend to will keep until tomorrow.”
As soon as the words were out, he could tell he had pissed her off again. “Do