When a cowboy rescues a single mom, he promises to do things the right way—his way!—in this story from USA TODAY bestselling author Kathie DeNosky
Rancher T. J. Malloy doesn’t think twice before saving a woman and her baby from raging floodwaters and taking them to his ranch. So what if it’s Heather Wilson, the neighbor he’s feuded with for months. Heather also happens to be heart-stoppingly beautiful and in desperate need of the kind of help only he can give.
As the floodwaters rise, so does their passion—and T.J. will do whatever it takes to get Heather to stay…on his terms!
“I’m not going anywhere. I want to help you out and make things easier for you and Seth.”
“I don’t think you being around will do anything but make things more difficult for us,” she said honestly.
T.J. cupped her cheek with his palm and held her gaze with his. “There’s something going on between us, Heather. I know you’re as frightened for yourself by whatever it is drawing us together as you are afraid of Seth being hurt. And to tell you the truth, I’m unsettled by it, too. But I gave it a lot of thought last night and I don’t think we can ignore it like it doesn’t exist. I give you my word that I’ll walk through hell before I hurt you or Seth.”
“We can try to ignore it,” she insisted, unable to sound as convincing as she would have liked. She didn’t even try to deny there was a definite chemistry between them. They’d both know she was lying.
“I’m not willing to do that,” he said firmly as he lowered his head.
The moment his lips settled over hers, Heather gave up trying to fight with herself …
* * *
This month I’m happy to bring you the fourth installment of The Good, The Bad and The Texan series, The Cowboy’s Way, which is also being published as a Billionaires and Babies novel.
When T. J. Malloy first meets his neighbor, he isn’t impressed. She can’t seem to keep her horse on her side of the fence separating their ranches and apparently doesn’t care to make the needed repairs to eliminate the problem. But when T.J. finds a woman and her young son stranded by a flooded-out road, his cowboy manners won’t allow him to walk away from the situation—even if it is his nemesis, Heather Wilson. That’s when he learns a valuable lesson about first impressions—sometimes things aren’t always as they seem.
I hope you enjoy going along for the ride as T.J. and Heather work toward finding their happily-ever-after in The Cowboy’s Way. Sometimes rocky, sometimes filled with unexpected detours, the road to love is never easy. But it’s always worth the journey.
And as always, I hope you love reading about T.J. and Heather as much as I loved writing their story.
All the best,
Kathie DeNosky
The Cowboy’s Way
Kathie DeNosky
KATHIE DENOSKY lives in her native southern Illinois on the land her family settled in 1839. She writes highly sensual stories with a generous amount of humor. Her books have appeared on the USA TODAY bestseller list and received numerous awards, including two National Readers’ Choice Awards. Kathie enjoys going to rodeos, traveling to research settings for her books and listening to country music. Readers may contact her by e-mailing [email protected]. They can also visit her website, www.kathiedenosky.com, or find her on Facebook.
This book is dedicated to all of the single parents who work so hard each and every day to meet the many challenges of raising a child alone.
Contents
Dear Reader
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Epilogue
As he sat at Sam and Bria Rafferty’s dining room table after a delicious Christmas dinner prepared by his sisters-in-law, T. J. Malloy couldn’t help but smile. He listened to his foster brothers and their wives talk about what they had planned for the week leading up to the family’s annual New Year’s Eve party, which T.J. hosted at his ranch. And, as always, there was the usual good-natured ribbing and the laughter that always followed, as well as everyone making faces and funny noises to get a smile or a giggle out of the babies. Life was good and he was one grateful son-of-a-gun for the way everything had turned out.
Thanks to their foster father, Hank Calvert, T.J. and the other five men who had been placed in the man’s care when they were teenagers had straightened out their lives. In the process, they had bonded and become a family T.J. loved with all his heart. Now, he owned his own ranch, where he raised champion reining horses—a dream he’d had for most of his thirty-two years. And because he’d made several wise investments, he had more money in the bank than he could spend in three or four lifetimes.
Yup, he truly was a blessed man and he had the good sense to know it.
“Your turn, T.J.,” Bria said, smiling as she dished up slices of homemade red velvet cake. “What are your plans for the week?”
“Same as every year,” he said, smiling back at his sister-in-law. “I’ll spend the week training my horses and waiting for you all to show up on New Year’s Eve afternoon.”
Four years ago when he bought the Dusty Diamond Ranch and built his seven-bedroom house, everyone had decided that he would host the family’s New Year’s Eve gatherings. He had enough bedrooms to accommodate the entire family, and they could all bring in the New Year together without having to be out on the roads after celebrating with a few drinks. His brothers brought their wives or a date and once the kids had been tucked in for the night, they sat around and talked or watched a movie. It had become a tradition and one that T.J. looked forward to every year.
“Do you have a lady in your life who will be joining us this year?”