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I frowned, confused by what she meant. “The wedding? Your wedding?”
Ty and Kaylee had gotten married last September and were still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage judging by the way my brother was currently staring at his wife.
I turned my gaze away from Ty and Kaylee, only to have it locked onto her. Those hazel eyes that from my memory reminded me of the colors of fall.
Timberlynn Holden.
Her face brightened from across the room as she took in the sight before her. Everyone followed my gaze and my mother gasped. “Timberlynn! Oh, my goodness, another surprise!”
I looked over at Ty, who simply stood there with a stupid-ass grin on his face. It would have been nice if he had given me a heads up that Kaylee’s cousin was going to be here. The last time I saw her was at the wedding, when Dirk, my brother Brock’s best friend, and I had both made it our mission to get to know her better. She was beautiful. No, that wasn’t even the right word for her.
Stunning.
Breathtaking.
Those words didn’t even begin to describe Timberlynn. She was all of them plus. Her blonde hair was down and fell in soft ringlets around her face, making her look younger than she was. Her eyes seemed to dance with excitement as my mother and Lincoln both showered her with attention. Blayze, of course, jumped in on it and asked to squeeze in and hug Timberlynn as well. Lucky little bastard.
Timberlynn took it all in and kept a sweet smile on her face as she said hello to everyone. When she got to me, her expression didn’t change at all. Like she wasn’t the least bit affected by my presence. Unlike me. My heart immediately began to race the moment I saw her. Looking at her now, my body temperature heated up, and for a few moments I swore I couldn’t think straight. I might even have forgotten how to speak.
“Hi, Tanner, how’s the roping going?” Timberlynn asked in a nonchalant tone.
“Good.” The word came out sounding strained. I cleared my throat and tried again. “It’s good. Everything is great.”
She smiled a bit bigger, and then turned to look at Morgan. Brock’s eyes met mine, and he looked as if he was trying not to smile, but I saw the corner of his mouth twitch ever so slightly. That ass. I looked away and searched for Ty. He was talking to Kaylee in a hushed whisper.
“Timberlynn, I’m so glad you could make it for the holidays. How long are you staying?” my mother asked while I made my way through the kitchen. Blayze grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the living room, saying something about a new saddle and how he had asked Santa for that and a new horse. I wanted to hear Timberlynn’s reply to my mother—no, needed to hear what she said—but I missed it.
As I approached Ty, he looked over at me. I shot him a dirty glance and the bastard acted as if he had no idea why. Even going so far as to raise his arms up and mouth, “What?” to me. Jerk.
“Ty, you free to talk for a second?” I asked as Blayze dragged me past him.
“I think so.” He followed us out of the kitchen and into the living room.
“Uncle Tanner, I asked Santa spafacially for a saddle like yours. I want to learn to rope like you, and Daddy said I needed to be in your saddle.”
“Spafacially?” I asked as I turned to Ty.
“Specifically,” he said with a slight smile. “But, buddy, I think what your dad meant was you needed to ride with Tanner, in his saddle, while he roped a calf.”
Blayze stared at the two of us as he let what Ty said sink in. Then he shook his head. “Nah, I think I need Uncle Tanner’s saddle. And a new horse.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I turned and asked in a hushed voice. “What happened to bull riding?”
Ty looked at Blayze, who had been searching through the few presents that were already under the tree.
“He’s given that up. He saw your interview a few weeks back in Kansas and declared he was going to be a roper, like you. Brock and I think it had something to do with the two pretty trophy girls standing on either side of you, though.”
I lifted my brows in surprise. “No shit? He does know there are trophy girls in the PBR as well.”
“Oh, he knows. Apparently, he likes the blonde one. The kid has a thing for blondes.”
There was no way I could stop the smirk from moving across my face. The kid was a Shaw for sure.
“I don’t even have to tell you how relieved Lincoln is at this new direction Blayze has gone in.”
“I would imagine. He done with the mutton busting?” I asked as I headed over to my nephew. I couldn’t lie to myself and ignore that I liked having Blayze look up to me like that.
“Yes, another thing Lincoln is relieved about.”
I chuckled. “Blayze, Santa hasn’t brought any gifts yet, buddy. And I don’t think a saddle will fit under the tree.”
“Oh, I know it won’t be here, it’ll be at my house on Christmas morning. I heard Grams telling Daddy she wrapped some presents for me and put them under the tree.”
I bent down and picked up a present. It did indeed have Blayze’s name on it. “If she catches you snoopin’, she’ll take a present away,” I warned.
Blayze stopped picking up the wrapped gifts and stared at me with a shocked expression. “We best tell her it was you snoopin’ then.”
Ty laughed from behind me, and I did my best not to laugh as well. “Then we’d be lying. Your daddy raised you not to lie,” I stated.
Blayze looked guilty as he pushed his hands into his pockets and took a few steps away from the tree. “Aw, man, I bet Santa doesn’t bring me the saddle now.”
Ty walked over to Blayze and ruffled his hair. “Nah, I think you’re allowed one peek, but that’s it.”
Our nephew’s face lit up and he smiled at Ty. “It’s a good thing Santa don’t believe in washin’ your mouth out with soap like Grams does when you lie.” He took off toward the kitchen. I watched him until he left the room and then turned to glare at Ty.
“Why didn’t you tell me Timberlynn would be here?” I asked in a whispered tone.
“Does it matter if she’s here or not?” he asked while he folded his arms over his chest.
“No,” I answered too quickly.
“Then why do you look like you’re flustered, Tanner?” That asshole was obviously enjoying this.
“I’m not flustered. Why the hell would I be flustered?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, you tell me, bro.”
I laughed when I saw him looking at me like he knew exactly why. “You think I like her?”
“I don’t know if you like her, but I think you find her attractive.”
“So did Dirk.”
“Yes, but you danced with her a number of times at the wedding, and the next day you couldn’t seem to keep your eyes off her at breakfast. And your face lit up like the Fourth of July when you saw her walk into the kitchen just now. Trust me, I’m not the only one who noticed.”
I scoffed. “Please. Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous. Of course I’m going to notice her. I was just taken by surprise, that’s all. A warning would have been nice, asshole.”
“Then why are you pissed off I didn’t tell you she was going to be here?”
“I’m not pissed off, Ty. I was just surprised to see her, like I said.”
He nodded and started back to the kitchen. “Good, then you won’t be mad to find out she’s going to be staying here in the main house. With you.”
My mouth dropped open. “What? Why isn’t she staying with y’all?”
The bastard only winked at me and headed toward the kitchen. And I still didn’t know for how long she was staying. Goddamnit, my blood pressure had to be through the roof right now.
“Ty? Ty!”
He didn’t answer. I cursed under my breath and followed him back into the kitchen. The air seemed to change the moment I stepped into the room. I had a hard time hearing my own thoughts as my heart started to beat in my damn head and race faster in my chest. Jesus, I needed to be worried about stroking out with
the way my blood was racing.
I walked over to Brock, then reached for Morgan who was now awake and taking in the scene in the kitchen. The moment she saw me she smiled, and my heart did a little happy dance. “You missed your favorite uncle, didn’t you, sweetheart?” I asked as I scooped her into my arms and promptly bounced her around. She giggled and then shoved her finger damn near up my nose.
“Tanner, would you mind showing Timberlynn up to the guest bedroom?” my mother asked as she walked up and took my niece right out of my arms.
“Hey, I was holding her.”
“You’ve got plenty of time to hold her. Timberlynn’s been flying on a plane all day, and I’m sure she would like to get settled.”
“I’ve been driving all day and night, ya know,” I countered. That earned a dirty look from my mother, and a chuckle from Brock.
My mother ignored both of us and kept talking. “She’s going to be staying here with us since Ty and Kaylee are redoing the second bath. It’ll be easier for her.”
I looked over at Timberlynn. She hadn’t been paying any attention to our conversation since she was deep into one of her own with Lincoln and Kaylee.
As if she could sense my eyes on her, she looked over at me. Fuck. My. Life. I couldn’t help but notice the way my breath caught in my throat and my chest seemed to squeeze with that familiar ache I’d been experiencing lately. Never mind I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her, even if I wanted to. She tilted her head and regarded me for a moment before she turned her attention back to my two sisters-in-law. A part of me willed her to look back at me.
