Page 36 of Cowboy and the Convict

But that was all he’d give her.

Undeterred—as usual—Isabella's mother kept coming his way, hips swaying suggestively as she looked him up and down. His skin crawled at the thought of her touching him. She took every opportunity to do it, and it sent him stepping back.

But then she froze, the suggestive smile on her lips twisting into a scowl. Her nostrils flared as if she'd smelled something putrid

"Did you want me to go ahead and order the pizza since the girls’ friends are starting to arrive?" Janie’s voice was close. Close and missing the sharp edge he was so fond of. She almost sounded… Sweet?

He turned to find her eyes on his face as she reached up to smooth down the button placket of his henley.

The tightness in his muscles—brought on by the thought of Isabella’s mother’s hands on him—eased a little as Janie stepped closer to his side, her hand sliding down his chest.

"Let's give it a few more minutes in case some of them run late." He wrapped one arm around Janie's back, spreading his hand across the curve of her hip the way he had at the football game Friday night. After holding her gaze a second longer, he turned to the woman gaping at them with an icy glare. "Have you met Isabella's mom?"

Janie finally acknowledged the woman's presence, giving her the biggest, fakest smile he'd ever seen. "I don't think I have."

Janie shoved one hand out, continuing to beam at the scowling woman in his kitchen. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Janie."

Isabella's mother looked at Janie's outstretched hand. After a few long seconds, she took it, limply shaking it before pulling away and wiping her palm down the front of her black stretchy pants. She faced him, working her jaw from side to side. "I didn't know you were seeing anyone. "

"You didn't?" He used his hold on her to pull Janie a little closer, almost using her as a shield. "That's weird."

He wasn't going to deny her assumption, because that would only make her think he wanted her to know he was single. And even though that felt equally wrong, he also wasn't going to confirm it. He and Janie weren't seeing each other. Not in an official sense. But he talked to her more, touched her more, and thought about her more than any other woman he'd crossed paths with in recent years.

And that included Maggie.

Isabella’s mother stood a little taller, lifting her chin. "Well, congratulations I guess." She shot Janie a dirty look, before turning and marching back down the hallway, the front door slamming harder than necessary when she left.

Janie turned to him, widening her eyes. “Yikes.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah.”

“That happen to you a lot?” There was something off in her voice but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Not a lot.” He shot her a grin, relaxing a little more. “I rode the sad widower wave for a while.”

“Seems like that only works for so long.”

She hadn’t moved away from him and didn’t seem bothered that his arm was still around her. He understood why she’d moved in close, and appreciated it. But he appreciated the feel of her against him even more now that they were alone.

“Seems like.” He reached out to catch one of the springy dark curls framing her face. “Good thing you were here. Otherwise she might have tried to invite herself to stay.”

“Oh, she was definitely planning to bark her way up to the top of your tree.” Janie lifted her brows. “And seeing as how she was wearing leggings, she expected you to take her up on it.”

That last part threw him for a bit of a loop. “What does her wearing leggings have to do with anything?”

“Wow. You really are out of the loop, aren’t you?” Janie lowered her voice, leaning in like his daughters hadn’t all run straight back upstairs after letting Isabella in. “Easy access.”

It still took his brain a second to pick up what she was putting down, but the second it caught on, the damn thing took off running. And connecting a few dots that would have him distracted all night. “You’re wearing leggings.”

Janie’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. “Because I came to clean and wanted to be comfortable.”

“Likely story.”

He’d never taken their teasing quite this far. Up until now they’d all but ignored any physical closeness they’d shared, including that kiss by the river. But with her this close, skin flushed and eyes a little glazed, the way she felt against him was all he could think about.

Releasing the curl he’d been toying with, Devon trailed the tips of his fingers along the line of her jaw. “Is it bad if I say I wouldn’t mind if you wore them for other reasons?”

He’d been pretending they could just be friends. That he could keep this growing connection they had on ice until his daughters were older. That he could have Janie in his life without wanting her in his bed.

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