Page 54 of Cowboy and the Convict

Moss Creek’s housing market was a tough one. Even more so now that Brett Pace and his wife Nora were flipping houses right and left. Even a trailer like Sharon’s would be easy to move because the pickings were slim. Moss Creek also wasn't exactly brimming with apartments. Finding a place to rent in town was just as difficult as finding one to buy. If Sharon yanked the rug out from under Janie like that—

"I'm hoping Janie will buy it. I told her what was going on, and she said she needed a few days to think on it." Sharon leaned close, reaching in to pull a chunk of browned hash browns free and popping them into her mouth. "I'm pretty sure she'll buy it. She loves that little place."

Devon stared at Sharon, his stomach bottoming out. Because, while Sharon was right about Janie loving her trailer, she was wrong about the rest. Janie wasn't going to buy it.

Because she couldn't.

21

Janie

THE KNOCK AT her door had her entire body reacting. She might as well be one of Pavlov's dogs at this point, because the sound was now connected with Devon. It had her heart racing and her stomach doing somersaults, anticipation biting at her heels as she rushed across the floor.

She'd come to Moss Creek thinking it would be easy to swear off relationships. And honestly, for a while, it had been. Not anymore. Now she was caught in this giddy, terrifying, aggravating place where a full-on relationship with Devon was all she wanted. But it was also the last thing she needed.

So far, he hadn't distracted her from her goal of paying off all her bills. But how long would that last? Not long considering she practically ran across her trailer to get to the door, flinging it open with a dumbass smile on her face before whispering a breathy, "Hey."

She'd busted her ass to finish up as early as possible at The Baking Rack so she could get home, take a shower, and be ready for his visit. And it was worth every iota of effort as she basked in the warmth of his smile.

"Hey." He stepped in, leaving his boots by the door before gathering her in his arms, pulling her close and breathing against her skin. "You smell really good."

She giggled.

Fucking.

Giggled.

This idiocy couldn’t continue. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to stop it.

"I got home a little early, so I took a quick shower.”

She also might have sprung for an order of scented body wash and lotion. Spent a little extra time shaving her legs and making sure her skin was soft and her hair looked extra good—as good as it could considering the regrowth giving away her age.

"That's pretty impressive. I thought you'd whittled down every second you could off the cinnamon roll making process." Devon straightened, gaze warm as it moved over her face. "I should know better than to doubt you."

Janie toyed with the fabric of his coat. "You really should."

He nuzzled her once more before stepping away, working his coat free before hanging it over the back of one of her two dining chairs. "It’s pretty cold out there." He paused, turning to face her, straightening to his full height. "And, while I know this is going to go over real fucking bad, we need to have another conversation about your tires."

The topic used to make her want to scream. It hit her like nails on a fucking chalkboard and had her ready to throw things. Heavy things. Right at Devon Peter’s head.

Now?

Now she was a salivating dog. "Fine. We can talk about tires."

Devon's brows lifted, expression skeptical. "Really?"

"Really." Tires were still not at the top of her list of priorities, but he was probably right. They should be a little higher than they were. Especially with the impending snow. "I'm sure it won't surprise you to discover I threw away the name and number of that guy you know."

Devon laughed, the sound low and deep. "Not even a little surprised." He moved closer. "Also irrelevant because we’re going to switch keys before I go. I don't want you on the road at four in the morning, going all the way out to the Pace ranch on bald tires in three inches of fresh snow."

Janie forced in a breath. Made herself relax instead of allowing her knee to jerk the way it wanted to. After years of being let down by the people she’d wanted to love her—to take care of her—it'd become easier to reject any and all attempts. Then she wasn’t let down. Then she wasn't hurt.

Allowing Devon to do this would be setting herself up for the possibility of being hurt again. But fuck if it wasn't starting to feel good to have someone she could rely on.

So even though it made her want to both throw up and cry a little, she nodded. "Okay."

Devon's brows lifted higher as he stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "Really."

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