Page 69 of Cowboy and the Convict

“You scared the shit out of me, J.” His hold on her tightened. “I thought you weren’t coming.”

Her arms slowly came to circle his back. After a few beats, she finally started to relax against him. “I tried to talk myself out of it.” She tipped her head back, eyes lifting to his. “Your girls—”

He sealed his lips over hers to shut her up. Keeping one arm around her waist, the other came to the side of her face, fingers sliding into the dark curls of her hair as he dropped his forehead to hers. “My girls are lucky as hell to have you in their lives.” He kissed her again, needing the contact. The feel of her skin on his. “And they know it.” He met her searching gaze. “They love you, J.” He didn’t pause. There was no need. “I love you.” Stroking the pad of his thumb across her lower lip, he pulled in another breath, trying to settle the unrest he’d been living with for weeks. “I’m sorry I didn’t figure out what happened sooner.”

She gave him a small smile. “You’re not a mind reader.”

“No, but I should have thought shit through instead of getting hung up on my own shit.” He kissed her again. “I can’t expect you to spell it out for me all the time.”

Janie’s brows lifted. “Are you sure?” Her eyes drifted to the still open front door. “Because it looks like you’re going to heat the outside.” Her gaze dropped to his feet. “And you’re wearing your barn boots in the house.”

He smiled, the expression real and genuine for the first time in weeks. “I did clean out the garage, if that changes anything.”

“It does change things a little.” Her smile matched his as both arms lifted to drape around his neck. She took a deep breath, her eyes widening. “Bergamot!”

He waited a minute, expecting her to explain, but she just continued grinning up at him. “What?”

Janie shook her head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “We can circle back to that later.” Keeping her against him, he leaned to close the door then pulled her along as he moved toward the stairs. “Would you like a tour of your new home?”

She laughed, the sound light and easy as it filled his house. “I’ve been here before, nerd.”

“But you haven’t been upstairs.” She’d had plenty to keep her busy on the bottom two floors, and she’d managed to get his girls to handle their own rooms, so there hadn’t been a reason for her to explore the top floor. “Full disclosure, I’m primarily interested in showing you one room in particular.”

One dark brow angled. “I bet I can guess which one.” Her eyes drifted down his body. “And I think I’d like a very thorough tour.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. In the blink of an eye, he had her up over his shoulder, ready to make up for all the time they’d lost.

But his boot had barely hit the first step when the front door banged open and loud voices filled the entry, firing off three questions simultaneously.

“What’s that truck in the driveway?”

“What’s for dinner?”

“Why’s Janie over your shoulder?”

He stopped in his tracks, looking around for a reason to explain the last one. “Uhh.”

“He’s practicing for work.” Janie wiggled around, letting out a little grunt as he put her down. Once she was on her feet, she turned to face the girls. “It’s a requirement that he has to be able to carry an adult up a flight of stairs.” Her expression was deadpan. “For safety purposes.”

“Ohhh.” His two younger daughters seemed to buy the explanation.

Riley and Sharon, not so much.

“I thought that was a fireman thing?” Riley crossed her arms, one brow angling.

“Nope.” Janie didn’t miss a beat as she matched Riley’s crossed arm stance. “Cops too.”

They stared at each other for a second. Then his daughter launched herself at Janie, nearly knocking them both to the floor in the process.

In quick succession his other two daughters joined in, pinning Janie into the middle of their group for a few silent seconds. Then, as usual, they all started to talk at once.

“I started hair school and I freaking love it.”

“They bumped me up to the varsity basketball cheer team.”

“I scored a twenty-four on my practice ACT.”

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