Page 23 of Cowboy and the Convict

"Told you." Janie stood right next to him, still smirking his way. "So, do I lecture you about the state of your house now, or later?"

He chuckled. "So now you’re all about lectures?"

Janie shrugged. "Turns out they're more fun when they're not directed at me."

Devon glanced into the living room where his daughters were back to being focused on the tasks they'd been doing when he walked in. "I don't know how people keep up with everything." He raked one hand through his hair. "I feel like I'm barely treading water. It's exhausting."

“Ugh.” Janie rolled her eyes. "If you can't handle being lectured, just say it. You don't have to guilt trip me." She looked over the entryway and the mess it still contained. "I know our initial agreement was every other Sunday, but honestly I don't know that I'm gonna be able to make a dent in this place if I’m only here every two weeks."

It made him feel slightly better to see she was just as overwhelmed by the place as he had been. "I know it’s a shitshow, I just didn't know where to start."

"I can imagine.” Janie let out a quiet laugh. “I wasn't really sure where to start either." She turned to where Olivia was making serious progress on her backflips and Riley was nearing the ends of Gwen’s light brown hair. "The girls and I had a talk though, and right now they're saying they'll clean their rooms, so hopefully they follow through."

Devon snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."

He'd tried a million times, and a million times they'd picked up a few things then flaked out. He couldn't even be mad at them because he did the same thing. There were only so many hours in the day, and between work and school and activities, the ones they had left to clean were few and far between.

"Might as well get them started now." Janie stepped forward, clapping her hands. "Let's put the furniture back, and then you girls can go work on your rooms.”

All three girls groaned, but didn't complain. The five of them pushed all the furniture back into place, and his daughters went upstairs, grumbling a little, but not acting too put-out over Janie stepping in.

When they were all out of sight, Janie gave him a little smile. "You’ll have to let me know how they do." She turned away, going to collect the plastic caddy filled with cleaning products by the door. "If nothing else, you'll get a little peace and quiet tonight."

"Not really.” He blew out a breath at the reminder of all that still had to be done. “I've still gotta take care of the horses and make sure everyone’s ready for school tomorrow."

Janie stilled, abandoning the caddy to face him. "Horses?"

Her tone was a little strange. Higher pitched, like it would be if she was excited, which didn't make sense considering she worked at a whole-ass ranch every morning. "That's right. Horses." He tipped his head toward the back of the house. "You want to go see them?"

Janie rocked on her feet for a second, chewing her lip before finally offering a small shrug. "Might as well. Since I'm here."

He studied her for a second, trying to read her odd reaction but coming up empty. "Give me a few minutes to change, and then we can go out."

"That's fine." She crossed both arms over her chest for a second, but then ended up dropping them to her sides. "I'll be here when you're ready."

She was definitely acting strange. Oddly excited when he mentioned his horses and now awkwardly dismissive.

Leaving her in the entryway, he hurried upstairs, taking them two at a time. With no small amount of shock, he glanced in his daughters’ rooms to discover they were, in fact, cleaning. He shook his head as he went into his own room and closed the door. "Figures."

If he'd known all it would take was Janie putting the smack down, he’d have figured out a way to get her over here months ago. On their own, his eyes drifted to his bed, his neglected libido immediately imagining the other things he could invite Janie to his house for.

If only he had the time.

Speaking of time. He changed quickly, shucking his uniform before pulling on jeans and a long-sleeved Henley. After stuffing both feet into his boots, he hustled back downstairs to find Janie frowning at him disapprovingly.

"You seriously wear those all through the house?" She pressed one hand to her temple, eyes snapping from his feet to his face. "Those are your barn shoes."

He looked her over, noticing for the first time she was in her socks. He should have expected it given her reaction when he tried to walk into her home. "Are you gonna start making us take our shoes off at the door?"

She grabbed her discarded sneakers from beside the front door. "I should. It will make my job a hell of a lot easier." She hooked them over her fingers and followed him down the hall into the kitchen. He stopped a few steps in, looking over the space like he'd never seen it before.

He had, but it'd been years since he'd seen it like this. "Holy shit. I can't believe you got so much done."

Again, Janie shrugged. "It still needs a lot of work, but all your food is put away and I got rid of everything that was expired."

"You did way more than that." He opened the back door and stepped out onto the deck, coming face-to-face with a pile of the consequences of his non-actions.

"Oh yeah. I'm not taking those out." She toed the mountain of trash bags with one of the sneakers she’d pulled on. “Those are your problem." Janie poked him in the shoulder as she passed. “Mister Messy Pants.”

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