“Fancy wheels.”
“A gift,” she said. Then frowned. “Damn, I’d forgotten about that.”
His brow lifted. “What?”
26
Devil in Texas
“Oh,” she said, obviously catching herself by surprise. “Nothing, I just… It will
only make sense to me. Whatever. No worries.” She waved a slender, manicured hand
in the air. “All in the past.”
She stared straight ahead, though, looking at the car and scowling as she crossed
her bare arms over her extremely enticing chest. She sat beside him quietly for a few moments. Not necessarily waiting for him to get out and open the door—though that’s
what he intended to do. No, she was trying to settle herself. Something had unnerved
her. The Mercedes?
She gnawed her lower lip. It looked to be a purely absent-minded gesture. In the
shimmer of golden moonlight, he could see the confusion swirling in her eyes. As
though she was debating her plan of action.
Oh hell. Was she nervous to get out of the truck because she’d have to make up her mind about whether she would or wouldn’t with a man she’d just met at a bar?
Jack unhooked his seatbelt, then reached for the latch on hers. Her gaze snapped to
his and, in a heartbeat, the cab of the truck became a much more intimate space. The
foot-and-a-half separating them felt as though it’d been reduced to mere centimeters.
Jack’s eyes roved her body again and he heard her breath catch. When his gaze
reconnected with hers, she seemed to stop breathing altogether.
When he spoke, his tone was low and friendly. “What are you running from, Liza?”
Unexpectedly, a fat tear welled in one eye, but she blinked it away so fast he might
have imagined it. Until she said, “I haven’t cried since my father’s funeral. I won’t start tonight. Don’t worry.”
He merely shrugged. Women’s tears didn’t faze him. He’d seen his fair share. Some
were his doing. Most were other’s. He had big enough shoulders to deal with it.
“I haven’t done anything illegal, I assure you,” she said with a soft, yet edgy laugh.
Didn’t take a degree in psychology to get the gist of the problem. “Something you
have to distance yourself from in order to let go of?”
Boyfriend, no doubt. Jack hoped it was that simple, that she wasn’t in need of
hiding out from anyone. Hopefully, it was nothing more than a bad split she needed to move away from in order to free herself from the binds.
“A few somethings,” she admitted. Her gaze locked with his. He couldn’t help but
try to search for answers in the deep green pools. He found none. But there was a hint of sadness. And something else that looked disturbingly similar to remorse. What could that be about?
Jack mentally shook his head. Maybe he was just reading too much into all of this.
“Everybody’s got their demons, darlin’.”
She nodded, not saying a word.
Jack climbed out of the cab and rounded the truck to her side. He opened the door
for her as she escaped the restraints of the seatbelt. Apparently attempting to make as graceful an exit as her entrance had been, she slid over the edge of the seat.
27
Calista Fox
Unfortunately, she miscalculated and missed the rung entirely, thereby dropping
directly to the ground. Her tall heels hit the soft earth and drove deep, sticking into the lush grass like tent spikes.
She fell into Jack’s arms and he was quick to react, swallowing her up in a loose
embrace.
“Gotcha,” he whispered, his voice a bit dark and husky on the quiet night air.
Having Manhattan’s soft curves meld to his hard muscles forced Jack to face that
inevitable debate once more this evening.
Will we or won’t we?
28
Devil in Texas
Chapter Three
“Good catch,” Liza whispered in a breathless tone as Jack’s arms tightened around
her waist. “Probably would’ve snapped an ankle if I’d toppled over.” She tried to be
flip, but the only thing flipping was her stomach.
Her voice was as unsteady as she was on her stilettos. Little tremors of excitement
rocked her body, the vibrations making her tremble from head to toe. She certainly
couldn’t blame the shaking on the weather, because it was hotter than a Manhattan
sidewalk in mid-July. Even this late in the evening.
Giving a purely half-assed shove, she tried to move away from the Devil. Just a bit,
needing some physical distance for mental clarity. Her hands lingered on his chest,
though, where she’d placed them. They weren’t just hanging out there to keep her
steady. Once she’d touched the scorching-hot cowboy, she wasn’t in a hurry to stop
touching him.
“Does it ever cool down around here?”
He grinned at her, as though he knew she was trying to change the subject, draw
his attention from the quaking of her body that had nothing to do with the climate and everything to do with him. And the lust he sparked.
“Seems unlikely at this point.” The wicked flash in his eyes told her he wasn’t
talking about the weather. But he did add, “You’ll like October.”
A long way off… Would she even be here come October?
As Liza ruminated over this, Jack suddenly scooped her up in his strong arms,
effectively pulling her bare feet right out of the spiked heels, which remained deeply embedded in the soft earth.
“Oh!” she gasped in surprise. “You could’ve given me a heads up on that one.”
“Not my usual style, but I keep thinking you’re gonna hurt yourself in those shoes.”
“Considerate of you.” She grinned contently as she all too willingly wrapped her
arms around the cowboy’s thick neck. He carried her easily up the pathway, moving in
a panther-like way that was fluid, yet purposeful. Everything about this sexy stranger appealed to her. Even the way he walked.
Snuggled close to his chest, she breathed in the dark, masculine scent of him. Damn,
he smelled good. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she inhaled deeply one more time.
“Nice cologne,” she whispered in his ear.
He let out a low groan.
“City girls too heavy for you?” she teased.
29
Calista Fox
He laughed. It was low and tight, but not in a you’re-straining-my-back sort of way.
More like a “you’re testing my restraint” type of way.
“You’re light as a feather, darlin’,” he said.
“You must have sisters. Someone taught you well.”
He didn’t respond and she found that curious. Another piece of the Jack Wade