vagueness might be perceived by him.
“Working the weekend?” she asked Judith.
“Of course. Trying to get caught up on the past week before the next one begins.”
Liza knew the feeling. She had lived the same life as Judith for the past eight years.
“We’re all very disappointed to lose you,” her former colleague said in her thick
New York accent.
“Thanks, Judith.” Oddly, Liza’s throat seized up so that she could say no more.
Reality hit her hard. She was no longer director of Public Relations for the country’s largest industrial risk insurer.
Panic skittered through her at the thought of being unemployed. And, in the grand
scheme of things, sans identity.
“I’ve just processed your last check,” Judith said. “I need to know where to send it.”
“Oh of course,” she mumbled.
Had she really just quit her job? Chucked it all and driven halfway across the
country? Settled into a small lakeside cottage with no prospect of employment? No
family? No friends?
Anxiety welled within her. Sure, she’d just had mind-blowing orgasms delivered by
her idea of the Sexiest Man Alive, but still.
She was unemployed.
I have no job!
That had never been the case for Responsible, Dependable Elizabeth Brooks. Not
since she was sixteen years old—an adult in her mother’s eyes. And saddled with all the responsibilities that went with the role. Even at that age.
Oh. My. God.
What had she been thinking when she’d resigned from McClellan-Piper?
67
Calista Fox
“Elizabeth?” Judith prompted.
She tried to speak, but she was still reeling from the reality that had just hit her like the iron anvil in the Roadrunner cartoons.
Seriously. What the hell had she been thinking?
“If you just want to email me the address, that would be fine,” Judith said.
“Um, yeah, sure. That would be easiest.”
“Okay, then.” Judith paused a moment before adding, “I’m not sure if Human
Resources explained this to you, but all that paid time off you’ve accumulated since you started with M-P gets converted to cash. So I’ve included that amount in your final
check.”
A consolation prize?
“Great,” she said. “That’s just great.”
Because I have no freakin’ job!
Okay, she told herself, bring it down a notch.
Breathe.
“I’ve never converted so many vacation days,” Judith was saying. “Did you ever
take a day off?”
“Oh uh, well… No. Not really.”
She’d been so focused on chasing the carrot her boss had dangled in front of her
since her first day as an intern, her sophomore year in college, that she hadn’t stopped to smell any roses. But she’d sure as hell felt the thorns along the way. And the glass ceiling at the end. How utterly depressing it hadn’t shattered, after all her time and effort. Her dedication and hard work.
“Elizabeth?” Judith inquired of her silence.
She sighed, hating that she’d hung so many hopes and dreams on this job. Had
deserted life in general for it. Yet she still felt anxious over having left a stable career without having something else lined up.
Her mother would be so disappointed in her, if reality ever set in for her.
“Thanks for the heads up on the check,” Liza said, pulling her thoughts from the
smoldering remains that was her life.
“Email me today so I can get your money to you,” she said.
“Absolutely.”
The line went dead. Liza snapped her phone shut. The frown was still on her face,
the cell still in her hand, resting in her lap, when Jack returned.
“Everything okay?”
She stared up at him. God, he was gorgeous. And he’d just made love to her with
the kind of raw intensity and passion every woman dreamed of being the recipient of.
68
Devil in Texas
Above all that, he hadn’t skipped out on her while she was on the phone. It would
have been a valid excuse. But he hadn’t used it.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her little world was crashing down around her and yet…
She smiled at Jack. It was easy and natural. An innate response to the mere sight of him.
“I may be jobless, but it seems paying my rent won’t be a problem.”
He chuckled. “Good to know, considering I’m the one collecting the checks.”
Feeling a little numb and a lot lost, she got out of bed, dragged on her clothes and
headed into the kitchen, wanting to return the phone to her purse so she wouldn’t
forget it the next time she left the cottage.
“Hey,” he said in a soft tone as he propped his large, gloriously naked body against
the frame of her bedroom door. He crossed his thick arms over his wide chest. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Liza shrugged. “Financially, yes.” That was a blessing not to be overlooked.
He stared at her, curious and possibly a bit concerned. She turned away from him,
because she couldn’t find the words to describe what she was currently feeling. Nor did she get the chance to because the doorbell suddenly rang.
One of her brows jerked up. “Who could that be?” The only person she knew in
Wilder was already at her house.
When she glanced over at Jack, he was scowling. He went for his jeans as she
finger-combed her hair in hopes of making it a little less yes, I was just fucked by the hottest man to walk the face of the earth and have the sex-hair to prove it.
She set her phone on the counter and crossed to the living room, pulling the door
open. Standing on her porch was a lanky man, about forty, with neatly trimmed, sandy
brown hair and blue-gray eyes. He wore brown slacks and a pale yellow dress shirt that was buttoned all the way up to his very prominent Adam’s apple. He didn’t wear a tie, but the extreme buttoned-up look—especially in this heat—made him appear stiff and
uncomfortable.
In his left hand, he held a bible. His right hand extended to Liza as a friendly smile touched his thin lips. “I’m Reverend Jonathan Bain. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Brooks.”
“Oh hi, Reverend,” she stammered, perplexed by his appearance at her new rental.
Not to mention a bit off-kilter at having a man of the cloth arrive shortly after her rather promiscuous interlude with Jack. “Nice to meet you too,” she said as she composed
herself and slipped her hand in his. She added, “And it’s just Liza.”
“Of course.” He raised the good book a few inches in her general direction. “I just
wanted to welcome you to Wilder and invite you to worship with us tomorrow