Devil in Texass(33)
moment.
Going back to work on the World’s Largest Meatball to distract her raging libido,
she said in between bites, “I guess casual dating is a little complicated in Wilder.”
Was that why the reverend had gone all stiff-shouldered when he’d seen Jack in her
cottage? He’d likely drawn a very easy conclusion as to what they’d been up to.
“I’ve never dated anyone in Wilder,” Jack admitted. “And how everyone else in
town handles the spiritual blackmail isn’t any of my business.”
She could feel the tension radiating from him as his muscles seemed to bunch. She
wasn’t sure where the angst was coming from, though. Was it because people in town
let Reverend Bain guide their morality to suit his own beliefs? Or was there more to this issue than that?
Liza thought about the cottage and the notion she’d had earlier that Jack had fixed
it up for someone. Had he decorated it for a woman? One he’d intended to live with
there?
She eyed him speculatively as she polished off the meatball and went to work on
the pasta. The fantastic food was doing wonders for her imagination.
In fact, Jack’s comment about not dating women in Wilder tickled the back of her
brain until she had to ask, “So if you’ve never dated anyone in town, who do
you…see?”
“Mostly women in Austin or San Antonio,” he said. “Though…not for some time
now. Gets complicated with the distance and schedules and whatnot.”
So maybe the woman he’d intended to shack up with hadn’t wanted to leave city
life for country life—or single life for married. Liza could see that. And yet…
She gazed at Jack again and thought, oh hell, no!
Even if she hadn’t chucked it all of her own accord, she could give up being city
mouse for country mouse if it meant spending every night with this man!
And the fire between her legs backed up her conviction.
He was hot, tempting and damn sexy. But there was so much more lurking beneath
the hunky veneer. He was intense and thoughtful. This guy had stuff on his mind and
Liza wanted to know what it was. Because even though he was playing it cool most of
the time, the moments of raw intensity she saw told her there were some deep-seated
issues making his brain churn.
She was too fascinated with him not to want to crack the nut.
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Calista Fox
“I guess it would be difficult to mesh lifestyles if someone was intent on holding on to theirs,” she commented.
Jack polished off his meal and pushed the plate aside. “I’m not interested in
swaying anyone when it comes to sex, darlin’. I don’t need anybody to change for me
and vice versa. People shouldn’t have to give up their own thoughts and views and
feelings to suit someone else’s ideals or way of life.”
She frowned. Hadn’t she done that very thing for Peter, in a vain and completely
idiotic attempt to hold onto him over the years? And for what? She’d put on airs,
dressed to his liking, conformed to his standards and practices so that she could fit into his oppressive, conservative life. When she wasn’t even the repressed, conservative
type!
And what about her mother?
Liza had done everything she could since birth to please her. To be the daughter
Rachel wanted versus the one she was stuck with.
“Well, shit,” she breathed as she pushed aside her own plate, just as Ruby was
returning with a small side dish, carrying Liza’s special-request meatball like the
Olympic torch. She set it down in front of her with great ceremony as she grinned from ear to ear.
“Honey, I can’t tell you how you’ve made Mike’s day,” she said, her brown eyes
lighting up. “He’s struttin’ around the kitchen like a peacock showing off his feathers.
And well, let’s just say I’m glad we’re closing early tonight.” She winked at Liza, who smiled back, despite the visual that popped into her head.
Ruby and her peacock.
“Her lunch is on me, Jack,” Ruby said in a giddy tone. “You’re on your own,
though, sport.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “So what else is new?”
Though his tone was light, she felt his lingering tension. Yet another piece to the
puzzle that was Jack Wade.
When Ruby turned her attention to another customer, Jack said, “You know you’re
going to have to eat that, right?”
“It’ll be worth every calorie,” she said as she started in on the meatball. Liza was
already pushing her limit, but another taste and she was hooked all over again. A
crumb would die a lonely death on her plate when she was done.
Jack chuckled. “Guess I won’t be making Italian for you anytime soon.”
“I loved breakfast,” she assured him. “Though I admit I was a bit preoccupied.
Things are happening kind of…fast…in my little world. I’m not always successful at
keeping up.”
He nodded his head, looking contemplative for a moment. Then he gave a slight
shake of his head, as though to discount whatever thought had popped into it. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, sweetheart.”
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Devil in Texas
She decided to be direct. “What were you thinking prior to that notion?”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I told you I sometimes have trouble keeping up with all the moving parts of my
life and it looked like you had something to say about that.”
Jack folded his napkin and laid it over his empty plate. He seemed to give great
thought to how he wanted to answer her. She continued to eat, giving him time.
Eventually, he said, “That phone call you got earlier… Is someone gonna come
knocking on the door, looking for you one day?”
She hadn’t expected that question and it completely demolished what was left of
her appetite. She pushed the half-eaten meatball aside, hoping Ruby would forgive her.
She couldn’t look at Jack as she said, “That was my former employer on the phone.
I quit my job a week ago. And…” She shook her head. Liza didn’t have to tell him about Peter. There was nothing to tell, really. Not anymore. Except… Jack had asked a
question within a question and she wanted to answer both so that she was being
completely honest with him. “As for someone coming knocking on my door…” She
folded her napkin and set it on the table. “Like my mother, he didn’t even return my
voicemail message telling him I was leaving New York. I don’t think he believed me,