Devil in Texass(36)

Make sure they get it right?”

He shot her a very challenging look, as though telling her to back off. Liza ground

her teeth. What was the deal with Lydia Bain, anyway? And why was Jack so tolerant of his aunt when he so vehemently deplored his uncle?

As she stewed over all of this, she realized he’d all but whisked her away from

Lydia. Yet he’d been perfectly happy to let the reverend draw the conclusion earlier that they’d just indulged all their guilty pleasures when he’d stopped by the cottage. In fact, Jack seemed quite content to flaunt their attraction to each other to everyone else—he’d all but marked his territory last night at the saloon and then had enjoyed them being on public display in town.

Yet when it came to his aunt… He couldn’t keep Liza far enough away from her.

Why?

Frustrated, she turned away from the Devil and pulled the rung below the door,

climbing into the truck without his assistance. Jack shook his head as he closed the

door. Her guess was her independence didn’t sit quite as well with him as he wished it did.

Well, get over it, cowboy.

Liza was no longer allowing anyone to have a say in who she was and how she

acted.

After fastening her seatbelt, she crossed her arms over her chest and stewed some

more, knowing Lydia Bain was going to be the bane of her existence in Wilder.

All of which made the drive back to the cottage a quiet one. Jack didn’t say a word.

Liza didn’t either, because she really couldn’t settle on anything civil to say.

Their first fight? Or was there a huge cultural divide here that she’d ignored all this time? Had her raging hormones and her own personal baggage precluded her from

seeing a bigger picture with Jack?

She slid a glance his way, taking in his strong profile. The set jaw she was now

accustomed to. The flexed muscles of his arms and shoulders that belied his tension.

92

Devil in Texas

There was something so contradictory about him. The whole “I do whatever I want,

whenever I want” attitude didn’t exactly mesh with the way he’d interacted with the

reverend’s wife. Was there something between them?

She gasped at the wayward thought. It explained so much! And hey, they were just

step-relatives…not related by blood…

Yet as Liza turned in her seat without even fully realizing it and stared outright at Jack, she shook her head.

No. She couldn’t envision passionate and possessive Jack with the prudish, Plain-Jane Lydia. Especially knowing how wicked he could be in bed. Then again, he’d said

he couldn’t see Liza with a guy named Peter, and lo and behold! She’d tried to make

that obvious mismatch work. For six years, no less.

“What?” he finally asked, without even taking his eyes off the road. Clearly, he’d

felt her gaze on him.

“Just trying to figure out the day, I guess.”

For all intents and purposes, Wilder was one quirky little place. As crazy as its

namesake.

Jack shook his head. “Don’t read too much into anything, darlin’.”

She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “You and your…uncle—” it seemed

like such an absurd notion they were related, even if only by paper—”aren’t simpatico, obviously. But you don’t mind the Mrs. Reverend Bain’s closed-minded views?”

He actually laughed. “You just met her.”

“Yes, and she ran into us because she was so shocked and appalled by a shop

owner trying to sell her goods.”

“I see where you’re coming from,” he said, catching on quick. His gaze shifted from

the road and landed on her. “Lydia’s more than my aunt.”

Aha!

“She’s a friend of mine.”

“Yet the reverend isn’t?” Liza countered.

His eyes returned to the road. “Some people like ketchup, but not the tomatoes it

comes from, darlin’.”

She frowned. “Meaning you can like the reverend’s wife even if you don’t like the

man she married. Okay, so…why are you so tolerant of her, but not him?” Liza just

didn’t get that part.

“It’s complicated.”

Of course it is.

“I’m beginning to think everything in Wilder is complicated.”

He flashed her an unexpected grin. “Not us.”

She laughed, despite the serious conversation. The man could melt butter with his

scorching-hot gaze. But she was still confused. “Are you sure about that?”

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Calista Fox

That heated gaze slid over her in a slow, suggestive way, making her think he was

visually undressing her. Imagining pressing her into the mattress again as his thick cock sank into her. “Oh yeah,” he said, quite simply.

Liza flushed from head to toe. As usual. But she continued on, breathless though

she was. “Okay, clearly the sex isn’t complicated. But what about the rest of it?”

As he turned into the drive and the tall, bushy trees whizzed by them, he said, “Is

there anything between us that’s convoluted?”

She gave his question the consideration it was due. And came up empty-handed. In

truth, whatever his beef with Bain was had nothing to do with them. As long as he

wasn’t banging the reverend’s wife, his relationship with Lydia had nothing to do with them, either.

Damn. He was always one step ahead of her. But she did have to clear up the thing

with his aunt, for her own peace of mind.

“You said you’ve never dated anyone in Wilder.”

“I’m true to my word. Ask anyone.”

“‘Dating’ is a subjective term,” she pointed out.

The corners of his mouth lifted and Liza fought back the sigh that tickled her throat as the dimple teased her. Not fully revealing itself, but hinting that it just might grace her with its presence if she amused Jack a little more.

“I’ve only made love to one person in Wilder.”

Her breath caught. “Who?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

His gaze landed on her again and he said, “You, of course.”

Oh.

Her heart hammered a little heavier in her chest, because she was thinking of

exactly how he’d made love to her this morning.

Yet she still had business to clear up. “Not even back in—”

“Nope.”

She stared at his profile, incredulous. “You don’t even know what I was about to

ask!”

“Doesn’t matter. Answer’s still no. Just you.”

She considered this a moment. She had absolutely no reason to doubt the man.