As she stepped from the car, she found the ambience soothing. The trees swayed in
the light breeze. The sun had shifted to the west as it started its gradual descent into the horizon. Splashes of purple, pink and gold spilled across the lake like paint from
toppled-over cans coloring a blue canvas.
She had to admit, things in Wilder piqued her interest. The politics. The people.
Their little melodramas.
Jack Wade…
Deciding she liked playing with fire where he was concerned, she slid behind the
wheel again. She turned the car around and headed to the saloon.
106
Devil in Texas
Chapter Ten
“What’re you reading there, George?” Jack asked as he stepped behind the bar,
taking over while Josh completed the liquor inventory. “The Idiot’s Guide to
Campaigning?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Jack chuckled as he poured a Glenlivet for his friend. “Maybe you ought to let me
read it when you’re done. I’m not entirely sure I know what I’m getting myself into.”
George set the book aside. He sipped his cocktail, then said, “Obviously,
considering the way you’ve been stirring things up this weekend.”
“Me?” Jack’s brow jerked upward. “I’m not the one spreading the word about
who’s running for City Council.”
“Oh that.” George had the good grace to look contrite.
“Yeah, that.”
“I got the book from the library,” George said as he patted the cover. “Of course,
Mrs. Parsons was curious to know why I was checking it out. So I told her.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “She’s the town crier, George.”
“Consider it cheap and easy PR. I’m pretty sure there’s not a person in town who
doesn’t know you’re running now.”
“Including the reverend.”
George whistled under his breath. “Would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall
during that conversation.”
“I didn’t have anything to say about it. He came out to the cottage to tell Liza about Sunday worship. Any excuse to stick his nose in my business.”
“Yeah, about that.” George took a deep sip from his glass, then said, “The two of
you are burning up the rumor mill.”
Jack shrugged. “No one’s business but our own.”
“When you’re in the privacy of your own home, sure. But you’re on public display,
my friend. And I don’t just mean running for office. Apparently, you two left a lot of tongues wagging in town today.”
Jack grinned. “I am having trouble keeping my hands off her.” Especially after
they’d made love. Christ, he hadn’t been that excited in years. If ever. The way she
looked at him. The way she touched him. The way she felt beneath him, her long legs
wrapped around him, her wet cunt clutching at him, squeezing him tight… If there
really was such a thing as sex addiction, he might have it with this woman.
107
Calista Fox
“I know it’s natural for you to do whatever you want, whenever you want,
however you want,” George said. “To hell with the consequences. But with Liza…
There might be some repercussions to consider.”
Jack reached into the cooler behind the bar and pulled out a longneck bottle of beer.
He didn’t typically drink on the job, but the thought of his dick in Liza’s tight pussy or possibly the topic of “repercussions” had him in need. He popped the top and took a
long pull before he said, “Something’s different with her, I’ll admit.”
“Not like your usual chippies from the city, huh? None of whom you ever invited
to town, I might add. Not for dinner or a booty call.”
True. Jack had kept his sex life private all these years. It was easier that way. So why had he been so nonchalant about his public displays of affection today? Aside from Lydia, because he didn’t like flaunting anything in her face, he hadn’t given a hoot
about who saw him with Liza. Hadn’t cared what they thought about it or had to say
about it. Not when they were holding hands, not when he’d snuggled up to her in the
booth at Pietro’s, not when he’d kissed her in the parking lot.
Resting his forearms on the bar, he gave George a serious look and said, “I think I
want everyone to know she’s off limits.”
“For how long?” George asked. “Because once you take her off the market, she may
lose the chance to get back on it. After you’re done with her, that is.”
Meaning Jack would ruin her reputation. He’d considered that last night. He may
not parade his women around town, but it was no great mystery that he’d gotten
around. Right up until two years ago or so. Then he’d become too busy with other
things in his life. The expansion of the saloon. The morality sanction. Repairs to the house.
He thought about all the excuses he’d come up with to stay in town rather than
drive over to Austin and find a woman to spend the night with.
As he took another swig of beer, a thought crystallized in his brain, telling him
something more was going on than he’d originally suspected. It wasn’t just about the
sex when it came to Liza.
“There’s something about her,” he told his friend. “I can’t describe it.
It’s…everything, actually.”
It occurred to him that he hadn’t fucked her last night not just because he knew she
wasn’t the one-night stand type. She wasn’t the love-’em-and-leave-’em kind, either. As he’d thought about her when sleep had eluded him, his body craving her touch, his
mind filled with the image of her green eyes and her long legs and her full breasts, and the sounds of her sexy moans taunting him, he’d thought about what he’d wanted from
this woman. And discovered in the morning that it wasn’t just a quick romp. He
wanted to know her. Not just her body, but her mind too.
He had no intentions of ditching her now that he’d fucked her. He’d gotten a taste
of her that left him wanting more. So much more. Problem was, she’d signed a four-
108
Devil in Texas
week lease, had a whole life back in New York that she’d left on a whim and had made
absolutely no commitment to stay in town. Or in Texas, for that matter.
All of which should make him sigh with relief. When she moved on, he wouldn’t be
the bad guy for ending it. Because Jack always ended it.
But he wasn’t thinking in those terms with Liza. He was thinking in terms of a