by Calista Fox
“Gotta admit, for you to be back here within the hour was a bit startling,” George continued on.
“I didn’t exactly tuck her into bed, but I got a good idea of how compatible we are,” he said with a wink. Then added, “Hell, I wasn’t going to take advantage of her. You know me better than that. Three shots of tequila and a beer in that short amount of time left her with impaired judgment.”
“She went home with you, didn’t she?”
Jack chuckled. “Keep harpin’ on it, George. I made my intentions clear, but I’m not in any hurry. She’s sticking around for a while. We’ll see what’s what come morning.”
George seemed to take great interest in his glass for a few seconds as he stared down at the amber liquid. Then he lifted his gaze and asked, “And what about the fact that she’s living in Wilder? Doesn’t that complicate things for you?”
“Of course.” The reverend and his disciples were publicly opposed to pre-marital sex and had God on their side when it came to keeping most of the virgins in town innocent until their wedding days. Jack didn’t begrudge anyone who fell for the divine guilt trip. He just avoided the whole issue by dating women in Austin or San Antonio. But with the object of his immediate desire residing in Wilder—on his property, no less—he’d have a lot of scowls and Hail Marys coming his way.
“Liza’s virtue isn’t anyone’s business but her own,” Jack told his friend.
“And what about her reputation?” George countered with a lift of a dark eyebrow.
“She walked into my bar thinking she was looking for a good time. Turns out, she wasn’t quite ready to sin. I’m pretty sure that was obvious to the masses.”
“You chasing after her doesn’t help her plight.”
Jack shook his head, though he knew George had a point. He’d considered it himself when he’d offered the ride home. But his empathy was clearly taking a backseat to his desire for her. “She’s a big girl from the city, George. I think she gets the gist of the rumor mill and the fact that people are going to draw whatever conclusion is most convenient for them. I’m sure she can handle it.” He hoped like hell he was right.
“Your call. I’m just saying that a woman who looks and dresses like that one…she’s bound to be trouble.”
Grinning, Jack said, “You think I don’t already know that?”
Hell, from the moment she’d walked through the door of his saloon, she’d begun to weave a sticky web he was instantly caught in. But he was more than capable of extracting himself when the time came to move on. Besides, she’d only signed a four-week lease. It wasn’t as if she was planning on staying.
“Well, best of luck to you on this one, my friend.” George finished his drink, then said, “I’d better get home before Jess starts to wonder what I’m up to.”
“She’s sound asleep by now, happy for the break from your snoring.”
“Unfortunately,” he said as he pulled his keys from his front pocket, “you’re right about that.”
“You okay to drive?”
George nodded. “I just had the one beer before the Scotch. But thanks for checking.”
“I don’t need your wife or the sheriff on my ass,” Jack said lightheartedly. “I’ve racked up enough complications for one day.”
“City Council,” the other man reminded him. “Try to put as much effort into it as you are the girl.”
Jack grinned again. “But the girl is so much more appealing.”
George snorted. “Trouble, indeed.” He turned and sauntered out of the bar, chuckling along the way.
And leaving Jack with the disturbing feeling that he might be in over his head on all counts.
* * * * *
Liza wasn’t smiling when she awoke hours later to an incessant, annoyingly high-pitched sound that instantly bugged the shit out of her. Lifting her head from her pillow and pushing back the long strands of chestnut-colored hair that covered one stinging and likely bloodshot eye, she looked around the small bedroom and frowned.
What the hell was that noise?
Sitting up, she shoved the rumpled sheets off her legs—apparently having ditched the duvet in her sleep—and stared out the window, listening carefully. There it was again. Not just high-pitched, but also damn greedy. Ignoring the dull ache in her head that was her hangover, she climbed out of bed and peered through the glass pane. A tall tree sprouted skyward alongside the cottage. An elm, possibly? She wasn’t a nature guru, didn’t know tree or flower species beyond the extremely obvious, like pines and roses.
One of the lower branches housed a nest of baby birds, all going absolutely nuts as their mother returned with breakfast. Another bird squawked overhead, sounding authoritative and distinctively asshole-ish.
“Good morning to you too, Peter,” she grumbled.
Moving away from the window, Liza padded along the cool hardwood floor and entered the kitchen. The cozy cottage was comfortable. Hell, who needed thousands and thousands of square feet, anyway? Peter had installed an intercom in his apartment so that he could reach her no matter which room she was in. That always seemed so pretentious and creepy. Everything about them seemed that way now. They’d even mimicked those ridiculous movie scenes where a couple sat at opposite ends of a twenty-foot-long dinner table and called the wait staff in just to pass the salt.
The whole rocky relationship had been one big, fat façade. She could admit it now that she had some distance from her former life.
That thought settled in her brain as she went into the bathroom, desperately needing aspirin and a shower. She also had to brush the little booties off her teeth.
No more tequila for you, girlfriend. Ever.
She headed into the small bathroom, stripped down and stepped under the hot spray of water.
A soft sigh escaped her lips. The shower was exactly what she needed. Well, not exactly, but close enough for the moment. What she really needed was the sexy cowboy’s hands on her body. Jack Wade had sparked the kind of lust and longing that was all-consuming. It helped to take her mind off her bizarre impulse to move halfway across the country on a moment’s notice.
Thoughts of Jack also helped her to take another step away from her life with Peter. It truly was a shame that she’d wasted so much time on someone who had never, not even from their very first meeting, made her this hot and bothered. This in need of his touch and his too-amazing-for-words orgasms.
As she ran her soapy hands over her breasts, she thought of how wonderful it had felt to be in Jack’s arms, his hard cock pressing against her belly, his mouth devouring hers. She closed her eyes as she rolled her tight nipples between her thumbs and fingers, imagining it was Jack’s hands that pleasured her. Excitement skittered through her, making her clit tingle. But before she went so far as to slide a hand to her wet pussy and get herself off, she stopped.
Liza didn’t want self-gratification. She wanted Jack Wade.
The thought made her smile. Only Jack would do. And maybe today would be the day he gave her exactly what she needed.
Emerging from the shower a good ten minutes later, she wrapped a plush towel around her dripping body and swiped at the steam covering the fancy mirror hanging above the vanity.
Her little rental was as posh as a five-star hotel. The only downside so far was the incessant chirping outside, which had begun to grate on her nerves. Along with the leaky faucet.
Once she’d dressed in a pair of loose black pants and a white lace tank top, she dragged a brush through her hair and left it wavy and voluminous. Another blatant F-you to Peter who always “preferred” she wear it straight and sleek, or pulled back. While she applied a little makeup and lip gloss, the birds kept up their chatter. They were joined by friends.
Liza crossed the bathroom to the window, unhooked the latch and tried to lift the window frame. It wouldn’t budge. She tried again, wanting to stick her head out the window and yell at the birds to shut the hell up, if for no other reason than snapping at them would make her feel better.
No such luck. As she fought with the white-washed wooden frame, what she believed to be the doorbell rang. Abandoning her mission to throw something at the birds to get them to move to another tree—far away from her windows—she passed through the kitchen and living room. She unlocked the door, the anticipation of seeing Jack making her hurry. She pulled the front door open and lost her breath.
Liza smiled without even thinking about it. Jack’s eyes lit up with something akin to excitement as his gaze swept over her. She stepped aside and said, with an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm, “Come on in!”
Today, Jack wore a dark blue T-shirt tucked into his faded Levi’s. Dusty, tan suede boots completed the ensemble. His dark hair was mussed, as though he hadn’t put much effort into it, which made it sexy as hell. All in all, she found him to be even more appealing than last night. Possibly because she knew him this morning and liked the person beneath the gorgeous veneer.
“Breakfast,” he said with that easy grin as he lifted the bag in his hand. “I brought a Texas favorite.” He walked past her, heading into the kitchen.
“Looks like you’ve got coffee too. That makes you my hero.”
He set the paper bag and thermos on the counter and asked, “How do you like the place?”
“What’s not to like? It even comes with room service.”
He grinned. “How’d you sleep?”
“Curled up like a kitten and out like a light.” She seriously hadn’t had a better night’s sleep in longer than she could remember.
“Good. So the rental agreement stands as is?”
A slow smile spread across her lips as realization dawned. He’d known where she lived last night without having to ask. A fact that had escaped her until now. “You’re my landlord, aren’t you?”
“Guilty as charged,” he said with a wink. “I would’ve told you last night, but you seemed to be enjoying the mystery you were weaving. I liked it too, by the way.”
His sexy grin made her hot and bothered all over again. As though the reprieve from his sizzling kisses and erotic touch never existed. It was difficult to ignore the thrumming in her pussy, the way her inner walls clenched in anticipation of feeling his cock deep inside her. She was ready to skip breakfast altogether and jump straight to the hot and sweaty sex. Was this close to saying to hell with the good girl she hadn’t been able to fully leave behind last night.
Unfortunately, she’d more than proven she was out of her element when it came to seducing the Devil. So instead, she kept to the subject at hand.
“I have several complaints to discuss with you, Mr. Landlord.”
A dark eyebrow lifted. “So soon?”
“Mm-hmm. The faucet in the bathroom leaks, the window is sealed shut and there’s a flock of birds nesting outside that need to be…removed. Or shot. I don’t care which.”
Jack laughed. “I’m not shooting the birds, darlin’. But I’ll see what I can do about the window and the faucet.”
He crossed to the cupboards and pulled out two coffee mugs. That he knew his way around her new kitchen made her feel off-kilter and excited at the same time. A little more intimate than she was accustomed to, and yet it also made her toes curl with more of that spine-tingling anticipation she’d been feeling since the moment she’d laid eyes on the Devil in Blue Jeans.
After unpacking the foil-wrapped pan as Jack set out two places at the counter, she slid onto a tall, black upholstered barstool and watched him bustle about her kitchen. He looked good in her new place.
“Who’s your decorator?” she asked.
He dropped a napkin beside her plate and said, “Me. It’s all mail-order. Wasn’t too difficult. They put the whole room together for you in the catalog. All you have to do is provide the credit card and delivery address.”
Somehow she sensed he was selling himself short on this one, not quite divulging the full scoop. She couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t give himself a little more credit for the nice job he’d done. She’d been the girlfriend of a Mount Sinai surgeon who lived in the lap of luxury, for Christ’s sake. Liza knew quality home décor when she saw it, and she could tell Jack had put quite a lot of thought and money into this place.
Odd for a rental property, now that she thought about it. Which begged the question of why he’d gone to such lengths.
“Am I the first tenant?”
He nodded.
“Did you just finish the place?” The furniture was a classic style, so it was impossible to date it. Could have been purchased yesterday or ten years ago.
He shook his head as he piled a large breakfast burrito stuffed to the gills with scrambled eggs, green chiles, onions, cheese and chorizo on her plate and then reached for the hot sauce he’d produced from Lord only knew where. “It’s been ready to go for some time.”
“Not a big rental market in Wilder?”
A broad shoulder lifted. He seemed to take great interest in removing the lids from the small containers of fresh pico de gallo and guacamole.
When Jack settled next to her at the counter with his own plate, her mouth all but watered at the delicious-looking and smelling breakfast burrito he’d served.
“Where to start?” she quipped as she eyed the massive flour tortilla-wrapped creation. “It’s too amazing for words!”
Jack laughed. “No need to butter me up, darlin’. I’ll fix the faucet and the window. And whatever else needs tending to.”
He shot her a hot look that made her thighs go up in flames like last night. “Oh my,” she whispered under her breath as fire roared through her body. “Little early in the day for volcanic eruptions,” she muttered.
Jack grinned at her, dimple and all.
“Let’s stick with the food, yes?” She dug in, though her heart hammered in her chest as though she’d just run a marathon. Damn, he did the craziest things to her body! She wanted him to do something about it, but she had to admit that a tiny bit of fear held her back. What if she really was getting in over her head?
Then again…what sane woman would pass up a steamy go-around with a man who looked as sinfully delicious as Jack Wade?
They kept the conversation light and, following breakfast, Liza did the dishes while Jack went to work on the leaky faucet. His toolbox sat on the end of her kitchen counter. From her spot at the sink, all she had to do was look over her shoulder and she had a clear shot into the bathroom, where he worked. When he was done with the faucet, he pried open her stuck window with a hammer and a little tool that looked like a flat, metal spatula—something she’d use to frost a cake.
She left the dishes to dry in the rack, having opted not to try out the dishwasher. That might have been a ploy on her part. If the appliances didn’t work, it’d give her an excuse to call Jack back for more repairs.
With nothing left to do, she turned from the sink and watched as he tapped on the cake-frosting tool until the seal on the window broke. The muscles of his back rippled against his tight T-shirt and his biceps flexed as he pushed the window up, then back down, then up again. He repeated the process until the window moved more easily in its grooves and then he closed and locked it.
Apparently satisfied with his handiwork, he turned… And caught her staring at him.
Their eyes locked and it jolted her to the core of her being, making her nipples tighten and her pussy throb. All over again. Just like last night.
She smiled. He smiled back.
Liza knew breakfast wasn’t all she’d be getting from Jack Wade this morning.
Chapter Five
Jack collected his things and left the bathroom, heading into the kitchen. His gaze was on Liza as he dropped his tools into the battered metal box and shut the lid. Her bright green eyes were alight with heat and excitement, conveying her arousal. Though he could see that plain as day because her hard nipples pushed against the material of the white lace tank top she wore. The tight peaks taunted him. Made him want to roll them between his fingers and thumbs. Pinch them gently.
Suck on them.
He felt another erection returning as he imagined taking last night’s flirtation to the next level.
Despite the orgasm he’d given her, her body was still a mystery to him. When she’d told him she wanted him to get naked with her, it’d taken all the willpower he possessed to hold back. He’d wanted her completely nude, sprawled out on the bed, spread wide for him. He wanted to do more than pleasure her with his fingers. He wanted to use his mouth and his cock. He wanted to give her more than just that one orgasm.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” he told her as they stood toe to toe.
Her eyes sparkled. “Really? I slept like a baby.”
“Sure you did. You weren’t wound tighter than a spool of thread.”
She grinned. “I could have reciprocated if you hadn’t rushed out the door. How’d the poker game go?”
“Lost my ass,” he said. “Had other things on my mind.”
“Such as?”
His gaze dropped to her lips. Her very plump, glossy, kiss-me-now lips. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Her chest rose and fell a little quicker. The tight nipples drew his attention again.
She said, “I get the feeling you don’t always take the high road. I know I’m playing with fire.”
He nodded.
She continued on. “I should be very careful what I wish for.”
Another nod.
Liza lifted her hands from her sides and her forefingers hooked in the belt loops of his jeans, just above his front pockets. Her forceful tug put him right back in the position he’d been in last night, right here in her kitchen. His thigh between her parted legs, pressing against the very spot he wanted to bury his cock.
“I think I can handle it this time.”
He grinned down at her, though it was as strained as his erection against the fly of his jeans. “I guess we’ll see.”
She sucked in a breath. Then boldly asked, “What were you thinking about last night? When you couldn’t sleep?”