Devil in Texas (Rugged and Risque 1)

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.

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.