Roundabout Road (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend Book 2) (10 page)

Debra snorted at the pathetic gesture of a promise
before Liddy reacted to it.

“Yeah, right. And it’s freezing cold in Haiti right
about now, too,” the deputy conduced.

Jake turned his head again and looked at Liddy; who
was now looking at him with a smile on her face.

As Debra walked out the door with Duke in tow and
closed that door behind her back, Jake lost his cool. “What the hell are you
smiling about?”

Liddy diverted her eyes away from his, saying,
“Nothing. Nothing at all . . .” She even giggled under her breath.

“You know, you are in as much trouble here, as I, if
not a whole lot more.”

Her sight slammed into his. “And I would not
be
in any trouble . . . if you had just signed those annulment papers, as asked.”

Her face quickly reddened, warning him of what was about
to head his way.

“How is it my fault you stole your fiancée’s car?”

“How is it?” She balled her fists at her sides. “How .
. . Oh! . . .
OH!
. . . ”.

Liddy Giotti was unable to finish her sentence,
because he’d gotten her right where it hurt the most. Her misguided Humphrey pride
just took a big hit.

Chapter Ten

How was it his fault? Hell!

Did he not know everything a man did was his fault
?

How she ever thought Jake Giotti to be the one and
only man for her, was far beyond her wildest imagination at this point. In
fact, she doubted her mind could ever be changed about this. The man could
infuriate a viper and get away with it. Look at him! Just seated there, looking
all smug and self-satisfied.

Oh! The bastard
!
The wretched bastard!

If she wasn’t so bloody pissed at him, she would’ve
gleefully punched him right on the arm, right on that ugly snake tattoo of his.
She’d always hated snakes and didn’t really give a shit he’d taken it upon
himself to put her name on it. But then the bastard would’ve likely bled all
over the place, and she certainly did not want to ruin a favorite white tank
top and the only pair of jeans really fitting her these days just to hurt him.

Besides, he did not deserve the effort of her actions.
Or, even the effort of her thoughts. A lot could be said for keeping hostile
emotions in check.

Liddy was, however, going to give Jake a piece of her
mind. She had nothing better to do than simply wait out her fate while trapped
in a holding cell with his wretched ass.

“Let’s call a truce. Shall we?” She dared to turn her
head and face Jake in the most direct route.

“Let’s not,” he muttered back.

Oh, in her face, is it?

“Fine, be that way.”

If he wanted to be childish about all of this, so
could she. It was no skin off her back.

Liar.

It was so much skin off her back, her spine was
showing through.

“Fine.” Jake flared his nostrils. “I
will
be
that way.”

God! She truly hated it whenever he flared his
nostrils. It meant she had to work extra hard toward getting her way, and he
would get to work less and less at getting her goat.

“Do you really think they intend to leave us here?
Alone?” she suddenly asked. She had the huge problem of stating aloud what was
in the head, and on more than one occasion getting her into a ton of hot water.

“Shut up, Liddy,” he ground out, closing his eyes.

“I wasn’t asking you!”

“Then who the bloody hell were you asking? Santa
Claus? Because there is no one else inside this police station with us, and
thanks to you, I am now stuck inside this fucking hellhole with the likes of you
. . . until Tuesday.”

“What . . . is . . . your
. . . problem
,
Asshole?”

A girl could take only so much from such an arrogant
bastard before losing her cool.

“What is my problem?” he sputtered.

“Yeah. What the hell is your problem?” Liddy quickly
crossed her arms over her chest, disgusted he’d reduced her to swearing.

“I’m looking at my fucking problem, Sweetheart,” he
offered waspishly.

OH! Cheap shot
.

“Yeah, well I’m looking at mine, too!”

Cheaper, still
.
But hey! When the chips were down . . .

“Then stop looking at it,” he demanded.

“You stop first.”

Jake closed his eyes. “There. I stopped. Now leave me
the hell alone for the next sixty-eight or so hours. And please try to stop
talking so damn much.”

“Fine, I’ll stop talking altogether. How’s that sound?”

“You’re talking again,” he determined.

“And you’re still an ass!”

“At least being an ass beats the hell out being
considered a bastard any day of the week, hussy.”

Liddy rolled her eyes. “Oh, please! You wouldn’t know
the difference between what an ass could be or do to what a bastard truly is, even
if both hit you smack in the middle of that pretty boy face of yours’.”

Did she not already say he was pushing her just a
little too far?

“Well said,
Hussy,
” the bastard retorted.

Jake then grinned with eyes closed. An ice pack held
tightly to his upper arm.

Liddy took a deep breath and tried to settle down her
thoughts. But this was a very hard thing to do, when a husband she hadn’t seen
in ten years and seated only four feet away from her—and driving her so
completely crazy, she was contemplating murder—was baiting her into argument.

“And stop doing that, too,” he warned.

“Doing what?”
Now what the hell was she doing now?

“Taking so many deep breaths. You’re using up my
oxygen.”

Liddy let out a chuckle, then a real giggle. Then she
started laughing right at his face. Her emotions were quite unstoppable all of
a sudden.

Nothing about any of this was funny. Yet, everything
within her world was. Her life was literally falling apart at the seams. Mack’s
car was totaled against some godforsaken hickory tree, along some godforsaken
redneck beaten path of a road. There was a fifty-thousand-dollar wedding dress
stuck inside its trunk, likely never to be seen again, or damaged beyond use.
Jake’s not signed the annulment papers. Theo threatened her with burning in
Hell if Jake so much as even
thinks
to sign them.

If none of this was funny, then nothing in life could
be.

Oh! And Jake’s refusal to sign the annulment papers so
she could get married to Mack burned her to the bitter end. Though Mack not
speaking to her for the moment was a moot point she wanted to overlook for as
long as she could.

Jake’s eyes opened and he stared directly at her face.
“
Now
what’s your problem?”

“Nothing,” Liddy sputtered between great gasps of
belly-bending laughter.

“Something is,” he ruled.

He never liked being left out of a good joke, especially
if he was the butt of it.

“Nope. Nothing.” Her teary eyes filled quickly. She’d
done more than enough shedding of waterworks thus far. What was the difference
of a little more, under very different circumstances?

It didn’t take long to get a reaction out of him. Jake
dropped his ice pack, crossed the four feet separating them, and had her within
an unrelenting grip and hauled to her feet before her next taken breath. His
hard mouth crushed hers into submission.

The moan coming out . . . it wasn’t from her. That’s
for damn sure. It was a moan from a man who was being pushed to his limits, and
unwittingly discovered he’d finally met his match.

****

Jake wondered swiftly,
what the hell am I doing?
Better yet,
why hadn’t I thought of doing this before now?
Kissing Liddy
surely shut her up.

Yet it had been a very long time since he’d kissed this
woman; kissed any woman, in fact. Last night’s endeavor didn’t count. And
somehow she still tasted as sweet as he remembered; still used the same
toothpaste to brush her teeth with, the same heavenly soap to wash her warm,
supple body with.

Jake took a deep breath as he thrust his tongue deeply
into her mouth and moaned once more. Grinding his lips against his walkabout
wife, he pushed himself, and his body, to the limits. He was actually surprised
she did not attempt to bite off his tongue while it was inside her mouth.

Instead, Liddy was returning the kiss. Her hands had wound
their way around his neck.
If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she
was enjoying this.

Mrs
. Giotti even
entwined her slender fingers at the base of his nape, as Jake pulled her body
closer to his. They were touching thigh to thigh when it looked as if her brain
finally started to function; and with surprise written all over her face, she
tried to push him away.

Jake wouldn’t let her go. Not yet anyway.

“What . . . the hell . . . was that for?” she
sputtered out, licking her swollen lips. Her hand slid down to his bared chest,
stilling.

He knew she could feel his unsteady heartbeat through
her fingertips, tempting fate all over again.

He whispered out, “I’m not at all sure,” trying
desperately to settle down the overzealous heartbeat.

Liddy shoved at his chest. “Please don’t do it again!”

He allowed her the space, but asked, “Why not? You
were always such a willing partner before now. And you’d always been a great kisser.
At least I had always thought so.”

His tone light and teasing; he was destroying what
little resolve she likely had left.

“Damnit, Jake! Please stop this!” she fumed.

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“No. I don’t.” He stared right through her, his
thoughts moved toward their shared past. “Please enlighten me,
Mrs
.
Giotti, as to why I should stop kissing you? You are, after all, my wife. And
as you have already pointed this dire fact out to Rachel, I do have the legal right
to kiss you.”

He was about to add more to this but she made a wry
face, backed away, then sat down on the hard metal bench.

Getting a kiss out of his system, Jake moved to sit
down next to her. He’d left his ice pack on the opposite bench.

“Why did you do this to me now?” she asked.

He leaned forward, took a deep breath, and folded his
hands between his knees. “Damned if I know the answer to that one, Mrs.
Giotti.”

They remained speechless for a few more minutes, then
Liddy started up once again. “This is really bad, isn’t it? I stole a car, for
Pete’s sake. I’m about to marry a lawyer . . . and I stole his fucking car!”
She seemed to be momentarily stunned by this fact.

Jake, however, was more stunned she’d forgotten she
was already married—to him!

“Was it a really expensive car?” He asked, checking
the fury toward her selective memory recall.

Liddy groaned. “A
really
expensive car, Jake. Perhaps
it the most expensive car in the world: a cherry red Porsche Carrera GT, loaded,
and worth at least five hundred thousand big G’s.”

Jake hadn’t known the make until now. Its value
shocked him, but not as much as her caring about a car over her arrest for said
car.

“Debra said it’s now wrapped around a hickory tree
twelve miles away.”

“I know, Jake.” Her groan reached deep inside him. “You
don’t need to point this fact out to me, yet again.”

This time he snickered, but only a little; sobered
quickly once the tears welled in her eyes.

Likely, whoever unwisely took the vehicle hadn’t been
able to handle its power.

 “I doubt Billy will be able to fix a really expensive
car. What are you going to do?”

Okay. Stupid deduction—and even dumber question. Of
course Billy wasn’t going to be able to repair a car like that. It would need
tender loving care from a reputable dealership, and precision mechanics. A
grease monkey shouldn’t work on Porsches, for a damn good reason.

“I don’t know,” she bemoaned softly, burying her face
in her hands. “I just don’t know. Do you?”

Was she confused on what she thought she was going to
do about the car, or the grand theft auto charge? He didn’t have an answer for
either one.

Liddy tipped her head back and leaned against the wall
of the holding cell. Jake moved one of his hands to place it gently on her knee.
She quickly shoved his hand off.

“Don’t touch me. I can’t think when you touch me.
Right now, Jake, I really need to think.”

He put his hand to where it had been; between his
knees. He lowered his head, then started thinking himself. “You do have one
phone call at your disposal. Why not try asking Debra for it when she comes
back?”

Liddy’s head snapped up. “And who the devil should I call,
Jake? Mack? Mack is going to kill me. His car was . . . it was everything to
him! Because of you, Mack and I are not speaking to each other, temporarily of
course.
And
, there is not a single person in this wretchedly,
highly-depressing town even caring I’m still alive. I’ve got no one to call.”

Jake cared Liddy was still alive. Yet he surely was not
going to tell this to her face. Not when it could be used against him in some form,
or while he was in her immediate reach.

“What about Julia? Her step-mom knows people who might
be able to get you out of this jam. Maybe Julia could help?”

Julia’s step-mom, Brittany Hillard had surely helped
him out a time or two. She’d found Jake a good lawyer to get him through his
DUI charge. Without the guy, Jake would’ve tried his hand at defending himself
and would’ve likely ended up in much worse trouble than he had.

“Julia? Julia Hillard? She still lives here?”

“Yep. She became the high school mathematics teacher,
if you can believe that?”

He and Julia had gone out briefly a few years after
Liddy split the scene. The red-haired temptress had a thing for men with tattoos.
But nothing had ever come of it; simply because Jake could not let anything
come of it. He’d been a married man.