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the pod. Neither left the other.
    He then shoved the jagged knife he’d been hiding under
the table oh so well directly into her back; just to make certain she
got the full picture.
    “’Course, when a man’s wife runs out on him in the
dead of night, didn’t tell anyone where the hell it was she was going, when, or if she was coming back, he doesn’t have a whole heck of a lot of choice
in the matter. Does he? Unless he wanted to be called a womanizer, said
man had to abstain at all costs, Liddy.”
    The dangerous grin he made set these words in stone. “Preacher’s
Bend doesn’t forget betrayal, Lidia. I don’t either. And once betrayed it does curb
the desire toward wanting a woman in a real big hurry.”
    “But you are a womanizer!” she blurted out.
“You can’t live without one in your life.”
    Liddy clamped her hand over her mouth, once she
realized how loudly she said this, and the fact they now had an audience. At
least three ten gallon hats had turned their way to listen in on a private
conversation taking place right inside Rachel’s diner. Not to mention, Rachel’s
ear had perked up a bit at the far end of the counter and she was frowning.
    “No, Liddy, you’ve got it all wrong.” Jake leaned back
in his seat, crossing his hands behind his head, shaking his head. “I haven’t
been with another woman since the night you left me and that is God’s honest
truth. You can even ask Sister Bets if you don’t believe me. She’ll be the
first to attest to my very reputable behavior, as would the rest of this town. I’m
a changed man Liddy. I’ve been a perfect angel. Damn, Liddy, I am probably much
closer to character of a celibate Priest, than any Priest could claim around
these parts. No wife. No sex. And it hasn’t made me a happy man.”
    He wanted happiness? He should’ve thought about that before diving into
Eliza Porter. The name Giotti was the purest definition to the word womanizer—written
in capital letters with pictures ! Those pictures still fresh in her
mind.
    Jake wouldn’t be able to live with himself for much
longer than a day—let alone ten years . . . without sex. It wasn’t plausible
and it wasn’t possible.
    The man of her past then yanked the proverbial knife
out of her back without so much as trying to numb the wound. “I would say you
want me to sign something detrimental toward the rest of your life if I don’t,
right?” He looked self-satisfied all of a sudden.
    And smug.
    Liddy nodded. She hated smug. She hated Jake. But she
hated smug more.
    “And, if I do not, your future is literally on hold?” He
eyed her up and down, stalling on her chest.
    Again, only a nod made as answer.
    Jake took a deep breath, looking to be gathering
momentum. Liddy could see the oncoming tidal wave headed her way, about to hit
faster than a raging Tsunami. She flinched, expecting the impact to hurt.
    Jake let her have it; all of it, all at once. There
was no sidestepping their situation. The gloves had come off. Ten years of incredible
hardship, deep unrelenting pain right in the middle of her chest, and
mind-numbing anger bottled up inside this man.
    With fear in her gaze, she knew this was going to be a
whole hell of a lot of fun for him. The bastard was going to dish out what he
could in heaping platefuls; done hard, fast, and most likely with a vengeance
never before seen.
    Liddy wouldn’t have wanted the fury from him in any
other way.
    She’d never asked anything of Jake in any other way.
    “Too damn bad!” he offered.
    “But, Jake,” she started, then paused. They still had
an audience. And this was a public place. She was mightily surprised he’d
lowered his tone.
    A wobble of her chin started up and it was a sure sign
she was about to lose control; and that her womanizing husband had easily
stopped the rest of her rehearsed sentences by stating the obvious. In fact, she
was choking on obviousness.
    “You’re the one who walked away, from me, from