They pulled into the dealership and saw the salesman anxiously pacing the front lot. He seemed relieved when he saw the brand-new Jeep return to its proper space. When Jessica and Gavin got out of the car, he approached them with an extended hand.

“I was getting ready to call out the National Guard,” he said jokingly as he exchanged handshakes with Gavin. “So did you like it?”

Gavin glanced at Jessica, who gave him a discreet shake of her head. “It was okay,” he said, shrugging as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other.

“Let’s step inside and see if we can put together a price that gets you into this car today,” the salesman said, leading them through the glass doors of the showroom. “By the way, I’m Tom Sutton. And you are?”

“Gavin and Jessica,” the ballplayer said, taking a seat with her behind the desk.

“Right. Gavin King.” At his surprised glance, the salesman grinned. “I Googled you right after you left. I knew I recognized you. Tough break with that injury.”

Jessica could have smacked the man. She saw Gavin’s jaw tighten as the salesman continued. “Something similar happened to me a few years ago. I played for the Red Sox, summer of 2007.”

“No shit!” Gavin’s brows lifted in interest.

“Yeah. I was a reliever. I came up from the minors, and blew out my knee at the end of the season. I did the cortisone shots, the surgery, all of that. But I wasn’t able to make it back.”

Sensing the sickening fear arise in Gavin’s belly, Jessica put her hand over his and squeezed reassuringly. “So how have you been doing?”

To her surprise, the salesman laughed. “Pretty good. I’ve been the rep of the year here for the last five, make decent money, and the pressure is gone. That’s not to say I didn’t wish it hadn’t happened; it took me a while to get over it. But once I did I found out there was life outside of baseball.”

“That’s great to hear,” Gavin said, looking at the man before him in admiration. “Not everyone would have seen things that way.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice.” He shrugged cheerfully. “I can either crawl under a rock somewhere and give up, or move on. Now I have a wife and kids, a family. It wasn’t a bad trade.” He picked up a contract and slid it in front of Gavin.

“So what kind of price are we talking about?” Jessica indicated the sticker price. She wasn’t sure what effect this conversation was having on Gavin, but decided it was better to get back to business.

“We are featuring a special manufacturer rebate,” Tom said, the salesman back. “Here it is. There is a five-hundred-dollar incentive running this month. We can apply that if we can close the deal today.” He looked up at Gavin questioningly. “We would have to run some numbers, do a quick credit check. But I assume that won’t be a problem?”

“Nope,” Gavin said, and then leaned forward on the desk. “But the price is a bit of an issue. Taking off five hundred bucks doesn’t get me anywhere near the figure I had in mind.”

“What were you thinking?”

“We did our homework and know the Blue Book numbers. But I understand you need to make a living, so I think thirty-three is more than fair.”

The salesman looked from Gavin to Jessica. She gave a shrug, as if she were the little woman without a clue. When he realized he was getting no help there, he rose from behind his desk.

“I’m going to have to get my manager to approve that.”

“We have all the time in the world,” Gavin said, giving her hand a squeeze.

Tom nodded, and then disappeared into an interior office. Jessica looked at him and grinned with excitement. “I get the first ride.”

He smiled back at her. “Of course you do. What do you say as soon as this god-awful weather breaks, we take it out to that beach you talked about?”

“That would be a blast!” She couldn’t hide her enthusiasm.

“You’re on.”

She refused to think of the hand holding hers, and whether or not it was wise to go joyriding with him on the beach. Yet she was conscious of the warmth of his palm, his fingers cupping hers, and the sandpaper texture of his skin, rough against her knuckles.

The salesman came back with another man, who was looking at the numbers woefully. “This is a really tough situation,” he said, shaking Gavin’s hand and then glancing back at the paperwork. “Maybe we could work something out with a trade?”

“No trade.” Gavin shrugged. “I’m new in town, and driving a rental. I also don’t need dealer financing, extended warranties, any of that. This is a cash deal, clean and simple. It’s up to you.”

Jessica looked at him in admiration. In addition to his utter hotness, the man was a quick study. “I’m getting hungry,” she whined.

The manager quickly realized he would lose them as buyers, so he signed the agreement and then extended his hand once more to Gavin. “Congratulations. You just bought yourself a car.”

—

When they had finished all the paperwork and finalized the deal, Jessica accompanied Gavin to the lot so that he could take possession of his new vehicle.

“I’ll follow you back, and then we can get Enterprise to pick up the rental…”

But before she could finish the sentence, Gavin grabbed her, pulled her into his arms and spun her around in the air as if she were a little girl.

“What are you doing? Put me down!” she gasped, laughing in astonishment. Yet she was very aware of the heat from his body enveloping hers with a delicious warmth, and that her hands were braced on his broad shoulders as she gazed down into his face. Never had he looked so boyishly handsome, his eyes sparkling, his smile that dazzling flash of white.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He lowered her to the ground, his arms still around her, and their eyes met. His gaze dropped to her lips, and as if unable to help himself, he took her mouth with his and kissed her.

Stunned, she didn’t have time to think, only to react. Yet her arms slid up around his neck, welcoming him, and her body pressed fully against his. Her fingers threaded through his hair on the back of his neck, and dimly she realized it felt just as she’d imagined, silky and soft.

Encouraged by her response, he deepened the kiss, bending her slightly backward to more fully embrace her. His tongue stroked her, testing, questioning, before entering and taking full possession. At the same time, his hands slid down her lower back to press her hips more firmly against his.

The kiss changed from a surprise to something much hotter. It was better than she had dreamed, better than she had fantasized. Blood pulsed through her veins, and every cell in her body throbbed, wanting, needing…

It seemed an eternity before his mouth eased, and he reluctantly let her go. Jessica felt as if her world was spinning. Cold air suddenly replaced the warmth that had surrounded her, and she was staring at him in wonder, aware she’d never been kissed like that in her life.

When she could focus she saw that his expression was a mixture of regret, desire, and frustration. His jaw was tight and he ran his fingers through that amazing black hair before looking at her apologetically.

“Hey, sorry. I guess…I was just caught up in the heat of the moment.”

A crushing sense of disappointment rose within her, even as her logical brain came to her rescue. He was sorry. What did she think he was going to say? I want you, I need you, you’re the one for me? He had just broken up with his girlfriend, for God’s sake! It took her another second or two to get her bearings, but she managed a nod as she stepped backward.

“No worries, I get it.” And she did. This wasn’t premeditated on his part. Sex was different for men; it was not only a physical release, but a way of connecting with women. Whereas with females, and maybe because they were stuck with the consequences, the act became intertwined with emotion.

What she hadn’t expected was her response. While she had imagined how great his kiss might be, the reality was far more mind-blowing than the fantasy.