“Ooh, this one’s pretty,” Cora said, coming up to a red sedan. She peered in at the tan leather seats as Slider went to the sticker on the window.
“Cops love to tag speeding red cars. How heavy is your foot?” he asked.
She chuckled. “I mean, I’m no grandma, but I don’t approach the highway like it’s a racetrack, either.”
He smirked at her, bringing his dimple out to play, and it was a look that drew her right back into his bed. “Never in a million years would I take you for a grandma.”
She cleared her throat. “Right. So. Actually, now that I think of it, Bunny could be a grandma and she could probably kick my ass, so maybe I shouldn’t use grandmas as my reference point,” she said in a flustered rush. “Anyway, what do you think?” The amount looked reasonable, and with just under forty thousand miles, the mileage looked good, too.
“Camrys are very reliable. I’ve seen more than a few of them hit two hundred thousand miles before nickel and diming their owners. You should take it for a spin.”
Cora grinned, a grin that only got bigger when she was behind the wheel and driving the car up Interstate 70. It rode like a dream. And it had a great sound system. And a moon roof. She was in love, but she knew she was supposed to be playing it cool.
“Push it going up the mountain,” Slider said from the passenger’s seat. “I want to see what its pickup is like.”
“Okay,” she said, hitting the gas and moving into the passing lane. From the backseat, the car salesman started extolling the virtues of the car’s V6 engine, but all Cora could focus on was Slider’s big body filling her car—because it already felt like her car—his posture relaxed, his thighs spread. Her brain very unhelpfully imagined all the ways they could break her car in, none of which fell into the no more sex category. Stupid brain.
The car took the mountain without any resistance at all.
She grinned at Slider and tried to telegraph her thoughts: I love it so much! His expression was amused as he shook his head, and it made the skin crinkle around his eyes. And, damn, humor on his face made him even more good-looking. He’d taken to wearing a bit of scruff on his jaw, and Cora couldn’t look at it without remembering the way it had felt against her face and breasts and thighs.
She hadn’t minded the bite of that scruff, not one freaking bit.
Finally, they returned to the car lot, and the salesman turned to Slider. “So, what do you think?”
Slider’s gaze narrowed. “Ask the lady, she’s your customer.”
“Oh, of course.” The older man turned to her with a smile. “And what do you think, little lady?”
Seriously? Now her eyes were the ones narrowing. Thankfully, Slider had given her advice on negotiating on price and all the games car salesmen played, so she had some idea what to say and do. “I like it, but it is older than I was hoping for. And I’m worried about the color being so flashy. I’ve heard the police go after red cars that speed more than other colors.” She twisted her lips as if she were truly debating.
The man dove in with his counterarguments, but Cora started walking down the line of cars again as if she weren’t wedded to her beautiful red baby.
She sighed and glanced at Slider. “Maybe we should go see that other car again, don’t you think, honey?” She couldn’t look at his face as she called him that, not because she thought he’d be angry, but because if he wore any surprise on his face, it would make her laugh.
Hands in his pockets, he nodded. “Yeah, babe. This one could use new tires, too, to be honest. So that’s another expense.”
Inside, her reactions warred between Babe! and Oh, no, did it really need new tires? She gave Slider a look and caught both the suppressed humor and the minute shake of his head. She almost really did laugh, then. They were totally teaming up on this poor salesman. Not that she really felt bad for him.
“How about this,” the man said. Herb. That was actually his name. “Why don’t we go inside and let me talk to my manager about what else we might be able to do on the price.”
“Will it take long?” Cora asked. “Because I really think I need to see this other car I was looking at.”
“Oh, no, ma’am,” he said, escorting them inside. So she’d risen in stature from little lady to ma’am. Interesting.
When Slider and Cora were alone in Herb’s office, she whispered, “I want this car so bad I might die.”
“I know, little lady. I know.” Slider winked at her. “Just keep playing it disinterested.”