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“I’m not involved,” Smoke said as he came around the car. He had his sunglasses on, shielding his eyes. “She can handle it.”
I bit my lip to stop my grin.
Damn this man. He makes it so easy to want him.
“Of course,” the salesman said. “Sir, you’re welcome to sit in our air-conditioned lobby.” He addressed me. “Shall we?”
An hour later, I walked out of the salesman’s office, shaking his hand and holding the keys to my new car.
Smoke looked up from his cell phone and stood as I approached him.
“Thank you for your business. You’re gonna love your new car,” the salesman said. He looked at Smoke and jested, “Your girlfriend drives a hard bargain.”
“Does she?” Smoke looked at me.
“Apparently,” I said, my lips twitching in humor.
“Are you going to tell me what happened in there?” Smoke asked as he walked me to the parking lot.
“I told him that I didn’t need financing, and that I would take the car today and cut him a Cashier’s check from the bank once I had the total amount. They hate that. Every dealership in the country makes money when they sell you a loan. The car is just how they get to sell you a loan. So then he said if I went with financing, he’d knock off a few grand. I said no thanks, and after he realized I was serious he said if I financed today, he’d waive all the fees and markups.” I shrugged and grinned. “So, I financed it and saved like five grand. And by the way, why didn’t you offer to help wrangle me a deal?”
“I figured if you needed help, you’d ask. Clearly, you didn’t need it.”
Before I could think too much of it, I leaned forward and brushed my lips across his. “Thanks. Knox would’ve…well, he would’ve handled it differently.”
“I’m not Knox.”
“No,” I agreed. “You’re not Knox.”
He slid his hand to my hip to pin me down and prevent me from moving away from him. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Where’d you learn how to negotiate such a good deal?”
“My dad. And my brothers,” I said with a wry grin. “Family business, remember?”
“They taught you a valuable skill set.”
“Yep.”
He let out a subtle laugh. “Do you really have that kind of cash squirreled away?”
“Nope.”
“So, you were bluffing?”
“Damn right I was.”
Smoke threw his head back and laughed. “We need go back to Vegas. I need to see you in action at the poker table.”
My good humor faded and so did my smile when I realized we’d never go to Vegas together.
Smoke’s hand slipped from my waist. “I’ll follow you back to the clubhouse.”
* * *
“Come over for dinner,” Tavy said on the other end of the line.
