The Ace (5 page)

“And that’s it. Nothing else. You pick the rest. I trust you have good taste.”

“My taste could be a double-wide trailer,” she teased.

“Well, then I guess I’ll get a nice double-wide trailer on a big lot,” he replied with a grin of his own.

She gave a little laugh. “You’re impossible. Okay, what’s the price range then? That’s most important.”

When he didn’t respond, she almost fell out of her chair. “What? Don’t tell me no price range.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you that.”

“Seriously? Wow, okay. I’ve got free rein on that then.” She could already see the number of zeros on her cut of the sale. It would be beautiful.

Jerry laughed. “I wouldn’t say free rein. It has to be within reason. I mean, I’m not paying two mil for an eight-hundred-square-foot box. I don’t need anything monstrous and fancy since it’s just me. I just need a nice, comfy house where I can kick my feet up or entertain if needed. Don’t focus on the price, just find me the perfect house.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” she said, waving him off. “When do you want to go looking?” She stopped and looked back at him with a frown. “Oh, wait, are you going to look at them or do you have some personal assistant you’re going to throw at me?” She tried to shove down the sharp feeling of disappointment at the thought.

“Nope. No personal assistant. All me.” He finished off his beer and stood up. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but start finding some places to look at. I should have some free time before we head out on the road.”

“All right. I can start pulling some listings tomorrow.”

“Great.” Jerry held out his hand to her and waited until she placed hers in it. When she did, he gave it a gentle squeeze as he kept his eyes strong on hers. She liked how her hand felt so small in his and she could feel where callouses had formed, feeling rough and coarse. “It’s a date then. I’ll see you around, Aunt Karen.”

Karen watched his back before it disappeared from her view as he walked into the house to say his good-byes to Maddie and Chase. She couldn’t believe she was going to be showing houses to Jerry Smutton. The thought of spending time alone with him was exhilarating and made her feel bubbly inside, even if it was only business.

It was still strange to sit and have a normal conversation with him, have him hug her or touch her hand...as if they were old friends. She had thought that any attraction was one-sided, but after the display on Opening Day and now here, she was beginning to think that perhaps it wasn’t. Something was going on between them, but what it was exactly, she couldn’t put her finger on it. It wasn’t as if he’d asked her out; all he’d asked her to do was her job. But there was definitely
something.

And if it were more, if he felt it too and wanted to act on it, would she accept it? Would she jump at the opportunity to be with Jerry? Absolutely, without a doubt, no questions asked. There was no way she was turning that down.

Karen laughed at herself and shook her head as she finished her wine, thinking she’d probably had too much with the way her thoughts were going. She would show him houses, they would stand up together in a wedding for their friends and that would be it. It was a nice fantasy, at least.

Chapter Five

Karen pulled her small red Honda into the driveway of the first house on her list to show Jerry and turned off the engine. He wasn’t there yet, so she took her time organizing the comps on this one plus the other three she’d arranged for that afternoon. He’d called her that morning, which hadn’t given her a lot of time, but she’d managed to snag a few appointments on short notice.

The one they were starting with had the backyard he was looking for, but not a finished basement. Since he could afford to finish it any way he wanted, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker, in her opinion. The rest he claimed he didn’t care about, but she hoped he would be satisfied with what he saw. It had sounded nice to her online, and now sitting outside of the redbrick ranch, she still thought it looked okay, but wasn’t as excited about it as she had been. She wouldn’t want something so plain, but it wasn’t for her.

She climbed out of her car, stepped up the cement steps to the front door and knocked. Even though she’d been told the owners would not be home, she’d learned her lesson after catching some homeowners in compromising positions.

When no one answered after a few seconds, she punched in the lockbox code and pulled out the key.

Stepping inside, she looked around.
Crap
, Karen thought, immediately realizing it was a no-go. The only way Jerry would possibly like the house was if he were eighty years old. It was one thing to keep things neutral, but whoever had decorated this place had gone overboard. Everything was boring, with bland brown carpeting throughout the whole house. The walls were painted beige and there wasn’t anything of character anywhere—no artwork, no photos, no anything. The furniture was plain and simple, could be described as nothing other than functional and gave no life to the rooms. There weren’t even any throw pillows to add color or texture. All the ceilings were low and the doorways small, and if
she
felt claustrophobic, then Jerry was definitely going to.

“Snore,” she murmured as she walked through the place, turning on lights, hoping to show its best side, whatever that was.

She stepped into the dreary living room and stopped at the sliding glass door overlooking the backyard. It was big, and surrounded by a nice wood fence, but there was no landscaping, no trees, no hedges or shrubs. Just grass and that was only a nondescript square.

Hearing the low rumble of a car engine before it shut off, Karen made her way back toward the front of the house and stood at the screen door trying not to stare as Jerry pulled his tall, powerful frame from the small confines of a silver Porsche 911 Carrera. He slowly removed his dark aviator sunglasses as he surveyed the outside of the place, standing casually with his hands propped on his hips. Dressed in jeans and an untucked navy button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to just below his elbows, he was a nice combination of the boy-next-door with a little bit of Hollywood mixed in. He wasn’t simple, but he wasn’t outrageous with his celebrity-ness either.

Nope
,
definitely not the place for him
, she concluded.

Jerry spotted her in the doorway and that big, toothy kid-at-Christmas grin of his spread across his face as he made his way toward her. She tried not to notice how her heart skidded at the sight of him and how her palms dampened, chiding herself that a stupid crush on a professional ballplayer wasn’t for people her age. She needed to ignore any attraction she felt toward him and concentrate on the job at hand. She had to get him to buy a frickin’ house and she couldn’t do that if she was drooling all over him the whole time.

She opened the door for him as he came up the steps. “Hey there.”

“Sorry I’m late.”

“No problem,” Karen said, trying to step into professional mode. “Feel free to walk around, take a look and let me know what you think.”

He walked in and stopped next to her, enticing her senses with the light scent of his cologne as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets. He glanced to his left and then to his right before he turned and arched his brows. “You’re kidding, right?”

“You didn’t even move from the front door.”

“Come on, Karen. Look at this place,” Jerry said as he waved one hand. “Am I a senior citizen or something?”

Her mouth gaped as he expressed her exact sentiments, but she quickly recovered and gave him a sheepish grin. “Okay, that was what I was thinking, but you never know. You could have loved it.”

“If I had no taste whatsoever. What’s next?”

“Uh, okay. Let’s see. It’s about a mile or so away from here. Let me turn off the lights and you can follow me over there.”

He put on his sunglasses and walked toward the front door. “I’ll drive.”

“I can’t leave my car here.”

“You should. It would add some color to this place,” he said with a smirk. “There’s a store at the corner where we can leave your car. I’ll follow you there.” He stepped out the door, not waiting for her response.

“Huh. Okay,” she said watching his back through the screen as he strolled down the driveway before stepping onto the road and into his car.

She wasn’t used to someone else calling the shots and she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about him taking the control out of her hands. She was the professional, not him, and this was her show, not his. But she did want to get inside that Porsche, so she would let it slide for now.

Closing and locking the front door behind her, Karen got into her car and backed out, catching him ease in behind her as she passed him. She pulled into the parking lot of the corner convenience store and gathered her papers from the front seat as he parked in the next spot.

Walking over to his car, her attention on making sure she had everything, she didn’t notice that Jerry had gotten out. He stood holding open the passenger door for her and she nearly collided with him before she realized he was there.

“Oh!” she exclaimed as she stopped abruptly, just before the top of her head crashed into his chest. “What the hell? You scared the crap out of me.”

“I guess chivalry is dead in your eyes then, huh?” he asked with a grin.

Karen hesitated and a puzzled look crossed her face. Chivalry? This wasn’t a date, it was business. “Whatever. Like a guy named Smutty could be chivalrous.”

He laughed and closed the door behind her after she settled in her seat. Tickled that she was sitting in Jerry Smutton’s car, she snuggled in, enjoying the way the soft gray leather fit around her like a glove. She ran her hands over the interior, appreciating the smooth, silky feeling. He’d left it on, and the powerful engine rumbled promisingly.

When he’d settled his long body into the small space, she batted her eyelashes at him. “So, when are you going to let me drive this baby?”

“Probably not anytime soon,” Jerry said as he put the car in gear and pulled out of the lot.

“Turn right at the light,” she said as she pointed. “What do you mean not anytime soon? Does that mean sometime?”

“I mean not anytime soon, like never.” He smirked as he glanced at her, his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses, but she was sure they were laughing at her.

“Go to the next light and turn left on Howard Drive. I don’t understand why not. I’m a good driver.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are...in your eyes. Fast and aggressive don’t equal good by my definition.”

“I’m defensive, that’s all.”

He let out a snort. “Defensive, my ass. There’s nothing defensive about you, Karen. You’re all about offense.”

She huffed and turned away from him. “Whatever, Smutty.”

“You know, I’ve noticed that whenever I strike a nerve with you, you call me Smutty instead of Jerry. Why is that?”

“Why is what?” Karen asked, bummed that he wasn’t going to let her drive his awesome car. “What the hell are you talking about? Turn right here. The house with the sign in the front.”

“Why you go between calling me Jerry and Smutty,” he answered patiently as he turned where she directed.

She turned her cool blue eyes on him while he stopped in front of the house. “What difference does it make what I call you?”

He shifted the car into park. “I guess it doesn’t matter, really, but it just seems weird hearing Smutty coming out of your pretty mouth.”

Karen raised an eyebrow even though her stomach quivered a bit. “Are you flirting with me?”

“You’re impossible.” He grinned as he shook his head. “No, I’m not flirting with you.”

“Okay, good. Let’s go look at this house.” She opened her door and climbed out.

* * *

Good?
Jerry thought with a frown as he watched her walk up the driveway to the front door. What the hell did she mean by that? Why wouldn’t she want him to flirt with her? She didn’t have to act relieved when he’d denied flirting with her, he thought with some sting to his pride, even though he’d been lying.

She was the one who’d had a crush on him to begin with, not the other way around. He’d heard about how he was her favorite, so why wasn’t she acting like it now? Not that he wanted her to hang all over him, but still. Some recognition of the spark that he’d felt between them on Opening Day or at Chase and Maddie’s would be nice, rather than acting as if he was an annoyance. The woman was confusing, that was for sure. It had to be an act on her part, Jerry was sure of it. Now he just had to figure out how to prove it.

Stepping out of his car, he walked up to the door and stood behind her while she worked the lock. His eyes trailed downward, from her slender neck, on display since she had her hair pulled up, to her slim waist and hips, both outlined by her pinstriped suit jacket. Her tight navy skirt stopped just above her knees and the generous slit in the back gave him a great view of her tanned, nicely toned legs.

Done with the flirty games, Jerry decided on the spot he was changing his mind. He
was
going to test the waters with her, and he absolutely was going to get his hands on her. If he played it right, she would be melting before she knew it.

* * *

Karen tried to take a deep, discreet breath while she fumbled with the lock, replaying the conversation in her head. It certainly had sounded like he was flirting with her and that had sent butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. And why would it bother him that she called him Smutty? She thought it was a cute name, so it didn’t make sense to her why he wouldn’t like her using it. Maybe it was some territorial guy thing that she didn’t know about, like only his buddies or teammates could call him that, just like only a girlfriend could call him Snookums. Whatever.

She opened the door and Jerry followed behind her, glancing around. This place was definitely a step up from the last one, but she could tell he still wasn’t wild about it.

“I picked this one because it has the yard I think you’re looking for as well as a finished basement. Well, at least partially finished,” Karen amended as she turned and found him watching her with a look of contemplation on his face. “What?”

She stood in the middle of the kitchen, which was mid-size but in desperate need of updated appliances, countertops and cabinets. She worried that he was thinking she looked as washed out as she felt, surrounded by such drabness.

“What do you think?” Jerry asked.

“I’m not the one buying, Pookie.”

“Pookie?” he asked with a chuckle and a puzzled frown.

“Yeah,” she said with a small shrug. “You don’t like me calling you Smutty or Jerry, so I guess I’ll go with my own nickname for you.”

“And you came up with Pookie?”

“Hey, I didn’t have much time to work with.”

He laughed again as he leaned his elbows on the counter. “Okay,” he said before turning his deep brown eyes on her, all humor gone. “What do you think? Would you live here? Why did it bother you that you thought I was flirting with you?”

“Jesus,” Karen exclaimed. “How many questions can you ask at once?”

“I could ask more.”

She blew out a breath and looked at him, her blue eyes strong on his. “Well, okay. Uh, what do I think? It’s better than the last one, but I don’t think this is it. Would I live here? No. Why did it bother me? It didn’t
bother
me. I was just trying to figure out what you were doing.”

Jerry studied her for a moment before standing up tall and running a hand over his dark hair. He looked around the place once more before putting on his sunglasses again. “You’re right. It isn’t right for me and you could never live here. Let’s go to the next one.”

“What the hell...” she muttered as she watched him walk away. “Why do I always get the crazy ones,” she mumbled as she closed up the house.

“Where to?” he asked when she got into the car.

“It’s over on Westwood. About two miles from here.”

They rode in silence, with the exception of her relaying directions. Karen watched the passing scene out her window, thankful for the quiet as she tried to piece together what in the hell was going on. He bounced around from topic to topic so quickly that she had trouble keeping up with him. It was as if Jerry was purposefully trying to keep her off balance so she couldn’t be sure of his next strike. Why he would be doing that, she couldn’t figure out. Did he want to flirt with her or was that just his nature? She had no idea, but she was certain that he’d believed she was telling him to back off when she’d called him on it.

Truth was, she was all up for flirting with the Smutster, if that’s what he wanted, and she could admit it would be a boost to her ego if he did find her attractive. He would be fun to hang out with, but she needed to make sure they were on the same page. She wasn’t Maddie, looking to settle down. If he was trying to follow the same path as Chase, then he was barking up the wrong tree.

When she pointed out the house, Jerry pulled into the circular driveway and took off his sunglasses as he looked out the front windshield. “Holy shit. This place is huge.”

“I wanted to show you what you could get in certain price ranges. I think we’ve already established that the other two are not for you, but I’m thinking this one might be more your type.”

“And why’s that?”