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hand. “You can let go of the grip, cowboy.” I chuckled.
    He bowed gracefully as he held the passenger door open.
    I slipped inside less gracefully, and leaned over to open his door.
    Once inside, he grinned at me a few seconds before making his move. Throwing a leg over the console, he pulled me into an embrace and kissed me lightly. His mouth moved to my ear and he murmured, “Can we try that again, Peaches.”
    I could smell the beer on his breath. His lips were warm, and my heart was tripping like a jackhammer. It had been—what? Maybe three years since I had been kissed by an eligible male—one without blue eyes to his credit. I let him in. His tongue was tentative and slow, testing my mouth with fireworks that slid down my throat and exploded somewhere near my navel. One of us moaned a little. My body melted into the bucket seat until my back hit the gear shift, and the moan hit a higher pitch.
    “Sorry about that, Peaches. Your little car is as inconvenient as my cycle was tonight.”
    “Maybe we both could use some coffee.” I finger-combed my hair and adjusted my dress. “I know a Quickmart that has coffee AND Snickerdoodles.”
    “Sounds good.” He started the car and followed the directions I gave him, concentrating all his attention on the road.
    “You know, I never kissed a cop…” Too late, I bit my lip and could feel the heat shimmy up my neck. I couldn’t believe I’d said that—out loud.
    He laughed, still focusing on the road. “We are a similar species, you know—much like ordinary men with two arms, two legs, one head, one heart—always at the service of a peachy lady.” He flashed a lazy beer grin my way.
    “Mmm, sure you got the right body part there?” I muttered to myself.
    “What did you say?”
    “Everybody has a heart.” Mine was certainly getting a jump start tonight.

Chapter Seven
    I heard the pop just before we pulled into the Quickmart. The rear tire was still hissing air when we surveyed it.
    “We’re lucky this happened before the wheel rim was damaged,” Dallas pointed out. He gave me five dollars to buy take-out coffee while he had the tire changed.
    I purchased two 16 oz. cups of hazelnut decaf and two six-inch Snickerdoodles, and was delighted to find Molly Jamison, my best friend from school days, at the till. For years, she had been my persistent math tutor and an occasional date procurer, but our contact faded when she married a few years ago. When I gave her a hug, I noticed her baby bump, and for several minutes, we played catch-up, vowing to keep in touch more often.
    “Katie-cat, you’re on an actual date?” She squealed, craning her neck to scan a look at Dallas supervising the tire change outside. “Not bad,” she growled, giving me a thumbs-up. “Where did you find him?”
    “He’s a cop,” I whispered, hoping she’d take the clue to lower her voice. Thankfully, no other customers were at the register, and at the hour, only one or two at the back of the store.
    She gave me a fish eye. “So, did you break a law to get his attention?”
    “You might say Evan introduced us.
    Molly rolled her eyes and laughed heartily. She remembered Evan’s obsessions. “Any port in a storm, girl. Could this be serious?”
    “It’s our first date, Moll. Ask me tomorrow.”
    Shoving a roll of breath mints at me, she prescribed I take two. “And freshen your lipstick. You must have chewed it off.”
    I saluted and licked my lips. “Actually, it wasn’t my doing. Well, maybe I was a little complicit.” I grinned, nodding my head toward the scene outside.
    “You go, girl!” She squealed, giving me a high-five.
    An attendant was tightening the bolts on the spare tire when I carried my cardboard tray of goodies to the car.
    “The tire was beyond repair,” Dallas said, taking the cup I offered. “We had to toss it.”
    Suddenly, I remembered the spare came from the trunk. Suspicion might have driven him to look in the plastic bag, but he had no reason