After five years spent proving his innocence in a gambling scheme, Jimmy Doyle Walker is back on the field for the Washington Diplomats. Given one season to demonstrate he can still contribute to the team, he guards his secrets well, knowing exposure of his unorthodox sex life would create a career-ending scandal. When he meets Evelyn Gardner, she tests his resolve, and he risks everything to show her the delights to be found in his arms.
Living day-to-day as a switchboard operator, Evelyn Gardner loathes the sexual cravings that cost her the home and family she’d always dreamed of. When she meets Jimmy Doyle Walker, the sexy first baseman for the Washington Diplomats, at a church revival meeting, he challenges her beliefs and her expectations. Determinedly, he seduces her through erotic letters, sensual gifts, and sexual play, until she dares dream she can have satisfaction and respectability.
Too bad her father, the preacher, seems set on ruining not only their reputations but also their lives.
Roz Lee is a USA Today best-selling author.
She wore her auburn hair in a tight bun at her nape, indicating she kept it long when most women her age were cutting theirs short. A nondescript hat crowned her head. Her dress was plain, no fancy trim for her, and her white-gloved fingers clutched a small purse in her lap. They’d reached the portion of the service where they passed the donation basket. Something inside him shifted as he watched her open her purse and select a single coin. He could almost see the way it ripped at her heart to drop the coin in the basket. Maybe it was the straight line of her back, something she’d maintained throughout the interminable service. Or perhaps it was the way her fingers curled into a fist the second the coin hit the basket, as if she was tempted to fetch it back before passing the collection on to the person on her left, but he’d bet his bottom dollar that parting with the money had nothing to do with her financial situation.
When she bowed her head for the prayer, he cut his eyes to her. Sweat glistened on her nape. He licked his lips. He could almost taste her salty sweetness on his tongue.
He nudged Harvey in the ribs. “Who’s that?” he asked behind the paper program someone handed him when he arrived.
His friend followed his gaze. “Never seen her before,” Harvey whispered before returning his attention to the final hymn.
Jimmy Doyle sang the lyrics from memory. There was something about the woman that drew him to her. She wasn’t beautiful, but he’d never cared much for outward beauty. It was what was on the inside that mattered most to him. Her posture screamed of tight control. He’d seen that look before, knew the challenge of breaking through barriers to get to the heart of a woman. She’d never find the answers she was looking for until she let another carry her burdens for her.
