The Closer You Get (16 page)

He just shrugged, not really knowing what that was supposed to mean. “So…is church over, now, or are you all walking back up the hill?”

She wasn’t looking him in the eye, now. Her eyes seemed to bounce from his chest to her feet and back again. “It’s over. But we all gotta go back up the hill for our vehicles.”

Her cheeks were turning pink. She was biting her bottom lip. Rye looked down, realized he had on a white t-shirt, and then grinned wholeheartedly at her. “Like what you see?” he asked.

She drew herself up, lifted her chin, and opened her mouth, presumably to make a smart retort. She froze like that for a moment before laughing and turning away. “Of course I like what I see, Rye. No sense lying about it.” She started to walk away, but he reached out for her elbow.

“Why don’t you come back to my apartment. Dry me off. Warm me up. What do you say?”

Her cheeks went from pink to red. Rye couldn’t interpret the change. Maybe she was angry. Maybe she was turned on. He couldn’t tell.

“Okay,” Rye said, changing tactics, “forget I said that. Walk with me back to my apartment so I can change clothes, and then let me take you to lunch. I’ll drive you up to the church for your car, after. Sound good?”

She bit her bottom lip and frowned up at him suspiciously. Her gaze occasionally dropped to his chest and abs before quickly bouncing back up. “Okay,” she said at last. “But I’ll buy my own lunch.”

What was with her and paying? “Of course,” he said though he fully intended to pay. Whether or not it was a date, he’d invited her and to him, that meant he would pay.
 

“And this isn’t a date,” she said.

“Lunch on Sunday? Give me more credit than that.”

“I just don’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

“I have no ideas whatsoever.” He grinned and was deeply pleased when she slowly smiled, her dimples popping in.
 

He gestured for her to lead the way toward Main Street. For just a few steps, she walked ahead of him. It was by design, as he desperately wanted to watch the curve of her round hips and ass outlined by the thin fabric of her dress. He memorized the sight before falling in beside her.
 

Rye seemed as light as a feather. Cora only stole occasional glances his direction on the walk home, but she could feel the peace radiating off of him. For someone who claimed to want to be with her, he didn’t seem the least bit interested. Lust coursed through Cora’s veins, her mouth watering at the sight of his torso that looked like it was chiseled from granite. But Rye just strolled along, whistling, and occasionally waving to a passerby. He definitely wasn’t lusting over her.

The apartments Rye and Cash lived in were in a newer complex, but they weren’t very esthetically appealing. Just practical, two-bedroom units. Rye could afford better.
 

“Why not get a house?” Cora asked, as he opened the door and waited for her to step inside.

“Not ready for the commitment,” he replied.

Cora looked around. It was a typical bachelor establishment. Empty beer cans on the coffee table. A couple of car magazines and a Sports Illustrated. The furniture was clearly yard sale fare.
 

Rye disappeared down the hall. Cora perched herself on the edge of his sofa and folded her hands in her lap. She looked around for a game console but didn’t see one. Maybe he’d learned to play elsewhere.
 

“All ready, boss,” Rye said, reappearing in dry jeans and a t-shirt.
 

Cora stood and preceded him out the door. Rye opened the truck door for her, too. They drove across town to the diner that had a twenty-four-hour breakfast menu.
 

Once they were seated, Rye opened his menu. Cora couldn’t keep from glancing at him. He was exquisite to look at. His body was everything a woman could want. Surely if he felt the same about her, he wouldn’t be able to focus so easily on his menu.
 

The waitress came. Cora ordered coffee and an omelet. Rye ordered pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Once she was gone, Rye smiled, looking like the weight of the world was gone from his shoulders. “I like the dress,” he said.

She looked down at her sundress. It wasn’t new. In fact, it was one of her oldest articles of clothing. The fabric was faded. The cut did nothing for her figure, which was already lacking enough on its own.
 

“It’s little more than a rag,” she said. When she looked back up, it was to find a very different expression on Rye’s face. The smile was gone. His eyes were bright with something Cora couldn’t identify. He didn’t look angry, exactly, but his jaw was tense.

“I suppose not being a man, you couldn’t understand the appeal,” he said. “But it’s a good dress. Trust me.”

Well, now she was just completely self-conscious. Had the wind blown her skirt up while they were walking? Were her nipples showing? “You can’t explain it?” she asked, smoothing the dress down her abdomen.

He cocked his head, his eyes darkening. “I can try. You might not like it.”

“Consider me warned. Go for it.”

His jaw ticked. “It’s a good color for you. The fabric is thin. So thin I can’t stop thinking how little there is of it between my hands and your bare skin. The skirt flows around your knees, and I can’t help imaging sliding my hand up your thigh, taking that skirt with me, and finding out what color panties you’re wearing.”

Cora became shockingly aware of how dowdy her panties were. Adam had taken her clothes and shoe shopping, but they’d for some reason bypassed the underwear. Why was she thinking about her underwear again?

“You mad at me, now?” he asked.

She looked up, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Rye didn’t exactly smile, but his eyes narrowed in amusement.
 

The waitress returned with their food, and the moment dissolved. Cora caught her breath, and after the waitress had left, she forced herself to sit up straight. “I’m not mad. I asked. It would be unfair of me to get mad.”

“But you don’t like it? You don’t like for me to think of you that way?”

Her face reddened.

“Is it the religious stuff? Is it immoral for me to talk to you like this?”

She let out a laugh. “No. Actually, I’m not that religious. I go for my mom. No, I’m not upset. I don’t mind that you think of me that way…” That didn’t come out how she wanted it to. “I mean, it doesn’t bother me…I…”

“Do you like it, Cora? Do you like knowing how much you turn me on?”

A fresh wave of heat colored her cheeks. With wide eyes, she stared at him. To keep her hands from shaking, she clasped them in her lap. “I’m just not used to this kind of talk.”

He cocked his head again. “You can’t honestly tell me no one’s ever wanted you before.”

She gulped down the nerves. How could she be expected to eat under these circumstances? Of course, no one had ever wanted her before. But she couldn’t very well tell him that. “It’s just…I’m a straightforward person. I’m not used to these games.”

“I know that, Cora. I saw that last week when I treated you so badly. I’m not playing games with you right now. I’m laying it out there. I want you. I like you. So you tell me…do I have a shot or not?”

Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again. She looked down to see her hands fisted in the hem of her dress. “I…I don’t know. I don’t think…”

Rye leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowed. “Are you attracted to me at all?”

God, it was hot in there. She let go of her skirt and smoothed it over her thighs. “Um…it’s not about that…it’s just…”

He frowned deeply. “You’re not? Not at all?”

“No! I mean, yes. I mean…”

“Cora!” The voice came from across the room. Rye and Cora’s heads turned simultaneously. Adam was coming toward them, followed closely by Cash. Adam slid into the booth next to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Cash slid in next to Rye. “What are you doing here?” Adam asked.
 

“Having lunch after church,” Cora answered, with far greater ease than she’d been able to answer Rye’s questions. In fact, she hadn’t answered Rye’s questions at all. She hadn’t been able to make her brain function what with the distracting ache and tension between her legs.

“What are you doing here?” Adam asked, this time to Rye. Somehow, the same question he’d asked Cora, now sounded accusatory and slightly bitter.

Rye’s expression went stony. That was the version of him Cora was most familiar with, yet she found herself missing the intense eyes and the hint of a smile. “Having lunch after church,” Rye repeated Cora’s answer.

“Jeez, Adam,” Cash said as he stole a piece of bacon off his brother’s plate. “What’s with the attitude?”

“I just didn’t expect to find my best friend on a date with your brother.” He managed to make the word ‘brother’ sound equivalent to ‘slug.’

“It’s not a date,” Cora hurried to assure him. “We just ran into each other at church and decided to have lunch together.”

Rye’s gaze was locked on her, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. Adam slid his arm possessively along the back of the bench. “I see. Well, I don’t have to feel bad for interrupting, then.”
 

Rye snorted and looked away.
 

Cora wondered how she could be simultaneously relieved to have her conversation with Rye interrupted, and regretful of losing his attention. “What are you guys out doing?” she asked.

“Just coming out of hiding to eat,” Adam said.
 

“I’m starving,” Cash said.
 

Cora let go of her own confusion, for the moment and grinned. “Whatcha been doing?” she asked suggestively.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Adam said. “Crossword puzzles. Scrabble.”

“Cops and robbers,” Cash said, deadpan, and shot Adam a wink.

Adam laughed and actually blushed.
 

“What about you?” Cash asked, turning to his brother. “How did you end up spending your weekend?”

Rye’s eyes locked with Cora’s. “Just sitting around. Went to church and got baptized, though.”

Cash, who had been sipping Rye’s coffee, nearly spat it out. “What?”

Cora couldn’t mask her grin as she remembered it. Big, badass Rye, marching proudly into the water, coming up like he’d just been given the gift of eternal life, and then acting like it was the most normal thing in the world. She’d been stunned silly, so it was no surprise to see the shock in Cash’s eyes. “It’s true,” she said. “He decided he needed a symbolic fresh start. Is that about right?”

Rye’s lips quirked up as he nodded.
 

“So…what does this mean?” Cash asked. “You got religion, now?”

“No,” Rye said, “I’m just going to be a better person. Stop habitually flirting with women. Or most of them, anyway,” Rye said, with a look that burned straight through Cora.
 

“Huh. Well, if it took baptism to do it, then I’m all for it,” Cash said. “You’ve been acting like a drunk frat boy for three years, now. It was getting pretty pathetic.”

Rye turned and punched his brother in the shoulder. Cash grunted and rubbed his shoulder, moving slightly away.
 

The waitress came by again, and the four friends kept the talk small. They seemed to all sense the tension between Adam and Rye. Cora was happy when they’d all finished eating and she could at last return to her home—a refuge from deep, blue eyes and unbearable heat.

H
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ABOUT
to resort to pulling petals off a flower and doing the loves-me-loves-me-not chant. After their lunch, Sunday, he couldn’t seem to catch a moment alone with Cora. Worse, he wasn’t sure whether it would do him any good if he did. He couldn’t seem to get a straight answer out of her. While he lay restless, at night, hard and aching for her, she might be sleeping perfectly soundly. He hated the not knowing.
 

By Wednesday, he decided to keep chasing her. The rejections were painful, but they’d been formed in such a way as to leave him with a little hope. Just enough hope to hang himself with, probably. He couldn’t take it, though, and he had to try at least one more time.
 

Just before the end of the workday, he waltzed to Cora’s office, knocked twice, and opened the door. She looked up from her laptop in surprise. “Hey, boss,” he said. “You wanna go have a beer?” He forced himself to breathe evenly, even though he felt like collapsing in relief. He didn’t bother to question why this little invitation made him way more nervous than asking a strange woman back to his apartment. It just did. He was beyond trying to understand his feelings for this woman.

A slow smile crept onto her face. “Sure. Give me ten minutes? I’ll meet you at the bar.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He made his exit. He’d done it. Everything was cool. This was hardly a date, but at this point, he felt that a first date was a goal for much later down the road.

Being the middle of the week, there wasn’t much of a crowd. He perched himself at the bar and ordered two beers. True to her word, Cora showed up just a few minutes later. She hopped up next to him and took a good, healthy drink of the beer he’d had waiting for her. “These are on me, this time,” she said.

“Nope.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Can’t do it.”

“You’re chivalrous? An old-fashioned kind of guy?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She shrugged. “Okay, then. I’m going to start getting expensive drinks.”

“Fine with me.” He had his head resting on his fist and was watching her as she worked hard at playing cool. She hadn’t once made eye contact with him. “You hungry, boss?”

She hitched that shoulder. “Not really.”

“We should go get pizza.”

“I’m good with a beer.”

He nodded. That was fine. No pizza, though it would hardly have qualified as a dinner date. Maybe he should try asking her to lunch again. She’d gone with him once, and he had managed to pay, so it was almost a date. If only his brother and Adam hadn’t crashed the party.
 

“So,” she said, “Adam and Cash seem to be getting along well.”