The Closer You Get (27 page)

They lay there, breathing for several minutes. Cora trailed her fingertips through the sweat on Rye’s shoulder. She ran her hands down his back, smiled, and lowered them to his tight, perfect ass. She felt him smile against her neck. “Can’t believe this is all mine,” she said.

He chuckled. “You trying to make me feel good?”

“I mean it, Rye. You’re incredibly hot. I can’t believe I’m in bed with a guy this hot.”

He lifted his head to smile down at her. He seemed to hesitate about something. He said, “When I first saw you—”

“Don’t. Don’t tell me you thought I was beautiful when you first saw me. Don’t lie to me, Rye.”

His expression sobered. He touched her cheek. “When I first saw you, you affected me. You’re right. I dismissed you for a lot of reasons. You were my boss. You didn’t seem the least bit interested in me. And yeah, you didn’t look like the women I typically went after. But you affected me. Not for one moment have I been able to get you out of my head.”

Cora realized she was holding her breath.

“I…” he paused, narrowing his eyes in thought. “I honestly can’t look at you now, Cora, without thinking, ‘That’s the most beautiful woman in the world.’ And having you, now, like this…I can’t imagine ever being with anyone else. I can’t imagine that I ever was.”

Her eyes welled.

“So…I hope that can maybe make up for how much of an asshole I was to you early on.”

“Oh, Rye.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
 

He rolled to his side, bringing her into his arms. They kissed and touched. He pulled away and pushed her hair back from her face. “So perfect,” he whispered.

The whole moment was perfect.

“Cora?”

“Yes?”
 

“Do you got any snacks or anything?”

Cora rolled to her back and laughed.
 

“What’s funny? You dragged me over here, made me skip lunch.” He was tickling her as he teased. They wound up wrestling for a few minutes before putting on underwear and heading to the kitchen to raid her pantry for snacks.

D
AWN
CAME
TOO
early the next morning. Cora ached from head to toe. She flung an arm over Rye, trying to wake him. “Work,” she croaked. “Gotta get up for work.”

He was face-down in a pillow, so she didn’t understand what he said.
 

He’d spent the entire day and night making love to her in a variety of positions and locations throughout her house. She thought she might need a week of sleep to recover.
 

Cora rolled over, trying not to groan, and swung her legs out of bed. She went straight for the shower, turning the spray on hot. The heat went straight to her bones, and moans of pleasure escaped her lips. The moment was easy and sensual.

But, like an overgrown puppy, Rye bounded into the bathroom, flinging the curtain back and slamming into her, even licking her neck. “You don’t shower without me,” he said. “Never again.”
 

She giggled, amazed at how happy she was to have her moment interrupted. He pressed her back to the tiled wall, hooked one of her legs over his hip, and plunged into her. Her cry was one of pain. He’d used her thoroughly, and her female parts felt bruised and sore.
 

Rye stilled. “Did I hurt you?”

“Keep going,” she said, deciding she’d rather play through the pain than lose the feeling of him inside of her.

He thrust slow and deep, grinding against her. The hot water from the shower continued to relax her so that her orgasm came in slow, sultry waves. She’d learned through the night that there were all kinds of orgasms and that she enjoyed each one in its own way.
 

Rye pulled out, took her hands, and wrapped them around him. “No condom,” he said, his way of asking her to use her hands.

She hesitated. “Do you maybe want me to…?” For some reason, she couldn’t form the words.
 

Frustrated, he grabbed her hands and used them to stroke himself. “To what? God, that feels good.”

“To do something different for you?”

“Anything, just keep going.”

She pulled her hands away and nudged him back a step. He finally focused on her. “I’ve never done this,” she said, even as she knelt in front of him.

His expression shifted. He blinked and licked his lips. “You don’t have to. I don’t expect it.”

She took his erection and licked the tip. “Like this?”

“Yeah.”

She licked the length from base to tip. “Like that?”

“Christ, Cora.”

“I don’t think I can fit the whole thing in my mouth, but I’ll try.” He laughed until she took him in her mouth, at which point he groaned.
 

“That’ll work,” he murmured.

She mimicked the movements she’d seen on the one dirty movie she’d accidentally seen when flipping channels one night, using her tongue and adjusting to this new reality in which she was on her knees in front of a man, giving him a blow job. His hand rested at the back of her head. It fisted in her hair a split second before he came. She took him in, shocked at how powerful she felt for it.

Rye fell to his knees and embraced her. “Thank you,” he said.

She giggled and ran her hands over his wet skin. They stood and finished their shower. Cora didn’t feel at all up for going to work, but she had appointments. And Rye needed to supervise the groundwork for the country club site.
 

They dressed and ate toaster pastries at the counter, smiling at each other and talking about nothing. He drove her to work in his truck, and she thought she might like for it to be that way always.
 

Her office was quiet and uninteresting, and nothing could take her mind off the aches she’d acquired from the night before. Nothing could take her mind off the way Rye had changed her world in only twenty-four hours.
 

Late in the morning, Chrissy the receptionist buzzed. “There’s a lady to see Rye, do you know when he’ll be back?”

“No idea. Can you take a message?”

“She says she wants to wait.”

“Send her back.”

A few minutes later, a young woman entered, maybe a little older than Cora. More to the point, she was six inches taller and had the body of a goddess. Easily more gorgeous than Cora’s sisters. Cora had to remind herself that she was a successful businesswoman and that there was no reason to shrink away from this woman.

Cora stood and extended her hand. “Cora McKay.”

The woman shook her hand. “Beth Myers.”

Cora knew the name Beth. She knew who this woman was. But she kept a professional demeanor and gestured toward a chair. The two women sat. “Rye’s at a site, can I give him your information?”

“I just need to talk with him. It’s kind of urgent. I thought I could take him to lunch or something. Couldn’t you give me his number?”

Cora instinctively knew she didn’t want this woman having Rye’s phone number. Control over his contact information was possibly the only advantage she had. “I can give him a call,” Cora said, as she lifted her phone to her ear.

It rang a few times, and then, “Rye.” Business-like and mildly irritated. He needed to learn to look at his screen so he would know who was calling.

“It’s me.”

“Me? I don’t know any Me.”

“This is your employer,” she said, hoping he’d pick up the hint that she wasn’t in a position to be teased. “Inquiring after your whereabouts, please.”

“Uh, sure boss. I’m on my way back to the office to take you out to lunch. You wearing underwear?”

“I thought you were going to be at the site all day.”

“Nah. Everything looks good. I’ll go back tomorrow and check on them. Got some other projects to work on. Say something dirty, boss, your voice drives me crazy.”

She was doing her best not to blush, but by now, Beth had likely figured out that there was more between her and Rye than an employer/employee relationship. “That’s fine. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She hung up before he could say anymore. She turned to Beth. “He’s on his way back. If you want to wait in the lobby, he should be here in just a few minutes.”
 

Beth thanked her and glided out of the room.

Cora sat in her chair and stared at her computer screen without really seeing it. It was silly to get this worked up and upset over this. People ran into exes all the time. It didn’t mean they would get back together. Still, Beth was way more beautiful than Cora could ever hope to be. And from what she understood, Beth had broken up with him. She felt a lump of fear and sadness in her throat.
 

A few minutes later, Rye stormed into her office. He slammed the door behind him and then leaned forward onto her desk, spearing her with his eyes. “You knew that was my ex, didn’t you? On the phone? You knew, and you didn’t say anything.”

She shrugged. “I just thought…”

“What? You just thought what?”

“I guess I wanted to see how you reacted when you saw her.”

“Right. You wanted to test me.”

“Not exactly, I—”

“You got scared and came back here and cowered like a scared little maid.”

She lifted her chin, suddenly pissed. “I am not scared.”

“Yeah you are. You think she’s hotter than you, and that I’ll go crawling back to her if I get the chance.”

That was exactly what she thought. But how he knew it, she’d never know.

“Come on, get up,” he said. “She wants to talk, so we’re going for coffee.”

“It seems like it’s none of my business.”

He stood and strolled around to her side of the desk. “Are we together?” he asked.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

“Are you my girl?” He put his hands on the arms of her chair and leaned over her.
 

“Yes,” she said, not able to suppress the smile.

“Are we stupid-crazy about each other so much that we can’t stand being apart?”

“Yes,” she giggled.

He was grinning, now. He pressed a kiss to the back of her cheek. “Then this is your business. Come with me and be strong for me, all right?”

She nodded and embraced him. He lifted her to her feet, and they held each other for a moment. He kept hold of her hand as they walked back out to the lobby. He gave Beth a nod, and she rose to follow them.
 

Beth drove her car, following behind Rye and Cora in his pickup truck to a little coffee shop at the corner of Main and Charity. They took a table in the back and Rye sat next to Cora, his arm resting carelessly along the back of her chair.

“So he won his appeal,” Beth said without preamble.

Cora felt Rye stiffen at her side.

“How?”

“There was some mishandling of the evidence. Rye, you guys had the whole town against you, cops included. You were lucky not to be in prison yourself.”

Rye shook his head. Cora chanced a glance and saw anger in him like she hadn’t yet witnessed.
 

“I thought you might want to tell Cash yourself,” Beth said.

“Why did you bother coming?” he asked. “You disapprove if I recall. Something like…’you reap what you sow.’ Isn’t that what you said? That you believed my brother had it coming?”

Beth’s eyes welled. “Rye, I’m sorry for the things I said. I know they were wrong. But it’s the way I was raised and…and isn’t there some grace for us when we make mistakes based on ignorance?”

Rye’s gaze was cold.

“Anyway, I was hoping this would make up for it. At least a little. Davis’s release won’t be in the paper for another couple of days. Maybe he’ll just hit the streets and slink away. But I thought you guys deserved some warning.”

Rye was silent for a long time. And cold. Finally, Cora reached over and rubbed his thigh. This seemed to warm him some. He took in a breath and relaxed. “Thanks. For the warning.”

“You’re welcome. And I’m sorry. No one should have to live in terror.”

They sipped their coffee. Rye warmed a little more, and soon he and Beth were chit-chatting and laughing at old stories. Cora was surprised that she didn’t feel left out. He’d asked her to be at his side, and it was evident in all the little touches that he wanted her there; maybe even needed.
 

Once Beth left, Rye slumped back against the booth. He stared off at nothing for a long time.
 

Cora angled toward him, rubbed his thigh, and waited.

After what felt like hours, Rye blew out a breath. “Davis Acton was the leader of a group of guys who assaulted Cash back in Henderson.” He let out a bitter laugh. “Assaulted. That word doesn’t begin to convey what they did to him.”

“Tell me about it,” she invited softly.
 

He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I was with Beth, fortunately at the same bar Cash had been taken from. It was different, back then, he and I didn’t hang out together all the time. So it really was luck I’d decided to stop in. This kid comes running in. Told me Davis and his buddies were hurting Cash. So I followed him, out of the bar, past the parking lot, into the woods. They…”
 

Rye shook his head and closed his eyes. “They’d almost killed him. I lost it. I lit into Davis, but that kid, the one who’d come to get me, he got my attention. Told me I needed to get Cash to the hospital. Cash is a big boy, but I don’t even remember him being heavy. He looked like my baby brother, then, all those times he tried to keep up with me and my friends when we were kids, and I’d just shove him on his ass and tell him to leave us alone. That was all I could see.”

Cora wanted to talk to him. Comfort him. But she was too busy trying not to cry.

“He’s fine now. I mean…he’s got issues, but he’s doing okay. Hey,” he turned to her, looking suddenly worried. “You can’t tell Adam this stuff. That’s for Cash to do. I can trust you, right?”

“You know you can or you wouldn’t have told me.”

He blinked and then smiled sadly. “Yeah.”

“So this guy is getting out of prison? Are you afraid he’ll come after Cash?”

Rye shrugged. “There’s no real reason to be afraid of that. But we won’t take any chances. We’ll get restraining orders that way if Davis comes within sight of Cash, he’ll be prosecuted for it. Keep me from committing murder.”