Free The Closer You Get by Carter Ashby Page A

dress in years and years. She wouldn’t even know what to look for. But after they walked out of the mall with their arms full of shopping bags, Cora had enough dresses to last her a lifetime. Adam talked her into changing in the backseat while he stood guard. She slipped on a yellow, strapless sheath that stopped a few inches above her knees. She found the shoes she’d gotten to match and stepped out of the car.  
    Adam’s eyes went wide. “You look…you look…”
    She smiled. “I feel naked.”
    He reached out and touched the curve of her neck. She batted his hand away and giggled. “Stop it, Adam, you’re making me all tingly.”
    He laughed then. “You need some jewelry.” Then he gasped and grinned. “Let’s go get your ears pierced. Come on.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her back toward the mall entrance. She stumbled after him, not at all used to even a two inch heel.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I can grow my hair out and change into jeans. Piercing my ears is sort of permanent.”
    “So what? You don’t want to wear earrings on a given day, you don’t have to. No big deal. But you should at least have the option.”
    Before she knew it, she was sitting in a chair at the Piercing Pagoda. Adam made all the decisions for her, including which studs to get, and then she was holding her breath as her ear lobes were each punctured.
    On their way out of the mall, Adam pulled her into a jewelry shop and bought her a necklace. He took a little time picking it out, but when he did, it was perfect. Cora wore it out and never wanted to take it off.  
    “Now where do we go for dinner?” Adam asked once they were back in the car.
    “You don’t have to have dinner with me,” she said. “I know you’re probably in a hurry to get back to Cash.”
    Adam blushed a little. “I do want to see him. But I told him I’d have drinks with him later this evening. So you and I should go some place nice since you’re dressed for it.”
    They found a lovely little Italian place that had red carpet and white tablecloths. As fancy as they were going to get in Arkansas. They ordered and then Cora watched Adam consciously ignore his cell phone that had emitted a tone. She smiled. “Go ahead and check it.”
    Adam grinned, looked at his phone, and then blushed. “Wow,” he said. “No babysitter tonight.”
    “How’s that?”
    “Cash and I haven’t had a moment alone. Rye is always there. He doesn’t leave Cash’s side. I guess he’s going to let us be alone tonight.”
    “Why does he follow you guys around?”
    “I still don’t know. Just that something bad happened, and now Rye is all protective. Cash hasn’t had as easy a time as I have when it comes to people accepting his sexuality.”
    “That’s a shame. It’s good he’s being careful, though. Are you being careful?”
    Adam frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, are you being safe? Going out alone with two guys you barely know. Are you sure you can trust them? Cash is a big guy. Add Rye into the equation…”
    “You think they’d hurt me?”
    “I only think you’re very trusting. And you’ve moved in and out of relationships fairly easily. There're bad people out there. These two…they’re not above resorting to violence.”
    “I’m pretty sure they’ve had good reason to resort to violence the few times it’s happened.”
    Cora shrugged. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, that’s all.”
    Adam sat back. “I appreciate that. But I trust Cash. He’s…pretty amazing.”
    She blushed and looked away. “I’m happy for you. Is everything going well?”
    “Yeah. Still no kiss, yet.”
    “Jeez. He’s a bulwark.”
    “I know. As it turns out, I’ve enjoyed spending time getting to know him. When I first met him, I didn’t care about anything but getting him into bed. Now, when I think about what might have happened…I mean, what if we’d done that…had sex a few times and then went our separate ways? I