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trying not to sound angry.
    “Ever since he broke up with Beth. Which was three years ago. He doesn’t seem to want anything serious.”
    “He seems to want to treat women like playthings, but if you’re okay with that.”
    “Whoa. Wow. What’s with the hostility?” Cash’s blue eyes were wide with a wary sort of amusement.
    Adam shrugged. “I just think he’s a grown man and to behave that way…”
    Cash laughed. “I guess I’m glad you’ve got such strong moral fiber. But could we not talk about my brother tonight?”
    Adam relaxed and smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Here I’ve got hot prospects and I’m worrying about…” he trailed off and glanced over his shoulder at Cora. She’d been joined by Lyssa and they were laughing about something. Good. He didn’t want her to be alone.  
    “I assure you, you don’t have hot prospects,” Cash said. His eyes followed Adam’s gaze, but he prudently didn’t mention it. “Unless going home alone and curling up with a good book is your idea of a hot prospect.”
    “It isn’t. I’ve got much more exciting ideas in mind.” A waitress brought them their beer, and Adam settled back in his chair. “So what do you say? You wanna come to my apartment after this?”
    “Nope.”
    Adam dropped his head back. “You’re starting to hurt my feelings.”
    Cash snorted. “I doubt that.”
    “You don’t think I have feelings?”
    The levity died when he looked into Cash’s eyes. There was an intensity, there, he hadn’t known before. This in combination with Cash’s hard, masculine good looks left Adam feeling suddenly intimidated. All he’d been able to think about since meeting the guy was getting him into bed. Now, for the first time, he wondered if he’d be able to handle him once he got him there.  
    Cash’s gaze wandered. “You look good,” he said. “Dressed like a normal person.”
    Adam’s heart rate kicked up, and he felt his face turn red.  
    Cash grinned. “Blushing like a little girl.”
    “Shut up. It’s hot in here.”
    Cash winked and took a drink of his beer.
    “I don’t know how you managed to get the upper hand in this conversation, but I’m going to get it back.”
    Cash just hit him with those eyes and sent his heart racing again. He loved this strong and silent thing. He’d never met a real John Wayne type. Suddenly, Cash switched back into conversational mode. “So what kind of law do you practice?”
    “Family law. But I do a little bit of everything. Fidelity is small. There’s only me and this other civil litigator, Micah Derrick. Who is hot, by the way. Come by for some eye candy sometime if you want. He’s unfortunately very straight. And married. But very pretty to look at.”
    “Why’d you go into law?”
    “Because I’m smart, I had the grades for it, and it’s what my parents wanted me to do.”
    Cash gave him a half-grin. “What are you, twenty-eight? Why not do something you want to do?”
    “Well, it turns out I like it. I thought about rebelling just for the hell of it, but law’s a good fit for me. And I’d already disappointed my poor parents enough with being gay and all.”
    “They ever get over that?”
    “Oh yeah,” Adam said. He frowned down at the table, remembering those difficult teenage years. “They put me in therapy when I was thirteen. Spent a few years trying different things. They finally accepted that they couldn’t change me…they figured that out before college. I brought home my first boyfriend sophomore year and they were really great about it. You could tell they were uncomfortable, but they eased up real fast.”
    “Your first boyfriend. Was it serious?”
    “Nah, it lasted a few weeks. Then I met Todd. That was serious. Went about two years.”
    “What happened?”
    “We graduated law school. Went to Memphis together. I stayed for a few months. But this is home. I asked him if he wanted to come with me, but for him, that was home. It’s only a few hours