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“Right.” I look down to where my dress is bunched between us. He came inside me. I didn’t even consider needing a condom, didn’t think about it once. How stupid can I be?
“I’m clean,” he says, as if reading my mind.
“Me too.” Unease pricks at my conscience. I’m the first woman Tyler’s kissed since his wife, and now we’ve had sex. Unprotected sex. “Maybe we shouldn’t have done this?”
He works his lips with an answer that he seems to struggle over. “That’s what friends are for.”
“The last I checked, that is not what friends are for.”
“Yeah, well …” A serious expression takes over his handsome face. He reaches up to stroke a wayward strand of hair that clings to my lip. “I think we understand each other better now, wouldn’t you say?”
I understand that Tyler is attracted to me—a candid truth he’s revealed that threatens to launch me into the clouds with the thrill it brings. And I understand that I am undeniably attracted to him in a way I can’t remember being with anyone else, even Jonah. Probably because that was all in my head, and whatever this is between us, it’s real.
But Tyler has made it clear he’s emotionally unavailable, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I’d be a fool to even hope for it.
Something tells me a fool is just what I’ll be if I let myself get too close to him.
I slide off him and shift back to my spot behind the steering wheel, turning away so he has a moment of privacy to dress himself. Maybe it would have been better if Jonah had found out what a terrible friend I was, rather than complicate this situation with Tyler. My father’s warning stumbles into my head, and my worry spikes. “You’ll still want me as your veterinarian, right?”
“What?” Tyler chuckles. “I was a second from dropping to my knees to beg you to take my dogs on. I’m not letting you go anywhere over this.” He frowns curiously. “Why would you think that?”
“Just needed to be sure.”
Tyler studies his empty ring finger. Did he ever wear a wedding band? Surely, he must have. When did he take it off last and decide not to put it back on? “The dogs are all I have left of Mila, and I’ll do whatever I can to give them the best. The best is you. I know that.” His eyes search my face for a long moment, and it reminds me that I have makeup smeared all over it. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“Yeah, me too.” Go home and wash my face under a cold stream of water while I don’t think of how Tyler feels inside me.
His hand stalls on the door handle. “If you want to keep this cover going, you should follow me out. Make it look like we’re leaving together in case anyone’s watching.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “God, I hope no one’s watching.”
He chuckles. “Have a good night, Marie.”
While he heads for his truck, I clean up as best I can and fix my panties. I tell myself that there was no need to tell Tyler that I’m not on any sort of birth control. The timing’s off, anyway.
In moments, I’m tailing his truck out of the Ale House’s driveway, squinting against the glare of the glowing orange sun in my rearview mirror. I follow the forest green truck all the way to his turnoff, and a part of me—the physical part that aches to feel Tyler’s hands on my bare skin again—hopes he’ll continue past it and lead me back to my place.
To my disappointment, he hangs a left, sticks his arm out the window, and waves as he speeds off.
But it’s better this way, I remind myself, and head home.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Is that it?” Mary Beck’s voice is shaky, her hand stroking Eddie’s head.
I will the lump in my throat to disperse as I press my stethoscope to the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s chest to confirm the lack of a heartbeat. He was always vibrating with energy when he came in here. Now, his cancer-riddled body is lifeless on his favorite blanket, laid out on the metal table of my examination room. “Yes. He’s gone.”
She dabs at a single tear that trickles down her wrinkled cheek. “At least he’s not suffering anymore.”
“We did what we could for him, Mary,” I say gently. It’s the standard line, one that brings all the comfort and yet none.
“He’s all I had left.” More tears begin to stream, too many to dab at with her tissue. “Can I have another moment alone with him?” She’s trying her hardest to keep it together—her lips pursed tightly—but I get it. She’s going to fall apart, and she wants to do it in private.
