No one is heading this way.
Our breaths are heady and ragged, our chests heaving as we check each other’s eyes. For signs of hesitancy, or insanity, I don’t know, but I’m hit with an overwhelming sense that it’s now or never.
“I need you.” It slips out, goaded by the fact that the only thing between us right now is a thin slip of cotton underwear.
He smooths a hand over my cheek, and then he’s kissing me again.
Kissing me while he pulls me onto my knees to work my panties down. I help by sliding them off one leg, freeing me to shift my body forward. His bare thighs are hot against mine as he reaches between us.
We moan in tandem as he pushes inside me, our lips stalling as our hips work against each other, the delicious stretch of my body pulling sounds I can’t contain. My hands curl around his thick neck, my thumbs stroking his jawline as I slide on and off him in a steady rhythm, acutely aware that we don’t have the luxury of time, chasing after that high building in my core.
Finally, I catch it, and a sweet throbbing pleasure erupts inside me moments before Tyler himself does. The cry that escapes him is deep and primal, and if there were anyone within ten car lengths, they would’ve heard that.
Tyler’s breathing is as ragged as mine as he lets his head fall back and closes his eyes. “I think it’s safe now.”
I laugh, and the simple muscle spasm reminds me that he’s still seated deeply inside me. The last thing I feel right now is safe. My body buzzes with adrenaline, the relief that I should be feeling over avoiding a confrontation with Jonah overshadowed by the fact that Tyler and I just had sex.
In the Ale House parking lot.
“Thank you.” It stumbles out.
His soft chuckle fills the truck’s interior with warmth. “I can’t say I’ve ever been thanked for that before.” He cracks his eyelids. “You look as shocked as I feel.”
“I can’t believe we just did that.” I’m thirty-eight years old and I have a reputation to think about. What the hell came over me?
“It’s been awhile for me. A bit relieved to know everything still works.” He’s made no move to shift me from his lap, though his grip on my hips has loosened.
“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.”