Page 48 of An Unfinished Memory

Sutton

Ethan Kraft was Jake’s brother. Like Jake, he was around six feet tall. Where Jake had deep brown hair, Ethan’s was coppery brown, and he had a close-trimmed beard. His clothing screamed corporate, and apparently, he was in the C-suite of the coal mine outside of town, and he lived in Beulah.

The hardest part about tonight should’ve been getting used to saying Jake and not Dr. Jake. Instead, all of tonight was hard.

The difficulty originated with Ethan himself. He was handsome, charming but not in a way that fired up alarm bells, and easygoing with a sense of humor that had kept us all laughing.

Ethan was a catch.

But I was having sex with my ex-husband. I wanted the night to be over, so then it’d be tomorrow, and I’d spend the day knowing Wilder would swagger through my door and take me right to bed to get between my legs.

The thought alone had my body humming. A steady beat pulsed between my thighs, and like at the street dance, I was struck with something akin to vertigo. A disconnect between what my body was feeling and my surroundings.WhoI was with.

I wasn’t supposed to be turned on, sitting in a booth with Vienne, a man I’d just met across from me, and his brother who was trying to fuck my friend next to him.

I thought I left the uncomfortable dating days behind in Colorado after I met Wilder at a horse show.

Ethan leaned across the table and lightly touched his warm fingertips to the back of my hand. “You with us?” A smile danced around his lips. He really was good-looking, but my sex drive down-shifted and began to ebb.

Because Wilder wasn’t swinging in tonight to get me off.

“Yes.” I had my fork poised over my creamy herb chicken. Since the movie theater was in Coal Haven, we were eating at the popular bar, Rattler’s, not far from it. The chefs had opened the place years ago, and folks drove from all over to eat here.

The food was good, and I almost commented that I’d have to tell Wilder we should eat here sometime. I stabbed a hunk of chicken and stuffed it into my mouth.Vienne slid a concerned gaze my way, but I flashed her a closed-mouth smile. Everything was fine.

Just fucking delightful.

I’ll take “Inappropriate Reasons Why I Wish This Night Was Over” for a thousand!

Would Wilder have guessed a thousand?

“The food here is sooo good,” Vienne moaned over her steak bites. She eyed Jake’s steak, already gone with only a few chunks of fat left behind. “How was yours? I almost ordered that.”

Her high energy cut right through the moment, taking everyone’s focus off me. She was a damn good friend. I hoped she’d find someone who made her happy. I’d met her ex-fiancé a few times. A complete dud. The way she talked about her ex-husband came off as frustrated and fed up, but I worried she was still hung up on him. He’d done some emotional damage she didn’t talk about. Jake wasn’t her happily ever after. He was known for saying he was allergic to relationships. I didn’t think he’d make a good happy-for-now either. He was the type to see Vienne as a notch in his belt.

Maybe she’d be interested in Ethan?

Setting my friend up with my date wasn’t the best sign I was moving on. Neither was having sex with Wilder, but I wasn’t as lonely and miserable when I was expecting his visits. My brain knew he was gone. He didn’t live with me. So when he did show, he came because he wanted to. A huge difference from when we were married, one I doubted he’d ever understand. Which was why we’d stay divorced.

I managed idle chatter as we ate. I had ridden with Vienne to the restaurant, but when we finished at Rattler’s, we hopped in with the guys to go tothe theater. Vienne sat in the front with Jake. I was in the back of Jake’s Dodge pickup with Ethan.

I was in the back seat of a pickup with a man. My body fired up like I’d been hit with a live cattle prod. The disconnect was back. I wasn’t in the back seat with Wilder.

“The movie doesn’t start for half an hour,” Jake said. “Let’s drive around for a while.”

I stifled a groan and swallowed bile. My clothes were on, and we weren’t alone. At no time in my life did I spontaneously have sex with a guy I picked up one night in the back seat of a pickup.

The incident with Wilder notwithstanding.

I swallowed my nerves and smiled when Ethan asked about my work and how it was different from Jake’s business.

“I’m concentrating more on small animals, but I will pick up large-animal clients.”

“The ones who don’t like me,” Jake said from the front.

I chuckled, but he was right. Wilder had told me why Ryan and Sheldon wouldn’t use Dr. Jake if they could help it.

“Do you work with exotic animals?” He leaned closer when he said it.

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