No Sweeter Love (Sweeter in the City Book 3) Read Free Page A

his chair. His shirt sleeves were casually rolled and his sunglasses were neatly folded on the table. She eyed his drink—half finished. Possibly not his first.
    Claire thought hard. “Remind me again who Marla is.” But she knew. Marla was one of many girls that had walked through Ethan’s revolving door.
    “Marla is the one I met at that charity thing last weekend,” he said, reaching for his beer.
    “Ah, yes. The kindergarten teacher who took down her online dating profile after you invited her to dinner the next night.” She rolled her eyes. Why these women fell for Ethan never ceased to amaze her. Sure, he was cute, with those twinkling eyes and that wide smile, and he certainly knew how to put on the charm, but in the three years she had known him, she had yet to see him get close to any woman. Well, other than herself.
    “Tell me,” Ethan said, leaning eagerly across the table until Claire could see the faint dusting of freckles across his nose. “How much clearer do I need to be? They all make it sound like I’ve led them on. I don’t lead women on.”
    Claire picked up her menu and then set it back down. She’d been here enough times that she didn’t need to skim for something new. She knew what she liked. What made her happy. On a warm June night, that margarita would be just the trick. She might even have two or three, considering the day she’d had.
    Her chest felt tight again just thinking about it.
    “You don’t lead women on,” she confirmed, and Ethan fell back in his chair, casually grabbing his drink on the way, seeming satisfied. “But, you do break a lot of hearts.”
    He shrugged. “But I never promise anything. If they get their hearts broken, it has nothing to do with me.”
    “Except maybe it does. You’re charming. You make them feel special. You’re cute  . . .enough.” She gave him a cheeky smile. “You know what you’re doing. You know what you’re getting into with these women.”
    “A night of fun, maybe more than one night. Sure. But I don’t promise them anything,” Ethan pointed out, setting his beer back on the table.
    No, he didn’t. Unlike someone else she knew.
    “I ran into Matt today,” she blurted. She blinked at Ethan, and was rewarded by the knit of confusion between his eyebrows.
    “But—”
    “You thought he’d moved? Turns out he’s been in Chicago all these months. He never left.” Hot tears threatened to spill if she blinked again, and she snatched the napkin, damp from condensation, from under his beer bottle.
    “Stop. You need a drink.” Ethan signaled to the waitress, who caught one glimpse of his smile and hurried to their table, barely registering Claire’s existence. He ordered a blood orange margarita for her without even asking, and another beer for himself. “Okay,” he said when they were alone again. “What happened?”
    “He came into the store,” Claire said, trying to discreetly dab the corners of her eyes. “To buy  . . .an engagement ring.” Just saying the words made her chest ache.
    “The bastard,” Ethan said, and despite herself, Claire burst out laughing.
    “He is a bastard,” she agreed, grinning as a tear escaped and wove a path down her cheek. She wiped at it with the back of her hand, as more followed.
    Ethan pulled back in his chair and hooked an ankle over his knee. “Seriously, though, Claire, I don’t why you should be upset. The guy was a jerk. He left you with no job, no apartment—”
    “I know,” Claire said, and she did, rationally speaking. The other part of her, however, still longed for him. For the time they’d shared. For the plans they’d made. For the life she thought they would have together.
    “But you are upset,” Ethan observed. “Why? You’re young, pretty; you should be out having fun. Instead, you’re sitting here crying on a beautiful summer evening. Although, is it technically spring? It is, I believe.”
    “It is still spring,” Claire agreed. But summer was