Mara shrugged and flushed. “He seemed interested in the Sinclair history.”
“How did your family end up owning the property?” Dante asked curiously.
“We don’t. We’ve rented the house since my grandmother’s day. It’s actually owned by another party, someone who doesn’t live here anymore.” Mara frowned. “I know the house needs some work, and I do whatever I can, but the landlord just doesn’t have any interest in the property anymore. He doesn’t want to do much as far as repairs.”
“It’s a beautiful old home,” Sarah said thoughtfully.
“It is,” Mara agreed with an enthusiastic nod. “I just wish I could do more to fix it.”
Dante thanked Mara for her help, and Sarah wandered outside with him, waving at Mara as they departed.
“What the hell is Jared up to?” Dante muttered quietly.
“Maybe he’s just interested in the Sinclair history,” Sarah suggested, taking Dante’s outstretched hand as they walked back up Main Street.
“Doubtful,” Dante replied dubiously. “More than likely he’s interested in Mara. Did you see her face when she talked about him?”
“She’s sweet,” Sarah argued. “And that’s hardly Jared’s type.” Somehow, she couldn’t see Jared trying to romance a shy, girl-next-door kind of woman like Mara. Jared was more the type to go for style and sophistication.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Jared with any woman since he’s been here. And you think she’s not his type just because she’s sweet?” Dante asked meaningfully, pulling her into an alley between shops. He crowded her, pushing her back against the brick wall. “Emily is sweet, and look what happened to Grady. You’re sweet, and look what’s happening to me. I think sweet women are a Sinclair downfall,” he told her gruffly. “We gravitate to sweet because we’re all assholes.”
Sarah looked up at him, trying to swallow the gigantic lump in her throat. His expression was teasing but vulnerable. “What’s happening to you?”
“I’m as pathetic as Grady,” he answered, but he sounded far from unhappy. “And I need you to kiss me.”
“What happens if I don’t?” she asked teasingly, wanting to immediately breach the distance between their lips and devour him whole.
“I’ll pass out right here in the dirt from yearning, and you’ll have to resuscitate me,” he replied with a wicked gleam in his eye, his body starting to sway playfully.
Laughter bubbled up inside her as Dante rolled his eyes, trying unsuccessfully to look weak.
“I’m fading,” he told her dramatically.
“Don’t worry. I’m a doctor. I think you’ll live,” she answered, still laughing as she grasped the front of his T-shirt and yanked him toward her, curling her arm around the back of his neck and bringing his mouth down to hers.
Her heart skittered as Dante immediately took control, pinning her against the wall and kissing the breath from her body with an embrace meant to brand her. He swept his tongue into her mouth, pressing his hard body against hers until she could feel his engorged cock against her lower abdomen. He teased, he possessed, and he enticed until she no longer cared who saw them. They were tucked away into an alley, but they still had a view of the entire town. It didn’t seem to matter. She was swept away by the power of Dante’s possessive embrace, drunk on passion.
Sarah was panting for air by the time he lifted his mouth from hers.
Dante put his head against the wall and scooped her into his arms. “I can’t do it. I can’t go back to Los Angeles without you, Sarah.” His voice sounded tortured. “Come with me. Be with me. I do need to go back, but I can’t go without you.”
She took a deep breath, letting it out as she laid her head on his shoulder. They had lived for the moment, but the future was catching up with them. “When do you have to go?” she asked quietly.
“Friday,” he answered hoarsely. “I have to check back into the department or put myself on leave again. They’re shorthanded—”
“I understand.” She cut him off, not needing to hear his explanation. Dante had responsibilities, and he was thinking about the good of the department. She didn’t expect him to be any other way. Still, he was leaving Friday, and it was only two days away.
“I need you with me. I know I’m asking for a lot. But money will never be an issue. You can take as long as you need to set up your practice there. We can be together.” He sounded desperate. “Come live with me, Sarah.”
She sighed, trying hard not to cringe over the thought of living in a big city again. She loved living in Amesport, but she loved Dante more. Location wasn’t truly going to matter if she didn’t have him. “I can’t leave Friday,” she told him tremulously, still stunned at the fact that he was leaving and he wanted her to go with him. “I’ll have to reassign my patients, take care of things here.”
“But you’ll come,” he pushed urgently, pulling back to look down at her, his gaze intense.