Honestly, Jared could have walked back to his house, but he welcomed Grady’s company for a little longer. “In a while,” he said noncommittally. “Was it me, or did those two look like they’ve been heating up the sheets all day?” Jared had noticed that Dante looked worn out but smug, and Sarah had been more than a little tousled. “Maybe we should have called first.”
Grady grinned as he turned out of Dante’s driveway. “Naw. It was more fun to watch both of them scrambling and looking guilty as hell. I think we interrupted a very long good-bye.” He didn’t sound the least bit repentant. “Going there was pretty pointless other than the fun of watching the two of them squirm.”
Jared looked at Grady’s mischievous expression. And everybody thought he was cold? Dante was their brother, he’d almost died, and he was leaving. “We don’t know when we’ll see him again. I wanted to see him before he took off.”
“He’ll be back by Saturday,” Grady said nonchalantly.
“He’s leaving tomorrow,” Jared answered, perplexed.
“And he’ll be back by the next day. He’s in love with Sarah. I don’t even know if he realizes it yet, but he isn’t going to be able to stay away from her for the month or two it will take her to get her business taken care of here,” Grady replied, no hint of doubt in his tone. “Besides, he knows she’s happy here, and I think he’s been happy here, too.”
“What does love have to do with anything? He has a job he needs to get back to, a life in Los Angeles,” Jared grumbled, thinking Grady had temporarily lost his mind.
“You’ll meet a woman someday, and she’ll knock you flat on your ass,” Grady commented hopefully. “She’ll be a woman who will make you lose all control, make you think about nothing except her until you realize that love is the most important thing in the world.”
“You’re dreaming,” Jared replied caustically, but he squirmed just a little in the seat of the truck, trying not to think about how badly he wanted to go back into Mara Ross’s store again just to see her sweet face or listen to her voice.
She’s going to hate me.
Considering his plans, his chances of Mara Ross ever speaking to him again were slim to nonexistent.
Grady pulled into Jared’s driveway as he said, “Saturday. Want to place a bet?”
Do I? Oh, hell no. I’ve seen the way Grady is with Emily, and I see the same damn look on Dante’s face.
It was highly possible that both of his brothers were lost causes now. “Shit,” he mumbled as he opened the door of the truck, his sympathies with Dante if he was going to become as sappy as Grady. “No thanks. I’ll pass and see what happens.”
“You know I’m right,” Grady said knowingly as Jared exited and slammed the door of the truck behind him.
Jared watched as Grady’s taillights disappeared after he turned his truck around, seriously wondering if Grady really was right.
Another brother bites the dust?
If Dante was another victim, Jared hoped he ended up as happy as Grady was with Emily. After all Dante had been through, he deserved it. Judging by the look on Dante’s face tonight, Grady was probably right. Dante probably wouldn’t even last a day without Sarah.
Someday you’ll meet a woman . . .
Jared didn’t agree with Grady. Happiness and love weren’t for guys like him. What he’d done today had solidified the fact that he was a complete and selfish prick, and he knew it. He put his hands in the pockets of his pants, his expression grim, and headed for the front door of his house, knowing that he deserved to be alone, and always would be.
CHAPTER 20
I should have told him. Why didn’t I tell him?
Sarah had watched as Dante went through security and disappeared out of sight to board Grady’s private jet. Right then, she’d felt the urgency pounding at her, the words stuck inside her by a lump the size of a grapefruit in her throat. She’d been afraid that it was too soon to tell Dante, too soon to let him know. Everything for them was too new, too surreal. She hadn’t wanted to spoil what they had by blurting out that she loved him prematurely. Now the words were pounding at her soul.
I should have told him.
She and Dante had never talked about love. Need, want, desire . . . yes . . . but never love. Now that she wanted to tell him, needed to tell him, it was too late.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she walked outside, making her way to the parking lot, searching absently for her car.
She, of all people, knew how short life could be. At the age of twenty-seven, she’d already had two brushes with death and knew that anything that had to be said should be said when she wanted to say it.
I was afraid.
Sarah readily admitted to herself that she would be shattered if she said those words and Dante didn’t respond favorably. Now she realized it shouldn’t have mattered. The fact was that she did love him, and he needed to know that, especially if he wanted them to have a life together. He’d either have to accept the way that she felt . . . or not. Admittedly, she wasn’t used to loving a man, didn’t know what he’d say, but she should have said it out loud. Yesterday, she’d tried to tell him with her body how much she loved him, but she’d clamped down hard on her lips to keep from letting the words escape her mouth.