“My thoughts exactly,” Jared answered as he shoved the key chain back into his pocket. After folding the heavy table she used for her displays and loading it into the back of her truck, he slammed the tailgate closed and snatched up her thermos and the tote lying on the ground. As he handed her the items, he asked, “Ready?”
That one little one-word question touched Mara’s emotions on so many levels. Was she ready? Her entire life was changing right now, and she’d have a lot of challenges she’d never faced before. Was she done grieving over the loss of her mom and generations of tradition? Maybe not, but she had to move on with her life. Jared was right. Her mother would have wanted her to succeed, and would have been disappointed if Mara kept holding on to a losing business when she had better opportunities. Still, she wished it didn’t hurt so damn much to let go.
Jared Sinclair inspired far different emotions, and she was fairly certain they were dangerous.
I need to start living my life sometime, taking some risks.
She’d spent her entire adult life looking after her mother, and she’d never regret it, but her mom would have wanted her to be happy, experience life. Jared was right about what her mother would have wanted for her only child. She had her memories of her mother, and her gran who had died when Mara was still in grade school. She’d hold those close to her chest and start living for herself now. She had to if she wanted to move on and survive.
She nodded at Jared. “I’m ready.”
A look of understanding sparked between them as their eyes met and held. Mara shivered as she felt some kind of connection solidify.
Maybe he was dangerous to her.
Maybe he was troubled.
Maybe he had some of the same issues he needed to work through as she did. She’d begun to suspect he did, even before the strange coincidence that Beatrice had given them the same stone.
As Jared opened the passenger door for her, Mara wondered if maybe, just possibly, they could help heal each other.
CHAPTER 5
What in the hell is wrong with me?
Jared tried to focus on his driving, unable to forget his passionate encounter with Mara for even two damn seconds. He’d remember her needy little moans for a very long time, and they’d be echoing in his head later when he took himself in hand to take away the pressure of his aching cock.
I completely lost control. I don’t lose control anymore. Not ever.
Kissing Mara had been his first loss of restraint in years. When he’d been devouring her, he couldn’t have cared less if the entire world fell apart, as long as he could get closer to her, deeper into her mouth.
Mine.
That one word kept repeating in his mind, driving him closer to the edge of taking what he wanted, and damn the consequences of his actions.
She wanted the same thing.
Bullshit! He was kidding himself if he thought for a moment that Mara really wanted him. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, what kind of man he really was. Mara Ross was way too open, too sweet to realize what she needed, and that sure as hell wasn’t him. Yet, it didn’t stop him from wanting her with an intensity that caused him to forget rational thought.
“Sullivan’s is better than Tony’s.” Mara’s voice broke the silence.
Jared jolted himself into reality as she spoke from the passenger seat of the beat-up old truck. And dammit, he needed to talk to her about this damn vehicle. He didn’t care what it looked like. He hadn’t been kidding when he told her he’d had a work truck like this one. But it had always been in good repair. What really mattered was that the brakes were squealing, the engine was choking, and the tires were almost completely bald. “Sullivan’s?” Jared had never heard of the place. He always ate at Tony’s. The ambiance was good, and the food was decent.
“Turn right at the stop sign,” she instructed. “Sullivan’s has the best seafood in town. It’s mostly locals. Tony’s is fancier, so I guess the visitors figure the food is better. It’s not.”
Jared turned, letting her guide him to a different place to eat. After they’d dropped off the jars of taffy and jam he had purchased from Mara at his house and settled the bill, he was starving. He’d missed breakfast, except for the sample of her incredible homemade products, and was beyond ready for lunch. “Now what?” he asked, his tone impatient. There wasn’t a food joint in sight.
“Find a place to park at the dead end. We’ll have to walk to the end of the boardwalk,” she told him calmly.
Jared turned into a dirt parking lot at the end of the street and maneuvered into a parking spot. “The shack?” He’d seen the rough old building at the end of the boardwalk, near the old pier that led to the lighthouse, but hadn’t paid much attention. It hadn’t even looked habitable.
“Sullivan’s Steak and Seafood. It’s been there for as long as I can remember. Best lobster rolls in the area.” Mara unbuckled her seat belt and smiled at Jared.
“It looks like a dive,” Jared grumbled.