You have Jared now.
Mara knew how much Jared had altered her life, and she tried not to contemplate where she would have been right now had he not appeared to help her, to be her confidant and her lover.
She felt different.
She was different.
And feeling this way was damn fabulous.
She refused to sabotage herself with negative emotions. So what if Jared didn’t believe in love? He cared about her. What did it matter what he called those emotions? People said the words all the time and didn’t mean them. Jared’s actions, the way he treated her was the most important thing.
I want to stop needing to hear the words.
Turning away from the mirror, she decided she was just going to be grateful to have Jared in her life and stop questioning the way he felt about her. She wasn’t sure where everything was going between them, but she had a fantastic start to her business. Her life was changing in positive ways. And she had a man who was supportive of her dreams, and who wanted her desperately. Mara wanted to enjoy her good fortune instead of analyzing it to death.
After leaving the restroom, she looked around the crowded ballroom, her eyes automatically seeking out Jared. She saw him almost immediately even though the big room was crowded, his back to her, sitting at a table with his brothers and Jason Sutherland while they waited for the sumptuous buffet to open.
Dodging bodies to make her way across the room, she was stopped when a hand curled around her upper arm, ceasing her forward progress.
“Your aura is almost fixed, honey.” Dressed smartly in a purple dress and matching shoes, Beatrice smiled at Mara.
“Is it?” Mara smiled at the elderly woman fondly.
“Yes. That man of yours is looking good, too . . . in more ways than one. I’m liking his aura now. Something positive happened to him,” she said sharply. “He’s nearly healed.”
Mara wanted to tell Beatrice that Jared was never sick, but she knew it wasn’t true. His entire emotional being had been injured, and he’d been stuck. “I’m glad. But he isn’t exactly my man, Beatrice.”
“He will be,” the older woman answered slyly. “I’m glad you’re not lonely anymore. A sweet girl like you shouldn’t be so alone.”
Oh, God. I hope Jared will be mine forever someday. I might keep telling myself not to expect it, but I can’t help wanting it to happen.
She hugged Beatrice tightly, smiling even broader because she’d referred to her as a sweet girl. She was hardly a girl, and she wasn’t all that sweet, but she knew it was the older woman’s term of affection. “I’m glad, too,” she whispered quietly.
Beatrice patted her shoulder. “I’m off to find Elsie. If she drinks too much champagne, she gets wild.”
“Oh, I won’t keep you then,” Mara answered, biting into her fresh lipstick to keep from having images of an eighty-something-year-old woman dancing on tables from too much champagne.
Beatrice wiggled her fingers in good-bye as she turned to go find her friend.
Mara giggled when Beatrice was out of hearing range, and continued on her trek across the crowded room toward Jared. She’d known Elsie and Beatrice most of her life, and she adored both of the quirky women.
Finally, she halted, unable to get past a bulky older man to reach Jared. She hesitated as she heard her name mentioned, unsure if she should intrude on a conversation about her.
“I have to tell Mara,” Jared said irritably. “I just don’t know how. She cares about me now. We have a business together. How do I tell her that I bought her house, that I was planning on getting her evicted from that home as quickly as possible?”
Mara’s heart clenched. Jared was the buyer for her house? Jared had purchased her home and was going to have her thrown out on the streets?
“You need to just tell her. She’ll find out eventually. There’s a fire investigation happening now, but she’s going to know once you start building it up again for investment property,” Jason told him calmly. “I assume that’s why you bought it. It’s prime real estate in a coastal town with an old home sitting on it. You got a good price, right?”
“Yes,” Jared said angrily.
Oh, my God. He just wanted my home. He felt sorry for me because I was going to be displaced, but his primary motive from the beginning was to get that house. It belonged to a Sinclair at one time. That’s why he was interested in the property history, his family history. Bastard! And I helped him find out everything he wanted to know.
No wonder he’d helped her, wanted to help her start a business. He’d felt guilty. Remorse was a weakness for him. He’d proven that over and over by never forgiving himself for Selena’s and Alan’s deaths.
He pities me.