“You don’t like what you’re doing, owning one of the most profitable commercial real estate companies in the world?” What exactly did he mean by needing something he could believe in?
“It’s big business. Big buildings. Big money changing hands. Big commercial buildings. It’s not a challenge anymore. It never really was.”
Jared had helped to build some of the most impressive, enormous buildings in the world, and that wasn’t demanding enough for him? “You don’t like it,” she decided adamantly. “You don’t like what you do.”
“Maybe,” he agreed grudgingly.
“But you believe in my products?” Looking at the tortured look on his face, Mara believed him. Maybe he was bored. Maybe he really did want to be her mentor.
“I believe in you,” he snapped.
“Do you hate what you’re doing that much?” she asked gently.
“I don’t exactly hate it,” he grunted. “But I don’t like it, either. I have competent upper management who can do most of the work now. I’m basically a figurehead, the guy who makes the final decision. But everything has already pretty much been decided by research and professionals chasing the deals and the details, the pros and cons already figured out. All they need is my okay. Maybe I need the challenge of building a business from the ground up again.”
“It’s never going to be a huge moneymaker,” she warned him calmly, moving back enough to place her coffee in the bed of the truck and hop up on the tailgate to sit. Jared was a lot safer from a distance. “I know I can turn a good profit, but it isn’t the kind of money you’re used to dealing with,” she continued, relieved by the distance she’d put between them.
“I don’t give a shit about the money. I never did. I had more than enough money to live a life of luxury for the rest of my life and never do a single day of honest work. Success doesn’t always involve huge profits. I just want you to make enough to live comfortably. I want to teach you how,” he admitted roughly, his graveled tone sounding like he wanted to show her much more than business. Moving around the metal table, Jared set his coffee down before he stalked her, slowly pursuing her until he finally pinned her body against the open tailgate of her battered truck with his much larger, muscular form.
Mara’s breath hitched as she inhaled his masculine scent, feeling intoxicated by his nearness. He placed his hands on both of her knees and ascended slowly along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs with his thumb, stroking until he reached the tops of her thighs. Once there, he moved his hands up and gripped her hips in an urgent motion, pulling her forward until her saturated core was flush against his hard, steely erection.
Mara shuddered, her body melting into Jared’s as she looked up at him. His expression was strained and hungry, like a starving predator that had finally spotted prey. “And what do you get?” she questioned shakily, her nerves raw from trying to pretend she wasn’t ready to crawl up his big, muscular body and beg him to satisfy the ache he was causing to pulsate through her entire being.
“Satisfaction,” he answered in a husky voice before his mouth covered hers.
He swallowed her needy moan greedily, and he plundered her mouth with a dominance that turned Mara inside out. Helpless to do anything else, she wound her arms around his neck, threading her hands into his coarse hair, luxuriating in the feel of Jared taking her over completely. He demanded. She gave. He tilted her head, grasping her hair to position her head, demanding better access to her mouth. His tongue surged through her lips and into her mouth, his teeth taking small nips at her bottom lip between the bold thrusts. Strong hands moved down her back with brazen, possessive strokes that finally landed covetously on her ass as he cupped it like it belonged to him. He wasn’t gentle as he yanked her forward, bringing her core as close as it could get to his engorged cock with their clothes on.
His embrace was bold and volatile, and she responded to his wildness with an equally frantic need all her own. Yearning. Tasting. Touching. All things that she had wanted to do to Jared Sinclair in her fantasies.
For a few moments, Mara let herself go, forgetting everyone and everything as she submerged herself in the feel of Jared’s mouth and hard body claiming her. In the back of her mind, she knew there were probably other vendors at the market watching curiously, but Jared’s body was blocking her from anyone’s view, all of the other stands now behind him.
Her body nearly imploded as he squeezed the cheeks of her ass, released her mouth, and his tongue starting exploring the sensitive skin of her neck. His ragged breathing, the feel of the warm puffs of air he was expelling against her flesh, nearly making her come undone.
“Jared. We have to stop,” she panted with very little conviction. Her hands were raking over his scalp, fisting his hair and pulling his mouth against her neck for more even as she said the words. “People will talk.”
“Let them,” Jared rasped against her heated skin. “I don’t give a shit. As long as they can’t see you I don’t care. I want them to know you’re fucking mine, Mara.”
Mara tilted her head back and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Oh, God. Jared. Please.” The fact that he was temporarily staking his claim just made her even hotter, more desperate.
Her mind whirled as she tried to comprehend the fact that Jared really did want her. His passionate touch, the hard erection between his legs, and the seriously ravenous look in his eyes told her that he was doing more than just teasing her. She wanted more . . . and that need was mutual.