Jared tensed. “You have a lease, right?”
“Nope,” she answered abruptly. “It’s always been a month-to-month rental. It’s been that way since my grandma had the house. There’s not even a written rental contract. The owners lived here in Amesport up until about twenty years ago. The house was passed from son to son. There was never any question about the rental of the property until the last son moved away. He hated it here.”
“We can find you a new place. The house isn’t safe anymore, Mara. It needs major renovation. The old place is like a ticking time bomb without complete renovation. Is the roof leaking from the rain?” Jared rasped gravely.
She looked at him, startled. “Yes. In a few places upstairs. How did you know?”
“I’m an architect. I can see the signs. How much repair have the owners done that you can remember?” Fuck. He hoped it was more than he suspected.
Her shoulders slumped as she replied, “Nothing that I can remember. The house needs a lot of work. I do what I can, but it’s been hard since my mother died, and the owner now refuses to do any work to the house. I guess because he never planned on keeping it.”
Jared knew from the town gossip circuit that Mara had lost her dad to a heart attack years ago, and her mother had just passed a little over a year ago. The shop wasn’t making money, probably hadn’t for years. Jared had already figured that out just by observation. Mara made incredible dolls, but how much could a doll shop really make in the current market? How many sales did it produce even during the busy summer months? Her rent for being on the main street in a coastal tourist town had to be sizable, even for a residence that was in desperate need of renovation. “You can find a new location,” he grunted, refusing to believe there wasn’t a solution to her problems. “You can’t stay there anyway if the roof is leaking. It’s not structurally sound.”
Mara shook her head slowly and shot him a weak, defeated smile. “There is no place else. And it wouldn’t be the same. I know I need to face reality. The business isn’t making a profit. I was going to have to let it go sooner or later.”
“What will you do?” Jared asked hoarsely.
Mara shrugged. “I’m not certain. Move to a bigger city. Find a job somewhere. Start over again. I guess that’s what I was thinking about. It’s just going to be really hard to leave Amesport.”
Oh, hell no. She can’t leave. Mara Ross’s family has been in Amesport for generations. She knows every historical fact about the town and is pretty much the unofficial town historian. She belongs here, dammit. She obviously loves it here.
Thunder rumbled ominously before Jared could reply. He stood quickly and held out his hand to Mara, worried about her being out in the elements as the storm blew in. She took it without hesitation and let him haul her to her feet.
“We need to find cover,” Jared ordered, urging her in front of him so they could get off the rocks and find protection from the rapidly approaching storm as quickly as possible.
She moved swiftly without saying another word, as though she’d navigated the rocks hundreds of time, which she probably had. Large droplets of rain started to fall, and she skidded once, but Jared wrapped an arm around her waist and led her off the rocks. Grabbing her hand as he dumped his paper coffee cup into the nearby trash, he pulled her with him as he ran for protection from the steadily growing strength of the rain.
By the time they reached the sidewalk by Shamrock’s Pub, they were both breathless. The two of them stood under the protective canopy of the local bar and gathering place, watching as the rain started coming down in sheets.
Mara’s eyes swept over him, and she laughed. It was a delighted, husky sound that made Jared instantly hard.
“You look almost human now,” she informed him merrily with a mischievous grin.
Affronted, Jared asked abruptly, “What did I look like before?”
Mara shrugged, looking embarrassed. “Perfect. You always look immaculate and perfect.”
Jared’s gaze surveyed her appearance, her soaked hair, her T-shirt nearly transparent and clinging to her body like a second skin. Her eyes were shining with an openness he wasn’t accustomed to as she looked up at him. Finally, he responded automatically, “You look beautiful.” He’d blurted the words out before he could censor them. Dammit. She did that to him, made him say whatever he was thinking before he could think about it.
She’s dangerous.
Looking at him skeptically, she replied, “I’ve heard you were a ladies’ man, but that description is more than a little over-the-top, don’t you think?”
He cringed inwardly. Being a billionaire and very much in the public eye, his every behavior was scrutinized. Okay. Yeah. He was always seen with a different woman clinging to his arm. Maybe he did go through his share of female companions, but it didn’t sit right with him for Mara to actually be pointing out the well-known fact that he was reputed to be a man-whore.
“I meant it,” he replied huskily, his eyes roving over her hungrily. He’d honestly never seen a woman more attractive than Mara was to him.
She crossed her arms and looked up at him disapprovingly. “In case you haven’t noticed . . . I’m a little too plump, short, and plain.”
She’s curvy, petite, and completely fuckable.
Jared felt a low, reverberating sound rising up in his throat. He didn’t like her making derogatory comments about herself. It pissed him off, especially since he didn’t think he’d ever been this drawn to a woman. He maneuvered her against the brick wall, trapping her body with his, which was probably a mistake. She smelled like fresh rain and vanilla, a scent that made his dick harder than he thought was possible. He raised a palm to her cheek and ran it down her silky, wet skin. “You’re soft and sweet, exactly the type of woman a man wants beneath him naked,” he told her bluntly. Her scent was driving him mad, and his control was definitely slipping. In his current state, he was having a very hard time not telling her that he desperately wanted to be the man on top of her, sinking his aching cock into her sweet, soft body.