The Forbidden Billionaire (The Sinclairs Book 2) (11 page)

After a few steps, he hesitated, turning back to her. “Mara?”

“Yes?”

“I’d really prefer not to see Jared in the state he was in when he went on his bender ever again.”

She could feel his eyes on her even though she couldn’t see his stare. Were his words a warning, or just a statement? Mara very much doubted that Evan said anything just for the hell of it. “I don’t ever want to see that,” she answered honestly.

“Good.” He turned around without another word and went on his way.

Mara propped her hands on her hips and watched as Evan swaggered between the mansion and the guest house, disappearing as he went toward Jared’s driveway.

She shook her head as she walked toward her temporary home, still not completely certain what to make of her whole conversation with Evan Sinclair.

CHAPTER 10

“She’s off-limits,” Jared growled. He caught Evan’s arm roughly as his sibling walked to the front of his house and out of Mara’s line of vision.

I am not jealous. I am not jealous.

Jared let the mantra run through his mind as he confronted his eldest brother. He’d just taken his load of groceries to the kitchen when he caught sight of Evan and Mara on the beach. He’d gawked as Mara jumped out of her chair and Evan put his arms around
his
woman, holding her just a little too long for Jared’s liking. He’d seen Mara stumble because of her ankle, but that didn’t mean that Evan had needed to hold on to her as long as he had, and he certainly didn’t need to cuddle up to Mara and carry her once she was steady. Jared reminded himself that he’d carried Mara everywhere for the last several days. But
that
was different. Evan was a stranger to Mara, and she to him. What right did his brother have to even touch her?

“She said you were just friends,” Evan said disdainfully. “I didn’t get any indication that you’d staked some sort of claim on her. Isn’t that a little barbaric?”

Jared gritted his teeth and let go of Evan as his elder brother shook off his grip. “We
are
friends.”
And we’re also lovers.
Okay . . . maybe lovers only once, but I obsess about it day and night.
“She’s been through a lot. The last thing she needs is a man like you.”

Evan folded his arms gracefully in front of him. “What exactly does that mean? I certainly have the funds to give her everything she needs.”

“She doesn’t need funds,” Jared ground out, trying to hold back his temper. Mara would succeed with Mara’s Kitchen, and he planned on making certain she did. Jared knew he owed Evan a lot, but he wasn’t about to sit back and watch while Mara slipped away from him.

“What does she need?”

“She needs someone to give a shit about her. After spending her whole adult life taking care of a sick mother, and then losing everything to a fire, it might be nice if somebody took care of
her
needs for a while.”

“And if I’m willing to do that?” Evan questioned.

“Just. Don’t.” Jared knew he was being territorial, and the last thing he and his brothers would usually fight over was a woman. But this was Mara they were talking about, and Jared
would
fight his own brother if necessary. “And don’t touch her again.”

Evan strolled over to a bench in front of Jared’s house and sat down to put his shoes and socks on. “You’re being irrational.”

“I don’t give a damn if I sound fucking insane. Leave her alone.”

Evan brushed off his foot before putting on his socks. “Are you claiming her then?”

Was he trying to tell Evan that he wanted Mara exclusively? His dick certainly did, the damn organ seeming to prefer only her. “We haven’t talked about it,” he admitted reluctantly.

His shoes back on his feet again and his pant legs back in place, Evan rose. “Then it isn’t agreed on,” he observed. “Actually, I like her, and I haven’t been able to say that about many women in my life. She’s smart, ethical, and she isn’t afraid of me.”

Jared clenched his fists to keep from striking his annoying, arrogant eldest brother. “She’s also warm, caring, and strong. And she belongs to me.” Goddammit! No way was he going to let Evan snatch Mara out of his grasp. He fucking needed her. And she needed somebody who really cared about her.

“Then I suggest you claim her,” Evan said reasonably. “Or somebody else will.” He turned without another word and started walking down the driveway.

Jared wondered furiously what the hell that comment had meant. Was Evan trying to tell him that he wanted Mara, too? He watched his brother’s retreating figure get smaller and smaller as he moved farther and farther away.

Irritated that he couldn’t quite figure out where he and Mara stood, he stomped up to his door and into the house.

It took him less than five minutes to realize that Mara wasn’t in his home. He’d glanced outside and she wasn’t on the beach, either. After searching and bellowing her name until he was hoarse, Jared stepped onto his massive back porch, took the steps two at a time, and strode determinedly toward the guest house, the aroma of food drawing him to the smaller home almost immediately.

She’s there. She’s in the guest house.

What the hell is she doing there?
Yeah, he had told her she could use the guest house, but he didn’t actually
want
her there. In the last few days, he’d become accustomed to hearing her voice on a regular basis, and her laughter, a sound that made him instantly hard. He wanted her in his home, and in his damn bed.

After their first night together, a night that shouldn’t have happened until she was healed, he’d fantasized about being inside her again. And again. Now it was damn near all he could think about. She’d been so damn tight, wet, and perfect. He was a well-endowed man, and he knew he’d probably hurt her. She hadn’t exactly been complaining, but when he’d seen the furious swelling to her ankle the next day, he’d been pissed at himself. What had happened to his carefully cultivated control? He’d definitely lost it with Mara.

Not. Happening. Again.

The last thing he wanted was to hurt a woman who had already suffered enough pain and heartache.

What happens when I’m done with her?

A low growl reverberated in his throat as he approached the door of the guest house. He’d never be done with her. Usually once he’d screwed a woman, he’d had his fill. For some reason, he knew he could have Mara in every way imaginable and he’d still crave her like an addictive drug.

Because she wants me, too.

A woman couldn’t fake a reaction like Mara’s. Her body had trembled when he touched her, her desire as fierce as his own.

She was vulnerable. She needed me then.

Turning the doorknob as he acknowledged that it might be
him
who ended up hurting over his obsession with Mara, he was pissed all over again to find the door unlocked.

I’ll make her need me just like I need her.

“Mara,” he called irritably.

“In here.” The feminine voice was coming from the kitchen off to his left.

“The door was unlocked,” he informed her, his tone annoyed as he walked into the kitchen.

“I’ve lived in Amesport all my life, and I never lock my doors except at night. The Peninsula is private. Nobody will come here except family.”

Jared opened his mouth to tell her any tourist or transient could wander onto the property. Or a nosy, gossip-seeking reporter could find her if they were trying to probe into his personal life. Just her association with him made her a target for almost any crazy, and it was something he had to make her understand. But he halted near the entrance and became suddenly mute, fascinated as he watched her moving from one place to another gracefully, even though her ankle was injured. Her face was flushed from the warmth of the kitchen, but she flowed from one place to the other with a confidence that made every other thought fly out of his brain. All he wanted to do was watch her.

She’s so damn beautiful.

All it took was for her to look up and smile at him for his cock to stand up and greet her with rampant enthusiasm. His heart began to race with some kind of deeply buried longing that he’d never experienced before.

Jesus. I’m so damn screwed.

“What are you doing?” he asked hoarsely, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. He leaned a shoulder against the door frame, trying to look more casual than he felt.

“Cooking,” she replied happily. “Lobster stew, corn bread, and blueberry cobbler. I realized that Sarah stocked more than just clothes. She also filled the fridge, the freezer, and the cupboards with food.”

Jared shrugged. “She owes it to you. You are filling in for her wedding.”

Mara scowled at him. “I’m doing her and Kristin a favor. Sarah doesn’t owe me, and I feel guilty because I know it cost a lot of money for what she bought.”

Jared smirked. “I can personally assure you that her husband-to-be is beyond loaded.”

“You’re awfully nonchalant about Sarah doing all this,” she said suspiciously. “Did you pay her?”

“Unfortunately, no, I didn’t,” he answered in a disgruntled voice. “I tried, but she wouldn’t take it. She wanted to do this with Emily and Randi as a gift to you. Something about passing on something that had been done for her, and she likes you. Believe me, if I would have arranged this, your clothes would have been in my house. Why did you move?” He wasn’t going to mention the fact that he’d offered the money for Mara’s clothing to Dante, too, and his brother had adamantly refused it. Sarah was using her credit card, but Dante had laughingly told Jared that he’d pay it off the minute she finished buying for Mara and never miss a penny of the money. Dante might be obscenely wealthy, and it shouldn’t bother him that his brother wanted to help Mara, but it still annoyed him. Jared had only closed his mouth on the subject when Dante asked him
why
it mattered. Jared hadn’t had an answer.

“This is where I’m supposed to be. It’s what we agreed on. I’ll be out of your way.”

I want you to be in my way, and I want to be inside you. You’re supposed to be in my bed.

It didn’t matter what he’d said before, he wanted her with him. “It wasn’t inconvenient for me,” he said, trying not to sound desperate.

“That doesn’t matter,” she chastised him, looking back at her pot on the stove and giving it a stir.

It did matter, but at least she was right next door. “Smells good.” The scents in the kitchen were beyond
good
; they were tantalizing, and making his mouth water. “I didn’t know there was a lobster stew.”

“You’ll love it,” she answered without looking at him.

“I’m invited for dinner then?” Jared’s mouth started to turn up in a smile.

“You’re always invited. Now that I can get around, I’ll cook for both of us.”

Good.
Then he’d pretty much be living here instead of his larger home. He wasn’t happy with her not being with him, but if he could keep her right next door with an open invitation, he’d take advantage of it. Every. Single. Day. “I saw you on the beach with Evan. Do you really think you should be walking around already?”
Do you really like my brother?
He left that question unsaid, but damned if he didn’t want to ask her what she thought of Evan, or if she was attracted to him.

Mara’s feminine laughter flowed over Jared like a balm to his soul.

She snorted as she said, “I wish I still had my cell phone. I would have taken a picture. I’ve never seen a guy as uptight as your brother. I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing him walking on the beach in a custom suit and that unhappy expression on his face. He’s hilarious.”

Hilarious? Evan? Jared wondered how his eldest brother would feel about that description of himself. He could guarantee that the words “hilarious” and “Evan Sinclair” had never been used in the same conversation. “So you liked him?”

Mara gave him a contemplative look, a spoon still poised in her hand. “He’s . . . complicated, I think.”

Actually, everyone except his siblings found Evan Sinclair terrifying, annoyingly cold, and a downright son of a bitch. Jared had never heard his eldest brother described as “complicated.” Only Mara would try to see anything more than the bastard Evan usually was to nearly everyone in his life. “Why do you say that?” He moved over to her and took off her new glasses, cleaning them on the soft material at the hem of his short-sleeved shirt. They were fogged up from the humidity of the kitchen, and he could see tiny spots of liquid that had dried on the lenses. He put them back on her face once they were clean.

“Are you ever going to stop doing that?” she asked hesitantly.

“Cleaning your glasses?”

“Yes.”

“Probably not. I told you that I used to need them.” He shrugged. “I wore glasses for a long time, since childhood. It drove me crazy when they had spots. I finally had the surgery to correct my vision after I became an adult. Are you nearsighted?”

“Astigmatism. It isn’t bad. My vision is just bad enough to be annoying and make me need the glasses when I’m working.”

“Then it could be corrected,” Jared mused.

“It could. But it hasn’t been a priority. Glasses work fine for me, and the procedure is expensive.”

“Glasses don’t work fine if you never clean them.” Jared smiled, loving the indignant, stubborn look she got when she was being practical.

“I clean them,” she answered defensively. “I just look around the spots until I have the time to do it.”

He was getting her eyes fixed so she could see well all the damn time. She just didn’t know it yet. Mara was stubborn, but little by little, he’d make sure she had everything she deserved and needed. As Mara moved to the refrigerator, he grasped her by the arm and spun her around slowly, pinning her body against the metal appliance before she could open the door. “So you could see me just fine the other night without your glasses.”