on her qualifications. In the meantime, Mary, if you need a few days off, the best time would be during the next couple of weeks. While I’m still here and can watch over a temp.”
Mary agreed to take time off, starting tomorrow, and then she left her boss’s office as quickly as possible. Now she’d done it. Big changes would be coming at her fast. Whether she was ready for them or not.
Outside the Honey Creek library at 5:00 p.m. on a drizzly Tuesday evening, Jake leaned against his rental SUV and waited for Mary to get off work.
Torn between duty and his awakening feelings for Mary, Jake had spent the better part of four days secretly meeting with the Honey Creek sheriff and assuring himself that Mary had absolutely nothing to do with Wes’s current murder investigation. Somewhere along the line, Jake had found himself hoping he’d been totally wrong about Mary and that she was the murderer. That notion would be infinitely better than the idea of her as an innocent bystander that he was using for his investigation.
But no. Mary was exactly what she seemed.
Sweet. Naive. Trusting. And no longer a virgin, due to his asinine lack of self-control.
A trickle of cold summer rain eased down the back of Jake’s neck, but he shook it off. He deserved to stand in a frozen hell for what he’d done to Mary—for what he intended to do.
His head came up when he spotted her at the library’s front door. She was opening an umbrella and making her way down the stairs past the building’s wide white columns.
Damn, but she was pretty. Even wet and dressed in a plain gray dress that seemed suitable only for a librarian. The sight of her made things twist inside him, and that hadn’t happened in a very long time.
Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for her to come closer. It was starting to register in his idiot’s mind that Mary might be in real danger. Honey Creek had at least one murderer lurking about. And Jake’s gut was telling him that whether or not Mark Walsh’s death and his own money-laundering investigation were linked, one murder could easily become two.
He’d been trying to narrow down the possible suspects, but found it difficult without knowing the people involved. He’d come to the conclusion that the best plan was to meet the various townsfolk. Maybe he could gain access to a couple of their personal computers and files.
And what better way to accomplish those goals than in the company of a beautiful, sexy woman—who might be in need of a protector?
But he swore there would be no more intimate nights. No more erotic touches and starry-eyed kisses. His conscience couldn’t take it.
“Jake?” Mary stood a few feet away in the rain, staring up at him. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes were the color of a pale ale today and clouded with questions.
He wished he could give them to her. “Waiting for you. And hoping you’ll come to dinner with me.”
“That would be nice. But where have you—”
Gathering her in his arms, he rushed her around the car and seated her in the passenger seat before she could change her mind—or ask any difficult questions. He didn’t want to give her a chance to think too much. Not about dinner. And especially not about him.
By the time he’d slipped behind the driver’s wheel, she was buckling up and placing her wet umbrella on the floor mats under her feet.
He turned the ignition key and brought the car to life. “I thought we’d go to Kelley’s Cookhouse for barbecue. That okay with you? “
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her rolling her eyes before she asked, “You sure that’s where you want to go? My best friend’s family owns the place and we’re likely to run into everyone in town I know.”
He’d already started the car, but now he put it into neutral and stepped on the brake. “Mary…Ariel…” He reached over, captured her hand and tried a sincere smile. “I want to meet your friends and family. I want us to learn everything there is to know about each other. Give me a chance?”
Mary’s flip-flopping heart had landed back in her chest by the time they’d driven the three blocks to Kelley’s. The rain was easing up, but her fascination with Jake grew greater with every passing moment.
Of course, she would give them a chance to get better acquainted. He didn’t even need to ask. Otherwise, how would she ever know for sure if he was the one or not?
After he was introduced to all her crazy family and friends, she would find out if he still wanted to stick around. Or…if by then he was ready to run away—either laughing himself sick or screaming in terror. It would be a good test.
Unbuckling her seat belt, she watched him closely. She was having some trouble believing he was for real. The moment she’d spotted him outside the library, she’d begun pinching herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. He was almost too good to be true.
After they climbed out of his SUV and headed toward the restaurant’s front door, Mary’s sister Lucy appeared on her way out. Lucy’s arms were loaded down with take-out food packages.
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