“But,” he said, “I believe Tara deserves a chance to be heard. She’s got an important message to get out about this climate change legislation and I’m willing and able to provide protection for her to ensure she’s safe. I believe the Saturday event appearance should go on as planned.”
For a moment, Tara just blinked at him. Had she really heard him say all of that? In the background, she heard the white noise of the board members discussing Clint’s assessment, but all she could focus on was him, defending her and her choices. It was a rare enough occurrence in her life that she wasn’t sure how to respond at first. Then a slow grin she couldn’t seem to contain broke out on her face and joy bubbled up inside her. It was all too much. So much that she nearly missed the board chairman saying, “Fine. As long as Mr. Buckman will take personal responsibility for your safety at the Saturday event, we’ll sign off on your appearance there, Ms. Crumb. Please keep us posted.”
“Uh, yes, sir. Of course, sir,” she said. Once the Zoom meeting was over, she just stared at Clint, who still looked less than pleased at what had transpired. “Thank you.”
He stood, then gave her a cautious glance. “Don’t thank me yet. I still need to check out the venue myself, get more information about this event. I might still end up saying it’s not safe. And if it’s not, then that’s it—you’re not going.” He must have seen that she was ready to argue because he held up a hand. “I know it’s important to you. I want you to be able to go. I won’t call it off unless there’s just no way to make it safe. So if I tell you it’s not, I’ll need you to listen to me. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said instantly.
10
That night, Tara dug out a large box from the hall closet and set it on the living room floor in front of Ashley.
“What’s that?” Ashley asked, her blue eyes wide.
“This,” Tara said, sitting cross-legged beside the little girl on the large Persian rug, “is one of my favorite toys from when I was a kid.” She opened the box and pulled out a Lego set. “It’s a fairy castle. I thought you might like to put it together with me for a photo shoot, since it’s rainbow colored.”
“Yes!” Ashley clapped excitedly and looked over at her dad, who was busy working on his laptop on the sofa. “Look, Daddy! I’m going to build a castle!”
Clint glanced up and gave Tara a warning look. “That’s probably a mistake.”
“Huh?” She frowned. “Why? Because you’re anti-fun?”
“No.”
Ashley giggled and proceeded to dump the entire box of Legos out onto the floor. “Daddy’s anti-fun.”
“No. I’m not. I’m plenty fun.” With a sigh, Clint went back to work on his computer. “You’ll see.”
Tara wasn’t sure if he was talking about her and Ashley or himself, but whatever. She started sorting the bricks into the different colors to make it easier to put them together and encouraged Ashley to do the same. But about forty-five minutes into the project, it became clear that the little girl was struggling. Tara picked up the lid of the Lego box and looked down at the intended age for the thing, and could have kicked herself. She hadn’t really thought about it when she’d ordered it online. She’d built a similar one herself when she’d been little and had enjoyed it, so she’d thought it would be fun for Ashley. Except now that she watched Ashley getting frustrated, Tara realized she’d been about twice Ashley’s age when she’d put it together. Crap. Six-year-olds probably hadn’t developed the fine motor skills yet to put together a set this complex yet.
“None of these things fit right,” Ashley grumbled, tossing a couple bricks back on to the rug in frustration. “It doesn’t look like the picture on the box at all. Stupid castle.”
“Told you,” Clint said from behind her, his tone notching Tara’s annoyance higher. Not at Ashley, but at herself. She probably should have listened to him when he’d first warned her, but she wasn’t going to let him know that.
Instead, Tara gathered the small plastic bricks into a pile and pushed them away, reaching over to grab a pen and pad of paper off the coffee table she’d set there earlier. “Why don’t we forget about this thing for a while and you can help me think of ideas for more social media posts, since you did so well with the one today?”
Ashley’s scowl slowly transformed into a bright smile. “Yes! Okay.”
As the little girl rattled off an assortment of ideas, involving everything from composting to cake decorating, Tara scribbled them down, far too aware of Clint in the background. He’d set his computer aside now and moved down to the floor with them and was tinkering with the Legos they’d left behind. Those long, strong fingers of his had begun fitting those bricks together precisely and perfectly, making Tara wonder about just how perfectly and precisely he might use those same fingers on her body, stroking her and caressing her and making her cling to him as he brought her to orgasm over and over and…
“Did you do this stuff with your mom?” Ashley asked, taking the pad and pen from Tara’s hand to start scribbling a drawing on it.
It took Tara’s brain a second to shift attention from her erotic thoughts about Clint over to his daughter’s question. She blinked at Ashley a second, Clint’s steady gaze weighing heavily on her as she answered. “My mom?” Tara laughed derisively. “Involve me? Nope.”
Family playtime was something she’d only ever seen on TV. But as she sat there, brainstorming with Ashley, while Clint quietly put the castle together himself in the background, Tara had to admit it was nice. Having a family around, even if it was only temporary. Her chest ached a bit. Honestly, having them here only made the coldness of her own childhood stand out in stronger relief.
Sure, she’d never lacked for anything material. But love and affection? Well, both of those had been in short supply, unfortunately. Her father was a workaholic who was rarely home, while her mother had always been too busy with her political career to spend much time with Tara growing up. It had only served to reinforce to Tara that she wasn’t a priority and that in order to make herself valuable to someone else, she needed to be accomplishing something. It was probably why she always tried to stay busy these days, why she didn’t have time for dating or relationships. Because without a goal to achieve she wasn’t important.
When she looked up, Clint was watching her closely, his gaze far too insightful for her comfort. Heat prickled her cheeks and Tara looked away fast, concentrating on Ashley and the picture she was doodling on the paper. Just because Tara hadn’t had the love and affection she’d craved growing up, didn’t mean she couldn’t do her part to give this little girl the affection she needed, at least for a little while. She wrapped her arms around Ashley and gave her a hug, resting her chin on the little girl’s shoulder. “That is seriously the best unicorn princess I’ve ever seen!”
Ashley giggled and squirmed in her arms. “Her name’s Tara. Like you!”
“Aw.” Tara kissed her cheek and looked over at Clint, whose expression had shifted from unreadable to something close to gratitude. “I must be special. Having a unicorn named after me.”
His blue eyes twinkled with joy and a hint of heat. “You’re special all right.”
Tara’s toes curled a little at the slight huskiness in his teasing tone. She released Ashley and stood quickly, not entirely sure where this was headed and way too excited to find out. Honestly, she was almost scared. Clint seemed to bring out all sorts of emotions in her that she’d denied for far too long—longing, hope, happiness, lust. And she needed to watch herself because he was only here for the job. The sooner she remembered that the better. Now, if she could just get her traitorous body on board as well, she’d be all set.