en he tried to help Ashley get into place on it, she turned away from him. “I want Tara to help me. Not you.”
He looked at Tara, a bit stricken, to be honest.
“I can handle it,” she said. “Come back and join us in a few minutes. Don’t worry. She’ll get over it fast.”
“Fine.” Clint felt about as ready for an emotional meltdown as Ashley had been earlier, but he locked it down quick, just like he always did.
Clint went inside the house while the girls stayed outside, and spent a few minutes sorting through some last-minute emails before heading back to the patio himself. He stood near the back door for a moment watching Tara and his daughter together. They were laughing and smiling and looked so happy. He didn’t want to ruin it by walking over there and causing another fit from his daughter, but damn if his heart didn’t also ache with longing to join them, even if only for a little while.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed out into the warm sunny afternoon and walked over to where his daughter was riding in a small circle in the center of the patio, all on her own. Pride and gratitude welled up to join the sudden happiness inside him. “Wow,” he said, his voice low to avoid giving away his presence so quickly to Ashley, in case she still wasn’t happy about his presence. “That was fast!”
“She’s super talented.” Tara beamed at his daughter and Clint beamed down at her. “This is her first time doing it on her own and she looks like an old hand at it!”
“Daddy!” Ashley called, her voice excited. “Look, Daddy! I’m doing it!”
“Yes, you are, sweetpea! You go, girl!”
“Woohoo!” Tara cheered, adding a “Whoop! Whoop!”
Before he realized what he was doing, Clint wrapped an arm around Tara’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. She looked up at him and he looked down at her and then he leaned in and kissed her, right there in front of God and his daughter and everyone. It wasn’t like him at all. It wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t…
“Daddy!” Ashley came running up to them and hugged both their legs as they broke apart. “I’m so happy! Thank you for my bike, Daddy! I love it and I love you. Both of you!”
Tara chuckled and nestled her head under Clint’s chin and he couldn’t seem to wipe the silly grin off his face. His tense shoulders relaxed and his inner critic took a break, finally. This was nice.
This was really, really nice.
13
“I think things went well today, eh?” Tara said, leaning slightly to nudge Clint with her shoulder. “Not a hitch in sight.”
It was Saturday evening and the rally earlier had gone way better than Tara could ever have imagined. Clint had used her idea of making her appearance a secret and it had worked. There were no threats, no unexpected events arising as she gave her speech, and the attendees had loved her ideas. Donations during and after the rally had gone through the roof and they’d signed up even more volunteers to go door to door raising awareness and encouraging people to call their representative and ask them to vote in support of the new climate change legislation. She couldn’t have asked for more.
Now, after eating a delicious dinner of pasta and salad that Clint had made for the three of them, they all sat on the rug in the living room around the coffee table, playing Candyland. It was new to Ashley and she was loving all the brightly colored squares and moving her game piece to places like the Candy Cane Forest and Gumdrop Mountain.
“Yeah. You did a great job!” Clint said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss before rolling the dice and landing himself in the Molasses Swamp. Ashley giggled and he frowned. “It’s not nice to laugh at Daddy’s crap luck.”
The response only made his daughter laugh more. “You said ‘crap’, Daddy.”
Clint reached over to tickle her, making her roll away to avoid him.
It was fun, being together like this. In fact, it was the closest Tara had come to having a family game night in… well, ever. Her mom had never had time to do stuff like this when Tara was younger, and her dad had either been at work or too wrapped up in his newspaper and whiskey to make time for her. She played board games like this by herself, with her teddy bears as adversaries. But that was fine. She’d learned to cope, and it had built her imagination muscles. Maybe too much, considering how it was working overtime imagining all the things she’d like to do to Clint when they were alone.
They’d been sleeping together for the past week or so and each night seemed better than the last. He still seemed to have his walls up, but Tara understood that. It wasn’t like she’d let him into her heart all the way either. She still didn’t do love. Although this came about as close as she’d gotten in a while. Maybe ever.
“All right, sweetpea,” Clint said, getting up and scooping a still wriggling Ashley up into his arms. “I think it’s time we got you to bed.”
Ashley resisted a moment, then relaxed in her dad’s arms. Tara knew the feeling. There was nothing better than Clint holding you. Those strong arms had a way of supporting you that let you know everything was going to be all right.
While Clint got his daughter ready for bed, Tara put away their game, then went to the kitchen to make sure all the leftovers had been stored. His cooking repertoire might not be extensive, but the food he made was super tasty and she couldn’t wait to heat up a plate of pasta the next day for lunch.
A short while later, Clint padded back down into the living room, his stockinged feet nearly silent on the hardwood floor. He slumped down on the sofa and yawned.
“Everything went smoothly?” Tara asked, joining him. “No water issues tonight?”
“Nope.” Clint stretched, putting his arm around her and drawing her into his side. “The kid was all tuckered out. Can’t say she’s the only one, either.”
“Huh.” Tara burrowed her face into the side of his neck and inhaled deeply. There was something about the way he smelled that made her insides go all soft and melty. She’d never really liked cologne on a guy before, but Clint seemed to break all her rules. In more ways than one. Sleeping with your bodyguard was fraught with issues, and normally Tara wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole. But with Clint, it was like she couldn’t stop herself.