“Ashley and I were just talking about how she’d like to take you outside and show you how well she’s doing at her riding her bike without the training wheels,” Tara said, letting a squirming Ashley free. “When you have time.”
“It’s going to be a while,” Clint said, taking a huge sip of soda and heading down the hall. “I need to take a shower and have some food before I get some more work done. We’re still knee-deep in your investigation, Tara. Plus the guys also have other jobs they’ve taken on and with me away from the office for that stretch after the rally, things have fallen behind.”
There was nothing wrong with what he was saying, in itself, but he hadn’t even bothered to look at his daughter to see how she was taking it. Tara looked, and saw when Ashley’s little face crumpled. Tara’s anger grew. Dammit. She knew his job was important to him, but so was his daughter. She stood and walked to the bedroom, where Clint was in the process of stripping down. He pulled off his shirt, leaving him bare-chested in just his suit trousers. She did her best to ignore his muscled torso and concentrated on her mission here instead. After closing the door behind her, she stepped closer to him and crossed her arms. “Listen, I know you’ve got a lot going on right now, but Ashley’s been so excited to show you her riding and I really think if you just take a minute and pay some attention to her it would go a long way toward building a better relationship between you two and—”
“Don’t tell me how to raise my daughter,” he snapped, tossing his shirt in the hamper across the room. Then he stopped and sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that. I’ve just got to get caught up on some of this office stuff for the guys—things that piled up while I was on mandatory leave. We can’t afford to lose clients because of it if we want to keep our bottom line in the black. I need to put that first now.”
“Ahead of Ashley?” Tara dug her fingers into her arms, her temper rising despite her wishes. Memories of conversations with her own mother flooded back to her mind. How her mom had put everything and everyone else ahead of her own child. How she’d provided for her daughter’s physical needs and completely failed to nurture her emotionally. Well, Ashley deserved better. Tara deserved better too. “Isn’t that what all of this is for? Her? All the business in the world won’t mean much if you don’t have anyone to share it with.”
“She’ll understand when she’s older,” he said, pulling off his socks and removing his belt. “Seriously. Can we do this later? I really don’t have time for it now.”
Annoyance flaring, Tara stepped closer to him and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Ass!”
“Excuse me?” A small muscle ticked in Clint’s cheek, his eyes flaring hot.
“You’re. Being. An. Ass.” She accentuated each word with a poke of her finger, for emphasis. “All your daughter wants is five minutes of your time to show you something she’s proud of and you can’t even give her that, can you? Some father you are.”
“Don’t you judge me,” he growled, inching closer. For once, the tension flaring between them wasn’t sensual at all. Honestly, the fight had been brewing for a while now for her, and damned if she was backing down now. Clint narrowed his eyes. “Besides, what do you know? A couple days babysitting hardly makes you an expert.”
“I don’t claim to be an expert, but my eyes work just fine, and I know what I’m seeing. When’s the last time you spent any meaningful time with her?” Tara tapped her stockinged toes against the hardwood to release some of her pent-up irritation before it exploded into a swift kick in his butt. “And I may not have a child, but I’ve been one and I know how it feels to be ignored.”
“Don’t go putting your past problems on us.”
“Don’t go calling me your babysitter. I’m your client. I’ve got important work to do around here too, you know.”
He snorted and pushed past her, heading for the bathroom. “Yeah, like taking pictures of flowers.”
“What’s wrong with flower photos?” She followed him into the bathroom, not caring if she was getting into his personal space. “And since when is being a bodyguard for hire so damned important, huh?”
“I’m not a bodyguard. I’m private security.” Clint jammed on the shower with more force than necessary. “And I don’t need you critiquing my every move. I’m doing the best I can here, okay?”
“Well, your best sucks. In fact, what are we even doing here? As far as I can tell, you’re no closer to finding out who was behind the attack at the rally than you were at the beginning. Meanwhile, Ashley and I are trapped here while you’re out there spinning your wheels. It’s not fair. To her or to me.”
Clint rounded on her, his expression dark. “You want us to go? Fine. We’ll go. The work’s done at my place anyway. Probably better for us to have our space anyway, considering how you really feel about it.”
“How I feel?” Tara gritted her teeth, fighting for patience and failing. “Don’t you dare turn this on me. None of this is my fault. And if you think running away is the answer then—”
“I’m not running away!” His shout reverberated off the bathroom walls, stopping her short. Before either of them could say another word, a loud crash sounded from down the hall and Clint stormed past her to throw open the bedroom door. “I can’t believe you just left her alone out here, Tara. She’s six. Ashley, honey? What’s going on?”
“She’s your responsibility, Clint, remember?” Tara said, following him. “And she was perfectly calm earlier, before you walked in, grouchy as hell, and—”
She stopped short at the end of the hall, blinking at the wide-open front door. “Uh, what’s happening?”
Clint cursed under his breath, his voice shifting from fury to panic in one second flat. “She’s gone, that’s what.” He charged for the front door. “Ashley? Honey? Where are you?”
Tara followed, calling the little girl’s name as she walked around the side of the house.
“Shit!” Clint came tearing around the corner from the backyard, pulling out his phone. “She’s gone.”
“Maybe she just went down the block to the park,” Tara said, that dread inside her bubbling up like lava in a volcano, threatening to erupt into a full-blown cataclysm. Even as she said those words, she couldn’t help feeling the weight of Clint’s accusations. Was this her fault? Had she dropped the ball where his daughter was concerned? Was she just not good enough, as she’d always feared?
“I’m going to go check,” Clint said jogging off toward the park, still in just his pants, his feet bare. “You stay here, in case she comes back.”
Too stunned to argue, Tara stood in the driveway, berating herself for everything. For losing her focus and sleeping with Clint. For not being there for Ashley when she’d needed her tonight. For pretty much everything that had happened over the last few weeks. But mainly for doing the one thing she’d sworn not to do. Falling for the one guy she had no business giving her heart to.
A few minutes passed and she stared up into the sky above, praying that Ashley would be okay and that they could somehow recover from this wreck of an evening, from this disaster of a situation. But the longer she stood there alone, the breeze turning chilly as dark clouds moved in, the more she began to see that things as they were couldn’t ever be right again.
It wasn’t working—this whole mess between them. She needed someone who would prioritize not only her life but her heart. She deserved that. Ashley deserved a caretaker who could give her one hundred percent of their time and energy. That didn’t seem to be Clint, and right now, that wasn’t Tara, either. And Clint should never have expected her to.