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.
Pulse thumping fast, she hurried to the kitchen. “What’s everyone want for dinner?”
Later that night, after they’d devoured the chicken tacos and salad Tara had made for supper, she finished cleaning up in the kitchen while Clint got Ashley ready for bed. She’d just put away the last of the dishes when Clint returned to the kitchen.
“Need any help?” he asked.
“No.” Tara put the last pan away then wiped her hands on a dish towel, casting him a side glance. “Aren’t you on water duty again tonight?”
Clint snorted. “No, surprisingly. Ashley’s in bed and sound asleep.”
“Really?” Tara set the towel aside and the two of them stepped into the living room and settled onto the sofa. “What changed?”
“Not sure.” He shrugged and stretched, then relaxed back into the cushions. “I think you wore her out today, with the photo shoots and the building and the brainstorming.”
“Huh.” She grinned. “If that’s all it takes, I’ll need to remember that for the future.”
“Me too.” Clint yawned and stretched again, drawing her attention to his torso beneath the blue T-shirt he wore entirely too well, darn him. Then he rolled his head to look over at her, his gaze narrowed. “I talked to the guys at the event venue. They’re sending me over details—the security measures they have in place, the layout of the venue, the number of guests expected.”
“Yeah?” She tucked her feet up underneath her, anxiety knotting inside her once more. Today had been so nice and relaxed—well, after the whole “cut wires” thing and the board meeting earlier—that she almost hated to bring reality back into it again. “How does it all look?”
“I’ll need to go over it all in more detail, and we’ll need to make some plans for how to handle your entrance and exit, along with some rules for during the event, but…at first glance, I’d say it looks good.”
Tara released her pent-up breath. Good. Okay. “That’s awesome.”
“Hmm.” Clint shifted slightly to face her. “I still have my reservations about it all, but I suppose if everything checks out, then we can attend the rally.”
She almost said that was good, since that’s what he’d told the board today, but bit that back. Fighting about it now wouldn’t help anything and she was so tired of fighting with him. So, instead, she said, “Okay. Oh, and I have an idea of how we might be able to make it safer.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” He leaned an elbow against the back cushions and rested