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.
When she spotted Clint and Ashley down the block, returning to the house from the park, her relief was tempered with resolve. He’d mentioned moving back to his place and that seemed like the best option now, given what had happened tonight, the things they’d said.
Clint walked Ashley back inside, then returned to where Tara still stood in the driveway, raking his hand through his disheveled hair, the look in his eyes a million miles away. “Look, about what I said earlier…”
“No. It’s fine. You were right.” The words cut like razors coming out, but they had to be said. “I think you and Ashley should go. Move back to your place. This isn’t working out for anybody.” She swallowed hard and moved around him toward the front door. “I’ll hire someone else as my bodyguard.”
For a minute, all Clint did was stare at her, a myriad of emotions flickering across his face—hurt, anger, reluctance, yearning—before his old stoic wall came crashing down again, shutting her out, same as he always did. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”
It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was what was the best, for all of them. Tara turned, saying to him over her shoulder. “It is.”
19
Two weeks later, Tara was doing better than she expected. Not that ending things with Clint had been easy, but she knew deep down it had been right. Being on her own, she’d had more time to concentrate on her job—and to continue lobbying for the bill in her spare time, on her personal accounts. The vote was today and she felt cautiously optimistic that it would pass.
If they voted no, she had a contingency plan in place and knew what her next steps would be. If they voted yes, well… that would be excellent. It would mean she’d succeeded and it would take the pressure off in a lot of ways, including her need for a bodyguard. After all, once the legislation went through there’d be no more reason to attack her, right?
Her stomach swarmed with butterflies.
Calm down, girl.
She took a deep breath and pulled up her social media feeds again.
“Need anything, Ms. Crumb?” Lenny, the bodyguard she’d hired to replace Clint, asked from her office doorway. “I’m headed to the coffee machine down the hall.” When enough time had gone by with no additional attacks, the board had relented on letting her come back to the office, as long as she brought her bodyguard with her.
“No, thanks. I’m good,” she said, smiling at him. He was an ex-Marine, mid-fifties, but in good shape. Married with three kids and four grandkids. Nice guy and good at his job. Too bad she hadn’t gone that route in the first place. “Take all the time you need.”
“I’ll be back in five,” Lenny said.
No. If she’d gone with Lenny to begin with then she never would have gotten to spend that time with Clint and Ashley. Even though she knew it was for the best that they were gone, she wouldn’t have given up having them in her life for anything. She was stronger for having known them both, even if it still hurt, thinking about the day they’d moved out of her place.
Clint hadn’t wasted any time, leaving the same night as their blowout fight. He’d left her with Lenny’s name, saying he’d worked with the guy before and gave him a sterling recommendation. He’d even