Tara had actually considered kissing Grant that night. She’d had a full commentary running through her head as she weighed the pros and cons. He’s so hot. It should be criminal for a man to look that good in a suit. He laughs at my jokes. He notices when my drink needs refilling. And then there are those sweet, puppy-dog eyes of his. She ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. Johnathon would’ve gone ballistic, especially if he’d witnessed it, and Tara knew that she would only break Grant’s heart. That was what she did, apparently, although not to men like Johnathon. Then it was he who did the breaking. Either way, Grant didn’t deserve that. So she’d kept her hands and her lips to herself.
Now she was going to be working with that man who was all kinds of sexy, but all kinds of wrong for her. Luckily, she knew herself well enough to be certain that once she was in the work environment, any stray nonbusiness thoughts would evaporate. She was nothing less than laser focused when it came to any job. Grant would not distract her. She simply wouldn’t let him.
Tara was rarely nervous, but she found herself feeling that way as she rode the elevator up to the offices. She’d never started a job near the top of the chain of command. She’d always worked her way from the bottom up. In real estate, it’d taken years to build her business and her reputation. One satisfied client brought many more. One big sale led to a bigger listing. Each day brought another rung on the ladder to reach for. At Sterling, she was about to start near the top, and that created a whole new level of pressure.
When the elevator doors slid open, she was taken aback by the bustle of the office. It was noisy. And busy. The receptionist juggling the ringing phone, the arrival of visitors, parking validations and questions from employees breezing past her desk in a near-continuous stream back and forth. As Grant had promised, he was waiting for her, standing off to one side. He had his cell pressed to his ear. He caught sight of her and raised a finger to suggest he needed a moment. Tara stood and patiently waited until he finished his call. She tried to ignore how good he looked in his charcoal-gray suit. She needed to keep her eye on the prize—figuring out if working at Sterling Enterprises was going to be the key to her finally having the happiness she’d failed to find all these years.
“Reporting for work, Mr. Singleton,” Tara quipped as soon as he’d hung up.
“You’re late.” Grant quirked one eyebrow at her, then waved her down the hall. “Come on. I’ll show you your office.”
Tara glanced at her phone. “It’s five after nine. I couldn’t find a parking space.”
“Remind me and I’ll get you an executive spot in the deck.”
“That would be helpful. Thank you.” Tara hustled up to walk alongside him. On paper, she might be his subordinate, but she still wanted him to see her as an equal. She and Grant could do great things together, but only as a team. “Is it always this busy first thing in the morning?”
“Yes. It’s nonstop.”
That was going to take some getting used to. Although she’d had her fair share of tense meetings and phone calls, Tara’s office had normally been quiet and serene, by design. She liked calm. She got a lot done in an environment like that.
“Here you go,” he said when they arrived at an office. “Will this work?”
Tara surveyed the space. It had a decent view of parts of downtown and the bay, but it was also too masculine. The walls needed a softer color. The furniture would need to be replaced. “I’ve only been here once, but isn’t your office on the opposite end of this floor?”
“Yes.”
“Next to Johnathon’s, right?”
Grant cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes. “I’m in his office now.”
“Oh, of course.” It only made sense. He was CEO now. It was time for the company to move ahead. “So why not put me in your old space? We’re going to be working together. Wouldn’t that be easier?”
“I told you the other night. Morale is low right now. I didn’t want too many big changes at one time.”
Tara wasn’t quite ready to challenge him on the idea of low morale, but the scene she’d walked into when she got off the elevator had seemed nothing short of lively. For now, she wouldn’t make waves. “This will work. Long term, I’ll want to make some changes.”
“Maybe we should get through this three-month trial first.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Everything in his body language said he was unhappy with her presence. He wandered over to the window and glanced outside, then turned back to her. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what have you done about your real estate clients?”
“I’m slowly phasing out. No new listings, no new buyers, and selling off what’s already on the market. Then I’m done.”
“That doesn’t sound like a trial, Tara. That sounds permanent.”
She set her laptop bag down on the desk and wound around to where he was standing. “The good thing about my business is that it’s not hard to put it on pause. And I’d like for this to be permanent. I was not happy when Johnathon suggested I exit Sterling after the first few months. It didn’t feel fair. I hardly got a chance.”
“I know. He talked to me about it several times. Wondered if he was being a jerk about it.”
“He said he didn’t think it was good for our marriage, but I think he was threatened.”
Grant looked at her, first scanning her face, but she couldn’t help but notice the way he stole a gander at the rest of her, as well. From the glimmer in his eyes, he liked what he saw. “I can see that.
