Before he knew what was happening, Tara’s mouth was zeroing in on his. “We have to kiss.”
“What?”
“We’re on the kiss cam.” She placed her hand on his cheek and angled his face toward hers.
Finally, Grant’s brain clicked in on what was happening and he went for it with all of the enthusiasm of a kid who has just discovered an unguarded cookie jar. His hand shot to her jaw, then his fingertips were curling into the soft skin of her neck. With his other arm he pulled her closer. Their lips met. She was everything he’d remembered from the last time they did this. Ripples of electricity ran through his body as she parted her lips and gently nudged his lower lip with her tongue.
And then it was over. She pulled away from him, but they remained entangled. His arm was still holding her close. His chest heaved as he tried to breathe in her scent as much as humanly possible.
“That was fun,” she said, the color rising in her cheeks.
“It was more than that, Tara.” I want you. He wasn’t sure he’d ever wanted anything or anyone as much as he wanted her at that moment. It was more than sexual desire, although that had been so firmly planted in his brain he wasn’t sure he’d ever forget it. This was about quenching a thirst. One that had gone unsatisfied since the moment he met her.
She smiled and granted him another peck, this one on the cheek. “You’re too handsome for your own good. You know that, right?”
“Thanks. Do you want to get out of here?” The words rushed from his mouth before he had a chance to think about them. That was definitely for the best. There was something magical about this moment and he wasn’t about to let it slip between his fingers.
“You don’t want to stay for the rest of the game?”
“I don’t.”
She cast him some side-eye. “Can I show you something first?”
He gathered their drink cups and stood. “Absolutely.”
With no time to waste, they scooted past the other fans in their aisle, then up the concrete stadium stairs and out onto the concourse. He took her hand, but he let her lead the way out to the sidewalk. “This way.” With the streets closed off to traffic, she didn’t need to look for cars as she led him across the boulevard and to the other side.
“Where are we going?”
“The promenade site. I want to show you my idea.”
Grant didn’t want to encourage Tara. Except that he did. Her enthusiasm was infectious. It was like an electrical jolt to the system and he quite frankly couldn’t get enough. “Yeah. Sure. Let’s go.”
They wound their way between buildings and emerged out by the bay, with the wide promenade extending in either direction along the water. The night air was cooler here, the breeze strong, blowing Tara’s hair every which way.
“Picture this,” she said, swiping her hands in midair as if she was washing windows. “An open-air food hall, with tons of outdoor seating and space beyond for food trucks. We put in artificial turf for kids to play.” She turned to Grant as she forged ahead down the sidewalk. “Soft, of course. We don’t want anyone getting hurt, but it is more eco-friendly. Beyond that, we put in a shopping pavilion with more outdoor space for seasonal markets. The city could invite farmers in during spring and summer, and there could be one at Christmas, as well. Or the Fourth of July. We could add a large stage area for performances of all kinds. Music and dance. It would be a real destination. Families, retirees, young people.”
“And no high-rises? There’s density to consider in downtown. The city is going to want to know that you’re giving them the most bang for their buck.”
“We’re already surrounded by big buildings. I think that with the right architect, you’d have no problem maximizing the square footage. And you put in lots of multipurpose space. You’d have to be smart and innovative about it.” She looked off in the distance at what was there right now, the outdated facilities the city was set to soon demolish, and it was as if she could see it all.
“I had no idea you had such a vision for this.”
“Does that make you more inclined to want to pursue it? Because I have more ideas. Lots more.”
He was tempted to tell her that he might agree to anything she wanted right now. “Wow. Seriously?”
She turned to him, her face lit up with excitement. It was intoxicating and infectious. She was a wonder. “I get it from my dad. He was a contractor, but he’d always wanted to be an architect. He could see things other people couldn’t.”
This was the first time Tara had ever talked about her family in front of him. Everything Grant knew was secondhand information he’d gotten from Johnathon. “Your mom passed away when you were young, didn’t she?”
Tara pressed her lips together firmly, seeming caught off guard. “Johnathon told you that.”
“He did. Is it difficult for you to talk about?”
She turned away from him. “It’s not my favorite topic if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to peel back the layers a little bit here. That’s all. Your dad clearly meant a lot to you.”
Again she turned, this time to face him. The wind had picked up and Tara was leaning right into it. It was like everything she did—facing it all head-on. “He meant everything. He was my rock my entire life. He was the one man in my life who never let me down.”
It broke his heart to hear that. He made a silent vow to never be a man who would let her down. “Obviously you don’t put Johnathon in that category.”
“I loved him, but I didn’t love the fact that he basically got bored with me. No one wants to feel like that.
