Grant then realized why she was so deadly serious. This was indeed a major gaffe. “You can’t do that. You’ll have to rethink the entire project.” His mind went to elevations and utilities. The placement of exterior doors and the flow of people. “There’s no way there’s enough time to get it done. Clay’s gone for the weekend and I can’t call him in. He took his daughter up to Anaheim to do the theme parks for her birthday. I promised I wouldn’t even send him a text.” Maybe this was for the best. If Grant couldn’t have Tara, he might as well keep control of Sterling. Astrid and Miranda would likely recant their support of Tara’s idea when they found out about her error and that it might cost them the project.
Tara slumped into one of the chairs in front of his desk. “I messed up. Big time.” There was a small quiver in her voice, one that was rarely there. In fact, Grant hadn’t heard it since the day of Johnathon’s accident.
“I don’t understand what happened.”
“I don’t either. I swear I went over the city’s requirements a million times. So did Sandy. There must have been a miscommunication along the line somewhere.”
Grant didn’t want to tell Tara that he’d warned her that working with the city could be a very big pain, even when her problem was solid evidence of that very fact. “Maybe this wasn’t meant to be, Tara. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t just give up. I’ve put so much work into this. So has Astrid. And Clay. We have to at least try to save it.”
“Sometimes we put a lot of effort into something and it doesn’t work out.” This was an apt description of his situation with Tara. He’d tried to let her know that he wanted more, but at every turn, she was trying to push him away.
“Don’t treat me like a first grader. This isn’t a school project. This is millions of dollars. This is me proving my worth.” Again, her voice wobbled, but this time the falter was much more dramatic. She got up out of the chair, seeking the refuge of the window, where she could turn away from him. Where she could hide. Again.
“Hey. It’s okay to be upset. I won’t hold it against you if you cry.”
“I am not going to cry.” There was a determined sob hiding behind the word not.
“You don’t have to be so tough all the time. It’s okay to allow yourself a human moment, even when we’re talking about work.”
“You don’t understand.” She sniffled. “This is me basically proving Johnathon’s theory about why I shouldn’t be here. He was convinced I would make a big mistake and it would be impossible for him to reprimand me because of our marriage. Now you’re being soft on me because of our friendship. Well, what’s left of it.”
“Don’t say that.” Grant got up from his seat and approached her slowly. This was so much like their meeting a few weeks ago, it felt like a déjà vu. Once again, she was doing everything to keep him at arm’s length, even when there was some small part of her that was willing to admit that she needed him and his help. “What can I do?”
Tara shot him a look over her shoulder, then turned her sights to the floor as she began pacing. “You know you don’t want to do anything. You were against this project from the very beginning. You’re probably happy it’s turned out this way. It’s a prime example of you being the person who should be in charge and me being the person who’s running to try to catch up with you.”
Yes, it was absolutely against his best business interests to help Tara. If he was smart, he’d leave her to deal with her own mess and he’d quietly claim victory. But he didn’t have it in him. There was this voice in the back of his head that knew two things—he could not be like Johnathon and push her aside, and he could not ignore the feelings he had for her, even when he’d lied and said he was fine with them being nothing more than colleagues. “Don’t talk about yourself that way. None of that is true. Even though you have a lot of experience in this world, you’re still learning. It’s okay to make mistakes.”
She shot him a pitiful look that stopped him dead in his tracks. This blunder might take down tough-as-nails Tara. “This is the dumbest mistake ever. Only an idiot would make it.”
It didn’t make sense that someone as thorough as Tara would make a flub like this, but perhaps she’d let her enthusiasm get the best of her. “I’ve made far worse.”
“Name one.”
Carrying a torch for her came to mind, but once again, he kept his thoughts to himself. “Look. Do you want my help or not? Because if you don’t, I’m going home for the weekend.” He walked back behind his desk and powered down his computer. Silence seemed to swell in the confined space of his office. He could easily imagine her saying no. She likely already regretted that she’d allowed herself such a moment of weakness.
“No. I do want your help.” She took a step toward his desk. “If you truly want to help me, that is. I would understand if you just let me deal with this on my own.”
He drew in a deep breath through his nose and mustered the courage to look at her. The sun through the window was showing off every inch of her delicious curves in silhouette. It made his hands twitch to think about touching her. He wanted to do it so badly. “Your mistake is Sterling’s mistake. And the
