"Well," Stan said. "Looks like things are, ah, progressing between the two of you. The GroGreen community garden campaign is already gaining an online following. The only surprise was finding out you two had signed on for the long-term. Didn't know you were both so interested in gardening."
"I'll make sure the garden is up and running before I train a replacement. Then it will only be about courtesy contact and trouble-shooting," Tasha said.
I snorted. Was that what she thought she was doing when she called last night? Just a quick courtesy call to tell me I was a mistake she already regretted, and problem solved.
"What about you, Rainer? The selfies I saw from the community center crew showed you looking very happy." Stan rested his elbows on his desk and pinned me with an unblinking gaze. "Are you putting down some roots out there in the East Bay?"
"Everyone needs a hobby, sir," I said.
Stan laughed and dismissed the rest of the conversation. The meeting ended with Tasha rushing out so fast that both Stan and I felt the breeze.
The older man glanced at me and said, "Tasha always was too quick to exit."
I was still reliving it, Tasha's hasty dressing, the way her whole demeanor pushed me far out past arm's length, and how I had ended up alone on her front steps all within minutes of leaving her warm body. It hurt. The worst of it was I wondered if Tasha thought that was how I acted. Was she trying to level some sort of female-solidarity revenge on me? If so, she was wrong. I never rushed out or left things unsaid. I certainly didn't call late at night just to rip out someone's already-bruised heart.
Ego. I meant to say ego, but the mistake repeated in my head.
"Is this a bad time?" Tasha asked. She backed out of the door.
"Yes. I mean, no. Don't go. More reports to look over?" I asked.
Tasha inched back into my office but stayed near the open door. "I, ah, hope I didn't call too late last night."
"Too late for what?" I asked.
"I, I just wanted to make sure that everything is all right. You know, between us.
Stan says the board is adamant that we continue on as a team."
I sat up and attacked my keyboard. "Speaking of teamwork, have you seen the photos of us on social media?"
Tasha hesitated but finally came around my desk to stand behind me. "Did they use the keywords and tags I suggested?"
"Yes, see?"
We both froze as the first photo appeared on my computer screen. It was a shot I had taken just before lunch, Mr. Reynolds on one side of me and Tasha on the other. Her cheek was pressed to mine, our smiles just inches apart.
The next one was from the preschool teacher with her class coloring our Popsicle stick row markers. In the background, Tasha leaned on the classroom counter and smiled as I said something in her ear.
There was even one when I had bent down to retrieve the rosebud that Tasha had dropped. The look on her face, her soft smile, hit me hard in the chest. Why hadn't she looked at me like that later in the night? Had I really screwed everything up that badly?
"Rainer?"
I stood up, accidentally cornering Tasha behind my desk. "Yes, I think we need to talk, but this time I get to start—"
"Rainer?" A light but sharp voice called from my still-open office door.
I turned around and felt as if the room kept spinning. Ellison Ramsey didn't even pause in the doorway. She breezed across my office in her haute couture, trailing the expensive perfume that was specially made just for her. That scent used to make my mouth water, but now it choked me.
Before I could move, Ellison came around my desk and kissed me firmly on the mouth. "Rainer, darling, you look as wonderful as always. Oh, I didn't see you there."
Tasha drew her shoulders back and held out her hand. "Tasha Nichols, Rainer's co-worker. And you are?"
"Running late." Ellison dismissed Tasha and turned to me. "I know it's last minute, but I'd love to take you out for lunch."
"Not today—" I stopped as Ellison danced her fingers up my chest then cupped my cheek.
"You always made time for me in the past," she said with a hot little smile.