I jumped up, unable to look directly into his eyes. "I have work to do, Rainer. I'm not your therapist."
He let out a harsh sigh and stood up. "You seriously think we can just go back to work?"
It felt like fleeing, but I went to the office door and laid a hand on the handle. "We're at work. Though I really should be getting over to the garden site."
"Drive together?" Rainer asked, but his sharp tone said he knew my answer.
"I have a few things to finish up here. You go ahead. I'll meet you there."
"Yeah, sure," he said. "Who needs to have a real conversation when there are papers to shuffle. Stick with what you can organize and put on a schedule. Safer that way."
I opened my office door and kept my eyes on the far wall. Work had always been my escape, my shield, and it scared me more than I wanted to admit that Rainer saw that. He must have seen my reaction to Ellison too, otherwise he wouldn't have come in to try to explain. I swallowed hard despite the nervous sparks in my stomach. Rainer was perceptive, but he didn't know me.
He stopped right in the doorway, inches from me. I had no choice but to meet his blue eyes. It was a struggle, but I answered his gaze without blinking.
"I'm not going to let you file me away, Tasha," Rainer said.
"Why not?" I clung to the door but refused to back down.
His jaw flexed, and he shifted, not sure whether he wanted to kiss me or shake me. "Because we're not done."
"Check your messages," I said. "I've rescaled the community garden project. One month and we hand over the reins. One month and all I have to do is call the recreation department to check in. You'll be off the hook, if you last that long."
Rainer was angry. "You're going to organize me out of your life? Too bad I don't respond to memos."
I watched him stalk out of my office and down the hall before I berated myself. Why couldn't I just ignore him? Instead, I all but issued him a challenge.
Rainer Maxwell never lost a bet. By the time I drove to the garden site, I had remembered every office legend I had ever heard. He once beat an intern in a race up the stairwell. Ten flights and they both collapsed, but Rainer was three steps ahead. James Berger once bragged about bringing a celebrity to an executive dinner party. Rainer brought an entire iconic rock band.
And then there were the women.
Rainer once destroyed the office kitchenette in order to surprise a particularly beautiful barista with pink cupcakes. The countertop was stained with red food dye for a week. His date for the holiday potluck one year was the hottest chef in San Francisco. He jogged the first two miles of a marathon in dress shoes, just to get a pretty runner's number.
It didn't mean anything, I assured myself.
I was just another challenge to Rainer, and once he saw that I was ambivalent he would have to give up. All I had to do was ignore him, and he'd go back to wild dates with models and dinners with rich socialites like Ellison Ramsey.
I rubbed a hand over my heart. Then everything would go back to normal. And I would be fine.
I had to give myself the entire speech over again as I got out of my car at the garden site. Rainer was already there, somehow charming a group of junior high students into enjoying the planting phase. They gathered around him to see what he did with the app and then spread out to work the garden plot. The teachers stood to the side in awe.
One of the teachers, a young woman with a long, silky ponytail, licked her lips as she watched Rainer lean down to check a row of seeds.
"I'd understand your annoyance if it was reversed," Barbie said.
I jumped at her sudden appearance next to me. "What?"
"If your co-worker was just standing around ogling women. But, he looks pretty busy to me. So, why are you staring at him like that?" Barbie asked.
"Why are you here?" I asked my sister.
She laughed, holding her pregnant stomach as it jiggled. "I don't know, but I'm glad I came. What is going on with you and him?"
I clutched my clipboard and checked a row of calculations. The seeds would take two to three weeks to sprout. That's when I needed to schedule a professional photographer. I needed someone who could capture Hyperion executives with their shirt sleeves rolled up. Rainer's bright smile as he answered the junior high kids' sarcasm with easy retorts. He would look good, I mean, the garden would look great on our website.
"Hello, earth to little sis." Barbie waved a hand in front of my eyes. "You left me a cryptic message this morning. Remember? I came to see what was going on with you."
"I was just a little distracted this morning. It was nothing. How are you? Have you painted the baby's room yet?" I gave my sister a bright smile.