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She heard the words, but there was something in the tone she couldn’t discern. Something that made her pull into her garage instead of passing it by like she’d intended. Residents had assigned parking spaces, so she went down two floors until she came to the reserved spot for apartment 1120.
Tara cut the engine and turned to him. “What does that mean?”
Those dark eyes cut to her. “What?”
“That I’ve done enough.”
His mouth opened and closed two times. With a shrug, he finally said, “Today would’ve been awkward no matter what, but I guess it must’ve been even more uncomfortable for you given that you never intended to see me again.”
Tara blinked. “Huh?”
His brows cranked down. “You left without a word.”
Now her gaze was the one narrowing. “I left because it was getting close to morning and I had a six AM wake-up. I didn’t know whether to wake you. So instead I called my phone with yours and created a contact.” She arched a brow.
Like there was possibly a snake in his pocket, he slowly retrieved the cell. Thumbed it awake. Opened the phone app. She knew the moment he saw the outgoing call at nearly 4 AM to ‘Tara Hunter mobile’ because his hand fell slack in his lap.
“Shit.”
“That about covers it.” She pushed out of the car and slammed the door. Then paced behind the RAV4 until he finally got his annoyingly hot ass out and faced her. “If you think today was any easier for me, you’re wrong.”
“Okay,” he said, looking appropriately chagrinned.
“That’s it? Just…’okay’?” She braced her hands on her hips.
“What else do you want me to say?”
“I…I don’t even know. But this…” She gestured back and forth between them. “This is exactly why this situation is a problem. You were mad at me today because you thought I’d ghosted on you. You didn’t see me as one of your teammates, you saw me as a woman you’d slept with. Which is another problem. Because if you don’t think it’s challenging being the only woman on this team, you’d be wrong again.”
“I understand, Tara, and I agree. I get that last night was a mistake.”
The word hit her like a gut punch, even though she’d been mulling whether it’d been a mistake or not herself. She just hadn’t been able to reduce what’d happened between them to that. It had just been too perfect, too…real. Though he obviously didn’t feel the same way or have the same hesitation. “Okay,” she managed.
“For the record, I absolutely see you as one of my teammates. Because you are one of my teammates. And I’ll treat you the same as everyone else.”
She nodded. “Good. Because I don’t want any distractions at work.”
“Fair enough,” he said, an edge to his words.
On a sigh, she turned. “Elevator’s over here.”
They crossed the garage side by side, their footsteps and the hum of the ventilation the only sounds. She pushed the call button, her stomach heavy with a weird falling sensation at how different this moment was from the last time they’d ridden in an elevator together.
All of which had been a mistake. Apparently.
The doors rolled open, and she stepped in and pressed the buttons for both the lobby and her floor. He followed, standing next to her as the doors eased shut.
This felt…so crappy. She hated it.
And that made her determined. “Since last night was such a mistake, it shouldn’t happen again.”
The bell dinged. The doors slid open.
Jesse gave a single nod. “Fine.”
And then he was gone and Tara was all alone again—and not at all sure that their conversation had done a single thing that would make work tomorrow any less awkward.
Chapter 7
