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entered his mind. He knew Tara had been worked up about some charity event, but hell, in this city
there was always some charity event or other going on. And he hadn t even had time to call Tara and
tell her what he was going to be doing tonight. He d grabbed a shower, thrown on his tux, and the
limo had shown up. Plus, he knew she d be busy, and this was such a nonissue to him that he didn t
think it was a big deal. He figured he d tell her about it when he saw her tomorrow.
And then he ran into her tonight and realized he d escorted Alicia to Tara s event. But instead of
her giving him time to explain, she d already made up her mind what was going on and had played
judge, jury, and executioner. It had pissed him off that she didn t believe in him. In them.
Dammit.
Mick filled up a glass with ice, water, and a wedge of lime, then went into the living room and
turned on the television, propped his feet up, and stared at the screen for a while, flipping through
channels and not really seeing anything.
A knock at the door had him grabbing his cell phone to look at the time. It was one in the morning.
Who the hell was at the door this late? He rolled his eyes and hoped one of the guys on the team
hadn t gotten kicked out by his wife.
He took a look through the peephole, surprised to see Tara standing outside. He opened the door
and pulled her in.
What the hell are you doing out this late?
Her eyes widened. I came to see you.
Mick shut and locked the door. You should have called me.
I m sorry. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Bad time?
No, it s not that. I just don t want you out on the streets or wandering around in this parking lot
late at night by yourself.
She stepped in and slid her fingers into the pockets of her jeans, looking as uncomfortable as he
felt. Oh. Well, thanks for your concern.
You want something to drink?
Whatever you re having.
Water with lime.
That ll suit me just fine.
He fixed her a drink and brought it out to her. She was still standing in the same spot as she was
when she walked in. You can sit down, Tara.
I don t know if you want me to stay or not.
He handed her the drink. Sit down.
She did, taking a seat in his oversized chair, not on the sofa with him. Okay, so it was going to be
like that.
She stared at the television for a while and he let her, figuring she d come here to say something.
He sipped his water, watching her, knowing she was thinking, organizing her thoughts. She always
went quiet when her brain was working, when she was thinking about what she wanted to say or
working out a plan of action.
He finally gave up and found them a movie to watch.
Mick, I m sorry.
He muted the TV and gave her his attention. I m sorry, too. This thing between Alicia and me
tonight was very last-minute. Liz called
She held up her hand. It doesn t matter. You don t owe me an explanation.
He pushed off the sofa and came over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her chair. Liz called
and said this was very last-minute, he continued, needing her to hear him, telling her the story of how
Alicia s fiancé had fallen sick and she didn t want to tell the world about her fiancé and her
pregnancy without some support. I was nothing more than a glorified bodyguard to keep the press
from knocking her over.
Tara pulled her knees to her chest. You were very nice to her. I saw how close you stayed to her.
I m sure she appreciated it.
She s a nice kid. But she s a kid, Tara. She s twenty-two.
Tara s lips lifted. Some of the women you ve dated haven t been much older than that.
She was right about that. I ve reformed. I like more mature women now.
She snorted. Gee, thanks.
You know what I mean. He slid his hands over her knees. I should have called you and given
you a heads-up. I wasn t even thinking that we were attending the same event as you. I was just
operating blind here, assuming I was going to do this good deed and tell you about it tomorrow. I
didn t want to call and bother you with something trivial like this when I knew you were busy with
work.
Tara leaned forward and tangled her fingers in his hair. I know. And then you ran into me, and I
acted like a giant bitch about it all.
He gave her an impish grin. I m going to assume it just means you care about me.
If I didn t, you wouldn t have seen me act like a giant bitch.
So we re good?
We re good. And I m really sorry. I acted petty and jealous and I don t know why. It s a very ugly
side of me, and I don t like it. Did I mention I was sorry?
You don t need to be. Next time I ll give you a heads-up when Liz tosses some stunning, sexy
young babe at me.
Tara mimicked a knife stabbing repeatedly into her heart. You re killing me here, Mick.
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