Covet (26 page)

Ian entered the conference room somewhat warily, knowing from the schedule he’d consulted earlier this morning that the newest member of his support team was overseeing today’s meeting. He’d briefly questioned Andrew on the matter, expressing his concern that Tessa perhaps wasn’t quite ready to handle the task on her own. His PA had given him a look of mingled bewilderment and annoyance, though of course Andrew’s tone of voice had been as polite and respectful as always.

“She’ll be fine, sir,” he’d replied a bit haughtily. “After all, she’s already assisted one of the other team members at least four or five times with the meeting set-up. Plus, she was in charge of coordinating all the staff meetings at the Tucson property so she has experience with this sort of thing. And,” he’d added with a touch of irony, “making sure the caterers have set up the food service and that the A/V equipment is ready to go doesn’t exactly require a PhD.”

Ian was confident that Andrew would not have left Tessa in charge of this morning’s meeting if he hadn’t been assured of her capabilities. Unfortunately, Ian was not quite so confident in his own ability to conduct the meeting without being constantly distracted by the girl who’d been haunting his every waking thought for the last month and a half.

A quick, discreet glance towards the rear of the room where Tessa was busily rearranging some coffee cups was all he needed to take note of what she was wearing today. He’d seen her in this same outfit once or twice already – a black and white patterned wrap-front dress of some silky-looking fabric paired with plain black pumps. It was both discreet and professional, and Ian had guessed that the staunchly conservative Mrs. Carrington had made quite certain her young protégé followed the company dress code to the letter.

But while the hem of the dress might have hit right at the knee, and the wrap-front did not reveal any cleavage, the garment still clung lovingly to the ripe swell of her breasts and hips, and revealed plenty of her long, shapely legs. All of that beautiful golden hair fell in glorious waves halfway down her back, and her glowing face was nearly makeup-free.

Every time he caught a glimpse of her Ian thought she couldn’t possibly be real, that no mortal woman could truly be that exquisite. And each time he had to force himself not to stare at her or meet her gaze, and to coolly and deliberately ignore her presence. Unlike, he thought with a scowl, every other male seated around the table this morning, none of whom were even trying to be discreet as they stared at her with undisguised lust and admiration.

Thank Christ that randy bastard Jason was not attending this particular meeting, he thought fervently. Once he had made the rather reluctant decision to keep Tessa on the team, Ian had taken the necessary steps to keep her out of Jason’s reach as much as possible. And if Andrew had looked at him a bit oddly after receiving those instructions, the PA was far too disciplined and well-mannered to question a thing.

“No matter what the circumstances might be,” he’d told Andrew, “Tessa is not to be assigned to help Jason with any sort of project – understand?” At Andrew’s nod he’d continued rather ruthlessly. “Jason can beg, wheedle, threaten, or intimidate all he likes but the answer is always to be the same – no. You can tell the bastard that Tessa’s been assigned to work on a project for me, and that he’ll need to take it up with me personally if he continues to argue the matter
.”

“
Mr. Baldwin does
not
intimidate me, sir,” Andrew had replied dryly. “And I would hope he’s wise enough not to threaten me, either. But you’ve made your point quite clearly, Mr. Gregson. Should Jason require assistance from one of the team members it’s to be anyone but Tessa who’s assigned
.”

Ian had nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent. Now, one other thing and this is perhaps a bit more – er, sensitive. I told you when I agreed to keep Tessa on the team that I wouldn’t tolerate a repeat of what happened with Sarah. And the mere fact that Tessa is a married woman isn’t going to stop Jason from trying to flirt with her – or worse. I need you to – well, keep an eye on the situation, Andrew. I realize that you’re quite busy and can’t always be in two places at once, but I want you to do your damndest to make sure that weasel stays away from her
.”

Andrew had arched a brow, visibly puzzled. “I’m happy to do what I can, sir. However, this does seem a bit – ah, excessive? I mean, you’ve never made this sort of request for any of the other female employees
.”

Ian had silently cursed his extremely receptive PA for being quite so – receptive. “Yes, I’m aware of that, Andrew. But Tessa is a member of our personal team, and I’m not prepared to lose another of them because of Jason’s harassment. And, to be frank, Tessa is quite a bit younger than the others, and seems to be rather on the naïve side. There’s also the matter of her being married. The last thing I need is to have an irate husband marching in here because one of my employees has been hitting on his wife
.”

Andrew had seemed to accept his explanations, or at the very least hadn’t questioned him further as to his motives. Which was a very good thing, Ian thought now, because while all the reasons he’d given Andrew had been valid ones they certainly weren’t the only ones – and definitely not the most important ones. No, the real reason he had pulled out all the stops to keep Jason Baldwin away from Tessa was because of his own attraction to her. There was no possible way he was going to permit anyone to flirt with her, make suggestive comments, or – God forbid – to proposition her. She didn’t belong to him but that didn’t seem to matter in the least when it came to the possessive feelings he had about her. He might never be able to reveal his infatuation with her, but he would do everything within his power to keep her safe.

Ian watched from beneath his lashes as Tessa made her way towards his end of the table, carrying a cup and saucer. The fleeting scent of her light perfume – or possibly just her soap or shampoo – wafted his way as she carefully set the fine china down at his place.

“Your tea, Mr. Gregson,” she murmured in that soft, breathy little voice. She kept her eyes downcast as she spoke, as though she was too intimidated to meet his gaze.

“Thank you, Tessa,” he replied in a rather brisk, impersonal tone. He was determined to keep his reaction to her severely under wraps, never betraying for an instant that he was attracted to her – not to mention incredibly, achingly aroused from having her this close. “I trust that everything is ready for the meeting?”

She raised huge blue eyes to his, the expression in their sapphire depths more than a little terrified. “Yes, sir. The PowerPoint presentation is all set, and the reports and other handouts you asked for are in the packets at each person’s place. Will there be anything else you need, Mr. Gregson?”

Her question was phrased in an entirely professional manner, without even a hint of innuendo or sly suggestiveness, and Ian doubted she would know how to flirt even if she wanted to – unlike some of the others like Alicia, Gina, or Sarah.

He shook his head as he reached for his cup of tea. “There’s nothing else at the moment, no.” He sipped his tea tentatively, his eyes widening in surprise to realize that the beverage was hot, strong, and had just the right amount of sweetness. Despite his resolve to treat Tessa impersonally, he couldn’t help giving her a pleased smile. “I don’t believe I’ve had a cup of properly brewed tea like this since I left England. Thank you, Tessa.”

She blushed furiously, and glanced down at her shoes. “My pleasure, Mr. Gregson,” she replied softly before returning to her seat at the back of the room.

‘Yes, darling’ he thought to himself as he continued to watch her unobserved. ‘It would most definitely be your pleasure if you belonged to me. I would pleasure you for hours at a time, and in ways you could never imagine.’

But before he could begin to fantasize about all the many ways he would give his golden-haired beauty the utmost in bliss, the meeting began and Ian forced himself to divert his attention to the business at hand. Tessa remained quietly in the background, taking diligent notes and then starting up the PowerPoint presentation at the appropriate time. He couldn’t resist, however, making frequent but discreet glances in her direction over the course of the meeting, always being exceedingly careful that no one else in the room observed his interest – especially Tessa herself.

She was not the sort of woman who fussed, he noticed, either with her appearance or her mannerisms. She was subdued and rather introverted, and didn’t even attempt to make eye contact or converse with any of the other employees present. He appreciated her professionalism and dedication to her work, and knew that he had Mrs. C. to thank for the rigid training she had undoubtedly put Tessa through. Tessa was a model employee, and if it hadn’t been for his unwilling attraction to her he would very likely be working more closely with her on various projects – rather than relying on Andrew to delegate out the assignments. He simply couldn’t take the risk that he might betray his infatuation with her, an infatuation that was forbidden for too many reasons.

Ian had been furious with himself at not being able to firmly put the young, innocent, and very married blonde out of his head over the past few weeks. He’d been acting like some moonstruck adolescent schoolboy with an unrequited crush on the prettiest girl in his class. And Ian Gregson simply did
not
have crushes, or pine for a woman, and he most certainly did not permit a shy, naïve office assistant to unwillingly occupy his thoughts. Even if she hadn’t been married – an inescapable fact that in itself was more than enough reason to keep his distance – Tessa worked for him, and there was no possible way he would violate the very strict company policy prohibiting such a relationship. She was also far too young for him – fifteen years, he’d calculated – and Ian could just imagine the good-natured ribbing he would receive from friends and family for “robbing the cradle”.

He was a man used to being in control of every aspect of his life, and it annoyed him to no end that for once he didn’t seem capable of controlling his reaction to this – this –
girl.
She was barely older than a teenager, for God’s sake, and with her wide-eyed stares, her tendency to blush furiously at any given moment, and her shy, introverted manner, she reminded him of a skittish fawn. Definitely not the sort of woman he had dated in the past, he thought drolly, as he briefly compared Tessa to Davina, his former fiancé. For all of Davina’s perfect manners, ladylike behavior, and posh education, there had been nothing the least bit shy or uncertain about her. She’d been extremely confident, completely sophisticated, and very much at home at social functions.

That
was the sort of woman he ought to be dating, he’d scolded himself on more than one occasion as of late – one who was refined, sophisticated, and socially adept. In fact, in an all-out effort to stop daydreaming about a certain blushing blonde, Ian had gone out with several different women over the past weeks, going so far as to permit some friends of his to set him up with a date – something he
never
allowed under normal circumstances.

But it had all been for naught, because he hadn’t felt a damned thing for any of the women he’d dated. Every one of them had been beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, and well-educated – on paper, at least, a perfect fit for someone like himself. He had spent an enjoyable evening with each woman, conversing easily over dinner and then enjoying the symphony or the theater. But then, when it had come time to take his date home, he’d felt no urge whatsoever to take things further than a chaste goodnight kiss, despite the eager promise in the woman’s eyes, or her bold attempt to seduce him. There had been nothing there, not even a flicker of physical attraction, and he’d cursed anew beneath his breath at the realization that his obsession with the breathtaking blonde in his office had well and truly done him in.

He wasn’t prepared to give up quite so easily, though, and had a couple of other dates set up over the next weeks. And when he flew to England in December for the holidays, he had vowed to look up a former lover or two in the hopes that he could reignite the flame between them.
Something
– anything – needed to happen soon in order for him to get over this ridiculous fixation.

Ian remained behind once the meeting wrapped up to chat with a few of the others present. Out of the corner of his eye, he could observe Tessa begin the tidying-up process, and tried very, very hard to keep his lusty gaze from lingering on the delectable curve of her ass. He’d thought more than once that she truly had the perfect figure – at least, in his opinion – and wouldn’t want to change one damned thing about the sensual body that was both curvy and toned at the same time.

As she bent over to retrieve a napkin from the floor, Ian had to resist the urge to gulp – or stare – or, even worse, drool. The motion unwittingly caused the wrap front of her dress to gap away from her skin, exposing a tempting amount of cleavage. Fortunately for her sake no one else seemed to notice, and equally fortunately for
his
sake she stood up quickly, and he released the breath he’d been holding for several long seconds.

But when she began to clear empty plates and cups off the conference table, it didn’t take long for Keegan Whittaker – the newest member of Ian’s management team – to take notice.

“Now, that’s a damned pity for sure,” he commented wryly. “And such a waste, don’t you think, Ian?”

Ian frowned at Keegan, who was also the youngest member of the management staff. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Keegan shook his auburn head. “Your new girl over there. Tess, I believe her name is? She’s got every man in this place panting after her, but what’s the use when she’s already spoken for? Some of us have a bet going on that her husband is some sort of big, buff athletic sort or a male model. He’d have to be something special to have snagged a prize like her.”