Covet (37 page)

His hand was on the door handle, ready to open it and call out to Tessa to run over and get inside the car, when two things happened almost simultaneously. The first was the sighting of Gina and Alicia as they emerged from the building and hurried over to get into a car that was waiting for them at the sidewalk. Both girls were wearing expensive looking raingear, unlike Tessa whose thin coat provided no protection whatsoever.

Ian hesitated briefly, knowing that if he were to beckon Tessa over now that the two other girls would be sure to notice. While he was struggling with this particular dilemma, the bus pulled up to the curb and the waiting crowd – including Tessa – began to pile inside what was already a jammed packed vehicle.

He cursed beneath his breath as the light turned green and Simon began to drive away. He’d been too slow to react, too worried about how it would look to others if he had offered Tessa a much needed ride. Ian was furious with himself, angry that he’d allowed the opinion of those two unpleasant, gossipy girls to interfere with helping his beloved Tessa. If he hadn’t been so dense, so apprehensive about keeping up appearances, she would be safely ensconced within his car right now, comfortably seated and warm rather than being forced to stand on a crowded, noisy bus.

“Damn it!” he swore softly, clenching and unclenching his hand into a fist. He felt helpless and frustrated, emotions he had seldom experienced in his life.

Fortunately Simon had the radio on and didn’t seem to hear his little outburst, but Ian figured that after so many years of rigid military training his chauffeur wouldn’t have reacted anyway. The Welshman was even more disciplined and in control than Ian was, and that was saying an awful lot.

‘I’ll tell you one thing,’ Ian thought furiously, ‘and that’s if Tessa were mine – as she ought to be – there’s no way in hell she would ever ride a bloody public bus ever again. Unlike that useless husband of hers,
I
would take very, very good care of her, treat her like the queen that she is. She’d have a proper raincoat and boots, be driven anywhere she wanted or have a car of her own, and she would be –
cherished
. Pampered. Loved.’

Ian ran a hand through his hair in frustration, not particularly caring if he mussed up its usual orderly style. He thought rather savagely that maybe he’d been wrong all this time by trying to do the right thing. Instead of being noble and moral by keeping his feelings hidden from Tessa, maybe he should have done just the opposite and tried his damndest to make her his. It would have meant intentionally wooing her away from her husband, and forcing her to choose between the two of them. But the moral dilemma he would have faced as a result would have still been worth it, he decided now, so long as the end result had meant Tessa would have finally been his.

Even as such rash, foolhardy thoughts crossed his mind, however, Ian knew that when push came to shove he could never have acted on such impulses. Old habits died hard, and he would always be far too much of a stuffy old Englishman to ever attempt something so reprehensible. Tessa was too fine of a woman, too kindhearted and decent, for him to even think of forcing her to make such a choice. And his own pride would have demanded that she come to him for the right reasons, and not because she had been coerced or seduced. He wanted her to want him because she was physically and emotionally attracted to him, every bit as much as he was drawn to her.

It was probably just as well, he thought dourly, that he’d hesitated for that split second and missed his opportunity to offer her a ride. He knew where she lived, or at least the name of the street and where the general neighborhood was. He had rather shamefully pulled up her employee record on his computer not long after she’d begun working for him, even as he’d chastised himself for behaving like a stalker. He hadn’t been at all pleased to realize that she lived in a not so nice part of the city, and worried about her safety and well being on a frequent basis. And he feared that tonight, if he’d actually seen where she lived, he would have instructed Simon to keep on driving until they had reached his own home – a home far more worthy of Tessa and a place where she would always be safe.

But unfortunately that wasn’t his call to make, just as Tessa wasn’t his to protect or look after. That privilege belonged to another man, even if that man didn’t seem to fully appreciate just how lucky he was to have such a woman for his wife.

Unlike Ian, who knew exactly how fortunate he would be to be able to claim her for his own.

“I’m off to the architects’ meeting. Be back in a couple of hours.”

Tessa’s quiet announcement was met with a few brief nods, except for Gina’s sly smile.

“Lucky you,” she replied. “That architect guy is a hot one. Nate, isn’t it?”

Tessa shook her head. “Nathan, actually. Though I might have heard one of his staff members call him Nate once or twice. He’s very nice.”

Gina made a smacking sound. “More like yummy and delicious. Great dresser, too. Maybe I should trade places with you, Tessa. I’ll work this morning, and you can handle tomorrow afternoon’s staff meeting.”

Kevin gave a hoot of laughter. “Oh, so we’re that confident, are we? Think you can get the hot architect to ask you out that fast?”

Gina winked at him saucily. “Honey, you’ve seen me in action before. Is there really any doubt?”

“Actually, Nathan is engaged,” Tessa murmured quietly. “At least, I overheard Mr. Gregson congratulating him a few months ago, so I assume nothing has changed.”

“Crap,” pouted Gina. “It’s always the super hot ones who get snapped up, isn’t it? I guess there isn’t much point in swapping meetings then.”

“Cheer up, sweetie,” offered Kevin. “Aren’t you still seeing that hunky paramedic?”

Gina shook her dark head. “Nope, not since the end of December. He got accepted to medical school and moved to Chicago. So I am definitely on the prowl.”

Kevin grinned. “Sounds like we need to have us a girls night out this weekend. You game, Ali?”

Alicia scowled, her dislike of the nickname Kevin persisted in using obvious. “Depends what night. My mother scored me an invitation to a benefit ball for the symphony on Saturday. It’s supposed to be one of the major social events of the year, and there’s no way I’m missing it.”

Gina gave her best friend a playful little shove. “I wonder why? Could a certain six foot four hunk of Britishness be attending? At least there’s one gorgeous male in our midst who isn’t spoken for yet. Not that Alicia has given up hope of being Mrs. Hotness one of these days.”

Alicia’s fair skin pinkened just a bit at her roommate’s good-natured ribbing. “There’s no way he’ll date an employee,” she protested. “I’d have to quit first, and I’m not in a position to do that right now.”

“Why?” asked Kevin slyly. “I’m sure Mommy and Daddy would increase your trust fund stipends to cover your expenses. Especially if it meant their baby girl finally got to snag His Hotness.”

Before Alicia could think up a suitable retort to Kevin’s intentionally provocative comment, Tessa picked up the notepad and other materials she would need for the meeting and walked away. Not only did she not have time to listen to the others’ idle gossip, but it bothered her more than she was willing to admit to hear them discuss Mr. Gregson – and in particular, Alicia’s continued fascination with him.

Tessa reluctantly admitted that the two of them would make a good pair. Alicia was sophisticated and cultured, had graduated from a prestigious East Coast college, and moved in the same social circles as Ian did. She would certainly fit right in at the various events he attended, would be able to easily converse with his friends and associates, and was most likely the sort of woman his family expected him to marry one of these days.

‘Not like you,’ she scolded herself. ‘In fact, you’d be the least likely person someone like Mr. Gregson would ever consider marrying. And why, Tessa, are you even thinking crazy thoughts like this? In case you’ve forgotten, you’re already married. So knock it off already.’

The caterers were still unloading the food when Tessa walked inside the conference room, and she waved to two of the staff that she knew. The caterers had already started the coffee, but she personally inspected the electric kettle to make sure the water was heating. Mr. Gregson would expect to have his tea served as soon as he walked in, and she took great pride in knowing that she apparently was the only one of the group who knew how to fix him a proper cup.

“There’s plenty of Darjeeling, right?” she asked the female caterer.

The wiry girl with a shock of red-gold hair nodded. “You bet. We know by now to make sure that particular blend is always well stocked. The good stuff, too. You’d think it was for the King of England or something, wouldn’t you?”

Tessa only offered the girl a brief smile before starting to set up the half dozen or so presentation board easels that would be needed for the meeting, thinking that her observations were not so far off. Mr. Gregson
was
rather regal, and equally as intimidating as a head of state. And while he never made a fuss, or acted like a jerk, he made it very clear that he expected things done a certain way around here. And if that meant ensuring the very expensive brand of tea he preferred was always available, then Tessa was determined to make sure that happened.

She stopped by the copy room to gather up a stack of folders that contained handouts for the meeting, smiling her thanks at Lorena, the clerk who’d helped with the copying and collating. During her brief absence, Nathan Atwood had arrived in the conference room, along with his associate Jake – who annoyed Tessa with his frequent attempts to flirt with her – and a petite, shapely young woman who she assumed was the new interior designer for the project.

At last month’s meeting, Nathan had announced to the management team that Sonya had recently resigned from the firm, and that a new designer would be hired to replace her. Tessa had silently applauded this news, having found the haughty, temperamental Sonya extremely unfriendly. She had always looked down her nose at Tessa, had never once thanked her for anything, and tended to treat her like a lowly waitress. Tessa had kept her fingers crossed that Sonya’s replacement would be much more likeable and friendly.

Nathan had just removed a gray wool coat from the woman’s shoulders. “I think there’s a coat rack around here somewhere,” he offered, his gaze roving around the room.

“Oh, I’ll be happy to take that for you, Mr. Atwood,” said Tessa. She quickly set the stack of folders on a corner of the conference table and took the coat from him.

“Thank you, Tessa,” replied Nathan with his usual warm smile. To the petite woman who stood next to him, he added, “Julia, this is Tessa Lockwood, who works here for Ian and his staff. Tessa, I’d like you to meet our new interior designer, Julia McKinnon.”

Tessa was instantly relieved to notice than even though Julia McKinnon was easily one of the most beautiful, stylish women she’d ever met, the petite interior designer was nonetheless smiling up at her in a friendly manner. a twinkle in her big green eyes. Julia was wearing a form fitting gray dress, and had artfully arranged a black and gray print scarf around her neck to fill in the low neckline. She wore sky high black stilettos with red soles, and Tessa knew from photos she’d glimpsed in one of Gina’s fashion magazines that the shoes were Christian Louboutins and had cost hundreds of dollars. Julia’s classically lovely features were expertly made up, and her long, golden brown hair fell in loose curls past her shoulders. She was much younger than Sonya, probably only a couple of years older than Tessa, and Tessa instantly felt at ease with her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. McKinnon. What a lovely coat this is. Your dress, too,” offered Tessa as she shook Julia’s small, slender hand. The gray wool coat in Tessa’s arms was wonderfully soft, lined in satin, and had probably cost the earth.

“Thank you so much,” replied Julia in a soft, melodious voice. “And please call me Julia.”

Tessa swept an arm to the back of the room. “Please, help yourselves to coffee and such. I’ll be back in just a minute or two. The others are on their way.”

She hurried off to hang the very stylish Julia McKinnon’s beautiful coat in a nearby closet, pausing for just a moment to run her hand admiringly over the soft gray wool. Tessa sighed, wishing that she owned something that looked as warm as this coat did, instead of her thin, inadequate beige raincoat. It had been an unusually cold winter in San Francisco, and she was admittedly still getting adjusted to the climate in northern California after spending her entire life in the Southwest. A coat as warm and luxurious as this one would be a huge improvement over what she owned, but any sort of new clothes just weren’t in the budget right now. Peter hadn’t been paid in almost two months, and had been arguing rather bitterly with the news agency about it. He’d confided to Tessa that he suspected the agency was deliberately withholding money from him because they were having financial difficulties, and he had recently begun looking for a new job.