Claim

by Janet Nissenson

  That realization had been the primary reason why Ian had encouraged her to go a little crazy with decorating the house this year. In the years he’d lived here so far, he hadn’t bothered with such things, for they would have only served as reminders of how alone he was out here, without family or close friends of his own.

  But everything was different now, for he and Tessa had each other, and they had begun to build a real life together here in San Francisco. She’d made the big house come alive with her laughter and love and the joy she took in even the smallest things, and coming home to her was always the very best part of his day.

  He followed his nose to the kitchen, where Tessa and Julia were in the middle of baking what looked like dozens of cookies. Julia was sticking a cookie sheet filled with dough into the oven, while Tessa was using a spatula to slide a just-baked batch onto cooling racks. She immediately dropped the spatula when she saw him, flinging her arms about his neck, and giving him a very amorous welcome home kiss.

  Ian grinned down at her, thinking how adorable she looked this afternoon wearing a pair of faded jeans, a bright red thermal top, and red fuzzy socks. Without shoes on, she was several inches shorter than usual, the top of her blonde head barely reaching his chin. She wore little to no makeup, and with wisps of curly hair escaping a messy braid, she looked like a teenager.

  He brushed away a speck of flour from the tip of her nose, dropping another quick kiss on her lips. “You taste like sugar cookies,” he teased. “And the entire house smells like a bakery. Hello, Julia. Playing hooky from work today, I see.”

  Julia gave him a little wink. “Tessa and I have actually been working very hard, Ian. And it’s always a little slow at the office this time of year. No one is all that anxious to start on new decorating projects around the holidays. Besides, I have something of an in with the owner as you know,” she added teasingly.

  “How’s the new house coming along?” inquired Ian.

  Julia groaned. “He just had to ask, didn’t he? Well, construction has been completed, the inspections all signed off on, and we’re in the process of moving our stuff over a little at a time. However, half of the furniture and other things I’ve ordered haven’t arrived yet, and I’m afraid that people are going to have to sit on rented folding chairs for our New Year’s Eve party. And just the thought of those ugly metal things are giving me nightmares! And Lauren had to make it worse by suggesting we all just sit on the floor on big pillows - like an indoor picnic or some sort of hippie lovefest. Well, that is definitely not going to happen!”

  Ian bent to whisper in Tessa’s ear, “I gather the missing furniture is something of a sore subject?”

  Tessa rolled her eyes. “You have no idea. She was working herself into a frenzy about it earlier. Thank God all of the baking has helped to take her mind off of things. Until now, that is,” she added in mock severity.

  “Oops.” He grinned at her before swiping a still-warm cookie from one of the racks. “Mmm, delicious,” he declared after taking a bite. “But not as delicious as you are, love.”

  They kissed again, more thoroughly this time, until Tessa was rising up on her tiptoes to fuse her mouth more closely against his. It was only the sound of Julia clearing her throat rather loudly that caused him to take a reluctant step back.

  “Sorry,” apologized Ian, though he’d never been less sorry about anything in his life. “We, ah, tend to get a bit carried away at times. You understand, Julia.”

  Julia laughed. “I do, yes. Speaking of which, I should be getting home to my own lusty husband. Though I hate to leave you with this mess to clean up, Tessa.”

  Tessa shook her head. “Don’t be silly. It’s just a few utensils and cookie sheets. And you’ve been such a big help, Julia. I know the dinner tomorrow night is only for eight people, but I’m starting to freak out about it a little.”

  “Everything is going to be perfect,” assured Julia. “And I’ll be sure to get here in plenty of time to help, even though you really don’t need me to. You’ve become a great cook, Tessa, and after just a few months of lessons.”

  “Julia’s absolutely right, darling,” Ian told her warmly. “You keep me very well fed. And the dinner tomorrow evening will go off without a hitch.”

  Tessa grinned mischievously. “I’m going to sit Lindsey next to Jordan. I figured since she likes to flirt with other men so much she might as well practice on a master. And,” she added in a sterner tone, “I’m also sitting her as far away from Ian as possible. No one gets to flirt with my man.”

  Ian burst out laughing, sliding his arms around her waist and hugging her back against his chest. “I think Lindsey got that message loud and clear the last time we ran into her and Matthew. As I recall, you were practically glued against my side, and trying your damndest to crawl up my body.”

  Julia grinned at that particular mental image. “I don’t blame Tessa. Some women just don’t take the hint very well. But I can’t imagine any woman thinking she had a chance with Ian given the way he looks at you, Tessa. It’s pretty obvious that the two of you are crazy in love. Just like me and Nathan.”

  Julia hugged both of them good-by, and good-naturedly allowed Ian to walk her out to her car after he insisted. He gallantly unlocked the door and held it open as she slid into the driver’s seat.

  “Thank you again for coming over to help Tessa,” he told her with all sincerity. “She’s still lacking in self-confidence, as you’ve no doubt noticed, though I have to admit it’s improved considerably over the last few months.”

  “I agree,” replied Julia. “Being with you has helped her in a lot of ways, Ian. She’s needed someone like you in her life for, well, pretty much forever, I’d say.”

  He nodded soberly. “You know, don’t you, about what her life was like? How hard it was, how unstable. That she and her mother were actually, well…”

  “Homeless? Or living on welfare?” finished Julia. “Yes, I know some of it. She doesn’t really like to talk about those times. Who can blame her? But I know she’s trying to forget about those bad years. That’s why it meant so much to her to be able to deck the house out for the holidays. She never had that opportunity before, and she’s been having so much fun doing it.”

  “I’m aware, yes. And thank you for helping her, Julia. Though if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not overly fond of those gold reindeer,” he teased.

  She gave him an answering grin as she fired up the engine. “Tough. Tessa loves them, and that means they’re here to stay. But don’t worry. They’ll only be around through the end of the holidays, then they go into storage until next year.”

  Julia drove off before he could think of a suitable retort, and he walked back inside the warm, cookie-scented house, trying very hard not to scowl at the aforementioned reindeer that had taken up residence on his antique entryway table.

  As she began to get dressed, Tessa was relieved that she’d gone along with Ian’s suggestion - more like a demand, really - that she have her hair, nails, and makeup done at the salon earlier today. Because as nervous as she was about attending the office holiday party tonight, she just knew she would have smeared her mascara, stabbed herself in the eye with the liner pencil, and broken a nail or two in the process otherwise.

  It was silly, she thought, as she removed lingerie from the dresser. There was no valid reason why she ought to be this high strung, this fearful. She’d attended plenty of fancy events with Ian over the past year - a benefit ball for the opera, opening night for the symphony, charity galas for companies of which he was a board member - not to mention numerous private dinners, cocktail parties, and other social gatherings. She knew quite a few of his friends, and everyone had been more than kind to her, had been gracious and welcoming, and she’d never sensed that anyone was merely tolerating her because she was with Ian.

  So there was no reasonable explanation as to why she should be in near-panic mode at the thought of seeing her co-workers just over an hour from now. After all,
she had socialized with most of Ian’s executive staff at last July’s manager’s meeting, and worked with several of them when they had accompanied her and Ian on visits to certain hotels. She was in frequent contact with Andrew, and she and Ian had taken him and Isobel out to dinner more than once. That pretty much left the employees who had been her peers at the office, in particular the remaining members of the management support team whom she had worked beside for more than two years.

  Alicia was no longer employed by the company, of course, having handed in her resignation after that fateful evening last May when she’d launched a nasty verbal attack on Tessa in the presence of Ian’s mother. Joanna had never told Tessa what she’d said to Alicia afterwards, having shooed Tessa out of the room, but it had been more than enough to provoke Alicia into quitting. Tessa knew via Andrew that Alicia was now living on the East Coast with an aunt, and was considering going to law school. Tessa was simply glad she didn’t have to worry about running into her former - and spiteful - co-worker this evening. It would make things just a bit less stressful.

  She felt badly that she hadn’t done a better job at keeping in touch with the rest of the team, though. She had seen Shelby in July at the manager’s meeting in Hawaii, and had run into Gina shopping at Barney’s one afternoon in October. But she’d seen or heard nothing from Marisol, and in particular Kevin, who had been the closest to her and had always gone out of his way to cheer her up and make her laugh.

  It hadn’t been intentional, of course. At first, it had been important to keep her relationship with Ian something of a secret, not wanting the speculation to spread about exactly when they had started seeing each other. And then she’d just gotten caught up in the hustle and bustle of her daily life - traveling on business with Ian, taking care of the house and perfecting her cooking skills, starting online college classes. There had been her emergency surgery and weeks long recuperation to deal with as well, immediately followed by their vacation to Tuscany and London. And since then their lives seemed to have operated at a breakneck pace, between the traveling, the social events, school, and day to day living.

  Still, she scolded herself as she began to dress, none of that was really a valid excuse for not having kept in touch with Kevin and the others. And a good part of her trepidation about attending tonight’s party had to do with how they were going to react after seeing her for the first time in so many months - and this time as their boss’s fiancée.

  “Well, don’t bother buying me anything for Christmas, darling. Just the sight of you in whatever that is you’re wearing is the best present I could ever imagine.”

  Tessa gave a little start of surprise at the sound of Ian’s lazy, sensuous drawl, and her cheeks flushed rosily beneath a layer of gold-flecked bronzer. “It’s, um, a - a corset,” she mumbled, completely flustered by the way he was studying her so intently. He was leaning against the doorway to their bedroom, his arms crossed indolently across his chest, as though he had nothing else to do at this particular moment but stare lustfully at her half-clothed body. “Madelyn suggested that it would work well with this dress. You know, because the corset is strapless, and the dress has one shoulder bared, and - oh!”

  She clutched Ian’s forearms in surprise as he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his body - his very aroused body. He was already dressed in his black tuxedo trousers, white dress shirt, and expertly knotted black bowtie, the jacket still waiting to be donned. And while he always looked so handsome that she felt like swooning whenever he was nearby, he was especially so on those occasions when he wore formal attire.

  But it seemed that Ian was far more interested in what she wasn’t wearing this evening, his fingertips tracing a slow, deliberate line across the tops of her exposed breasts. The shockingly expensive Agent Provocateur corset that Madelyn had insisted she wear with the gorgeous gown that had been chosen for tonight’s party was of gold and black lace, and pushed her boobs up into a rather startlingly display. The attached garters held up sheer, silky stockings, and her lacy panties exactly matched the corset.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have insisted that you get your hair and makeup done earlier today,” he murmured huskily, as one big hand squeezed her half-bared buttock before sliding up her ribcage to cup her breast. “I wouldn’t have felt quite as guilty getting you all mussed up right about now otherwise. But you’re such absolute perfection tonight that I won’t be selfish enough to ruin all of the salon’s work. Later tonight, though,” he added in a very seductive voice, “I’m going to take great pleasure in getting you as messy as possible.”

  Tessa giggled, then sighed with pleasure as she took a deep sniff of his scent - a knee-weakening combination of soap, aftershave, and pure male, one that never failed to enthrall her. “Have I told you yet today that I love the way you smell?” she asked in a breathy little voice, her hand cupping his cheek. He had waited until just a short while ago to shave, since doing so this morning would have required him to repeat the task later in the day. His lightly tanned skin was smooth to the touch, and she couldn’t resist nuzzling her nose against his face.

  “Ah, none of that, or you’ll smudge your lipstick,” he scolded playfully. “Time for you to get dressed anyway. Simon will be meeting us downstairs in less than fifteen minutes.”

  With Ian’s help, she stepped into the gorgeous gold silk chiffon gown that she’d fallen for the moment Madelyn had brought it into the dressing room at Bergdorf’s. The bodice was Grecian in style, softly draped, and baring one shoulder. A pearl and diamond brooch was affixed to the fabric at the small of her back, and provided the gown’s only ornamentation. The skirt was long and flowing, and she hadn’t been able to resist the urge to twirl around in it a few times.

  She grinned down at him as he knelt to fasten her strappy gold Jimmy Choo stiletto sandals. “I think I know now exactly how Cinderella felt when the prince held that glass slipper for her,” she teased.

  Ian caressed her silk clad ankle sensuously. “Ah, but you’re not supposed to be Cinderella this evening, love. Tonight you’re going to be my queen. My golden girl. I used to think of you that way all the time, you know. And tonight that particular fantasy is coming true. Now, tell me, darling. Why does this particular pair of shoes look so familiar? As though you’ve worn them, oh, I don’t know, three or four times already?”

  Tessa gave a little eye roll. “Ian, I don’t have to buy an entirely new outfit every time we go somewhere. Honestly. And maybe I have worn these shoes a few times, but they cost close to a thousand dollars, and I’d just feel so wasteful if I didn’t get some use from them. And no one is going to notice them beneath my dress, especially since this is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen and -”

  He shushed her with a finger against her lips. “I get the picture,” he told her dryly. “And while I appreciate your, er, frugality, it simply isn’t necessary for you to pinch pennies any longer, Tessa. You’re going to be the wife of a very, very wealthy man, and he can easily afford to buy you a new pair of shoes. Or whatever else you might like.”

  “I know.” She fiddled slightly with his bow tie. “I suppose it’s still taking me some time to get used to that idea. While I was at the salon earlier today, I was thinking back to this exact same day last year. I was at Julia’s flat, and she was doing my hair and nails and makeup for me because going to a salon was the very last thing I could have afforded. She loaned me an evening bag and some costume jewelry because I didn’t own any, and I was cringing at the thought that I’d actually spent a whole hundred dollars on my dress and shoes for the party. I’m pretty sure the panties I’m wearing tonight cost more than that.”

  “And worth every penny, considering how delectable you look in them,” he murmured to her wickedly, his hand caressing her ass through the dress. “But on a more serious note, love, I understand what you’re saying. You went without so many things for your entire life, lived in poverty for far too many years, that I’m guessing it’s difficult for yo
u to truly accept that everything has changed. You don’t have to borrow jewels because you have an entire collection of your own. And you certainly don’t have to scrimp and save to buy a dress or a pair of shoes. You can have whatever your heart desires from now on, Tessa. I will happily give you the world.”

  “Good,” she whispered, pressing a little kiss to the corner of his mouth, not giving a damn if she mussed her lipstick. “Because you are my world, Ian. And so long as I always have you that’s all I’ll ever need.”

  “My darling Tessa.” His lips brushed her forehead with exquisite tenderness. “You took the words right out of my mouth. And now, I suggest you finish getting ready, my love, or we are going to be the last ones to arrive at this party that we’re supposed to be hosting.”

  Quickly she inserted a pair of pearl and diamond drop earrings into her pierced lobes, then fastened a gold and diamond bangle around her wrist. Her blonde hair had been arranged in a thick knot at the nape of her neck, her makeup all soft golds and pinks. She felt every bit as regal and poised as the queen Ian had compared her to a few minutes ago, and it was that feeling that gave her the little boost of confidence she needed in order to stroll into tonight’s party on Ian’s arm a short time from now.

  Simon gave her hand a little squeeze as he helped her into the back of the town car, and his eyes twinkled at her kindly. “You look exquisite this evening, Miss Tessa,” he told her sincerely. “Just like a princess.”

  “A queen, Simon,” corrected Ian, clapping his trusted chauffeur on the back in greeting. “My queen, to be exact.”

  Simon chuckled, something he seldom did, as he held the door open for Ian. “You’re quite right, sir. And it’s my honor to be driving the royal couple to the ball this evening.”

  On the drive to the hotel, Tessa couldn’t quite suppress a little yawn, or the way she rested her head on Ian’s shoulder a bit wearily.

  “I guess I should have made time for a nap today,” she told him regretfully. “But I had to study for a test next week, and get some Christmas presents wrapped, and then I was at the salon for almost three hours. I might have to drink coffee tonight instead of champagne.”