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.
February
“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 ar
e 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.
When she returned to the conference room, it was to find that everyone else had arrived – including Mr. Gregson. Of course, she never really needed to look around to determine if he was in the room, because she could feel his presence like a physical thing. Not to mention the fact that almost everyone’s attention always seemed to be focused in his direction – including the very, very pretty Julia McKinnon’s. And, more notably, Ian’s attention seemed to be fixated on the charming interior designer.
Tessa’s heart sunk a inch or so at a time as the meeting began, and as she was forced to notice the way Ian continued to smile and converse with Julia. He had seated her at the place directly to the left of his, and paid her far more attention than Tessa was used to seeing him do to anyone. They smiled at each other like old friends – or potential lovers – and Tessa rather reluctantly admitted they would make a stunning couple. They were both extremely attractive, well dressed, and personable, and when it was Julia’s turn to make her presentation she sounded every bit as confident and knowledgeable as Ian always did at these meetings.
Moreover, Julia McKinnon seemed – at least at first impressions – like the sort of woman a man could get very serious about very quickly. She was something special – not just beautiful but also refined. intelligent and talented. Tessa knew next to nothing about interior design or architecture, but even she recognized that the sketches Julia had made for the new hotel were far superior to anything that her predecessor had produced. Ian seemed especially interested in them, asking a number of detailed questions, and looking pleased when Julia gave her quick, informative replies. They seemed to have hit it off immediately, and Tessa realized that she’d never seen Ian smile as often and as warmly as he’d been doing throughout the meeting.
‘At least she seems nice,’ thought Tessa rather glumly. ‘I mean, if he has to pick someone, maybe get serious about somebody, it’s good that she seems worthy of him. I’d much rather see him pick someone like Julia over Alicia.’
She kept her attention focused on her notepad, even when there was really no need to take notes at that particular moment, and tried very hard not to feel dejected. It was nothing to do with her – not one tiny bit – if Ian was interested in a woman. Tessa was still amazed that a man like him hadn’t been snapped up a long time ago, that he hadn’t been married for years already and had several children. It was ridiculous of her to feel any sort of jealousy or envy towards Julia McKinnon, or any of the women Ian was purported to date. He was a single man, after all, more than entitled to date as many different women as he liked. She had no claim on him whatsoever, especially since he barely even acknowledged her existence. It was just – well, she only wished that he might smile at her once in awhile the way he was smiling at Julia right now. But, she acknowledged glumly, that probably wouldn’t be a good thing, because any attention Ian paid her would only make her yearn that much more for things that could never be.
Tessa was startled from her musings when Julia began to converse in rapid French with one of the managers – Henri Bissette – who seemed overjoyed to find someone who was so fluent in his native tongue. And of course Ian looked even more impressed with Julia, his smile broadening as she continued speaking in French with Henri.
‘One more thing they have in common, I guess,’ she thought with a sigh. She had heard Mr. Gregson speak not just in French but also in Italian and Spanish at one time or another, and had wondered in awe how he’d managed to become fluent in three different languages.
But as Tessa returned her attention to her notepad, she happened to glance at Nathan, and her eyes widened a bit to notice the expression on his handsome face. Unlike Ian – and a number of the other men seated around the conference table – the dark haired architect did not seem pleased to watch as his new interior designer charmed everyone in the room. Tessa couldn’t decide if the look in Nathan’s light blue eyes as he watched Julia intently was one of anger, jealousy, irritation, or pure lust. He gazed at her so intently, in fact, that Tessa wondered if the two of them were somehow involved outside of the office.
But that couldn’t be, she corrected herself. Nathan was still engaged so far as she knew. There was, however, no denying the sparks that flew between him and Julia, even if the two of them chose to ignore that fact. There had to be something more to their story, thought Tessa, had to be some history there in order for Nathan to look at her that way – as though he couldn’t decide whether to strangle her or kiss her senseless. And Nathan most assuredly was not liking the sort of easy camaraderie that had sprung up so quickly between Ian and Julia, almost as though they had known each other for years.
About halfway through the meeting, Tessa got up to start another pot of coffee, trying to be as quiet about it as possible. As she took her seat a few minutes later, she happened to catch the eye of Jake Harriman, the associate architect who was working with Nathan on the hotel project. He was grinning at her in a rather suggestive manner, and even had the audacity to wink. In response, she merely threw him a tight-lipped glare of annoyance and looked away determinedly.
At least, she thought wryly, Jake was relatively harmless. Oh, he tried to flirt with her like mad, but she had yet to feel threatened by him, and his comments had all been rather on the silly, immature side. Unlike the repulsive Jason, who continued to make her skin crawl on a regular basis, and murmur disgusting, filthy things in her ear on the very few occasions he’d been able to corner her alone. Fortunately, there had been very, very few such occurrences as of late, due largely in part to the circuitous route she took to avoid walking by his office, as well as the way Andrew seemed to appear out of nowhere at times to run interference.
But at present it seemed that Jason’s attention was caught by a different female, given the way he was regarding Julia McKinnon with great interest. Julia, however, seemed like the sort of woman who could take care of herself, one who was confident and self-assured enough to quickly dissuade someone like Jason. And after observing the rather possessive glances Nathan had been giving Julia, Tessa was pretty sure that he wouldn’t stand for a creep like Jason putting the moves on her.
As a matter of fact, observed Tessa, just about every male in the room seemed fascinated with the pretty, vivacious Julia as she began to wrap up her presentation. Little wonder, she mused, considering how Julia’s very fashionable dress clung to her petite, curvy body so flatteringly, but without being too tight. Tessa decided that someday, somehow, she wanted a pair of those beautiful Louboutin stilettos for herself, even if she had to buy them secondhand at a consignment store. Julia’s thick, caramel colored curls shone with vibrant health, making Tessa all too aware of how long it had been since she’d had her own hair trimmed. And she was willing to bet that Julia’s shampoo and conditioner hadn’t been purchased at a chain drugstore like the generic brand Tessa used. Same thing with the cosmetics Julia had used to highlight those amazing cheekbones, big green eyes, and full lipped mouth. Julia looked like the sort of sleek, well groomed woman who only shopped at luxury department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys, places where Tessa only dared to glanc
e in the window, knowing she could never afford to actually buy anything there. She looked, realized Tessa glumly, like the sort of woman a man like Ian Gregson would be proud to bring home to meet his parents and family.
Unlike Tessa herself, who admittedly didn’t look her best today. Because it was so cold outside, she’d worn one of her warmest outfits – a black and white checkered wool skirt paired with a plain black turtleneck sweater. Both pieces had been bought on clearance at a discount store, and the cheap fabric of the skirt already had tiny snags in several places. The sweater was a bit too snug after so many washings, and was the same one Alicia had made a rather snide comment about the first time she’d worn it to the office. Tessa’s own plain black pumps were low heeled and not the least bit sexy – unlike Julia’s towering stilettos. In her haste to get to the office this morning, she’d worn hardly any makeup – just a coat of mascara and some pale pink lipstick that had long since been worn off. She felt dowdy and plain when she compared herself to the glowing, perfectly put together Julia, and knew now how Cinderella must have felt huddled in her little corner by the fireplace – the corner where no one noticed her or paid her the slightest attention. The fairy tale had been one of her favorites growing up, the one she had most often begged Gillian to read to her. Somewhere along the way, however, during one of their many hasty moves, the book had been lost or left behind. It had probably, thought Tessa sadly, been right around the same time she’d stopped believing in fairy tales and begun to realize just how hard real life could be.
Covet (Splendor Book 1) Page 28