Covet (52 page)

He paused at the foot of the staircase that would take him back up to the ballroom where the party was still in full swing, reluctant to be around so many people right now. He badly needed a few minutes alone to ponder the startling news he’d just received, so he made his way to the small, intimate bar tucked in a back corner of the hotel. The bar was rarely ever crowded, and most patrons didn’t even know it existed, but the privacy it provided definitely suited his needs at this particular moment.

Ian ordered a snifter of brandy from the very attentive bartender, who apparently recognized him, his greeting a respectful “Good evening, sir.” He was grateful to see that the bar was nearly empty, and settled himself into a small, darkened corner of the room where he could be alone with his chaotic thoughts for a bit.

God, he had feared for so long that this day, this opportunity, would never come along. He wasn’t enough of a bastard to have actively wished that Tessa’s marriage would one day be in trouble, or that she and her husband would decide to part ways. But now he couldn’t deny his joy at knowing she was unattached, and finally within his grasp. However, the tricky part was just beginning – figuring out how to pursue her without scaring her off or coming on too strong.

Ian sipped the fine brandy slowly, savoring the taste on his tongue and the way the expensive liquor warmed his throat. As he did so, he considered all of the obstacles still in his way at this point and how to navigate around them. He was fairly certain that Tessa hadn’t already begun seeing other men, based on the facts that she had attended tonight’s party alone, and then wisely declined to accompany her inebriated co-workers to some club. Tessa was also too fine, too loyal, to enter into another relationship so soon after her marriage ended. She had seemed sad tonight, especially when she’d quietly admitted that she and her husband had split, and Ian guessed she was having a difficult time in getting over the breakup.

She was still far too young for him, of course, the age difference between them a good fifteen years. But Tessa was very mature and composed for her age, not seeming in the least bit frivolous or silly like the other girls on the team. As for himself, he was just a few months from his fortieth birthday but thought he didn’t look half bad for his age. He worked out frequently and with even more intensity that he had a decade ago; ate a healthy diet and didn’t overindulge in alcohol; and generally took excellent care of himself. He had never been vain or egotistical – not like that horny bastard Jason – but at the same time he didn’t miss the interested, assessing looks he received from women wherever he went.

And perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part, but he didn’t believe Tessa was completely immune to him as a man. She was so sweetly, adorably shy that he couldn’t picture her ever trying to flirt with him or attract his attention – not like that very obvious and annoying pair Gina and Alicia. But there had definitely been times when he’d caught Tessa’s very blue, wide-eyed gaze upon him and he could swear there had been something there – awareness, attraction, adoration. It had given him hope that one day those discreet little glances might deepen into something far more serious.

His cock hardened immediately as he recalled how beautiful and utterly tempting she’d looked this evening. Her dress and shoes were obviously inexpensive, especially when compared to so many of the other women at the party who’d been garbed in designer clothing. But Tessa had still managed to outshine every other female present tonight. The sapphire blue color of her dress had been perfect for her gleaming ivory skin and thick golden hair, a fact that he stored away for future reference. The strapless bodice of the dress had bared a delectable amount of cleavage, just enough to let his rather filthy imagination run rampant. His hands had itched to plunge inside the neckline of her dress and cup her full, lush breasts, to see for himself if they were as firm and round as they looked.

Ian had felt badly for her when he’d noticed she was at the party alone, never having imagined at the time that she and her husband were divorcing. He had wanted nothing more than to approach her on multiple occasions this evening and ask her to dance, to luxuriate in the rare opportunity to hold her closely against his body and be able to touch her. But he’d had to restrain himself, knowing full well how it would look for him to single out one of his employees. The only women he’d dared to dance with this evening had been Rebecca, his mother, and his cousin Charlotte.

It had been Rebecca, in fact, who had encouraged him to go after Tessa when he’d spied her leaving the party a little while ago. He had been more than a little chagrined when she had laughingly called him out during dinner for sneaking furtive glances at Tessa a bit too often.

“So she’s the lucky lady, is she?” Rebecca had asked in an amused voice. “I can see now why you’re so obsessed with her, Ian. She’s gorgeous, and I for one would cut off my right arm to have a body like that. Oh, to be that young again! What is she – twenty-one, twenty-two?
”

Ian had frowned at his companion crossly. “Not quite that young. Twenty-four. And you’re mistaken, Rebecca. I certainly haven’t been looking at her all evening long
.”

Rebecca had laughed merrily. “Not quite, perhaps. You’re too well-mannered for that, plus you’re probably the king of discretion. I doubt anyone else has noticed a thing. But don’t forget that you and I know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets, so I’m a little more observant about these things than most people. Why is she here alone?
”

He had shrugged. “Her husband is some sort of journalist from what I understand, and travels a great deal. I imagine he’s away on one of those trips right now
.”

“
Hmm. So the very lovely Tessa must get awfully lonely. I’ll bet she wouldn’t say no to some company once in awhile,” teased Rebecca in a sly tone
.

“
No.” Ian had drained his wine. “We’ve already had this discussion. More than once. I’m not going to seduce her, Rebecca, and I’ll be damned before I willingly agree to be the other man. If Tessa is unhappy with the state of her marriage, then it’s up to her to do something about it. I will not interfere
.”

“
I get it,” Rebecca had assured him gently. “You’re a good guy, Ian. Too bad you and I are so ridiculously fixated on the people most forbidden to us. Otherwise, you and I would have made a good match, don’t you think? Except,” she added wryly, “there’s no possible way I could have ever competed with a twenty-four year old blonde goddess. Especially since she’s one of those very rare women who look both innocent and sexy as hell at the same time
.”

Ian had offered her up a smile. “You and I would have made a good pair,” he acknowledged. “But you’re right – we both fell hard for the wrong people the first time we laid eyes on them. And by then it was already too late
.”

Rebecca had shrugged, taking a sip of her wine. “I’m not giving up so easily,” she declared. “I know you think I’m living in a fairy tale, but I still believe that Rand will be true to his word one of these days. Maybe it will never come true, but believing it could happen is the only thing that keeps me going sometimes. And you shouldn’t give up on your Tessa, either. You never know when the winds of fate are finally going to blow in your direction
.”

Rebecca would have had no way of knowing at the time how very, very true her words would prove to be. She had given him a little nudge, urgently whispering in his ear, “Go on, you idiot. She’s about to leave and you haven’t said a word to her all evening. This is your last chance, Ian, so don’t waste it. Who knows what might come of it?”

What had come of it was the realization of all his hopes and dreams over the past two and a quarter years – learning that the girl he’d become obsessed with was finally going to be a single woman and ripe for the plucking. And Ian was going to make very, very sure that
he
would be the only man who had the opportunity to do any sort of plucking.

Rebecca would be overjoyed for him, and offer up her full support and encouragement. Ian wondered a bit grimly if he could expect a similar type of understanding and acceptance from other friends and his family. His parents, for one, would be sure to think Tessa too young and too gauche, but he had rarely allowed their opinions to influence his important life choices, and he certainly wasn’t going to let that change now. Not when he was this close to finally snaring the girl of his dreams.

He would have to move slowly, he thought, to gradually let her know of his interest. He would also have to deal very soon with the added complication of her being his employee, especially given his very strict rules on that same subject. And particularly since he had just made a very emphatic point to Jason that he wouldn’t tolerate any form of sexual harassment in his office. The last thing Ian was prepared to do was give Jason even the tiniest bit of ammunition to protest his unwanted transfer out of regional headquarters. The bastard wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to call Ian the worst sort of hypocrite and demand that he, too, be disciplined for breaking the rules.

Ian almost snarled when he recalled the sight of Jason once again daring to put his filthy hands on Tessa this evening. He’d been keeping a close eye on his cousin’s husband all evening, not trusting the little shit to behave himself. And when he’d seen Jason sit down next to Tessa and start whispering in her ear, he’d had to exercise incredible self-control to stop from marching over there and breaking the scum’s jaw just as he’d promised he would. And because he simply couldn’t afford to make a scene in front of all these people – one that would have greatly upset his family and, more importantly, betrayed his attraction to Tessa – he’d been forced to send Andrew to handle the problem.

But he hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to finally be alone with Tessa, even for a few minutes, when he’d spotted her leaving the party a short time ago. At Rebecca’s urging, he’d followed her discreetly from the ballroom, intending only to wish her a good night, but then she’d walloped him with the shocking news of her divorce. God, if he hadn’t been obliged to see Rebecca home – and if his parents weren’t staying at his house for the duration of their visit – Ian was not at all sure he could have resisted the urge to take Tessa home himself. Or, if she had been agreeable, taking her to his house and persuading her to spend the night. Fortunately, he’d remembered his obligations in time, not to mention the continued need for discretion among his employees.

No, he and Tessa were going to have to be very, very discreet, at least until he could persuade her to quit her job. Ian was fully prepared – and very much looking forward – to supporting Tessa and taking exquisite care of her.

He would start, he thought rather dourly, by getting rid of that appalling coat she’d been wearing this evening. He would gladly buy her a dozen others, ones that were far more worthy of her stunning beauty. And that was just for starters.

As he finished his brandy, Ian made a mental note of all the ways he planned to spoil and indulge Tessa once she was truly his. The first step, though, was going to be the slow seduction of his golden girl, treating her like a princess the whole while, and making her feel protected and cherished at every turn. With that in mind, he took his phone out and pressed the most frequently used number on the speed dial.

“It’s me,” he said when the call was answered after just one ring. “Yes, I’m on my way back up now, a small matter I had to attend to. Now, remind me please what dates in January you’ll be on vacation. All right, that’s what I thought. Make a note for Monday for us to discuss who’ll be filling in this time while you’re away. I have an idea and I don’t intend to be talked out of it.”

Ian ended the call, pocketing the phone. The very first step in what would be his extremely pleasurable wooing of Tessa had just been taken.

As he finished his brandy and prepared to head back to the party – the very last place he wanted to be right now – Ian vowed that at this time next year, the situation would be very, very different. Tessa would be here with him – as his guest, his hostess, his lover, and possibly even his fiancée. They would be looking forward to flying to England within the next week to spend the holidays with his family, and it would be the happiest, most joyous Christmas he’d ever known.

‘You’re going to be mine, Tessa,’ he vowed, unable to prevent the wide grin that lit up his handsome face at the idea. ‘After all this time, I’m finally going to be able to claim you for my own. And mark my words, darling – once I do, I will
never
let you go.”

Dear Readers:

But of course this isn’t really the end. Rather, it’s just the beginning of Tessa’s and Ian’s love story. Their story continues in book two of the Splendor series – Crave – which will be released in late summer of 2016.

A note to those of you who have already read the original novel Splendor. The content contained within the upcoming book Crave represents the majority of the original book. Therefore, if you have already read Splendor, you do not have to read Crave since the storyline is the same.

However
, there are several brand new scenes that I wrote for Crave, and a number of others that have been revised from the previous book (without, of course, changing the storyline in any way). You may decide these additions and changes make it worth your while to read the new book, but I will leave that decision in your capable hands.

My intent in re-writing Splendor into a trilogy of its own was not to make more money (because, honestly, I’m not sure I’m ever going to really turn a profit from this writing business!) I always felt that I skimped a little during the original telling of Tessa’s and Ian’s story, and heard from readers that they wished I had included more of her backstory and included more scenes with Peter (wish granted!) But since the original book of Splendor was
soooo
long already, I didn’t dare add any additional material to it. Hence, the creation of the trilogy, so that the first book – Covet – is the prequel, the second book – Crave – the bulk of the original story, and the third book – Claim – will be the continuation of their great love story.