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.

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.”