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.

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.