They had been seated with several of Julia’s and Nathan’s co-workers - the co-owner of the firm, Travis Headley, and his partner Anton Nguyen; Nathan’s PA Robyn Reynolds and her husband Dan; and Jake Harriman, the associate architect working on the new Gregson resort in Napa, accompanied by his date Abby.

During the multi-course wedding meal, Tessa learned that Travis had been the interior designer responsible for decorating Ian’s home; that Anton also worked as a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus, albeit in the men’s department, and that Marlene Brennan was a mentor of his; and that Robyn had originally worked with Nathan and Travis at a different architectural design firm before - as she fondly recalled - “the boys decided to spin off on their own and practically shanghaied me into going with them.”

It was, all in all, a beautiful wedding with wonderful food and wine, pleasant company, and a magnificent setting. Tessa took a sip of her wine and gazed admiringly around the trellised patio.

“This is so beautiful,” she told Ian. “I think this might be my favorite of all the hotels I’ve seen so far. Not that I’ve been to all that many, of course.”

He nodded in agreement. “It’s one of my favorites, too, and one of our most popular. Especially for weddings. But,” he added mysteriously, “I have an even grander venue in mind for the day I finally make you my wife. And before you ask, darling, that bit of information is going to remain a closely guarded secret. Let’s just say it will be another first.”

Once the lavish meal had been cleared away, the dancing began. Tessa and Ian watched along with all the other guests as the bride and groom shared a tender first dance before changing partners multiple times in order to dance with parents, siblings, and the members of the wedding party. As soon as the rest of the guests were invited to join in, Ian tugged Tessa to her feet, and smoothly drew her onto the dance floor.

She went into his arms with a little sigh, resting her cheek on his shoulder, and smiled when she recognized the song.

“This is what was playing when we danced for the first time in Lake Tahoe,” she told him as he guided her around the dance floor to the tune ofIf I Ain’t Got You.

“I remember. Very, very well,” he replied with a warm glow in his hazel eyes. “And it’s true, you know, what the lyrics say - if I can’t have you, Tessa, then nothing else in this whole world means a thing.”

She touched his cheek, which was already starting to show signs of a five o’clock shadow. “Same here. I told your mother that sometimes I wish you didn’t have all this money, that you were a truck driver or something like that, and that we lived on a little houseboat somewhere. Just so you’d know you were the only thing that mattered to me.”

He pressed a kiss to her palm and smiled. “I do know, darling. You show me that every day in more ways than you realize. As for driving a truck - I much prefer the Jaguar, thank you very much. And as for the houseboat, I have to confess to an occasional bout of seasickness so I’m afraid we’ll have to stay on land.”

She laughed along with him as the song finished, and then Ian went to claim a dance with Julia while Tessa and Nathan paired up.

Tessa couldn’t recall a time when she’d enjoyed herself more - laughing with all the other guests when Nathan “accidentally” smeared cake frosting all over Julia’s mouth, and then egging him on as he slowly licked it all off; watching Lauren start up a raucous conga line that was quickly joined by most of Nathan’s drunken friends; and then listening dreamily to Julia’s father Robert serenade his daughter with a touching rendition of Sunrise Sunset in his beautiful baritone voice.

Then it was time for Julia to toss her bouquet, and at Ian’s prodding Tessa joined the other single women on the floor, giggling the whole time. Save for Julia’s friend Angela, Tessa was taller than most of the other women present, and thus had a better than even shot at catching it. She actually had a hand on the gorgeous bouquet of pink and cream roses, was convinced she could snatch it up, when it tumbled instead into the hands of Lauren McKinnon.

Julia’s sister stared at the bouquet with a horrified expression, as though she were clutching an angry badger instead of some beautiful flowers. Julia was squealing in delight as she realized her twin was the lucky girl, while Lauren could only murmur in stunned disbelief, “How in the hell did that happen?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

July

“Okay, maybe this is my new favorite hotel. It’s at least in the top five. No, make that top three. And I do understand why they call this place paradise.”

Tessa stretched luxuriously as she reclined in the padded chaise lounge. The warm Hawaiian sun beat down on her bikini-clad body, and she closed her eyes in bliss.

Ian chuckled. “It will be interesting to see how your pecking order changes as you see more of our hotels. But you will be hard pressed to find too many places in the world as beautiful as these islands.”

They had flown to Hawaii a week ago, traveling first to the resorts on Oahu, Kona, and Kauai. Ian had performed his usual inspection of the properties, held meetings and reviews with the managers and staffs, and tended to all the other matters that required his attention during visits like these. They had arrived here in Maui two days ago, and tomorrow nearly every hotel manager in the Americas Region would be arriving for a four day meeting.

The manager’s meeting was an annual event, and held at a different property each year. While this was the first one Tessa would actually be attending, she’d been involved with all the preparations for the two previous meetings - compiling reports, printing up name badges, coordinating with the hotel staff to ensure all the necessary A/V equipment was ready, etc. The entire management support team had been heavily involved with the planning for what was arguably one of the most important events of the year. Andrew always attended the meeting, needing to be on hand to ensure everything ran smoothly, and he had in the past taken one of the support team along to help out. Tessa recalled listening to both Gina and Alicia rave about the trip, how luxurious everything had been, what a fabulous time they’d had. Tessa hadn’t been able to help being more than a little envious, and had wondered wistfully at the time if she would ever get a turn.

She thought idly how much could change in a year’s time. Twelve months ago she’d still been married to Peter, clinging desperately to save a marriage that had really been over with for a long time. She’d been working for a boss who she admired and secretly crushed on from afar, but had never dreamed he’d even noticed her. Now, a year later, she was divorced, Peter was living halfway around the world, and her boss was her lover, the man she idolized and longed to be with every minute of every day.