Tessa pushed aside those thoughts, concentrating instead on finishing up a spreadsheet that Mr. Gregson needed for a late afternoon meeting. She printed several copies of the document, scowling a bit as she noticed the printer flashing a low ink warning. Since she had a slew of reports to print out first thing in the morning, it seemed that she would need to change the printer cartridge before leaving for the day.

Tessa had just finished collating and stapling a dozen copies of the spreadsheet when Ian emerged from his office, shrugging into his suit jacket.

“The copies are all ready, Mr. Gregson. Just let me put them in a folder for you.”

She reached into a file drawer and extracted an empty folder, then neatly slipped the papers inside.

Ian took the folder and slid it into his leather briefcase. “Thank you, Tessa. An excellent job as always,” he told her with a warm smile.

She smiled back, the pleasure of his compliment making her feel like the most special girl in the world. “I hope the meeting goes well, sir. And the dinner reservations are all set. I just called the restaurant a few minutes ago to confirm everything again.”

He reached across the desk and gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder. “You’ve been doing such a marvelous job filling in for Andrew that I’ve barely noticed he’s gone. Except,” he added with a wink, “you look far better sitting behind that desk than he does.”

Tessa stared up at him, too flustered by his teasing to think of an intelligent reply. “Um, thanks” was all she could think of to mumble.

Ian chuckled. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Or blush. But it seems I’ve managed to do both, so I’d best head out before I say anything else. Have a pleasant evening, Tessa, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, sir.”

She groaned softly after he left, burying her face in her hands in mortification. God, could she be any more of an idiot when he was around? It was obvious that her shyness and tendency to blush at the drop of a hat amused him, and she guessed her very perceptive boss was aware of her silly crush on him. She was going to have to do a much better job of managing her reactions to him.

But that was proving to be extremely difficult, given how closely they’d been working together this week. Tessa had seen facets of both his work and private persona that she had never before been given the opportunity to observe. She’d already known that he was a man who was always in complete control, who commanded and received respect from everyone around him, but who also treated each person fairly and with the same amount of respect they gave him. But she had never seen him like this – like a king managing his vast empire, dealing smoothly and efficiently with telephone calls, meetings, and correspondence without missing a beat. He was precise, organized, and highly efficient, and the sheer amount of work he managed to get through each day was staggering. Ian was not a man content to rest on his laurels, or rely solely on others to take care of things for him. He worked harder than anyone else in this office, even though he could have easily delegated a great deal of his responsibilities to his very qualified management team. Tessa was in awe of his strict work ethic, and how he refused to take advantage of his family’s name and prestige by shirking his duties.

After Mr. Gregson left, she took a quick break to make herself a cup of tea and check her email, something she’d been too busy to think about all week. Not that she got a lot of email, of course, but she hadn’t quite been able to shake the habit of checking for messages from Peter. The last time he’d contacted her had been on Christmas Day, and it had been only a brief, casual greeting to wish her a happy holiday. Tessa knew this deliberate lack of communication was his way of cutting her loose for good, for giving her that much needed push to stand on her own and not depend on anyone else to take care of her.

But the loneliness had been especially hard to deal with over the holidays, and she’d had herself a little cry on Christmas Day, not able to completely resist feeling sorry for herself. No amount of comfort food, mimosas, or DVD’s of her favorite rom-coms had been a substitute for being alone that day, and it had almost been a relief to go back to work the next day.

New Year’s Eve hadn’t been much better, even though it had been entirely her choice to be alone. Kevin and his live-in boyfriend Terence had thrown a big party at their house, and they had both urged Tessa to join in the fun. But she simply hadn’t been in the mood to celebrate with a huge group of rowdy, half-drunk strangers, and had spent the evening quietly at home instead. She’d taken a few minutes to write down a handful of New Year’s Resolutions, among them possibly getting her college degree, taking more yoga classes, and simply being happy.

Another, less pleasurable resolutioninvolved finding a new place to live before the lease on her apartment was up in April. Despite the fact that the place was small, rundown, and in a dubious neighborhood, the rent was still more than she could afford on her own. And since she couldn’t count on Peter to keep contributing after their divorce was final next month, Tessa knew she would have to move. Rents were scary expensive in San Francisco right now, and unless she got very, very lucky, there was no way she’d be able to live alone after April. She would have to find a shared rental, probably with two or more roommates, or move out of the city and commute.

But she still had a little time left before she needed to get serious about finding a place, so Tessa didn’t allow herself to dwell on the matter any further, focusing instead on the remaining tasks she needed to complete before calling it a day.

It was drawing close to five-thirty before she finished, and began shutting down the computer and tidying up. And then she remembered about needing to change the ink cartridge for the printer and groaned. The printer that Andrew and Mr. Gregson used was a much more expensive, high-tech one than she was used to, and she’d kept her fingers crossed all week that nothing would go amiss with it.

Fortunately the directions on the package for the replacement cartridge were fairly straightforward, and she was able to install it without much trouble. But then, as she went to dispose of the old cartridge, she realized it had leaked and that she now had black printer ink smudged all over her hands and on her blouse as well.

“Oh, damn!” she muttered loudly, grateful that no one else was around to hear her outburst.

Almost without thinking, Tessa dashed into the private bathroom in Mr. Gregson’s office. She doubted he would mind, especially since she didn’t want to risk getting ink on any other surfaces in the office. She scrubbed her hands thoroughly, relieved to see the ink had all washed off. Then she turned her attention to her badly stained blouse.