But there was no possible way he was going to make love to her in the backseat of a limo, no matter how comfortable or spacious or private it was. He was still far too much of a stuffed shirt to even consider such an action, especially when he recalled the brief but knowing glance the chauffeur had given him a few minutes ago.

Very reluctantly, he eased himself away from Tessa, pulling her to an upright position beside him. He pressed a kiss to her temple as he hugged her closely against him.

“Remind me in the future, my very efficient traveling PA,” he teased lightly, brushing his knuckles over her flushed cheek, “not to agree to any extra early meetings on these trips, hmm? Especially when they interfere with our usual morning routine.”

Tessa smiled. “I’ll make a note of it, Mr. Gregson.”

They were on the last stop of their first business trip together, having already visited the hotels in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Palm Beach before arriving here in Naples, Florida last night. Due to the professional golf tournament being held at the resort, the hotel manager had practically begged Ian for a very early meeting with himself, and the two managers who oversaw the golf course and the resort’s recreation department. Ian had agreed very reluctantly, and the arrangements had been made for breakfast to be delivered to the owner’s suite for the meeting.

The early meeting had necessitated him to rise at an ungodly hour in order to fit in a workout with one of the hotel’s personal trainers. Tessa had been fast asleep when he’d left, and he hadn’t had the heart to wake her. She’d been working long hours on this trip, more than keeping pace with his demanding schedule, and he knew she badly needed her sleep.

And she’d unfortunately been gone when he had returned, the note she’d left indicating she had decided to take a spin class at the hotel’s expansive fitness facility. By the time she had finished, Ian had already showered, shaved, dressed, and begun his meeting in the suite’s dining room. When Tessa had quietly entered the suite after her class, the shock had been blatantly obvious on the faces of the three other men present. Ian had offered up a silent prayer of relief that she hadn’t been wearing one of her more revealing workout outfits - teeny tiny shorts and a brief, clingy bra top. She thankfully reserved those particular garments for workouts at his home gym, or on those occasions when they worked out together and he could stave off overly interested males with a freezing “fuck-off” glare. Tessa, however, seemed to be well aware of his preference for her not to expose too much of her lusciously curved body in public, and tended to dress more modestly at the gym.

But even with the black Lycra capri pants and loose fitting white fitness top she’d been wearing this morning, her long hair scraped back into a ponytail and her face bare of makeup, she had still been droolworthy, clearly evidenced by the way his three breakfast companions had stared as Ian had beckoned her over. The others had quickly followed his example when he’d stood to greet Tessa, pulling her against his side.

He’d introduced her merely as Tessa Lockwood, and very intentionally hadn’t offered up any details about what their actual relationship was. All he had told the other men was that Tessa would be joining them shortly, and assisting him during the rest of their visit.

After her shyly murmured greeting, she had headed off to change, but Ian had found it almost impossible to concentrate on what was being discussed after that. While the other men were babbling about re-sodding a section of the golf course, Ian had been imagining Tessa in the shower - all wet, naked flesh, her soap-slicked hands touching the soft curves of her body. He’d been instantly and uncomfortably hard at the very erotic image, and he’d cursed himself anew for foolishly agreeing to this meeting when he could at this very moment have been joining his young, eager lover in the huge walk-in shower.

And it had only gotten worse when Tessa had emerged from their bedroom a short while later, perfectly put together and looking both elegant and fuckable at the same time. She’d been wearing a silk blouse of palest peach with pearl buttons, and a slim fitting pencil skirt of taupe linen. Her taupe sling-back pumps had a modest heel, unlike the sexy stilettos he loved seeing her in but that were not entirely appropriate for the sort of refined business attire he preferred her to wear. Her abundant blonde hair had been pulled back into a sleek knot at the nape of her neck, her makeup applied with a light, discreet hand. A pair of luminous pearl stud earrings and the classic Bulgari Ovale watch he’d bought her last month were her only pieces of jewelry.

She had looked so beautiful and so tempting that he’d had half a mind to order the three men out of the suite, brush everything off the dining room table with one swipe of his arm, and then spread her out for his pleasure. Instead, he’d had to suffer the tortures of hell by having her close by his side throughout the entire day, and yet never managing even one minute alone with her. He’d sat through three meals, a seemingly endless round of meetings, reviews, and inspections, and fielded a dozen phone calls from the regional office all without being able to do more than put his hand lightly on her elbow or the small of her back as they walked through the hotel. And for the better part of fourteen hours now, he’d been forced to notice the way the silk blouse clung lovingly to her lush breasts; to observe the gentle sway of her hips and the tempting curve of her ass in that narrow skirt; to smell her light, fleeting perfume; to hear the soft, breathy sound of her voice; and not be able to do a damned thing about any of it.

They had agreed to maintain a strict degree of professionalism while they worked, and not to flaunt or advertise their very intimate relationship among their co-workers. Traveling together and sharing a suite was one thing, but overt displays of affection were something else entirely. He did, after all, still have an image to portray, a family reputation to uphold, and Tessa had been more than understanding of the fact that they would have to act in a businesslike manner on these trips. Her cooperation, however, hadn’t made the constant temptation she presented any easier to bear.

But all of that torture would finally come to an end in less than half an hour - the amount of time Ian calculated it would take to drive to the executive airport, board the corporate jet, and take off. And once he received the all clear from the pilot that they could move about the cabin freely, he had every intention of pulling Tessa along with him into the plane’s master bedroom, and initiating her in a very, very pleasurable manner into the Mile High Club.