She nodded, rising slowly from her chair as she felt a warm glow spread throughout her body at his words. “Can I take your coat for you, Mr. Gregson?” she offered, rather belatedly having noticed the wool garment he had draped over his arm.

As she rounded the corner of the desk to take the coat from his outstretched arm, Tessa’s cheeks flushed a bit as she noticed the way his gaze raked over her body in a quick, assessing manner. She was glad that she’d taken some extra pains with her appearance this morning, having been determined to look her very best. She wore the black wool pencil skirt that had been bought at a consignment shop back in Tucson, where she’d lived prior to moving to San Francisco two and a half years ago. She had worn the skirt many times since then, but the high quality of the fabric had stood the test of time and looked every bit as good now as it had when she’d first purchased it. This morning she had teamed it with an ivory sweater in a soft fabric that looked like cashmere but hadn’t cost nearly as much. Following the advice of her friend Julia - who was an avowed fashionista - Tessa had picked up a few inexpensive accessories at discount chains like H&M, including the pretty gold necklace with its faux pearl and diamond pendant and matching pair of drop earrings. Both pieces had cost barely ten dollars, good news for the extremely tight budget she lived on these days, a budget that would become even leaner once the lease on her apartment was up in April. Her soon-to-be ex-husband - Peter - had been depositing a little money into her checking account each month since they’d separated last September to help with the rent, but Tessa knew that would end in a few more months. And, thus far, she hadn’t wanted to think about the monumental task of finding another - and affordable - place to live. Dealing with the painful separation, and learning how to depend solely on herself, had been more than enough to cope with these past few months.

Ian’s warm gaze seemed to linger on the long blonde curls that fell loosely over her shoulders and reached more than halfway down her back. It had been a long time since she’d had her hair trimmed, and more often than not these days she pulled it back into a loose knot at her nape or a sleek ponytail. But she hadn’t wanted to take the time to fuss with her hair this morning, too anxious about arriving at the office even earlier than she usually did so that she could go over the copious list of notes Andrew had left her one more time.

Ian lifted a hand, and for a split second Tessa could have sworn he was about to reach out and touch one of her long blonde curls. Instead, he merely handed her the aforementioned coat and gave her another of those dazzling smiles.

“Thank you, Tessa,” he told her warmly, leaving her to ponder yet again how much his treatment of her had changed seemingly overnight.

In the two plus years she’d been working on his management support team, Mr. Gregson had barely spared her a glance most of the time, and had always been aloof and reserved, if not downright cool and distant. But ever since the night of the office holiday party a few weeks ago - the night she’d finally told both him and Andrew about her impending divorce - Mr. Gregson had been, well - different. When he had passed her in the hallway, for example, he’d gone out of his way to ask about her wellbeing. And there had been at least a couple of times when he had asked to see her in his office so that he could explain a specific assignment he wanted her to handle for him. The latter in particular had startled Tessa, for up until now Andrew had always been the one to assign all of the various tasks to her and the rest of the support team. It was most unusual for Mr. Gregson to take such a responsibility upon himself, but Tessa hadn’t dared to question him on it. Especially since it had presented her with a rare opportunity to spend a few minutes alone with him, to inhale the discreet, thoroughly masculine scent that she would always recognize as belonging solely to him, and to steal frequent, furtive glances from beneath her lashes at the devastatingly handsome man who nearly made her swoon just from being in the same room.

That same scent wafted up to subtly tease her nostrils as she hung his elegant black wool overcoat in the small closet located to the left of her desk. She couldn’t resist brushing her palm briefly over the soft fabric, or taking a quick peek at the label. It was a Burberry, and even someone like her who knew next to nothing about fashion and designers realized that particular name meant both quality and money. The heavy wool garment made her own beige trench coat - the one she’d bought at a thrift store soon after moving to San Francisco from Arizona - seem even cheaper and well worn than it usually did as it hung next to his much nicer one.

Mr. Gregson was already in his office, unpacking his leather briefcase and powering up his computer, when she ventured inside. He glanced up at her with another of those knee-weakening smiles, and she had to force herself not to stammer as she asked if he wanted a cup of tea.

“I would love a cup of tea, Tessa,” he told her warmly. “Especially the way you make it. I was just telling my parents’housekeeper - who’s been with them for ages - that I’ve finally found someone here in the States who knows how to make a proper cup of tea. Mrs. Haggerty is still in disbelief, of course, but I assured her it was the truth. Thank you.”

She felt her cheeks flush, typically idiotic behavior for her when she was in his presence, and mumbled some incoherent reply as she hurried off to fix his tea. There was a built-in beverage bar next to the closet, fully equipped with a mini-fridge, a state-of-the art single-serve coffee system, a high-end electric kettle, filtered water tap, and all of the various supplies and serveware one could ever need. She’d already filled the kettle earlier this morning in anticipation of his arrival, and merely had to switch it on now to heat the water. While it was heating up, she spooned loose leaf tea - the expensive Darjeeling blend she knew Mr. Gregson always drank - into a stainless steel infuser before placing it inside an oversized black ceramic mug. After letting the brew steep for the allotted time, she added a single lump of sugar before carrying the steaming hot mug into his office.

He was already hard at work, alternately looking through the neatly organized stacks of reports and mail on his desk and checking data on his computer, and Tessa paused for just a moment to drink in the truly splendid sight he made. He had removed his suit jacket, and she nearly gulped as the fine white cotton fabric of his pristine dress shirt stretched over the impressive breadth of his chest and shoulders. It was rather mind-boggling at times to reconcile the fact that her classy, elegantly attired boss with his perfect manners and upper-crust British accent was also such a tall, powerfully built, and almost intimidatingly muscular man. The two factors seemed at direct odds with each other, but they were also what combined to make him so overwhelmingly attractive.