Tessa shook her head, annoyed at herself for allowing her thoughts to keep drifting back to that conversation. It had only been, she told herself firmly, Mr. Gregson’s attempt to make her feel better, and she was being ten kinds of a silly goose to even try and read anything else into things. There was no possible way he could even guess at what her life might be like at this time next year, especially since she didn’t have the slightest clue herself.

***

Ian leaned back in his plush leather desk chair, resting his head against the padded headrest for a minute or two. It had been a tiring but productive day, a day that was surprisingly almost over. Things were always especially hectic after he’d returned from a vacation or one of the frequent business trips he took, but for once he hadn’t minded the many demands of his workday. And the sole reason for his change in attitude was sitting right outside his office.

He couldn’t prevent the wide grin that caused his mouth to turn upwards at the corners, just as he wasn’t able to suppress the tiny chuckle of satisfaction that escaped his throat. Everything was unfolding just as he had planned, exactly how he had envisioned his slow, careful seduction of the beautiful woman he’d been obsessed with for over two years taking place.

It had been just over three weeks ago when he’d heard the news - from Tessa’s own lips - that she and her husband were divorcing. And he hadn’t wasted any time in putting his plans to finally claim her for his own into action. He couldn’t rush her, of course, especially since she was most likely still sad and vulnerable over the break-up, and wasn’t emotionally ready to start seeing anyone new. But, at the same time, Ian was determined not to let her slip through his fingers, would make very, very sure that no other man was given the opportunity to get close to her. He’d waited for this particular moment for a long time, after all, and nothing and nobody would prevent him from making Tessa his.

But he had to be patient, he reminded himself now. Small steps, slow, steady progress. It would probably drive him half-mad, he thought wryly, to have to exercise so much self-control, when all he could think about was pulling her into his arms and kissing her senseless. There had been at least a dozen times just today, in fact, when he’d had to clench his fists to stop himself from acting on his nearly uncontrollable instincts.

‘Take it down a notch or two, mate,’ he told himself sternly. ‘The last thing you can afford to do is scare her off. You’ve waited this long, surely you can hold off another couple of months.’

After the office holiday party, Ian hadn’t wasted any time in beginning his campaign of seducing Tessa. He’d started on the first day back to work after the party, in fact, when he had asked her to come to his office under the pretext of explaining a particularly complicated spreadsheet he had needed her to do. She had clearly been taken aback by this summons, for it had always been left up to Andrew to assign these sorts of tasks to the support team, but she hadn’t questioned him about the matter any further.

And he had gone out of his way to encounter her in the hallway or the elevator lobby or some other section of the office, and to make sure he spent a few minutes conversing with her each time. Such encounters, brief though they had been, were all part of his master plan to get closer to her, and when the time was right, to make her aware of his attraction towards her.

The timing of Andrew’s vacation - a week spent visiting his family in Seattle - had coincided perfectly with Ian’s plans for Tessa. And if his straitlaced PA had been startled when he had specifically requested that Tessa fill in during that week, Andrew had been far too disciplined to betray any emotion. He’d merely nodded, said something in reply like “Very well, Mr. Gregson”, and gone on about his routine. But he could only imagine what sort of thoughts must have gone through his quick-witted PA’s head - especially since Ian had always been adamant that Tessa was not to be considered as a temporary replacement.

All of that was different now, though, given her soon to be single status. Ian didn’t have to struggle with the moral dilemma of lusting after a married woman, didn’t have to avoid her or treat her with his usual distant formality. He could finally allow himself the luxury of having her close by, of smiling at her, talking to her, and subtly, carefully, make her aware of his true feelings.

Though the need for discretion, of course, would still be more important than ever. No one in the office, except for Tessa herself, could ever guess that he was so attracted to her. And if things unfolded according to all of his carefully laid out plans, the two of them would have to be extremely secretive about the relationship he fully intended for them to have. Eventually, she would need to leave the company so that they could be together freely.

But he was getting ahead of himself here, he realized. He was still weeks, if not months, away from such an occurrence. In the meanwhile, he was intent on making the most of this all-too-brief week with Tessa, and he wasn’t going to waste even a moment of it.

It wasn’t in his reserved, formal nature to actively flirt with a woman, and the few times in his life he had actually tried to do so he’d felt silly and more than a little embarrassed. But he had rather deliberately flirted with Tessa all day today, albeit in discreet, subtle ways. He chuckled now as he recalled the way her blue eyes had widened in surprise at a few of his lightly teasing comments, or how her cheeks had flushed whenever he’d given her a wink or a warm smile. She was so adorably shy that she’d been visibly flummoxed by this uncharacteristic behavior from him, and had only been able to stammer or stare most times in response.

And if the rest of the week went according to his plans, Ian was going to take a leap of faith on Friday afternoon and invite her out for drinks after work. He had never invited one of the support staff out before, whether on a personal or professional basis, except for a few times when he’d taken Andrew out to lunch for his birthday. Such an offer would be certain to shock Tessa, since she would be well aware of his strict hands-off policy when it came to dating employees, and would definitely give her cause to wonder about his intentions in issuing such a request.

“Mr. Gregson?”

Ian glanced up at the sound of her sweet, high voice, taking in the very tempting, delectable picture she made framed in the doorway of his office. On most any other woman the classic black pencil skirt would have merely looked professional, and completely in keeping with the conservative image he preferred all of his employees to present. But on Tessa, the wool fabric emphasized the seductive curve of her hips and high, firm buttocks, and he wondered if her sheer black hosiery was pantyhose or a far more alluring pair of stockings.