Julia scooped up a dollop of foamed milk from her cappuccino, licking it off her fingers. “You know, the more I think about it, Lauren wasn’t necessarily just in a bad mood. She seemed – now don’t laugh at this, okay? – kind of - well, sad and depressed.”
He gaped at her in disbelief. “Baby, I’m not laughing but those two words sure as hell don’t fit the Lauren McKinnon I know. Now Angela, she’s the fucking poster child for sad and depressed, but your sister is still the ballsiest babe I’ve ever met. There’s a reason she scares the shit out of almost everyone who meets her.”
“I just can’t put my finger on it, Nathan, but there’s something off there. I know my sister – she’s literally the other half of me, don’t forget. And you might have something there about Ben. I’ve never seen Lauren as moody and – God, almost vulnerable after he stopped by our table.”
Nathan squeezed her hand. “You seem to have pretty good instincts about this stuff, baby. After all, it looks like you might have been right about Ian and Tessa.”
“Might have?” She arched a perfectly plucked brow at him. “Oh, no, there is no “might”. I know I’m right, there’s way too much circumstantial evidence to support my cause. And if I’m right, you owe me a pair of very expensive new shoes.”
“Crap. I forgot all about that stupid bet,” grumbled Nathan. “I have so got to remember not to make any bets with you when a) I’ve had a little too much to drink, and b) you’ve just blown me so hard I can’t walk straight. Besides, I’m going to require more than circumstantial evidence before I shell out eight hundred bucks. And why the hell do you need more shoes anyway?”
Julia batted her lashes at him flirtatiously. “Because this really hot architect I know is building me this awesome waterfront house in Tiburon, complete with the biggest walk-in closet I’ve ever seen. I don’t have nearly enough stuff to fill it up.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let your father talk me into making that damned closet so big,” he replied darkly. “And you haven’t won yet, baby. I need more proof before I whip my credit card out.”
She gave him a dangerous smile. “Leave it to me. I’ll get you all the proof you need.”
***
Ian knew that Tessa would already be in the conference room setting up for the architect’s meeting due to start in less than an hour. He had far too much work to get through today, did not have even ten minutes to spare for anything not already on his packed schedule, and yet he still found himself walking in the direction of the conference room where he knew she would be. He’d mumbled some harebrained excuse to Andrew about where he was going, and received a disapproving frown from his by-the-book PA. But it had seemed like an eternity since he’d been alone with Tessa, even though in reality it had only been three days ago.
He’d convinced her to stay over at his home on Sunday night rather than bringing her back to that god-awful apartment of hers. Still intent on keeping their relationship a carefully guarded secret, he’d sent her off to work on Monday in a taxi while Simon had driven him to the office as usual. And even though he and Tessa had only been together for just over a month’s time, he was already at the end of his rope with this very unsatisfactory arrangement they had. He wanted her with him constantly, sleeping in his bed every single night, and was extremely displeased with this elaborate pretense they had to keep up.
Thank God there was a long weekend beginning tomorrow, when they would be spending some quality time together. Tomorrow, Friday was Valentine’s Day, and the President’s Day holiday three days later. Tessa was taking a vacation day tomorrow, but he had a morning meeting that would be impossible to re-schedule. But once the damned meeting was over he was whisking her off to the Gregson resort in Lake Tahoe for the holiday weekend – three and a half days of skiing, relaxation, and a whole lot of sex.
The phone calls and texts they’d exchanged since Monday morning weren’t nearly enough to make up for not having her in his arms, and he badly needed to see her alone, even for a few minutes. Ian realized this was uncharted territory for him – this almost stalker-like behavior he was engaging in – but he couldn’t help this obsession he felt for her. He was taking a risk, of course, with so many people in the office this morning, but he was more than ready to throw caution to the wind just for five minutes with her.
‘Jesus, mate, you’re acting like a thirteen year old schoolgirl,’ he chastised himself. ‘What the hell are you going to do when you’re away from her for two bloody weeks?’