Splendor(42)

Tessa had blinked at him in disbelief. “Excuse me. You want me to do what?”

Andrew had sighed with barely contained impatience. “You heard me. I’ll be out of the office the second week in January, and it’s been decided that you’ll be filling in for me during that time.”

She had still not quite believed what she was hearing. “But – you’ve never had me fill in for you before. It’s always been Marisol or Gina or sometimes Alicia. Even Kevin once or twice.”

Andrew hadn’t been in an especially good mood that day, and had dismissed her concerns brusquely. “Well, consider this your turn. I assume you have no objections to the assignment?”

“Oh, no. Of course not. I’d be honored to fill in for you, help out while you’re away. I just hope I don’t screw something up,” she’d confessed nervously.

Andrew had given a roll of his eyes, which usually meant his patience was wearing extremely thin. “You’ll be fine. It’s not brain surgery, after all. And of course you’ll need to spend several days learning my routine and what will be expected of you.”

That had been the understatement of the year. Tessa had been wide-eyed and slack-jawed – not to mention exhausted and emotionally drained – at the end of her week long training session with Andrew. But at least spending so much time with him had greatly allayed her fears about working for Mr. Gregson, for she had realized that nothing about Andrew’s job was really all that difficult or complicated. And of course she’d took copious notes on top of the multi-paged and extremely detailed list of information Andrew had left for her.

Mr. Gregson had still been away for the holidays - visiting his family in England - during her training period. In a way, that had been a relief for she’d been able to learn the ropes without the added pressure of his presence. But then, when he’d arrived back in the office on Monday morning – her first day of filling in for Andrew – her nerves had almost consumed her with the fear that she would fail miserably, or anger him in some way. So far, she was rather astonished to realize that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Ian had been graciousness personified these past four days, and so easy to work with that she’d found herself breathing a huge sigh of relief. He was patient and kind, and always exceedingly grateful for her assistance. Tessa had been thrilled at his appreciation and acknowledgment of her hard work, and she made sure that everything she did for him was completed to perfection.

And of course it had been the sweetest sort of torture to work in such close proximity to him. Several times she’d found her hands trembling in reaction simply from standing across his desk as he signed a report she’d prepared. She had watched him discreetly from beneath her lashes, taking in every strong, masculine feature of his face, noting how his finely tailored dress shirts stretched across the breadth of his shoulders and emphasized his toned, muscular torso. Once she’d almost swooned at his arousing scent – a perfect combination of his light cologne, soap and pure maleness. And on more than one occasion she’d had to resist the urge to sway against him, or run her hands through his hair or over the firmness of his jaw.

Each night this week when she’d arrived home, she had been alarmed to realize how aroused she was – her breasts full and heavy, her nipples peaked, her sex wet and swollen and oh, so needy. She’d had increasingly explicit dreams about Ian, not able to recall too many specific details, but it had only taken the lightest stimulation of her nipples and clitoris upon waking to come long and hard. Her young, healthy body was almost starved by now for affection, and she craved physical contact almost more than she did food and sleep.

But of course she didn’t dare to so much as touch Mr. Gregson, or betray her ever growing physical attraction to him in any way. She was the epitome of professional decorum, always careful to keep her conversations with him brief and businesslike, and never discuss anything personal with him. Andrew had, after all, put the fear of God in her about even considering such a thing.

“Do not,” he’d warned her ominously, “ask him how his evening was, or what he had for lunch, or anything at all that doesn’t have to do with work. He’s not one for idle chatter, and sticks to his schedule religiously.”

But Tessa hadn’t been able to keep her pulse rate from accelerating any time she was near Ian, or all the other ways her body reacted to him involuntarily. Earlier today she’d cursed beneath her breath to realize her nipples were hard and poking very noticeably against the thin fabric of her blouse. And, unfortunately, she was pretty sure he had noticed, too, since she’d been placing a steaming mug of tea on his desk at the time. She had made a hasty exit, and had struggled to control the reaction of her treacherous body for the rest of the day.