Splendor(76)

“I know,” she agreed readily. “I’m good at keeping secrets, Ian. I’m also very closed mouthed about my personal life, even if the rest of the team is pretty much an open book about theirs. Especially Kevin.”

Ian grimaced when he noticed the way she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Yes, I’ve had the great misfortune of overhearing some of that young man’s – er, exploits. I can just imagine some of the tawdry tales he’s offended you with.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “He’s an airhead and – well, kind of a slut – but at least he’s always been kind to me. Not like A - ”

“Alicia,” he finished. “No great surprise there. That one’s a nasty, stuck-up little witch. Unfortunately, her parents attend many of the same events that I do, and she’s invited along occasionally. I’m not pleased that she knows quite so much about my social life.”

“She’s pretty fixated on you,” Tessa told him quietly. “She’s even talked about quitting her job so that you’d be free to date her.”

Ian made a small sound of distaste. “It certainly wouldn’t bother me in the least if she quit, but there’s nothing she could do that would entice me to ask her out. Ever. Alicia is definitely not my type, so put that thought out of your head right now.”

“Okay,” she agreed happily.

“I appreciate that you’ve always been the epitome of discretion at the office, Tessa. You’re going to have to take even more precautions to make sure no one suspects we’re involved. If someone asks what you did on the weekend, for example, or if you’re dating someone, you’ll have to find a way to diffuse the situation.” He hesitated. “I hate to outright ask you to lie, but if it becomes necessary - ”

“I’ll do whatever I have to in order to protect both of us,” she insisted. “And I’ve become pretty good at avoiding personal questions. Fortunately, the others love to talk about themselves so much that they seldom ask about me.”

Ian was beginning to feel a little less worried about what could easily develop into an awkward situation. “All right. I’ll count on you to keep everything under wraps and simply avoid discussing your personal life as much as possible. The far more difficult part, I fear, is going to be for the two of us to act as though nothing has changed.”

“I know.” She began to twirl a lock of her hair through her fingers again. “While we’re at the office, you’re back to being Mr. Gregson. And we really don’t see much of each other during the day anyway. Especially since you travel so much.”

“And that’s another huge problem.” He picked up her hand, forcing her to release the lock of hair. “I’ve always missed you when I was away, but at least in the past it helped having some distance between us. Out of sight, out of mind, that sort of thing. But now that we’ve been together it won’t be nearly so easy to stop thinking of you. It will be damned near impossible, in fact.” He brought their clasped hands to his lips, his voice solemn. “I want you with me all the time, Tessa. Here in San Francisco, living with me permanently, but also traveling with me wherever I need to go.”

She made a small sound of surprise and gazed at him wide-eyed. “But how would that be possible? I mean, there’s no way to keep that a secret. Plus, I have to work. I couldn’t just take time off whenever you had to travel.”

“You’d have to quit your job, Tessa,” he told her gently. “And if we’re going to continue this relationship – something I’m going to do my damndest to make sure happens – then you’ll need to do that sooner than later. I don’t want to pressure you, it has to ultimately be your decision, but we could be together freely if you left the company.”

She gazed down at their clasped hands quietly, her expression almost brooding. “I wouldn’t be able to work at all if you want me to travel with you. You’d be – I’d have to be dependent on you to - ”

“Support you. Yes, I’m aware. And that is certainly not a problem, love. I’m more than willing and capable of doing exactly that.”

Tessa shook her head. “Ian – as much as I appreciate that, I can’t do it. I can’t just be your – your girlfriend or whatever the correct term is for that sort of arrangement.”

He smiled wryly. “The very old-fashioned term you’re thinking of is a mistress. And that’s not at all what I’m proposing, darling. My thought was to have you travel with me and provide any administrative support I needed. As you know, Andrew rarely travels with me, only a few times a year. The rest of the time I depend on the office staff at whatever hotel I’m visiting to provide assistance. But if you were along I wouldn’t need to do that.”