“Um, I was just leaving a note for Andrew, sir,” she murmured. “There’s a bit of a discrepancy with one of the spreadsheets he asked me to do for you.”

“Ah, well, we can’t have that, can we?” he replied in a gentle voice. “Why don’t you show me the problem and let’s see if we can figure it out, hmm?”

“All-all right.” Tessa struggled to maintain her composure, for she was hyper-aware of the man standing right next to her. With her sensible heels on, she stood at five ten, but he still towered over her by a good six inches. He had removed the aforementioned custom tailored, dark blue suit jacket and hovered next to her in his shirt sleeves. She stole a quick glance sideways and had to stifle a gulp when she noticed how the fine linen fabric stretched across his broad shoulders and the wide expanse of his chest.

And she thought for perhaps the hundredth time that no one had ever smelled as good as Ian Gregson did. It was an irresistible combination of soap, aftershave, and pure male, and she was tempted anew to burrow her face against that strong, muscular chest and take a long, luxurious sniff. Even without making any sort of physical contact, she could feel the heat pouring off his big body, and her nipples hardened automatically in response against the thin fabric of her dress. Hoping fervently that he didn’t notice, she self-consciously smoothed down the pleated skirt of her dress.

She pointed to the pie chart in question. “This isn’t accurate, Mr. Gregson. But I’ve checked the input data four times and it’s all correct.”

Ian studied the two sheets of paper for a long moment before pointing to the one with the background information. “Except that you were given the wrong report. This is the previous quarter’s report, even though someone put the current quarter’s date on it. Who prepared this report anyway?”

Tessa feigned ignorance, even though she knew that Shelby was usually the one who was in charge of the report in question. Andrew would figure that out soon enough on his own and give Shelby yet another icy admonishment.

“I’m not certain, sir. But now that you’ve identified the discrepancy, it should be simple enough to adjust the spreadsheet. It will only take me a couple of minutes.”

The smile he bestowed on her made her knees go weak and her panties grow damp. “I don’t know what I’d do without you here, Tessa,” he told her earnestly. “You’re the only one I trust to get all of these done correctly. Thank you for all of your diligence.”

She couldn’t resist smiling at him in return and hoped faintly that her cheeks weren’t too red. “It’s – I’m happy to help, sir. I’ll – um, just take these back to my desk and fix the problem. I’m sorry to have bothered you, sir.”

“It was no bother at all, Tessa,” he assured her kindly. “I appreciate your conscientiousness in catching the error.”

Trying in vain to conceal her flustered state, Tessa quickly picked up the papers from Andrew’s desk and spun around to make a hasty exit. Except that Mr. Gregson hadn’t moved an inch and she bumped smack into him. He placed a hand on her arm to steady her, and her cheeks grew even hotter to realize that her breast was crushed up against his iron-hewed arm.

He released his grip on her arm immediately and took two steps back. He didn’t say another word but his hazel eyes had darkened noticeably, and the smile on his face had faded as he gazed at her somberly.

With a hastily mumbled “thank you”, Tessa almost bolted out of the office back towards her own desk. ‘Oh, God,’ she pleaded silently. ‘Please do not let him have noticed my nipples were hard.’

She made it back to her desk on shaky legs and sunk down gratefully into her chair. She closed her eyes, and the image of Ian Gregson’s ruggedly handsome face filled her thoughts despite her best efforts to dispel it.

But as busy as she strived to keep for the rest of the workday, she couldn’t completely forget about the brief but disturbing encounter with her boss earlier in the day. And each time she did, her cheeks would flush anew and she’d curse herself for having such a strong and unsuitable reaction to him. She had no reason at all to believe that Mr. Gregson found her attractive, or even gave her a second thought. She was simply one of his many employees, and not a very important one at that.

The unwanted sexual attraction she felt for him was only because of the frustration she was currently experiencing due to Peter’s long and frequent absences, she told herself fiercely. She was young and healthy and craved affection and physical contact, a perfectly normal state for a woman her age. Especially a woman who was alone as much as she was, and whose sexual relationship with her husband was as messed up as hers had always been. It was only natural, Tessa assured herself with a confidence she didn’t really feel, that her body would react to a man as virile and physically appealing as Ian Gregson. From what she’d surmised, most every woman he came in contact with had the same sort of reaction to his charm and extreme good looks, so she was far from the only one.

‘So it doesn’t mean a thing, silly,’ she told herself with a sense of relief. ‘It doesn’t mean that you don’t love Peter or that you’d ever think of cheating on him. Especially since Mr. Gregson certainly doesn’t think of you that way. I’m sure he hasn’t given you a single thought the entire day.’

Chapter Nineteen

Ian cursed softly as he tried for perhaps the fifth time to concentrate on the report in front of him. He’d had a ridiculous amount of work that needed to get done today, starting with the speaking engagement first thing this morning, and due to wind up with a business dinner this evening. In between, he’d had reports like this one to review, phone calls to return, employees to meet with, and plans to make for an upcoming trip to visit several of the properties in his region.

But it was as if all of his brain function had become stuck in quicksand ever since the all-too-brief encounter with the constant object of his desire – Tessa.

He shut his eyes, rubbing at a tense spot at the back of his neck. Christ, what a muddled-up mess this entire situation was with the woman he’d become positively obsessed with over the past two years. Ian thought rather sourly at times that he ought to have followed his instincts the first time he’d seen her, and arranged for a swift transfer to another department where he wouldn’t have to see her every day. It might not have completely stopped his infatuation with her, but he would have had an easier time of it day to day.