Tessa’s head swiveled abruptly to her left, shaken out of her daydream by Kevin’s teasing. He was grinning at her mischievously, his eyes twinkling, while her own eyes suddenly filled with tears.

She shook her head mutely before impatiently wiping away a tear. “Sorry. I – I was just spacing out there for a minute or two.”

Kevin’s grin faded at once and he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on with you lately, Tess? I mean, you’re always quiet but these last couple of months you’ve seemed really down. And what are these tears about, hmm? Are you and Peter having problems?”

It was his kindness that was her undoing, that made the tears begin anew, and for her to choke out in a whispered tone, “I – I haven’t been able to talk about it, Kevin. It’s just been too hard, too painful. But I guess I can’t keep it a secret much longer. Peter and I are – are breaking up, I guess you could say. Getting a divorce.”

“Honey!” Kevin rose up from his desk chair and enfolded her in a comforting embrace, patting her back soothingly. “When did all this happen? No wonder you’ve been such a moody little miss lately. I’m so, so sorry, Tess.”

And because he was being so kind, and because she desperately needed a shoulder – any shoulder – to lean on at the moment, Tessa didn’t cringe at being enveloped in his arms and being subjected to an overpowering whiff of his cologne. She let him soothe her for a few minutes longer, but knew there would be a barrage of questions to follow.

Kevin wasted no time in sharing her news with the other girls, and within seconds all five of the team were gathered around her cubicle offering hugs and sympathy – even the usually icy Alicia. She told them as little as possible, just the bare facts, since none of them had even the slightest idea behind the real truth of her relationship with Peter.

“And please don’t tell anyone else in the office,” she begged. “Not even Andrew. I’ll tell him soon, but I’d really like to keep all of this as quiet as possible. Please?”

Gina nodded. “You got it, girl. And I’ll make sure everyone keeps their lips zipped. Especially our little Gossip Girl here,” she said, poking a finger playfully into Kevin’s shoulder.

Kevin pantomimed zipping up his lips and throwing away the key. “They’re sealed tight, I swear,” he vowed, though Tessa privately had her doubts that he would be able to keep the news to himself for more than a day or two.

Throughout the rest of the day, everyone seemed to treat her with kid gloves, going out of their way to be nice and look after her. After one of her coffee runs, Marisol brought back a foamy cappuccino for Tessa, even though she seldom drank coffee. Shelby filched a little plate of cookies from the morning meeting she’d been overseeing, and placed it in front of Tessa, chiding her about having lost too much weight lately. Gina and Alicia returned from their lunch break with a cheerful little bouquet of yellow daisies for her, while Kevin flat out refused to take no for an answer when he invited her to have Thanksgiving dinner with him and his new live-in boyfriend Terence.

“It’s just going to be a few close friends is all,” he told her. “Nothing too elaborate. Terence has this great townhouse in Cole Valley with amazing views, and one of our best friends is a professional chef so he’s offered to do all the cooking. You have to come, sweet pea. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I knew you were all alone on Thanksgiving.”

And because she was feeling more than a little sorry for herself at the moment, Tessa gave in to Kevin’s determined wheedling and agreed to attend his Thanksgiving dinner. It would be nice to spend time with other people, she decided, even though the thought of meeting several strangers at one time made her want to retreat into a corner somewhere. She knew she needed to work harder at getting over her shyness and stop being such an introvert, and that forcing herself to spend the holiday with Kevin and his friends was a step in the right direction.

She had just begun working on a brand new spreadsheet for Mr. Gregson when she thought of something Julia had said at their first lunch together – something along the lines of “I think he’d be very interested to know you’re going to be a single lady soon”. Tessa had denied it, of course, but Julia had sounded very, very sure of herself. Julia had made other comments during that lunch – and on subsequent occasions – that indicated she was quite convinced Mr. Gregson had a “thing” for Tessa. But Tessa had continued to deny it, insisting to Julia that she had to be imagining things, because most of the time Ian Gregson acted like she didn’t exist.

But he hadn’t acted that way last night. And the mere fact that he’d taken such quick, decisive actions to remove Jason Baldwin from her presence gave Tessa renewed cause to ponder Julia’s rather sly innuendoes and direct observations. Was it even a remote possibility that someone as wonderful and perfect as Ian Gregson was attracted to a little nobody like herself? And what would his reaction – if any – be to the news that she would be a single woman within the next few months?

Chapter Twenty-Two

December

“There, all done. Let me take a look, make sure I don’t need to touch anything up.”

Tessa continued to sit patiently at Julia’s dining table while her friend carefully inspected Tessa’s makeup. With brush in hand, Julia swiped another bit of powdered blush on each cheekbone, then finally smiled in satisfaction.

“Perfect. Wow, you look stunning, Tessa, just – wow. Every head in the place will be turning when they see you tonight.”

“Tonight” was the annual office Christmas party that Tessa had somehow allowed herself to get talked into attending. Not only had all of her co-workers done their best to convince her, but once Julia had heard about the event, she too had gently but firmly urged Tessa to go.

“It will be good for you to get out a little,” she’d prodded. “You’re too young and too hot to sit at home every night. It’s way past time for you to start having fun.”

And when Tessa had still resisted, Julia had asked rather bluntly, “Don’t you think it’s what Peter would want you to do?”

That had finally convinced her, because Julia was absolutely right – going to the party was exactly the sort of thing Peter would have encouraged her to do. So she’d allowed Julia to drag her on a mini-shopping spree to find a new dress and shoes, mindful of Tessa’s very limited budget. Julia had a knack, however, for finding beautiful clothes even at a discount store, and the strapless blue cocktail dress Tessa wore tonight was every bit as glamorous as one from a high end store.