She toyed with the lapels of his beautifully tailored linen suit jacket. “I know I’m being silly,” she admitted quietly. “And I know you’re too decent and wonderful to ever openly flirt with another woman. It’s just -”

He tipped her chin up, and the tender look in his hazel eyes made her heart beat a little faster. “Just what, darling?”

“I know you told me there weren’t very many women you’ve been with,” she began hesitantly. “I know that. But, well, I still can’t help but wonder how many others have tried over the years, how many have flirted with you. And I just -”

“Shh.” Ian placed a gentle finger over her mouth, careful not to smudge her lip gloss. “Come over here for a minute, love, and we’ll talk about this. I’m beginning to see we should have had this particular conversation some time ago.”

She started to protest as he led her over to the living room sofa. “But won’t we be late for dinner?”

Ian shrugged carelessly. “Perhaps a few minutes. So what? Vincent is my employee, not one of my friends, and he won’t dare to comment if we’re five minutes late. You, my love, are far more important. You and your peace of mind. Now, let’s sit, hmm?”

“Okay.” She let him draw her onto his lap as his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. “Though I know I’m being silly. I mean, in the time we’ve been together you’ve never once flirted or even looked at another woman. But I can’t help wondering, what with all the traveling you did and -”

He nodded as her voice trailed off shyly. “Perfectly understandable for you to be curious. Now, let me put all of that adorable curiosity of yours at ease, my love. When I first began to work for the company, my father made it very clear that I would be representing not just the Gregson Group but the Gregson family as well. And that there would always be standards that had to be upheld, a reputation to be maintained - one of class, dignity, and, most importantly, discretion. In other words, picking up random women or indulging in casual affairs while traveling on company business was strictly off the table.”

“So you’ve never -”

“No. Hard as it may be for you to believe, I took what my father said to heart and always strove to act accordingly. It became especially important once Colin graduated from university and also began to work for the company full time.” Ian paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. “He was about as far from being discreet as you’d shudder to imagine. And when his, er, exploits quickly became more and more blatant, my determination to uphold the company standards became even more pronounced.”

Tessa nodded, quietly thrilled at what he’d told her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Were you ever tempted? I mean, it couldn’t have been easy not to give in.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Perhaps once or twice, but never to a point where I ever strongly considered it. The other part of this - well, it will definitely sound hopelessly old-fashioned and probably very chauvinistic, too, but the truth of the matter is that overly aggressive women have always been a huge turnoff for me. I’m well aware that I’ve got this need to be in control, and I’ve always felt that the man should be the one to make the first move. Does that make me sound like a relic from the 1940’s or something?”

She smiled at him lovingly. “No, not in the least. And whatever it does or doesn’t make you, it makes me very, very happy to hear all this.”

Ian hugged her tightly, his lips brushing against her bare shoulder. “I’m glad I could put your mind at ease, darling. You are the only one for me, Tessa, the only woman I’ve ever loved this way. So please stop worrying about other women because they don’t even exist so far as I’m concerned.”

She gave his darkly stubbled chin a soft caress. “One other thing. You’ve made it very clear that upholding the company and family images are important. But yet I’m here with you, and we’re not even attempting to hide the fact that we’re together.”

“That’s different.” He took her hand and kissed her palm. “There’s a huge difference - in my mind, at least - between indulging in a series of one-night stands with random women, and having the woman I’m head over heels in love with traveling with me. The woman who is most assuredly the love of my life.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes at his passionately spoken words. “Oh, God, Ian. That’s - you make me want to weep with joy when you say such lovely things. Or swoon. Maybe both.”

He smiled before giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek. “No swooning allowed. And definitely no weeping. Now, darling, if I’ve hopefully managed to reassure you sufficiently, I suppose we ought to go. After all, the sooner we get this bloody dinner over with the sooner I can take this sexy dress off of you.”

He set her on her feet before standing, then pulled her close into his big body, one strong arm banding around her waist as his gaze dropped to her very generous amount of exposed cleavage. “Though every time I look at you tonight I’m going to be hard pressed not to do this.”

“Ohhh.”

She moaned as he slid his hand inside the deeply plunging neckline of the dress until his clever fingers found her nipple. His lips caressed the side of her throat as he blatantly fondled her breast, plucking the nipple until she was squirming in arousal.

“Easy, love,” he soothed, slowly removing his hand. “Regrettably, we don’t have the time right now. But you and I will definitely have a great deal to think about during dinner, won’t we? The anticipation is going to drive both of us wild.”

Tessa swayed against him, grateful for the support of his arm around her waist. “I think I’m already there,” she whispered.

He squeezed her waist. “Well, then, this should be an extremely interesting evening, shouldn’t it?”

***

Tessa couldn’t help the smile of satisfaction that lit up her face as the waiter served them coffee and dessert. On her right, her very attentive lover, under cover of the table, of course, was busily gliding his hand up and down her bare thigh in a slow, deliberate caress, inching a bit closer each time to the soaking wet crotch of her thong. Ian had been more than true to his word, acting as though she was the only woman in the world during the entire meal. His displays of affection, though discreet, had been frequent and continual since they’d sat down at the table. She’d lost count of the number of times he’d interlaced their fingers together, or pressed a soft kiss to her temple, or wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his long fingers caressing her bare skin.