Covet (48 page)

“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?

“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.

Julia had actually offered to ask her aunt – who was the head buyer at some fancy New York department store – to send a dress and shoes for Tessa, but Tessa had gently but firmly refused.

“I just think it would look a little odd for me to show up in a really expensive dress,” she’d explained. “Gina and Alicia in particular would be sure to recognize a designer gown, and then ask all sorts of questions about where I got it. And – well, you know I hate discussing anything personal with them.”

“You mean Anastasia and Drizella?” At Tessa’s puzzled look, Julia had laughed and clarified her question. “Those were the names of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters.”

“Oh.” Tessa couldn’t help giggling along with her friend. “Actually, I’ve always thought of them as the nasty Siamese cats from
Lady and the Tramp
.”

Julia had thought that hilarious, and they’d shared a good laugh. Then she had assured Tessa she understood her concerns about the dress, and instead offered to go shopping together.

“Not everything I wear is expensive or something my aunt sends me, you know,” she’d confided as they scoured the racks at several different discount stores. “In fact, Aunt Madelyn is the one who taught me how to look for the best dress in places like this one, and how to mix high and low end pieces. Oh, my God, Tessa. Look at this one – it’s absolutely perfect.”

Tessa had fallen in love with the chiffon dress with its strapless bandeau bodice and the way the fabric fell from the gathered bust to a few inches above the knee. Julia had declared that silver shoes and accessories would go best with the deep blue color, and they’d found a pair of strappy silver heels on the clearance rack at DSW. The rest of Tessa’s ensemble this evening consisted of items loaned to her by Julia – a sparkling round brooch pinned to the gather at the bust; a wide cuff bracelet; a pair of dangly earrings. Julia had assured her that all the pieces were costume jewelry and not very expensive at all, so that Tessa wouldn’t have to freak out about wearing actual diamonds or worry about losing them.

One piece of jewelry that she would
not
be wearing this evening, though, was her plain gold wedding band. She’d wrestled with the decision to remove the ring for weeks now, as though taking it off was an admittance that her marriage was well and truly over. Tessa had slid the thin band off her finger less than a week ago, hiding it away in one of her bureau drawers, resolving not to get teary eyed about the matter. But she was still getting used to not wearing it, and found herself – just like she was now – rubbing a thumb over her newly bare finger multiple times each day.

Julia was also loaning her a sparkly silver clutch, into which she was placing the tube of shiny rose lip gloss that she’d just painted onto Tessa’s mouth. She had spent over an hour doing Tessa’s makeup and hair, and now it was time for the “big reveal” as Julia teasingly called it.

“Come on, you can see for yourself how awesome you look,” cajoled Julia as she propelled Tessa into her bedroom and inside the walk-in closet.

Tessa had been dumbfounded the first time she’d seen Julia’s closet, never having imagined that one person could own so many dresses or shoes or bags. She only owned about three pair of shoes that were suitable for the office, and one oversized purse that she used for everything. Julia had been horrified at the thought of Tessa taking the rather beat-up bag to tonight’s formal affair, and had set her foot down that she use the clutch instead.

“Okay, tell me what you think,” prodded Julia as they stopped in front of the full length mirror hanging on the back of the closet door.

Tessa gasped and could only stare back at her reflection in disbelief. She had never, ever, looked like this before – or felt so beautiful – almost like Cinderella herself.

The dress fit her perfectly, the strapless top baring her shoulders and upper chest but stopping just short of revealing too much cleavage. Tessa offered up a silent thanks that she’d devoted extra time these last few weeks to toning her upper body, for her bare arms and shoulders looked lean and shapely. The sapphire blue shade was very close to her eye color, and flattered her ivory skin and golden blonde hair. The strappy silver shoes had a higher heel than she normally wore, and made her legs look even longer. She was glad Julia had suggested breaking the high heels in by walking around her apartment in them a few times so that she felt steady with the added height.

Julia had done a fabulous job on her makeup – making her eyes look twice as big with the silvery gray shadow, subtle application of liner, and three coats of mascara. Her complexion glowed rosily with the light touch of foundation and blush, while her mouth appeared fuller and plumper with the shiny rose gloss.

Her thick golden hair had been curled into soft, loose waves, held back on one side with a rhinestone clip. It smelled like peaches or apricots, courtesy of the decadently rich shampoo and conditioner Julia had used on her, so much nicer than the cheap brands she bought at the drugstore.

Julia brushed a stray hair off of Tessa’s cheek. “You look perfect. Gorgeous, sexy, sophisticated.” Then she groaned. “I just wish I’d been able to arrange a better coat for you. No offense, but that raincoat of yours just doesn’t do it for me.”

The beige belted raincoat – the same one she’d bought at a thrift store soon after moving to San Francisco - was the only actual coat she owned, and was just going to have to do. It was cold outside tonight, the gusty winds making it feel even chillier, and any of her other jackets or sweaters wouldn’t do a thing to keep her warm. Julia would have gladly loaned her a coat, but the five inch difference in their heights took that option off the table.

“It’s fine,” assured Tessa. “No one will even see me in the coat – I’ll be checking it as soon as I walk into the hotel.”

Julia shook her head. “If you’d given me even a week’s notice, I could have had Aunt Maddy ship out something for you. Or I would have been happy to loan you the money.”

“No. Thank you, but no. I’ve stretched my budget way too thin as it is buying the dress and shoes. But I just needed – you know – to feel - “

“To feel pretty,” finished Julia. “I get it, honey. From what I can tell you hardly ever treat yourself to anything. You should make Ian give you a nice Christmas bonus. Or a raise.”

Tessa was glad Julia had whisked an extra bit of blusher on her cheeks, because it masked the real flush that heated her skin. Just the mention of the handsome, enigmatic Brit was enough to set all her nerve endings on edge. Ever since the incident last month in the fitness room, she’d been even more aware of him than usual, forcing herself not to react whenever he walked by. Fortunately, he’d been traveling on business quite a bit these past few weeks and hadn’t been around much, so she hadn’t had to worry about making a fool of herself by blushing or stammering in his presence as she so often did.

The last few weeks had been busy ones at the office, due to all of the year end reports and tasks that required completion, and Tessa had been grateful to be kept occupied. Staying busy helped to keep the loneliness at bay, loneliness that was even more pronounced with the holiday season in full swing.

The “few close friends” that were supposed to have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Kevin’s turned out to be more than two dozen people. What Tessa had initially hoped would be a quiet, intimate dinner had instead morphed into a loud, rather raucous affair. There had been far too many guests to fit at the dining room table so dinner had quickly become a buffet, a situation that had actually made it easier for Tessa to slip out unnoticed after the first couple of hours. She’d been sadly out of her element among such a large group of people, every one of them a stranger except for Kevin, and he had been kept busy refilling wine glasses, setting out platters of food, and greeting even more new arrivals. To Tessa, it had seemed as though nearly everyone else knew each other, or at least most of the guests, and she’d felt uncomfortable and ill at ease the entire time. She knew that she had to make more of an effort to meet new people and feel comfortable in social situations, but so many strangers at one time had overwhelmed her.

Kevin was spending the Christmas holidays with his family in San Diego, but had already invited Tessa to the New Year’s Eve party that he and Terence were planning. Thus far she’d managed to put him off, mumbling something about not yet knowing what her plans were. But she knew there was no way she’d be attending the party, especially after hearing Kevin rave about what a “blowout bash” it was going to be.