Claim
Page 54
Tessa gave him a hug. “He won’t mind at all,” she replied confidently. “Ian trusts me. Not to mention,” she added with a wink, “he spoils me rotten and gives me everything I want.”
She was still smiling during the cab ride home, the pleasure she felt from having seen Peter and how well and happy he was doing making her feel warm all over. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, in fact, that she didn’t notice the front door of the house opening until she’d paid off the driver and began walking up the path.
“Ian.”
Tessa blinked in surprise to see him standing in the doorway. It was just past four in the afternoon, and she certainly hadn’t expected him home this early. He was still wearing his suit and tie, and she stood back for an extra moment or two simply for the pleasure of seeing how gorgeous he looked in his business attire. On the days they weren’t traveling together, she missed him something fierce during the hours they were apart, one of the reasons she strived to keep as busy as possible with school, workouts, errands, and chores, so that the time would pass a bit more quickly until he was home with her again.
She quickened her pace then, until she was practically jogging towards him, and threw herself into his arms as she reached the front doorstep. Ian’s arms automatically went around her, hugging her so tight that she struggled to breathe for a moment or two. And when he kept on holding her, his face buried against the side of her neck, she touched his arm in concern.
“Is everything all right?” she asked worriedly. “And why are you home from work so early? You’re not sick, are you?”
Ian shook his head as she placed a palm over his forehead. “No, nothing like that. I’m fine. My meeting wrapped up earlier than expected, and a late afternoon appointment got cancelled, so I thought I’d surprise you by getting home early.”
“I’m sorry,” Tessa replied, looping her arm through his as they walked inside the house. “I didn’t expect my lunch with Peter to take quite so long. When did you get home?”
“Just a few minutes ago. How was your lunch? I, ah, didn’t realize Peter was going to be in San Francisco,” he commented, his tone deceptively low-key.
But Tessa knew her fiancé well enough by now to recognize when something was bothering him. And he was definitely off, no question about it. Between arriving home unexpectedly early, the fierce manner in which he’d just embraced her, and the rather closed-off expression on his handsome face, it was very obvious that he was upset about something.
“Neither did I until a few hours ago.” She quickly explained about the surprise phone call, and Peter’s reason for being in town. “I was going to call you instead of sending that text,” she continued, “but I knew you were at a lunch meeting today and didn’t want to disturb you. Ian, are you upset that I had lunch with him? Because I can’t come up with any other explanation for why you seem so out of sorts right now.”
Ian gave what he probably thought was a casual shrug, but Tessa knew it was anything but. “I’m not upset,” he assured her in a flat voice. “Why would I be? I trust you, Tessa, and it was just lunch, after all. How long will Peter be in town anyway?”
Tessa frowned, following Ian as he strode into his home office. Despite his repeated assurances to the contrary, she knew damned well that everything was not fine. “A few days. I think he’s flying to New York on Friday. He’s supposed to let me know his schedule.”
“I see.” He opened up his laptop case and began to extract several files and reports. “Will you be seeing him again during his visit?”
“I’d like to,” she replied quietly. “But not if you’re going to have a problem with it. Like you are right now. And don’t deny it, Ian. It’s very obvious that you’re not happy about the situation, so can we please discuss it?”
She walked around the side of his desk and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt the unfamiliar stiffness of his body, how he held himself aloof, and how it took long seconds before his own arms closed around her.
“Tessa, it’s truly not a problem,” he assured her, but he sounded anything but convinced of his own words. “I realize that you and Peter were together for a long time, that you must have a great deal to catch up on. He was your husband, after all, someone that you loved. I’d have to be a total arsehole to be upset over the two of you having lunch.”
“And yet, you are upset,” she insisted. “And I never, ever want to upset you, Ian. Or displease you. So can’t we please just sit for a few minutes and discuss this rationally? Please?”
He sighed and gave a curt nod. “All right. Though it’s truly nothing. You shouldn’t be concerned about -”
Whatever he’d been about to say was abruptly cut off by Tessa’s lips upon his, as she pulled his head down to hers for a long, deeply passionate kiss. He groaned in mingled frustration and surrender, but didn’t resist as she gave him a little push until he was sitting in his desk chair. She didn’t hesitate to climb onto his lap, snuggling against him as she so often did when they were alone this way.
“I love you, Ian,” she told him, caressing his cheek softly. “You told me once that you hadn’t known what it felt like to love a woman until you met me. Well, it’s exactly the same for me, you know. I might have loved Peter like the best friend he was to me, maybe even like the brother I never had. But whatever I felt for him, whatever sort of friendship or relationship we had, it’s nothing - nothing - like what I feel for you, or what we have together. So please don’t be upset that I had a very innocent lunch with him today. Or that I’d like to spend some more time with him while he’s in town. Because he might have been my first husband, but you are my first love. My first and only love.”
Tessa was startled to see the glimmer of tears in his eyes, astonished that her impassioned words could really touch him so deeply. But her little speech seemed to have done the trick, because when he smiled up at her it was with his usual tenderness, his hazel eyes warm and filled with emotion.
“Thank you for saying that, darling,” he murmured, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to the palm. “And you’re right. I was upset, stupidly so, when I got that text from you earlier today, rather casually announcing that you were meeting your ex for lunch. I knew damned well that the two of you had really never been much more than friends, knew that you loved me in a way you had never come close to loving him. But, well, I suppose I’d be jealous of any man who had been such an important part of your life. Especially a man who had been there to look out for you when you were at such a vulnerable point in your life. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I had been the one to save you, Tessa, the one who’d taken care of you and made sure you were safe.”
She was still smiling during the cab ride home, the pleasure she felt from having seen Peter and how well and happy he was doing making her feel warm all over. She was so absorbed in her thoughts, in fact, that she didn’t notice the front door of the house opening until she’d paid off the driver and began walking up the path.
“Ian.”
Tessa blinked in surprise to see him standing in the doorway. It was just past four in the afternoon, and she certainly hadn’t expected him home this early. He was still wearing his suit and tie, and she stood back for an extra moment or two simply for the pleasure of seeing how gorgeous he looked in his business attire. On the days they weren’t traveling together, she missed him something fierce during the hours they were apart, one of the reasons she strived to keep as busy as possible with school, workouts, errands, and chores, so that the time would pass a bit more quickly until he was home with her again.
She quickened her pace then, until she was practically jogging towards him, and threw herself into his arms as she reached the front doorstep. Ian’s arms automatically went around her, hugging her so tight that she struggled to breathe for a moment or two. And when he kept on holding her, his face buried against the side of her neck, she touched his arm in concern.
“Is everything all right?” she asked worriedly. “And why are you home from work so early? You’re not sick, are you?”
Ian shook his head as she placed a palm over his forehead. “No, nothing like that. I’m fine. My meeting wrapped up earlier than expected, and a late afternoon appointment got cancelled, so I thought I’d surprise you by getting home early.”
“I’m sorry,” Tessa replied, looping her arm through his as they walked inside the house. “I didn’t expect my lunch with Peter to take quite so long. When did you get home?”
“Just a few minutes ago. How was your lunch? I, ah, didn’t realize Peter was going to be in San Francisco,” he commented, his tone deceptively low-key.
But Tessa knew her fiancé well enough by now to recognize when something was bothering him. And he was definitely off, no question about it. Between arriving home unexpectedly early, the fierce manner in which he’d just embraced her, and the rather closed-off expression on his handsome face, it was very obvious that he was upset about something.
“Neither did I until a few hours ago.” She quickly explained about the surprise phone call, and Peter’s reason for being in town. “I was going to call you instead of sending that text,” she continued, “but I knew you were at a lunch meeting today and didn’t want to disturb you. Ian, are you upset that I had lunch with him? Because I can’t come up with any other explanation for why you seem so out of sorts right now.”
Ian gave what he probably thought was a casual shrug, but Tessa knew it was anything but. “I’m not upset,” he assured her in a flat voice. “Why would I be? I trust you, Tessa, and it was just lunch, after all. How long will Peter be in town anyway?”
Tessa frowned, following Ian as he strode into his home office. Despite his repeated assurances to the contrary, she knew damned well that everything was not fine. “A few days. I think he’s flying to New York on Friday. He’s supposed to let me know his schedule.”
“I see.” He opened up his laptop case and began to extract several files and reports. “Will you be seeing him again during his visit?”
“I’d like to,” she replied quietly. “But not if you’re going to have a problem with it. Like you are right now. And don’t deny it, Ian. It’s very obvious that you’re not happy about the situation, so can we please discuss it?”
She walked around the side of his desk and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt the unfamiliar stiffness of his body, how he held himself aloof, and how it took long seconds before his own arms closed around her.
“Tessa, it’s truly not a problem,” he assured her, but he sounded anything but convinced of his own words. “I realize that you and Peter were together for a long time, that you must have a great deal to catch up on. He was your husband, after all, someone that you loved. I’d have to be a total arsehole to be upset over the two of you having lunch.”
“And yet, you are upset,” she insisted. “And I never, ever want to upset you, Ian. Or displease you. So can’t we please just sit for a few minutes and discuss this rationally? Please?”
He sighed and gave a curt nod. “All right. Though it’s truly nothing. You shouldn’t be concerned about -”
Whatever he’d been about to say was abruptly cut off by Tessa’s lips upon his, as she pulled his head down to hers for a long, deeply passionate kiss. He groaned in mingled frustration and surrender, but didn’t resist as she gave him a little push until he was sitting in his desk chair. She didn’t hesitate to climb onto his lap, snuggling against him as she so often did when they were alone this way.
“I love you, Ian,” she told him, caressing his cheek softly. “You told me once that you hadn’t known what it felt like to love a woman until you met me. Well, it’s exactly the same for me, you know. I might have loved Peter like the best friend he was to me, maybe even like the brother I never had. But whatever I felt for him, whatever sort of friendship or relationship we had, it’s nothing - nothing - like what I feel for you, or what we have together. So please don’t be upset that I had a very innocent lunch with him today. Or that I’d like to spend some more time with him while he’s in town. Because he might have been my first husband, but you are my first love. My first and only love.”
Tessa was startled to see the glimmer of tears in his eyes, astonished that her impassioned words could really touch him so deeply. But her little speech seemed to have done the trick, because when he smiled up at her it was with his usual tenderness, his hazel eyes warm and filled with emotion.
“Thank you for saying that, darling,” he murmured, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to the palm. “And you’re right. I was upset, stupidly so, when I got that text from you earlier today, rather casually announcing that you were meeting your ex for lunch. I knew damned well that the two of you had really never been much more than friends, knew that you loved me in a way you had never come close to loving him. But, well, I suppose I’d be jealous of any man who had been such an important part of your life. Especially a man who had been there to look out for you when you were at such a vulnerable point in your life. You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I had been the one to save you, Tessa, the one who’d taken care of you and made sure you were safe.”
