spun on her long, slender legs and strode across the room. “I told him I had to think about it. Now I’ve thought about it.” She kept her face turned away from him. “And I’ve decided it’s just the change I need.”
“You’re wrong.” He’d never been so sure of anything.
She turned to face him, her green eyes wide. “I feel bad leaving, especially now that you’ve taken over Caspia Designs. I know there’s a lot of work to do. But what if this is my one chance?”
Her voice rose to a high note that tugged at something in his chest. How could such a beautiful and talented woman be willing to throw her whole life away on a gamble?
“The name Patrick Ramsay rings a bell.” An alarm bell.
“He’s quite well known. He represented Elaina Ivanovic in her divorce from her husband Igor.”
Sebastian’s hackles shot up. “The divorce lawyer?” He’d seen that smarmy hustler on TV. Patrick Ramsay didn’t know the meaning of the term low blow.
She nodded, jerked her imploring gaze from him and started across the far end of the room. “He’s very nice, really. Busy, as you’d expect, but kind and thoughtful and—Oh!”
She tripped on an open box and sprawled forward. Adrenaline surged through Sebastian and he leaped across the room. “Are you hurt?”
“No! I’m fine. How silly of me.” She blushed charmingly as he helped her up, her hand hot inside his.
On her feet, she pushed her hair back. “It’s my fault for leaving these boxes everywhere. I’ll stack them against the wall before I go.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” He still held her hand. He didn’t want to let go of it. To let go of Tessa.
She was the best assistant he’d ever had. Since he now spent most of his time in Europe, he needed someone he could count on to show up for work even with no one else there. Tessa had proven herself a sharp-minded self-starter and—until now—as steadfast as the rocks in the ancient harbor at Caspia.
He trusted her with everything, from his personal affairs to the embarrassing state of Caspia Designs’s financials.
She tried to pull her hand back. He held it fast.
“Tessa, you are indispensable to me. What can I say that will make you stay?”
Her gaze skittered over his face and he sensed the swell of her emotion. Her muscles tensed, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t form the words.
Why had he never noticed how mobile and expressive her mouth was? Or that her skin had an iridescent sheen, like a haze of gold dust?
In that moment of contemplation she jerked back and tugged her hand from his grasp. Cool air assaulted his palm.
She turned and strode away, her slim body held stiff. “I don’t want anything.”
“I do.”
The words fell from his lips before he’d formulated the thoughts to go along with them.
It pained him to see her pacing the floor like a nervous colt, ready to gallop off to disaster.
She belonged here, with him.
His own conviction surprised him. Was some primal masculine jealousy aroused by the thought of her with another man?
Possibly.
She bent over a box filled with hanging files. Her back strained under the weight as she tried to lift it.
“Put that down.” He marched over, hefted the box off the floor and shoved it against the wall. The exertion felt good. Then he heaved another into position next to it. He glanced at Tessa. “I don’t want you injuring yourself.”
A brow shot up and her green eyes flashed. “I may be skinny, but I’m strong.”
She picked up a box, dumped it next to his, then dusted her hands and placed them on her hips. Which had the unfortunate effect of drawing his attention to the hourglass waist hidden inside her simple gray dress.
Desire heated his blood.
“You know you’re only making it more impossible for me to let you go.” He smiled.
She flashed back a defiant grin. Then it faded. “I can’t stay.”
Her pulse fluttered at her neck and he resisted a sudden, fierce urge to press his lips to the quivering, warm skin.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “You can’t let me? Off with her head? Those days are over, even if you are a prince.”
He laughed. “A beheading does sound counterproductive. But I do insist you give the ancient, sovereign nation of Caspia at least the customary two weeks’ notice.” A plan blossomed in his mind. “You must come to Caspia with me. Immediately.”
“Oh.”
A tiny fire lit inside her eyes. Good.
“I need you to arrange an immediate meeting of the principals of Caspia Designs. The chief executives of each of the subsidiary brands must be there, no matter what it takes to bring them.”
He watched for her reaction. The prospect of cajoling pleasure-seeking European plutocrats into attending to actual business might make some people quit on the spot.
But not Tessa. A glow of appreciation filled him as she simply nodded.
“To be honest, when I took the job, I hoped it would involve some travel. I’d be glad to come to Caspia before I go.”
Had he truly never taken her to Caspia before? Surely he’d remember the vision of all that golden hair being tossed by the sea breeze. He’d grown to think of travel as a tiresome necessity. He clapped his hands together. “We’ll fly tomorrow in my private plane. Arrange for a 2:00 p.m. departure.”
Energy surged through him as his plan took shape. This trip would take Tessa’s mind off that divorce-mongering cad who wanted to steal her away from him.
Not that his interest in her was personal, of course. He took both business and pleasure very seriously, which meant keeping them strictly separate.
But the charms of Caspia—combined with some judicious charm on his part—would soon make Tessa realize she’d been crazy to ever think of leaving.
Two
Relief surged through Sebastian as he grasped his old friend’s hand in a warm handshake. Reed Wellington was the kind of man you wanted on your side in a crisis. His clear blue eyes never reflected a hint of worry.
“Sebastian, I’m sorry I couldn’t make the snowboarding trip to Kilimanjaro, but Elizabeth thought it sounded, well, crazy.”
Sebastian
