Splendor (Inevitable #2) (58 page)

“She looks so beautiful,” sighed Tessa. “And so happy.”

Ian slid his arm around her waist, guiding her out of their row of chairs as other guests began to leave the chapel. “They deserve it, darling. Like with us, it took a little time for the stars to align properly so they could be together. Now, come, the festivities are beginning.”

He steered her over to the expansive patio area where champagne and hors d’oeuvres were being passed around. All of the wait staff seemed to know exactly who Ian was, treating him with extreme deference and care. At various times during the cocktail reception, the hotel manager, catering manager and head bartender all came over to shake his hand and inquire if all was well, as though he were the groom or the father of the bride instead of merely a guest. As always, Ian was graciousness personified, greeting them by name and asking about their families. It never ceased to amaze Tessa at how much respect he commanded and how eagerly all his employees rushed to please him. He was, she though fondly, like a well-loved king among his subjects.

And the two of them seemed to be drawing almost as much attention as the bride and groom. Tessa thought with a little smile that they did make rather a striking couple, both tall and impeccably dressed. With Joanna’s help, she’d chosen a gorgeous pink silk pleated dress with an off-the-shoulder neckline. With it she wore killer pale pink satin Jimmy Choo sandals that had a satin bow attached to the ankle strap, plus the triple strand pearl necklace and dainty pearl stud earrings that Ian had given her months ago. He had chosen a complementing Armani suit in a pale silver gray, paired with a pearl gray shirt and a silk tie patterned in varying shades of gray and mauve. Tessa hadn’t missed all the admiring female glances directed his way, and she made sure she stuck to his side like glue.

Julia and Nathan were doing their best to circulate among all their guests, stopping to greet as many people as possible. When they eventually reached Tessa and Ian, Julia pulled her down into a fierce little hug.

“Oh, you look so pretty, Tessa! God, just look at the pair of you together. Like two movie stars or European royalty,” sighed Julia.

Ian grinned and bent to kiss her cheek. “Ah, but the bride is supposed to be the center of attention on her wedding day. And as lovely as my girl here looks, I think she’d agree that you are the most beautiful woman here today. Congratulations, Mrs. Atwood.”

Nathan was beaming as he shook Ian’s hand and then kissed Tessa’s cheek. “I told you on your birthday, Ian. We’re the two luckiest bastards I know. And with the two most beautiful woman in the world.”

“Hey, I heard that, Nathan. And since Jules and I are identical twins, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Nathan rolled his eyes as his very outspoken sister-in-law Lauren sidled up alongside Julia, slipping an arm about her twin’s waist. Tessa had only met the very formidable Lauren once – at the bachelorette party that Lauren herself had organized – and she confessed to being more than a little intimidated by her. Julia’s sister was utterly fearless, extremely outspoken, and could put away an astonishing number of tequila shots. She seemed sassier than ever today, though she looked far softer and more feminine in her mint green floral print bridesmaid dress.

Nathan gave his sister-in-law a good natured jab in the ribs. “Okay, the three most beautiful women in the world. You’ve met Tessa, haven’t you?”

“I have. Tried like hell to get her drunk but I think her man here gave her strict orders to behave. Good to see you again, sweetie.” Lauren turned and winked at Ian. “Hey, handsome. I’d ask how you were doing but I can see that for myself. You two look like Ken and Barbie.”

Ian grinned and gave Lauren a peck on the cheek. “Lovely to see you as always, Lauren. Break any hearts lately? Or noses, for that matter?”

Lauren glared at him darkly. “I should have never told you that story. And I didn’t break the little crybaby’s nose, just made it bleed a little. On accident.” She gave Tessa a sheepish look. “Blind date gone bad. Really bad. Ask Ian to tell you the story sometime, he thought it was hilarious.”

As the call came to sit down for dinner, Tessa gave Ian an inquiring look. “I didn’t realize you’d met Lauren before.”

He nodded as he ushered her to their assigned table. “Once, last fall. It was at a dinner party Julia and Nathan were giving. I was lonely, and rather miserable since I was still pining away for a woman I couldn’t have – namely you. I thought meeting Julia’s sister might prove something of a distraction.” He shook his head. “I’m not certain there’s a man alive capable of taming that girl. She was definitely too much for me to even consider handling. And as beautiful as she is, she still wasn’t you.”

Tessa clutched his arm a little tighter. “Sometimes I wish I’d known sooner how you felt about me. I don’t know how that might have changed things but - ”

He shook his head. “It wouldn’t have. I know you too well, Tessa, and the fact that I was attracted to you would not have compelled you to leave your husband. The way we finally got together – it had to happen that way, love. You had to end things with Peter first, and for the right reasons. As much as I wanted you, I would never have broken up your marriage.”

“I know. And you’re right, of course. Still - ”

“Shh. We’re together now and that’s all that matters. Ah, here’s our table.”

They had been seated with several of Julia’s and Nathan’s co-workers – the co-owner of the firm, Travis Headley, and his partner Anton Nguyen; Nathan’s PA Robyn Reynolds and her husband Dan; and Jake Harriman, the associate architect working on the new Gregson resort in Napa, accompanied by his date Abby.

During the multi-course wedding meal, Tessa learned that Travis had been the interior designer responsible for decorating Ian’s home; that Anton also worked as a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus – albeit in the men’s department – and that Marlene Brennan was a mentor of his; and that Robyn had originally worked with Nathan and Travis at a different architectural design firm before – as she fondly recalled – “the boys decided to spin off on their own and practically shanghaied me into going with them.”

It was, all in all, a beautiful wedding with wonderful food and wine, pleasant company, and a magnificent setting. Tessa took a sip of her wine and gazed admiringly around the trellised patio.

“This is so beautiful,” she told Ian. “I think this might be my favorite of all the hotels I’ve seen so far. Not that I’ve been to all that many, of course.”

He nodded in agreement. “It’s one of my favorites, too, and one of our most popular. Especially for weddings. But,” he added mysteriously, “I have an even grander venue in mind for the day I finally make you my wife. And before you ask, darling, that bit of information is going to remain a closely guarded secret. Let’s just say it will be another first.”

Once the lavish meal had been cleared away, the dancing began. Tessa and Ian watched along with all the other guests as the bride and groom shared a tender first dance before changing partners multiple times to dance with parents, siblings, and the members of the wedding party. As soon as the rest of the guests were invited to join in, Ian tugged Tessa to her feet, and smoothly drew her onto the dance floor.

She went into his arms with a little sigh, resting her cheek on his shoulder, and smiled when she recognized the song.

“This is what was playing when we danced for the first time in Lake Tahoe,” she told him as he guided her around the dance floor to
If I Ain’t Got You
.

“I remember. Very, very well,” he replied with a warm glow in his hazel eyes. “And it’s true, you know, what the lyrics say – if I can’t have you, Tessa, then nothing else in this whole world means a thing.”

She touched his cheek, which was already starting to show signs of a five o’clock shadow. “Same here. I told your mother that sometimes I wish you didn’t have all this money, that you were a truck driver or something like that, and that we lived on a little houseboat somewhere. Just so that you’d know you were the only thing that mattered to me.”

He pressed a kiss to her palm and smiled. “I do know, darling. You show me that every day in more ways than you realize. As for driving a truck – I much prefer the Jaguar, thank you very much. And the houseboat – I have to confess to an occasional bout of seasickness so I’m afraid we’ll have to stay on land.”

She laughed along with him as the song finished, and then Ian went to claim a dance with Julia while Tessa and Nathan paired up.

Tessa couldn’t recall a time when she’d enjoyed herself more – laughing with all the other guests when Nathan “accidentally” smeared cake frosting all over Julia’s mouth, and then egging him on as he slowly licked it all off; watching Lauren start up a raucous conga line that was quickly joined by most of Nathan’s drunk friends; and then listening dreamily to Julia’s father Robert serenade his daughter with a touching rendition of
Sunrise Sunset
.

Then it was time for Julia to toss her bouquet, and at Ian’s prodding Tessa joined the other single women on the floor, giggling the whole time. Save for Angela, Tessa was taller than most of the other women present and thus had a better than even shot at catching it. She actually had a hand on the gorgeous bouquet of pink and cream roses, was convinced she could snatch it up, when it tumbled instead into the hands of Lauren McKinnon.

Julia’s sister stared at the bouquet with a horrified expression, as though she were clutching an angry badger instead of some beautiful flowers. Julia was squealing in delight as she realized her twin was the lucky girl, while Lauren could only murmur in stunned disbelief, “How in the hell did that happen?”

Chapter Twenty Three

July

“Okay, maybe this is my new favorite hotel. It’s at least in the top five. No, make that top three. And I do understand why they call this place paradise.”

Tessa stretched luxuriously as she reclined in the padded chaise lounge. The warm Hawaiian sun beat down on her bikini-clad body, and she closed her eyes in bliss.

Ian chuckled. “It will be interesting to see how your pecking order changes as you see more of our properties. But you will be hard pressed to find too many places in the world as beautiful as these islands.”

They had flown to Hawaii a week ago, traveling first to the resorts on Oahu, Kona and Kauai. Ian had performed his usual inspection of the properties, held meetings and reviews with the managers and staffs, and tended to all the other matters that required his attention during visits like these. They had arrived here in Maui two days ago, and tomorrow nearly every hotel manager in the Americas Region would be arriving for a four day meeting.

The managers meeting was an annual event, and held at a different property each year. While this was obviously the first one Tessa would be in attendance at, she’d been involved the past two years with all the preparations – compiling reports, printing up name badges, coordinating with the hotel staff to ensure all the necessary A/V equipment was ready, etc. The entire management support team had been heavily involved with the preparation for what was arguably one of the most important events of the year. Andrew always attended the meeting, needing to be on hand to ensure everything ran smoothly, and he had in the past taken one of the support team along to help out. Tessa recalled listening to both Gina and Alicia in the past rave about the trip, how luxurious everything had been, what a fabulous time they’d had. Tessa hadn’t been able to help being more than a little envious, and had wondered wistfully at the time if she would ever get a turn.

She thought idly how much could change in a year’s time. Twelve months ago she’d still been married to Peter, clinging desperately to save a marriage that had really been over with for a long time. She’d been working for a boss who she admired and secretly crushed on from afar, but had never dreamed he’d even noticed her. Now, a year later, she was divorced, Peter was living halfway around the world, and her boss was now her lover, the man she idolized and longed to be with every minute of every day.

Ian’s phone rang and he scowled at it before reluctantly checking the screen. His phone seemed to have been ringing off the hook these past few days, and she knew he must be growing weary of all the calls.

“Damn it, I’ve got to take this unfortunately, “he told her. “It shouldn’t be long.”

She waved her fingers at him. “It’s okay. I’m not planning on moving from this spot for a good long while.”

He squeezed her shoulder as he answered the call, walking to the edge of their private patio as he did so. From behind the lenses of her oversized sunglasses, Tessa smiled in satisfaction at the truly awe inspiring sight of him clad in just a pair of swim trunks. His heavily muscled upper body was bared to her admiring gaze, and she noted with interest at how deeply tanned his skin had become in just a few days. She loved the raw, primitive beauty of his ripped biceps, broad chest and huge shoulders. She liked that he wasn’t overly hairy, just a wide strip of hair down the middle of his chest that tapered down past his waist and disappeared beneath his dark blue swim trunks. Tessa continued her unabashed inspection of his body, lusting at the sight of his long, muscular legs and taut buttocks. He was unshaven today, giving him that dark and dangerous look she loved, and his hazel eyes were covered by a pair of aviator sunglasses.

Beneath her red bandeau bikini top, her nipples peaked and her breasts felt achy as she continued to watch him. It had been over a week since they’d had sex, due to another of her heavy, painful periods. That hadn’t prevented them from enjoying each other in alternate ways, though the pleasure had been largely on Ian’s side. Despite his half-hearted protests that he could wait until she was over her cycle, in the end he hadn’t resisted when she’d taken him into her mouth, or stroked him with her hands, or guided his fully erect cock between her breasts. She had done the latter just last night, and could still picture the look on his face as he’d come all over her breasts, the thick streams of semen marking her in a different way as she’d rubbed his essence into her skin. He had groaned as he’d watched her, taking her mouth in a soul-stealing kiss, and then whispered to her urgently that he’d been keeping very careful tally all week of how many orgasms he owed her.