Read Splendor (Inevitable #2) for Free Online Page B

heels on, she stood at five ten, but he still towered over her by a good six inches. He had removed the aforementioned custom tailored dark blue suit jacket and hovered next to her in his shirt sleeves. She stole a quick glance sideways and had to stifle a gulp when she noticed how the fine linen fabric stretched across his broad shoulders and the wide expanse of his chest.
    And she thought faintly that no one had ever smelled as good as Ian Gregson did. It was an irresistible combination of soap, aftershave, and pure male, and it made Tessa long to burrow her face against that strong, muscular chest and take a long, luxurious sniff. Even without making any sort of physical contact, she could feel the heat pouring off his big body, and her nipples hardened automatically in response against the thin fabric of her dress. Hoping fervently that he didn’t notice, she self-consciously smoothed down the pleated skirt of her pale peach polka-dot dress.
    She pointed to the pie chart in question. “This isn’t accurate, Mr. Gregson. But I’ve checked the input data four times and it’s all correct.”
    Ian studied the two sheets of paper for a long moment before pointing to the one with the background information. “Except that you were given the wrong report. This is the previous quarter’s report, even though someone put the current quarter’s date on it. Who prepared this report anyway?”
    Tessa feigned ignorance, even though she knew that Shelby was usually the one who was in charge of the report in question. Andrew would figure that out soon enough on his own and give Shelby yet another icy admonishment.
    “I’m not certain, sir. But it should be a simple matter to fix this. And now that you’ve identified the discrepancy, I can go ahead and adjust the spreadsheet. It will only take a couple of minutes.”
    The smile he bestowed on her made her knees go weak and her panties grow damp. “I don’t know what I’d do without you here, Tessa,” he told her earnestly. “You’re the only one I trust to get all of these done correctly. Thank you for all of your diligence.”
    She couldn’t resist smiling at him in return and hoped faintly that her cheeks weren’t too red. “It’s – I’m happy to help, sir. I’ll – um, just take these back to my desk and fix the problem. I’m sorry to have bothered you, sir.”
    “It was no bother at all, Tessa,” he assured her kindly. “I appreciate your conscientiousness in catching the error.”
    Trying in vain to conceal her flustered state, Tessa quickly picked up the papers from Andrew’s desk and spun around to make a hasty exit. Except that Mr. Gregson hadn’t moved an inch and she bumped smack into him. He placed a hand on her arm to steady her, and her cheeks grew even hotter to realize that her breast was crushed up against his iron-hewed arm.
    He released his grip on her arm immediately and took two steps back. He didn’t say another word but his hazel eyes had darkened noticeably, and the smile on his face had faded as he gazed at her somberly.
    With a hastily mumbled “thank you”, Tessa almost bolted out of the office back towards her own desk. ‘Oh, God,’ she pleaded silently. ‘Please do not let him have noticed my nipples were hard.’
    She was both mortified at what had just happened, but also incredulously, ridiculously aroused. It upset her to realize that her own husband failed to arouse those same types of feelings in her, and that she was so unsuitably attracted to her gorgeous, debonair boss.
    She made it back to her desk on shaky legs and sunk down gratefully into her chair. She closed her eyes, and the image of Ian Gregson’s ruggedly handsome face filled her thoughts despite her best efforts to dispel it. He was more striking than classically good looking but his strong, masculine features were irresistible – the intelligent, all-knowing hazel eyes; broad cheekbones and square chin; the firm, full mouth that rarely smiled but when it