car and to the starlet’s agent to cancel dinner.
What the hell had just happened here?
Thank heavens tomorrow was the film unit’s day off. Because he needed time away from Teresa to regroup. He needed to get his head back in the game.
Chapter 7
“You’re quiet today,” Anna said, as they left Anton’s bridal boutique, the flagship store in his design empire.
Tessa shrugged and climbed into the back of the sedan idling at the kerb. Her father’s car, provided less for her convenience than for his.
“Are you missing Stefan?”
Tessa started. Far from missing Stefan, she’d barely thought of him these last few days. She hadn’t even called. But then, neither had he. Since he’d left New York for Montreal, she wasn’t even sure what the time difference was between them now.
She looked at the bare finger on her left hand. She still hadn’t collected her ring from the jeweller’s. Something Stefan didn’t need to know.
And she still hadn’t mentioned her wedding to Christian. Something
he
didn’t need to know.
Tessa rubbed the sudden ache in the centre of her forehead and Anna cast her another of the sidelong glances she’d been doing all morning.
“What?” Tessa asked, irritated. “Have I grown horns?”
Anna chuckled. “No, but there is something different about you.”
“I’m just tired.”
“I’ve worked for you for three years. I know the way you look when you’re tired, and that’s not it. You look…edgy. Kind of restless. Are you getting cold feet?”
“Good heavens, no!” What a preposterous thought. Scions of the House of Arelat didn’t get cold feet. They made calculated, rational decisions and then stood by them. All but two, and look what had happened to them. Clara Adler had run off with her lover and died an ignoble early death and the other… well, her mother had never been an Adler by birth, only by marriage.
“Are you sure Stefan is the right man for you?”
There was something in Anna’s voice, a hesitance, that made Tessa turn and look at her. “Of course I’m sure. There isn’t a man more suited to me than Stefan. Why do you ask?”
Anna blushed. “I’m sorry. It’s not my place to ask.”
Tessa frowned. Of course it was Anna’s place. She was more than just an assistant. She was also the closest friend Teresa had. The one person who saw behind the carefully composed image to the person underneath, a person with weaknesses and frailties just like anyone else.
Apart from Anna, the only person who saw her shortcomings was her father, the master at whose knee she’d studied. He was impossible to deceive.
And then there was Christian.
She rubbed her forehead again.
He seemed to have developed an uncanny knack for seeing through her too. Except that he didn’t accept her as she was. He used the insight to goad her, to get under her skin.
Like that dig yesterday about being willing to do absolutely anything if it benefited him. He’d meant it… and yet, he hadn’t. Hard as he tried to conceal it beneath all the attitude, she’d seen it there in his eyes – Christian had an honourable streak.
“You’re doing it again,” Anna commented.
“Doing what?”
“Rubbing your forehead. Something’s worrying you.”
“Of course something’s worrying me. I’ve been summoned to lunch so I can give a report and I have no new facts to give.”
“Then don’t give facts. Give your impressions.”
Tessa stared at her assistant as if she’d grown two heads. “Impressions?”
“Yes, you know… listen to your gut instincts. I know you never pay the least attention to them, but you have really good instincts about people. You should trust them.”
Tessa shook her head. Anna was normally such a rational person. What had gotten into her today? Instincts were as unreliable as following one’s impulses. Her father would want facts, not feelings.
The car pulled up outside the gabled brick façade of her father’s club. Tessa waited for the valet
What the hell had just happened here?
Thank heavens tomorrow was the film unit’s day off. Because he needed time away from Teresa to regroup. He needed to get his head back in the game.
Chapter 7
“You’re quiet today,” Anna said, as they left Anton’s bridal boutique, the flagship store in his design empire.
Tessa shrugged and climbed into the back of the sedan idling at the kerb. Her father’s car, provided less for her convenience than for his.
“Are you missing Stefan?”
Tessa started. Far from missing Stefan, she’d barely thought of him these last few days. She hadn’t even called. But then, neither had he. Since he’d left New York for Montreal, she wasn’t even sure what the time difference was between them now.
She looked at the bare finger on her left hand. She still hadn’t collected her ring from the jeweller’s. Something Stefan didn’t need to know.
And she still hadn’t mentioned her wedding to Christian. Something
he
didn’t need to know.
Tessa rubbed the sudden ache in the centre of her forehead and Anna cast her another of the sidelong glances she’d been doing all morning.
“What?” Tessa asked, irritated. “Have I grown horns?”
Anna chuckled. “No, but there is something different about you.”
“I’m just tired.”
“I’ve worked for you for three years. I know the way you look when you’re tired, and that’s not it. You look…edgy. Kind of restless. Are you getting cold feet?”
“Good heavens, no!” What a preposterous thought. Scions of the House of Arelat didn’t get cold feet. They made calculated, rational decisions and then stood by them. All but two, and look what had happened to them. Clara Adler had run off with her lover and died an ignoble early death and the other… well, her mother had never been an Adler by birth, only by marriage.
“Are you sure Stefan is the right man for you?”
There was something in Anna’s voice, a hesitance, that made Tessa turn and look at her. “Of course I’m sure. There isn’t a man more suited to me than Stefan. Why do you ask?”
Anna blushed. “I’m sorry. It’s not my place to ask.”
Tessa frowned. Of course it was Anna’s place. She was more than just an assistant. She was also the closest friend Teresa had. The one person who saw behind the carefully composed image to the person underneath, a person with weaknesses and frailties just like anyone else.
Apart from Anna, the only person who saw her shortcomings was her father, the master at whose knee she’d studied. He was impossible to deceive.
And then there was Christian.
She rubbed her forehead again.
He seemed to have developed an uncanny knack for seeing through her too. Except that he didn’t accept her as she was. He used the insight to goad her, to get under her skin.
Like that dig yesterday about being willing to do absolutely anything if it benefited him. He’d meant it… and yet, he hadn’t. Hard as he tried to conceal it beneath all the attitude, she’d seen it there in his eyes – Christian had an honourable streak.
“You’re doing it again,” Anna commented.
“Doing what?”
“Rubbing your forehead. Something’s worrying you.”
“Of course something’s worrying me. I’ve been summoned to lunch so I can give a report and I have no new facts to give.”
“Then don’t give facts. Give your impressions.”
Tessa stared at her assistant as if she’d grown two heads. “Impressions?”
“Yes, you know… listen to your gut instincts. I know you never pay the least attention to them, but you have really good instincts about people. You should trust them.”
Tessa shook her head. Anna was normally such a rational person. What had gotten into her today? Instincts were as unreliable as following one’s impulses. Her father would want facts, not feelings.
The car pulled up outside the gabled brick façade of her father’s club. Tessa waited for the valet
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