The Boss's Marriage Plan (Proposals & Promises 2)

Nina heaved a sigh. “Oh, hon, I know. When you’re the mother of three popular and active students, it seems as if there’s always a demand on your time.” She turned to Scott.

She turned then to Ken. “Scott, I don’t believe you’ve met my husband, Ken Wheatley. Ken, this is Tess’s boss, Scott Prince. Wasn’t it nice of him to do her a favor and accompany her this evening?”

Nina was really in a mood this evening. Tess didn’t know what had gone wrong that day for her sister, but she was getting the sharp edge of it.

She glanced at Scott. He was still smiling, smoothly civil. Probably only she could tell that he was irked when he said lightly, “Actually, this party was just an excuse for me to spend an evening with Tess away from work.”

Ken gave Tess a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. “You look nice tonight, Tess.”

That drew Nina’s gaze to Tess’s clothes. “Pants? Oh, well, I suppose you’re comfortable. Come in and say hello to Dana and Lloyd. Jolie and Cam are here, and Mary and Bill. Oh, and Glenn’s here. He came stag. He asked about you.”

She was not the only woman at the party in pants, Tess fumed with a quick glance around that showed her a wide variety of outfits. Hers fit in just fine.

“Glenn?” Scott murmured into Tess’s ear when her sister turned away. “The guy you dated? Mr. Boring?”

She gave him a look. “I thought we’d agreed you weren’t to mention anything you overheard during that phone call,” she said, keeping her voice as low as his.

His smile was unrepentant. “I don’t think I agreed to that at all.”

She looked past him to smile and return a wave from an acquaintance just inside the doorway of the grand room. “I think I feel a headache coming on,” she said to Scott through a forced smile. “It would be such a shame if we have to leave early.”

He laughed softly and put a hand at her back as they followed her sister and brother-in-law into the gathering. “Introduce me to our hosts, Tess. I need to compliment them on their very tasteful decorations.”

This time a sputter of laughter did escape her. Perhaps the party wouldn’t be so bad after all, not with Scott at her side.

* * *

The gleam of amusement in Tess’s eyes was reward enough for the effort he’d made to come to this thing with her, Scott decided. No wonder she’d been so stressed at the thought of attending. Her sister treated her like a recalcitrant child, while their cousin was too busy showing off to make a real connection with anyone at the party. Tess seemed to know quite a few of the other guests, but not in a close way. Most of them mentioned how they rarely got to see her. When Nina made a point to introduce him as Tess’s boss, they nodded knowingly.

He got the distinct impression that he was known among Tess’s friends and family as a somewhat demanding employer. Totally unfair. He never required Tess to be at work all the time. She just happened to be as committed to the company as he was, as conscientious about her responsibilities there. Had Tess used him as an excuse to escape to the refuge of the work she loved rather than tolerate the condescension of her sister and cousin? Okay, he could live with that. He couldn’t even blame her for latching on to any excuse she could find.

He did wish Nina would back off the “Tess’s boss” introduction, though. His family had accepted that he and Tess were a couple now. Hers seemed to think she’d brought her employer as an escort for lack of another option. He was doing his best to change that impression. He stayed right by her side all evening. He deflected conversation away from work as much as possible. He mentioned other functions they’d attended together. He did everything but plant a kiss on her mouth to demonstrate that his presence at her side was anything but business related.

At least Tess didn’t refer to him as her boss, but tended to say simply, “This is my friend, Scott Prince.”

Friend. Better than boss, he supposed, but still he found himself vaguely dissatisfied by the introduction. But really, what else could she say, he asked himself as he shook the hands of yet another couple whose names he would surely forget. Boyfriend seemed juvenile. He supposed friend would have to do. For now.

Tess hadn’t been wrong about the food, he thought as he popped a lobster puff into his mouth, followed by a spinach-and-goat-cheese mini quiche. Both were delicious, as was everything he’d sampled on the bountiful buffet. He already had his eye on the desserts table, his sweet tooth kicking into high gear at the sight of all the delicacies available there.

“You were right about the food,” he said to Tess as they took a seat at one of the little tables artfully scattered about the great room. “Good stuff.”

She smiled and picked up a wild-mushroom toast square from her own plate. “Dana would love hearing you say that. She takes great pride in her parties.”

He could tell she was fond of her cousin despite their dissimilarity. “I’ll be sure to compliment her when we take our leave.”

“There you are, Tess. I saw you earlier but couldn’t make my way to you.”

Scott felt her stiffen a bit, though she turned in her seat with a smile in response to the male voice. “Hi, Glenn. How have you been?”

The portly, broad-faced man who appeared to be in his midthirties, perhaps a couple years younger than Scott, took Tess’s outstretched hand and pumped it a bit too enthusiastically. “You look great tonight,” he said, seemingly unable to look away from her. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.”

“Oh, you know how it is,” Tess replied, skillfully extracting her hand. “Work responsibilities get pretty crazy this time of year.”

She turned to Scott, who rose to offer a hand to the other man. “Glenn Stowe, this is my friend, Scott Prince.”

Glenn shook Scott’s hand with an expression that made it clear he wished he was the one with Tess, instead. “Prince,” he repeated, glancing from Scott to Tess and back again. “You own the company Tess works for?”

“Yes, I do.”