He had taken her out to equally posh restaurants often enough over these past weeks that she was more at ease with scanning menus and ordering. They shared a Caesar salad that the waiter hand tossed tableside, as well as an order of black truffle risotto. She chose the sea bass for her entrée while Ian ordered a beef filet, giving her a wink as he did that made her squirm a bit in reaction. He was not so subtly passing along the message that he needed the red meat for what was yet to happen tonight.
He ordered champagne – a Ruinart Brut Rose – and she was delighted to discover it was pink as the waiter poured it into flutes.
“For Valentine’s Day,” Ian told her. “I hope you like it, my love.”
As Tessa took a sip, she realized this was the second time this evening he’d called her “my love” as opposed to simply “love”, and wondered at the significance – if any – at this slight change. But she soon forgot about it as the meal progressed, far too intent on listening to him, gazing at him, desiring him. Everything he did, no matter how subtle or seemingly insignificant, seemed to arouse her this evening – the way his long fingers held his champagne flute; the movements of his strong jaw as he carefully chewed a bite of food; not to mention the glimpses she was afforded of his tanned throat and the very beginnings of the dark ribbon of hair that bisected his chest. She knew he hadn’t worn a tie very intentionally and could only assume – or, rather hope – that he was planning for this to be the night they played out the fantasy dream she’d described to him.
The deepening hunger she felt must have been obvious in the way she kept staring at him, for he took her hand in his at some point and drew it to his lips.
“That look on your face – God, you have no idea what it’s doing to me,” he told her in a husky voice.
“Oh.” She glanced down at her plate, suddenly shy. “Sorry. I just – I guess I just like to look at you.”
“Hush. Don’t look away from me, Tessa. Ah, there’s my girl,” he crooned as she lifted her gaze to his. “I wasn’t complaining, darling. Far from it. I love that I can put that particular look on your face – the one that tells me how much you want me. It’s so honest and open. I don’t ever want you to pretend with me, or try to hide your emotions. Understood?”
She nodded, spellbound by his deep voice and the way his hazel eyes glittered almost dangerously. “I won’t,” she breathed. “And I do want you, Ian. So much that it’s all I’ve been able to think about all day. It’s – too much at times, I think.”
“No.” He shook his head emphatically. “Never too much. You have so much passion, Tessa, far more than we’ve even begun to uncover as yet. I knew it the first time I kissed you, when you came so easily and so quickly. We’re really just beginning to awaken you sexually. But I’ll warn you now – I’m the only man who’ll be assisting you in that particular endeavor.”
She cupped his cheek in her hand. “I don’t want anyone else, just you. You know that.”
“Do I? Sometimes I’m not always certain. That’s still one of my greatest fears, you know,” he admitted. “I’m terrified that you’ll wake up one morning and realize you’ve made a huge mistake, that you’ll want your freedom to meet other men, younger men, play the field a little and have the sort of fun girls your age ought to be doing. You never had the opportunity to do that, after all, and I’m worried that you’ll regret passing it all up.”
“Why in the world would I want to do that?” she asked in bewilderment. “That doesn’t sound like much fun to me.”
“Try telling that to your friends,” he replied darkly. “Yesterday it felt like some sort of bizarre conspiracy theory was unfolding – one that involved all of them setting you up with other men.”
Tessa was startled at the note of desperation in his voice, the way he looked and sounded so insecure – he, the most confident, self-assured man she’d ever met. “If you’re worried about what Kevin said – please don’t be. He means well but he’s a total airhead most of the time. I hardly ever take what he says seriously. And,” she added gently, “I have no intention or any interest in letting him fix me up with anyone.”
“It wasn’t just Kevin. That was bad enough but then scarcely an hour later I had to bite my tongue when that little scamp Julia asked my opinion about setting you up with a friend of Nathan’s. How did you manage to fend off that very persistent little mischief-maker anyway?”