Splendor(131)
He closed his eyes tightly for long seconds, his hand sliding into her hair and holding her head still. Then he nodded and opened his eyes, and she gasped at the searing passion she saw reflected in their hazel depths. “All right, then. I accept your gift – gladly. And I promise that there will be every bit as much pleasure for you as there will be for me.” His hand slid down over her shoulder to her breast, cupping it before his thumb brushed over her nipple. At her gasp, he abruptly withdrew his hand.
“God, if I start touching you now I won’t be able to stop. Here, better cover up so that I can think straight.”
Tessa took the La Perla robe he handed her and belted it around her body as she slid out of the bed. “I’ll be looking forward to tonight,” she told him in a breathy little voice.
Ian groaned and pulled her into his arms. “Not half as much as I will, love. I’m thinking I’d better stop at the gym and work off some steam first – box a few rounds, swim a few dozen laps. Otherwise, I fear you’re going to regret giving me carte blanche with your body.”
She laughed, the sound muffled against his chest. “I doubt that very much.”
“I was planning to take you to a very elegant steakhouse this evening – Harris’. Is seven o’clock all right with you?” he inquired.
“Yes, perfect. What should I wear?”
He gave her a quick kiss before stepping back, shrugging into his suit jacket. “I’ll leave that up to you, love. My only request is that you wear one of the new sets of lingerie we just bought. The lavender set – you know which one I mean?”
Her cheeks pinkened as she pictured the gorgeous demi-bra of sumptuous satin and lace, and the matching pair of tiny, lacy panties. “Yes, I know.”
He winked at her. “Good. Those, plus stockings, of course, and high heels. The rest I’ll leave up to you. Now, I’d better go before I decide to blow off three separate meetings and start the festivities early. I’ll see you this evening, love.”
Tessa tried hard not to feel lonely and bereft as he left the room, knowing full well he had important matters to attend to at the office. It had been an extra special treat spending all of yesterday with him, but she acknowledged with a bittersweet resignation that every day couldn’t be like that.
She took her time showering and getting ready, fretting a bit over what to wear. Fortunately, she and Julia weren’t going anywhere fancy, just the DMV and then to a shopping mall where she needed to buy some things for work. Since all of her office wardrobe had burned in the fire, she would have to purchase a few pieces to get her by for the next few weeks. Now more than ever – when she was officially living with Ian – they would have to exercise extreme discretion at the office. And that meant keeping the lavish, extensive wardrobe of beautiful designer clothes he’d bought her strictly for after work use. She would need to stick to the same sort of inexpensive clothing she’d always worn to the office so that Alicia, Gina and the others didn’t get suspicious.
Deciding to go with comfort rather than high fashion, Tessa chose a pair of black cigarette pants, a black and cream striped sweater, and black ballerina flats. The black Prada satchel wasn’t even half full after she put her new wallet, phone, brush, lip gloss and house key inside. Most of the day to day stuff she carried around with her had been inside her old purse, another casualty of the fire.
Julia arrived promptly at ten, just as Tessa was putting her breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. As usual, the petite designer was dressed to kill – today in a gray cashmere sweater dress that clung to her curvy body, and a killer pair of black stilettos with a T-strap. Tessa had never seen Julia looking anything less than perfectly put together, and realized the only time she’d ever seen her in something other than a dress or a skirt had been in yoga class.
The very first thing Julia did was to give Tessa a fierce hug. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she told her sorrowfully. “What a horrible, horrible thing for you to have to go through. But you’re lucky you managed to get out of there without any apparent injuries that I can see.”
Tessa nodded. “I’m fine, just a little shook up. Ian practically dragged me to see a doctor yesterday, even though I told him I was fine.”
Julia grinned. “Get used to it, honey. He might be on the reserved side, but your man is definitely used to being in charge. And you couldn’t have picked a better man to take care of you, Tessa. Ian is a real prize, one in a million.”
“I know,” admitted Tessa readily. “He’s the most wonderful man in the whole world, and I still have to pinch myself something like a dozen times a day to really believe he’s mine.”