She hadn’t realized she’d begun to doze off until Ian sat back down on the bed next to her. She gazed up at him drowsily, her thoughts more than a little unfocused.
“Hmm, what is it?” she murmured sleepily.
His brows knit together worriedly. “I’m afraid I need to leave now, darling. Simon will be arriving within the next five minutes. Are you certain you’re all right? I don’t have a very good feeling about leaving you this way.”
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, too tired to even lift her head from the pillow. “And don’t forget. I’m the one who always gets those bad feelings, not you. Besides, today’s a Monday. Bad things only happen on Wednesdays.”
He shook his head in exasperation. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to clear your mind of that ridiculous superstition. Now, give me a kiss good-bye, love.”
Tessa clung to him as he gave her a long, searching kiss, unwilling to let him go. In the end, he gently disengaged her arms and stood, smoothing her hair off her face as he did so.
“I’ll expect frequent calls and texts from you, understand?” he told her in mock severity. “I may be tied up in meetings but I’ll check my phone on a regular basis. Now, rest up and recover.” He winked at her. “We have a big date on Thursday night. Maybe I’ll bring you a surprise back from Las Vegas. From the La Perla store, to be exact.”
She squeezed his hand and forced herself to smile. “A gift for both of us, in other words.”
Ian laughed, giving her one final, quick kiss before he walked out of their bedroom. Tessa was fast asleep before he reached the foyer.
***
After lazing away the better part of Monday, Tessa was relieved to wake on Tuesday and feel considerably better. Her period was still going on but seemed to have eased a little, and the cramps were still present but bearable. She was able to eat a decent breakfast, and felt a little stronger with some food in her system. Somewhat guiltily, she realized that she’d only had tea and saltine crackers the day before.
‘God, if I wasn’t having the period from hell I’d almost think I was pregnant from how I’ve been feeling the last few days,’ she thought to herself wryly. ‘Thank goodness I’m going to get this rotten IUD removed soon. I will not miss these horrid cycles!’
Still, even though she was feeling much better, she was glad Ian had arranged for Simon to drive her to and from the campus, since she continued to feel a little light-headed and wouldn’t have felt comfortable behind the wheel of a car right now. The orientation for her online classes lasted several hours, after which she ventured into the campus bookstore to buy the materials she’d need for the four classes she’d be taking this fall.
She hadn’t been thrilled to learn that one of the required courses towards her business degree was algebra, a subject she’d struggled with in high school. But Ian had teasingly offered to be her “after-school tutor”, telling her with a snicker that his services came cheap.
“And I accept all forms of payment,” he’d joked. “Missionary, cowgirl, oral. I’m quite flexible, in fact.”
She’d gasped in mock outrage. “I’m not sure I should be listening to this sort of talk. I’m just a naïve little college girl, you know.”
“No so naïve any longer, love,” he’d whispered in her ear. “And speaking of lessons, I have a few new ones I’d be very interested in teaching you sometime soon.”
Tessa couldn’t help smiling to herself as she recalled how that particular conversation had ended, and was still grinning as her phone rang. Hoping that it would be Ian, she dug the phone out of her purse while juggling an armload of heavy textbooks. When she saw it was Julia calling instead, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
“Hi, there, newlywed,” she greeted, forcing herself to sound cheerful.
Julia’s bright laughter on the other end immediately made Tessa feel better. “Well, happy to report that the honeymoon isn’t over yet. In fact – mmm, never mind. I get annoyed with Nathan when he talks to his friends about – uh, stuff we do so I guess I shouldn’t over-share, either.”
“Probably not,” teased Tessa. “Though I do appreciate some of the tips you’ve given me. Ian does, too.”
Julia snickered. “And I always appreciate getting flowers, so maybe I’ll think of some more naughty advice to pass along. But I really called to see if you wanted to meet for lunch tomorrow. I walked by our favorite place yesterday and get this – they now have salted caramel cheesecake on the menu. I mean, how can anyone say no to that – right?”