Ian shook his head in mild disgust. “Don’t believe anything those two shrews say, especially Alicia. I’m well aware of how much they gossip, but I promise you they know next to nothing about my personal life. Suffice it to say that attending a social function with a female friend or acquaintance doesn’t always equate to dating her.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I know this is all new to you, Tessa. And while I never want to make you feel ill at ease, at the same time it makes me very happy to know that I’ll have the honor of introducing you to a great many pleasures. Both in and out of my bed.”

Her lips trembled and her eyes grew wide at his last statement. Glancing down, he had to stifle a groan when he noticed the hard peaks of her nipples poking against her dress, betraying the arousal she felt from his softly spoken words.

“We’d better start looking at the menu,” he murmured huskily, and handed her one of the heavy leather-bound books.

Ian was aware of Tessa’s distress from the moment she began to scan the expansive and complex menu, with its numerous courses and elaborate descriptions. And when she began to twirl a lock of hair around her finger in agitation, he asked her gently, “Would you like me to order for both of us, Tessa?”

She looked up at him gratefully. “You wouldn’t mind? I’m sor - I mean, I’m just not familiar with a lot of these dishes.”

“I know.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “And I don’t mind in the least, darling.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his cheek. “You’ll soon learn, Tessa, that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

Her glossy pink mouth fell open in a round “O” of surprise at his quietly impassioned declaration. He was astonished to see the shimmer of tears in her eyes, and his heart ached as one teardrop began to trickle slowly down her rosy cheek.

“You’re so good to me,” she whispered. “So kind. I don’t have any idea how I got this lucky.”

“Darling.” He reached across and softly kissed each of her eyelids, brushing the tears away with his thumb. “It’s not luck - it’s fate. You were meant for me all along, Tessa. It just took awhile for the stars to align properly. Now, let’s take a look at this menu together, hmm? You tell me if there’s something I suggest that you don’t like.”

With her approval, he ordered the lobster salad, a creamy porcini mushroom soup, and the salmon in sorrel sauce, accompanied by a crisp French Chardonnay.

In between courses of the delicious, beautifully prepared food, he subtly tried to engage her in conversation, and to open up a little more about herself.

“Were you born in Tucson?”

Tessa took a small sip of her wine, then shook her head. “No. According to my birth certificate I was actually born in Savannah, Georgia. But I have no memories of the place and my mother never talked about it. Mostly I grew up in the Southwest. My mother liked the climate there, refused to live anywhere else.”

“How old were you when she passed away?” he asked in a gentle voice.

She hesitated for a moment before replying, “Sixteen. But it’s not something I like to talk about.”

“Then we won’t,” he assured her. “At least not until you feel like it. Your father - do you have contact with him?”

“No.” Tessa gave a brief shake of her head. “I’ve never actually met him. He hasn’t been a part of my life.”

Ian sensed that Tessa’s father was something else she didn’t like to talk about, and dropped the subject for the time being. “What happened to you after your mother died?” he inquired, striving to keep his tone casual. “Did you have other family to take you in?”

Another shake of her head. “I lived in a - a foster home for a little while, and then, well, with Peter. He and I - well, I’ve known him for a long time.”

Ian guessed there was more, a great deal more, that she wasn’t telling him, but this was certainly not an evening where he intended to make her talk about sad things. There would be time enough to learn her life’s story on another occasion. But there was one question that he desperately wanted an answer to.

“Was Peter your first boyfriend?”

Tessa seemed startled at his question. “Um, yes, actually. Why do you ask?”

Ian ran a finger around the rim of his wineglass. “You seem extraordinarily shy, especially around men. I’m just assuming that you don’t have much experience with other men besides your husband.”

She gave a slight nod. “Peter is the only man I’ve ever been with. He was the only real family I had, but I’ve been on my own now ever since he filed for divorce.”

“What?” He was dumbfounded. “Peter was the one to leave? I thought -I just assumed you had initiated the divorce.”

“No. Peter left last September for Bahrain to start his new job. It was his idea to split up, especially since I wouldn’t have been able to move with him.”

Ian could only shake his head in disbelief. “How in the world could he - could any man - just walk away from you? It’s inconceivable, Tessa.”

“It’s not what you think,” she told him quietly. “Peter and I - well, it’s a very long, involved story. The reasons we married and stayed together - it’s complicated.”

“Then let’s not discuss it tonight,” he declared firmly. “Tonight is about getting to know each other better, but not about sharing stories that make you sad. I don’t ever want to make you sad, Tessa.”

She gave him a smile that went right to his groin, and what she said next made him stifle a groan.

“You don’t,” she assured him. “Being with you here this evening - it’s the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time.”

Ian leaned over and kissed her tenderly. “My darling Tessa, you have no idea how happy that makes me to hear. And I intend to work very hard on making any sad thoughts or memories you’ve ever had disappear as though they never existed. In other words, I’m planning to devote myself to making you happier than you’ve ever been before.”

The rest of the meal passed by without any additional references to Tessa’s past. Instead, he focused on learning any number of little things about her, likes and dislikes, such as her favorite color (blue), favorite flavor of ice cream (cookie dough), and favorite movie (the hopelessly romantic Sleepless In Seattle). He also discovered that she exercised every day, liked to cook but admittedly wasn’t terribly skilled at it, and that of all the places in the world she’d ever dreamed of visiting, Italy and Spain were at the top of her list.