Ruby leaned down and stroked each and every one of them in turn, whispering soft words of endearment and promises that she wouldn’t be late and that she would return.
The ringing of the doorbell had them all scurrying and racing to the living room barking at the intrusion. Tilly, the blind cattle dog cross, sniffed at the bottom of the door trying to identify the caller as she always did. Bronson, the toy poodle sat staring at the other dogs, yapping until she calmed him down. “That’s enough, settle down now.”
Ruby opened the door and prepared herself to be close to him once again. But nothing prepared her for the impact a dressed down Simon had on her. His black framed glasses only highlighted the seriousness of his gray eyes. The faded blue denim jeans hugged his hips, the white V-necked t-shirt showed off his throat but it was the casual jacket that she’d bought him at a clearance sale all those years ago that stopped her. She faltered a moment before regaining control of her emotions.
“Simon. Come in, I’ll grab my purse.” She hurried into the bedroom leaving him alone to take the sniffing and investigating from her brood of fur babies. When she came back, he was sitting on the floor, with Honey on his lap and the other dogs all vying for a turn. Except little Ziggy who stood away from the ruckus, hiding beside the couch so she could look while out of arm’s reach.
“Not sure that was a good idea. They won’t want you to leave now you’re touching them.” She watched him petting each dog, giving them equal share of his affection.
“I could hardly come in and ignore them. That wouldn’t be fair.” He nodded his chin toward Ziggy. “What’s her story?”
Ruby put a hand down and stroked the little bent ears. “She got dumped on the road to the shelter. I don’t think they even stopped the car before they threw her out. Poor thing was all chewed up from the fall and now she doesn’t trust anyone she doesn’t know.”
He cursed under his breath. “Glad to see you still have Harley and Honey. I’ve missed them.”
Not as much as they’d probably missed him. Don’t go there, Ruby. “Shall we go?”
Simon stood and brushed his jeans down after a quick pat for each of the dogs. “Sure. Let’s do this.” He held the door for her and followed her down the path to his car.
Ruby wasn’t surprised to see he was driving a Porsche. It’d been his dream car ever since he was a little boy. He opened the door for her and waited until she got in before closing it and walking around to the driver’s side. “Right, where to?”
Ruby named the restaurant Wes had texted to her earlier. She remained silent on the short drive to the hub of Sausilito and the popular eating spot. Simon helped her out of the car and held her arm as they walked into the restaurant.
The maître de approached them. “There’s a table booked for us under Wes Weston.”
“Ah, yes. Miss. Ruby and Mr. Simon. Welcome to our humble restaurant.” They were shown to a table near the window overlooking a pocket sized courtyard sprinkled with fairy lights.
Simon held out her chair and waited for her to sit. “Thank you.”
Once they placed their drink orders, they were left alone. He smiled at her across the table making her promise to herself waver. You will not fall for him, you will not!
“You look good, Ruby.”
Chapter 5
She blushed in that charming way she had. At least that hadn’t changed.
“Thanks. So tell me – how’s life working out for you? Tyler said you’re busy.”
“We are in demand more and more but I like to keep myself occupied. That much hasn’t changed. Tell me how you really are, Ruby.”
She looked at the table and moved her cutlery around before answering. “Simon, this is difficult as it is. I appreciate what you’ve done for the shelter but I’m not sure that going over personal stuff is the right thing to do. I don’t see the point in opening up old wounds.”
That was telling him but he’d been half expecting something like this. “I understand and don’t blame you but here’s what I suggest. How about we treat each other as old friends, nothing more. We can’t forget that we know each other. That’d be silly but we can enjoy each other’s company while we take advantage of these seven nights.” She stared at him as he said every word. “What do you say? Friends?”
The waiter placed their drinks in front of them and left. Simon picked up his beer and held the glass to her.
Ruby stared at him long and hard before picking up her glass and touching it to his. “Friends. But no sneaky moves, Simon or the dates are off.”
He smiled. “Understood.” He sipped his beer and watched her over the rim of his glass. Talking about the shelter would ease that tension in her shoulders. “So, you’re the manager now, I hear. How long have you been running the place?”
Ruby’s eyes lit up as he’d known they would. “Three, no, almost three and a half years now. I love it.”
“You always did a great job there. A well-deserved promotion. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” She put her glass down. “So, you and Tyler. Doing well?”
“Very well. Better than either of us thought we would to be honest. That first initial program launched us into the tech world with so much force, we’re still buzzing. Some of our software applications are in every country in the world.”
“Congratulations, Simon. You deserve everything. You both worked so hard.”
“I know we did but to us it was fun. It was our thing so it never really felt like work.”
“I understand that only too well. I think working at the
