“Simon. Can we be friends do you think?” She opened her eyes and peeked at him, thinking this might be the safer course of action to take before things got out of control.
“Of course. I thought we already were.” His voice was heavy with sleep.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Friends, just friends. Buddies.”
“If that’s what you want, sure.”
“Do you mean that? You’d be happy with a casual outing, a ‘hi’ over the phone kind of thing?”
“I’d like more but I’ll take what I can get.”
“So long as you understand I won’t be bought, okay?”
He shuffled up and leaned on his elbow, staring at her. “While I did buy your time, one thing I will never do is try to buy your love. I promise you that.”
She stared at his mouth, tempted to see if his lips were as soft as she remembered. It’d been too long and the thought of running her tongue over the full bottom lip was very inviting. Ruby leaned forward, her breath hitching in her throat.
Simon blinked and reached out to meet her halfway. She closed her eyes for a second as she felt his breath on her face.
A wet tongue swiped the side of her jaw. Ruby opened her eyes to George positioning himself in-between them. A huge grin creased Simon’s face. Was he smiling because she was going to kiss him or smiling because she couldn’t resist him and his dog had saved her from finding out?
She sat up and cleared her throat. She wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Chapter 9
“How was your weekend?” Carly handed her a cup of coffee as she walked into the staff kitchen. She leaned her back against the kitchen counter and waited.
“Good.” It was better than good; it was wonderful. To have Simon in her life again would be way too easy but Ruby wasn’t ready to take things back to where they once were. She was much more cautious than that. “We did a bike ride over the bridge, had lunch and on Sunday, took the dogs to the park for a picnic.” She sipped her coffee and waited for the dark brew to hit her bloodstream. “Did you know he had a dog?”
Carly shook her head.
“He rescued a Frenchie. A deaf dog. Named him George.”
“That’s nice.”
Ruby agreed. “Yes, it is. I didn’t think he was that into animals. It was always my gig.”
“I guess you wore off on him then. Now listen, before you go and get stuck into day to day work, we have a meeting with Graham Charters from the fundraiser. He wants to discuss ongoing support for the shelter. I’d like you to be there since he mentioned you when he rang to make the appointment.”
Regular donations were always gratefully received. “Sure. Call me when he arrives. Now I’d better go and see how the weekend crew survived.” Ruby headed to the working end of the shelter where the animals were cared for and housed.
It was almost lunchtime when Carly called her on the phone. “Time to shine, girlfriend. Our visitor is here.”
“Be right there.” She took the dog she was grooming, gave him a hug and handed him over to an assistant. “I’ll be back later, you sweet boy.”
Graham stood when she walked into Carly’s office. “Ruby. Lovely to see you again.” He reached for her and gave her a quick hug as if they’d known each other for ages.
“Nice to see you too, Mr. Charters.”
He laughed. “None of that, it’s Graham. I suspect you and I are going to be great friends. At least I hope so.”
Ruby sat in the chair opposite Carly’s desk, the metal scraping on the floor as she turned it around. She settled into the buttery leather cushion and waited for their visitor to follow. He put his phone on the desk, unbuttoned his jacket and eased into the chair.
“Your donation was very much appreciated, Graham. I can’t tell you how much we rely on members of the community to keep the shelter going.”
“I’m more than happy to help. As I mentioned the other night, if it wasn’t for your shelter letting us adopt little Bubbles when we lost our son, I doubt my dear wife Laura would’ve survived the pain.” The look of sadness in his eyes tore at Ruby.
“That’s so sweet. I’m so glad things are working out for you. We all love a happy ending for our fur babies.”
Graham sat forward, a smile lighting his face. “And that’s what brings me here today. My wife and I were talking and we want to do something lasting in our son’s name. He loved all creatures, dogs especially but he couldn’t have one because of his health. I would like to be the shelter’s benefactor.”
Ruby shared a glance with Carly. “What exactly does that entail?”
Carly smiled. “Usually it means that they assist with the financial side of the operation. Something we would appreciate very much, Graham.”
A lightness settled on Ruby’s shoulders. With Graham helping them, things could only get better. “Oh. How lovely. Thank you.”
“But I don’t want to play a small part in this. Most benefactors write a check and that’s it. Laura and I want to be more involved. We’d fundraise regularly, something my wife is extremely good at. We’d also put your profile out there to more people. Try and raise the awareness to adopt, that kind of thing. I’m semi-retired and Laura hasn’t been in the public eye for a number of years. Not since our son got really ill. But now she feels that it’s time to make a difference and because of Bubbles, we want to help you.”
Ruby held her hand to her heart, the emotions
