The man was clever, Simon would give him that. They’d done plenty of business over the last few years and age hadn’t dulled Graham’s brain for business nor his attention to detail. “You see way too much. But don’t say anything to my parents just yet. I don’t want them getting their hopes up.”
“Not my business, Simon. But it’ll be hard seeing your father for our golf game and not saying anything. Anyway, I’ll get things moving and that’ll make Laura very happy. Those wonderful women are doing a fabulous job and I want to see them continue it for many years to come.”
The traffic light changed to green and Simon put his foot on the gas. “Sounds good. Talk to you later, Graham.”
When he got into the office, his secretary handed him a pile of notes as he passed her desk. “Thanks, Elaine. Can you see if Nigel is free please.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He walked into his office, George by his side, dropped his briefcase on the floor beside his desk and sat down. He spun the chair around to look over the water as his phone rang. His house sat proudly on the hill, the glass in the top windows catching the early morning sun sending shimmers of light down to the private beach. George settled into his bed and stretched out in the sun to sleep.
“Simon speaking.”
“Hey, Simon, Liam. You want me to come down to your office?”
“No, it’s okay. Listen, can you pull the title on the land parcel over the one-o-one highway and start the process of selling it please. I already have a buyer—Graham Charters. He’ll be in touch sometime today. We want to rush the sale through.”
“But you wanted to hang onto that parcel. Said it would make a great shopping center complex when the city sprawl got closer.”
He had but things had changed. It would serve the community just as well as an animal shelter. Plus it would make him feel better knowing that Ruby wouldn’t have to move ever again. “I know, but something has come up. Graham wants to donate it to a worthy cause and I’m all for it.”
“It would be better for your bottom line if you did the donating yourself rather than selling it. You could use the tax write off this year.”
He could hear the displeasure in his lawyer’s voice. More than once Liam had told him to concentrate on the technical side of things and leave the business to him. That was what Simon paid him for.
“I know but he thought of it first and it’s for a charity that I want to support all I can. Anyway, if you could arrange it for me, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure. Selling price?”
“Twenty percent below market.”
Liam sucked in a breath and Simon could imagine the hair on the back of his neck standing up in shock. “What?”
“You heard me. Thanks, Liam.” He hung up and spun around to stare out the window again. He had to call Ruby and set up the first date. Talk to her before she found out about the land deal in case she thought he was contriving to buy her forgiveness. Put his case forward for them to get together again. See how she’d take it. Then he could arrange getting her to the house. Set up something romantic on the beach for their final date. It gave him six dates to try and get her guard down and plead his case. To show her how sorry he was, how much he regretted not telling her he’d become an instant billionaire. Six days to let her see how much she still meant to him. Six days to make her realize that he was the one for her. Six days to convince her that what she felt for him wasn’t just anger, but love.
Because he still loved her just as much as he ever did. Life without her in it was only half a life as far as Simon was concerned. Seeing her last night made him rethink his future without her in it. He’d never felt so lonely as he had watching her move around the room. Over the years her confidence had grown. Simon could see it in the way she conducted herself during the night. She handled everything well, even the auction at the end. Ruby was an amazing woman.
It brought it all back – how stupid he’d been. What a terrible mistake he’d made.
He’d known he had feelings for her but last night cemented it.
Chapter 4
Ruby rolled over in bed and thumped her pillow, ignoring the wet nose that sniffed her face and the warm doggy breath that followed. What a crappy night’s sleep. She thought after a big evening like last night, she would’ve zonked out until the alarm went off this morning but no. She’d found it impossible to shut her mind down and drift off. So difficult to push the image of Simon, sexy in his beautiful suit, his body buffer than he was five years ago, out of her mind. No matter what she said to him, she missed him horribly.
Nobody had come close to making her feel the way he had. No fluttering of her heart, no racing of her pulse at the goodnight kiss or lusty feelings when they looked at her from under impossibly long lashes like he used to do.
She was ruined for any other man and she wanted to kick him in the shins for it. She threw back her blankets and dragged herself out of bed. This was ridiculous, hoping that one day she’d be over him. And now this! Seven dates, seven nights with him. How the heck was she going to survive that?
She stared at the floor. But he’d paid greatly for the privilege. Money she desperately needed for the shelter. No matter how annoyed she was, she couldn’t refuse to go along with it. That would be petty and after
