Simon had to find a way to bring her here one of the nights she was taking him on the dates. Set something up on the beach for the two of them. It shouldn’t be too hard. He had the means and the money to get what he wanted. He should tell Wes there might be a last minute change of plans and not to tell Ruby.
Then it was up to him. All he had to do was convince Ruby he’d never meant to shut her out. That he’d been stupid and scared of what would happen when they got rich. He hadn’t known if he could handle the kind of money and fame his job would give him. How he and Tyler would cope with public scrutiny or the pressure to perform. The last thing he’d worried about was her spending the money. He’d have gladly let her have it all. It was his own fear of having so much that worried him. Surely she would understand.
The following morning, his phone ran as he was driving into work. He pressed a button on his car’s steering wheel. “Hello.”
“Simon, good morning.” His property developer’s voice boomed over the blue-tooth.
“Hey, Graham. How are you?”
“Fabulous. Listen, that block of land you have out on the other side of the one-o-one highway? Are you interested in selling it to me?”
He’d bought it on Graham’s recommendation years ago. “I don’t know. Tell me why you want it.”
“Well, I was talking to my darling wife this morning. We want to do something lasting in our son’s name. It’s time.” He cleared his throat. “And since I attended the charity last night and met Ruby, I’ve decided the shelter needs a benefactor. You know how much Niall loved animals but it wasn’t possible with his illness. If he’d lived, he would’ve loved to start a shelter and when I see Ruby and Carly struggling to make ends meet, it makes me sad. Laura and I want to help in any way we can. That’s if Ruby agrees.”
“That’s nice. I’m sure Ruby will be thrilled to hear it, especially after what she mentioned last night about their lease being so tenuous.”
“Exactly why I want to help out. My company can buy the property and give them a peppercorn lease for ninety-nine years.”
Simon smiled to himself. It was a deal that Ruby could hardly turn down.
“So what do you think? I want to try and do a deal with you before I mention it to them. Laura is on at me to go and talk to Ruby about our idea and where my wife is concerned, I’m putty in her hands. How long do you think it will take to organize?”
“Don’t you even want to know how much I want for it?” Simon paused at a red light and put a hand on George’s head, stroking his smooth hair.
“I know the value of the land and I’m pretty sure you won’t rip me off. We’ve done too much business together for me to think that would ever happen. I’ll pay market value because I feel that it will tick all the boxes for the shelter. Buildings, space to grow and close enough to town to still serve the community. Listening to Ruby talk last night gave me a fairly good indication of what they need and I want to be involved in any way I can.”
“Accepted. Talk to my legal guy and I’ll sign the papers. I just wish I’d thought of it myself.”
A chuckle came over the line. “I think you were otherwise occupied if these old eyes don’t deceive me.”
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 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 what Carly had told her last night, she was going to need every single cent she could find to keep the shelter afloat.
She rubbed her hands over her face, doing her best to open her eyes and focus on the day ahead. There was so much to do after the big night. Apart from making sure the cleaners did a good job on the venue they’d hired so they didn’t lose their deposit, which she couldn’t afford, she had to follow up on what Carly said about the lease for the property. Sure, the business side of things was her bestie’s domain, but Ruby needed to keep her finger on the pulse. Besides they still didn’t know if the owner would let them stay even if they could afford the higher rent. All they knew was that it would be the last year they could lease the place for what they were paying now but the proposed cost wasn’t what she wanted to pay. She’d worried this might happen. With each property they’d leased, there was never a long-term promise. Land was worth so much in Sausalito. It was such a hipster town but it was also close to other communities and a central enough point that they could reach enough people.
It was also a great area for people to adopt too. People with money and means to give her animals good homes. Sausalito was a doggie town. Everyone had one or two or even three fur babies. It made sense to be where the animal people were, even if they were being priced out of that market. Something had to go their way. At least that was what she told herself. Sooner or later she had to stop the lying to herself and face reality. They were fighting an uphill battle trying to keep a non-profit organization going in a town where everything cost so much.
She stumbled into the bathroom and kicked her jacket. It’d fallen off the chair where she’d thrown it last night. Ruby picked it up and shook it. Harley, her three-legged staffy grabbed it, thinking they were playing a game of tug the rope.
“No, Harley. Let it go, baby.” The dog looked at her and did as she asked, his head tilted to one side as if he was in the wrong. She patted him and spoke soothingly to ease his fear before she picked up the jacket again and wiped off the dog slobber with a wash cloth. She went to hang it in the wardrobe, something she should’ve done last night. Before she closed the door, she remembered. That lovely man had given her an envelope and she needed to hand that over to Carly when she got into work. She pulled it out and dropped it on the bed before she hung the jacket up and headed into the shower to wake herself up.
When she got into the shelter forty minutes later, the phones were ringing. Carly had one tucked under her ear and was just about to reach for another one. Ruby grabbed it, “Please hold a moment,” and grabbed the other one. “Sausalito Animal Shelter. This is Ruby.”
“Hi, Ruby.” Simon’s deep baritone voice stopped her in her tracks. She’d heard it so much last night in her mind while she was trying to sleep. Hearing it so soon after was disconcerting. “Hang on please. I have someone on the other line.”
She grabbed the other phone, giving herself time to settle her nerves. “How can I help you?”
After Ruby made an appointment for a potential adopter to visit the shelter, she hung up. Carly pointed to the waiting call. Ruby had no choice but to pick it up. “Simon. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to see how you were after last night.”
She turned around to avoid Carly’s inquisitive gaze. “I’m fine, thank you.” He didn’t need to know she’d slept like crap after seeing him. Or that her mind wouldn’t stop analyzing the past, coming up with excuses as to why she hadn’t moved on.
“Wonderful to hear. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening too. Listen, I wanted to know when you want to start our date nights? I have something on this evening but I’m free all week after that.”
She chewed her lip. Damn Wes for putting her in this spot but there was no getting out of it. May as well get it over and done with. Rip it off like a Band-Aid.
“Sure. Tomorrow night sounds fine.”
“Great. How about I pick you up?”
“Sure.” She rattled off her address and put the phone in its cradle.
Carly watched her from behind her desk, a soft smile on her lips. “Simon?”
“Yep.” Ruby groaned. “Nothing good can come from this. You know that, right?” She pulled the envelope from her pocket and dropped it on the desk.
“No, I don’t. One million dollars is pretty good to me. Pretty sure that makes up for any issues you’re going to have being wined and dined for a week. You’ll have the ear of one of San Francisco’s richest and most eligible men for seven dates. You can convince him to offer all and any help he sees fit to bestow upon us.” She grabbed the envelope and slid her finger under the flap. “You have history that I think you should use.”
Ruby slammed her hand on the desk. “No way!”
Carly sat back, a frown on her face. “Wow. Chill out, girlfriend.”
Ruby sank into the chair and put her head in her hands. “Sorry to bite your head off but that’s a sore point with us.”
“Why? You never did tell me why you broke up.”
It still hurt her to talk about it but maybe it was time to let it go and who better to dump it on? “We were all waiting for the day Simon and Tyler sold their first program, the one that would make them rich and more importantly, put them on the map. I found out about it on the news the night after they signed the deal. When I confronted Simon, he told me they wanted to get everything signed before he told anyone.”
Carly sat back in her chair, a neutral expression on her face, and watched her. “Fair enough. Anything could’ve gone wrong. Deals often fall down at the last minute.”
“I know that and that part was fine. It was the other reason that threw me.” She swallowed. “They didn’t want to tell anyone until they’d gotten the money tied up in case they suddenly got an influx of ‘new’ friends.”
“But you were his girlfriend.”
“I know. I was the one who supported them through the years it took to get to that point. In one foul swoop, he reduced me to one of the people who would come running with their hands out for cash.” The bitterness rose in her throat. She could still taste it. The terrible aftertaste of despair.
* * *
She hadn’t sounded happy to hear from him but Simon had been expecting that. He had a lot of pain to make up for. He just had to plan how to make it work within the timeframe he had because he wouldn’t get another chance.
Tyler strode into his office from their connecting workroom. “Hey, want to come and play with that new program and see if I’ve got the glitches out?”
A smile creased Simon’s lips. Their play room dubbed ‘the basement’ that belonged to the two of them where nobody else was allowed to enter. The space where they’d let their wallets do the talking and they’d brought the best money could buy at the time. It was their space to test things out, to let their imaginations run wild before anyone else had any input. Before their testing team had a chance to try and improve or find bugs they’d missed.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He followed Tyler to the room. Simon pulled out his chair and hit the keyboard to wake up his machine. “So, thanks for last night. I appreciated you coming along with me.”
“I had fun. Besides, I owe you. What can I say?”
“No you don’t.” Simon hit a few keys and watched the data loading to the big screen in front of him. “If I wanted to tell Ruby back then, I could’ve ignored you but I chose to go along with it. So I’m as much to blame as you are.”
“True. So, how are you going to do this?”
“The dates
or the program?”
Tyler threw a paperclip at him. “The dates, man. How are you going to convince her you’re still boyfriend material?”
“Not too sure. I did think of letting her have the lead for the first night or two. I think she’d be expecting me to come in and run all over things, push my own agenda and flash the cash around. I think it might be better if I sit back and let her find her feet.”
Tyler glanced at him around the side of his screen. “Good thinking. You know, I don’t think it’s the money we have—it’s more the lack of trust and I don’t blame her. I wish you’d let me go and apologize for stuffing up so bad. If it wasn’t for me being so freaked out over having that kind of money, you two would be happily married, living the dream.”
“I don’t know, maybe we would. But leave it to me, okay? I want to make her love me for me now, not the crazy freaked out guy I was back then. I’ve matured, I hope. And don’t worry, I’ve got this.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Sure you have.” He put his head down and started doing what he did best – playing with data and building programs.
* * *
Ruby turned in front of the mirror again running her hands over the fabric, second guessing her choice of clothing. Would Simon like her dress? Why should she even care?
Because she still had feelings for him, that’s why. Might never forgive him but that doesn’t change the way she felt about him.
She wanted to kick the wall but any displays of anger would send poor Ziggy running for shelter. The tiny pug had only settled down in the last couple of months. She’d been skin and bone when Ruby found her wandering along the road to the shelter. Whoever had dumped her hadn’t even bothered to knock on their door and hand her over. They’d kicked her out of the car while it was still going and sped away from the look of her injuries.
She’d come in with sores on her hip and back where the vet said she’d hit the road, tearing fur and flesh from her tiny body. Those had been the easiest to deal with. It was her timid nature that had made her difficult to foster out, hence the reason why Ruby had taken her on. That brought her fur babies to a total of five. Thank goodness she had a great landlord and as shelter manager, could take her babies to work with her. One day she’d have to say no and stop taking more dogs home.
Second Chance Billionaire (The Billionaire's Club Book 1) Page 3