They played in the yard or slept in the office with Carly most of the day while Ruby worked with the other volunteers and hustled for donations. “Babies, Momma is going out tonight but I won’t be long. Promise to behave?” She glanced at them all in turn sitting watching her knowing that they would be left behind. She rarely left them alone so it was a big deal to her babies.
Honey, the old Maltese girl she’d taken home just as Simon had hit the big time, pretended not to watch her. She lay with her little nose on her paws, her eyes almost closed. She was the quietest of the dogs. Never expecting much because she’d been traumatized when she was dumped. Many old dogs were replaced with a younger version and this is what she feared had happened to Honey. When Ruby had found her tied up outside the office door, she was shivering in fear. At least her owners hadn’t left her wandering like Ziggy’s had.
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 shelter is the same as breathing for me. If I stopped doing it, I don’t know how I’d survive.”
“I’m glad I could help.” He took the menu the waiter offered him. “Can you give us about ten minutes? Thanks.”
Simon glanced at the menu. “Wes said the food here is to die for and we should try the pasta apparently.”
“Are you two friends?” Ruby leaned her elbow on the table.
“More like business acquaintances. I give to some of his charities so we meet up now and then.” He could see her mind ticking over. “And before you decide we were in this together, I had nothing to do with it. I think this is a plot of Wes’s own making but I was thrilled when he announced it. Even Tyler couldn’t help himself once it was announced.”
“Really? You expect me to believe you had nothing to do with this?”
“Yep. Oh, I admit the idea of seven dates was all mine and Tyler may or may not have egged me on. Can’t blame a guy for trying. But the idea to auction off one date with you had nothing to do with me. I was as surprised as you were when he announced it.”
She tilted her head sideways as if weighing up his answer. “You sound honest but if I find out different, look out.” Ruby stared at him, then spoke. “So to be clear, you didn’t tell Tyler to bid against you to bump up the price?”
He shook his head. “No. He got excited and went a little crazy. I guess he wanted to help you too.”
She picked up the menu and looked it over. “The pasta, you say?”
“According to Wes, yes.”
Once they ordered, Ruby appe
ared to be more relaxed. “Tell me about the shelter. You mentioned the lease expiring the other night.”
She bit her lip and then glanced over at him. “Yes. According to Carly we may not get another year. Still waiting to see what he really wants to do with it. The lease is certainly going up but not sure how long he will give us. The property is very developable and our landlord might want to explore his options. We expected it but still, it wasn’t what we wanted to hear.”
Simon frowned. “Can you offer to buy it?”
She shook her head, her rich brown curls shimmering over her shoulders. “No. We don’t have that kind of money even with the very generous donation you made. I’m sure something will turn up. It usually does.” She fiddled with her cutlery again. “How are your mom and dad?”
“They miss you, obviously. They live in the same area but I talked them into letting me buy them a newer house with less maintenance. Our old place was too big for them and I wanted Dad to retire while he still had the urge to go travelling. They always talked about doing it but came up with excuse after excuse. They’re in Australia now. Doing a train ride across the desert.”
“That’s nice. Say hello to them for me.”
* * *
One of the things Ruby missed the most, apart from Simon, was Simon’s parents. They’d been so good to her over the years. Almost became her surrogate family. Her own family lived so far away she hardly ever saw them. His mom especially had been more than kind to her.
But no point getting maudlin over what she couldn’t have. “Tell me more about the business.”
Simon leaned back in his chair. “Well, you know the International Space Station?”
Ruby nodded. Who didn’t know about that? She’d seen it on television and read about it in the newspapers but the workings of it weren’t something she understood that well.
“We have equipment up there helping it run.” Simon grinned like a little kid at Christmas. “That was the biggest buzz when they called us. I don’t think I’ve seen Tyler so excited in his entire life. His mom cried when she found out.”
“That’s so sweet.” It almost brought tears to her eyes.
“Yeah, it was. He even bought her a larger apartment when we signed that deal. And you know how hard it is to make him spend money.”
She gaped. “Even now, with all your billions?”
“Especially now. If it wasn’t for me pushing him in the early days, she’d still be living in the same old house that he grew up in. Not that there’s anything wrong with it but it was getting a bit rundown and hard for her to maintain. Now she has someone to do all that for her. She deserves to have an easier life.”
Ruby laughed out loud. Tyler was so kind and caring toward his mom. She’d thought the first thing he would’ve done was buy her a mansion. “I don’t believe it.”
Simon grinned. “Believe it. He hasn’t changed a lot which is kinda nice to know.”
“Well, I’m glad his mom is settled somewhere nice. She did well raising him on her own.”
“She did.”
“I have to ask you – did you hide your first big sale from her too? Did she find out in the news the same way I did?”
Simon looked away and frowned. So she wasn’t the only one kept in the dark over the money. The bitterness came back to stick in her throat. One stupid move had hurt more than just her. How on earth was she going to get through these dates with this unease still between them?
“I don’t want to ruin the night, Ruby. Can we discuss this another time?”
“I don’t think it’s worth talking about anymore. From what you didn’t say, I get it, Simon.” She needed to manage the best she could because if nothing else, he deserved what he paid for. And the shelter needed that money no matter what her feelings were. She swallowed her pain and picked up her glass. “Of course, Simon.”
They sat back when the waiter brought their meals and placed them on the table. “Enjoy. Is there anything else I can bring you?”
They both shook their heads, eyes on the food. “No, thank you.”
Ruby let the aroma of garlic and fresh tomatoes in a buttery sauce drift over her face. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Dig in. It looks amazing.”
Later that evening when Simon dropped her off home, he walked her to the door. “Thank you for tonight. I really enjoyed spending time with you, Ruby.”
“It was a lovely evening. Thank you.” The snuffles and whines came from inside the house. Despite her earlier disappointment with him, she couldn’t refuse her pets the greeting again. “You’d better say hello to the fur babies. They know you’re here.” Ruby opened the door and stood back as her brood launched themselves at Simon. She couldn’t believe they were so attracted to him. She shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d always had a soft spot for Harley and Honey, even though he hadn’t known them for very long before they broke up.
He sat down on the floor and gave them all a cuddle and let them lick his face in turn. “Yes, yes. I love you too.” He laughed when Harley tried to crawl up his chest. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
Ruby watched as Ziggy huddled by the couch watching the rest of her tribe lose it over Simon. No matter how safe it might seem, the little pug couldn’t bring herself to forget what’d been done to her and join in the fun.
It was a little bit like how Ruby felt about Simon. She wanted to let her guard down but the very thought of doing so and risking her heart to a man who’d let her down once, scared her more than she dared admit.
Chapter 6
By the time he was due to pick Ruby up for the next date, Simon was a bundle of nerves. He’d hatched a deal with Wes that he would arrange their dates since he’d upped the details at the auction. It was time to put his inner romantic on and see if he could sway Ruby to forgive him.
When she opened the door, he almost died. Her hair was tied back, her face free from makeup and she wore the cutest three quarter pants with butterflies up the side that he’d ever seen. Her t-shirt was white with a photo of a French Bulldog wearing sunglasses, and a pink top hat. It could be a photo of his own fur baby George whom he’d left at home on his own. Simon couldn’t wait to get the chance to introduce his mate to Ruby.
“Nice morning for a ride.”
She tilted her head to one side and folded her arms. “Say that again.”
He cleared his throat. “I said, nice morning for a ride.”
Her lips tilted at the edges and laughter danced in her eyes. “Bike ride?”
Simon was starting to have second thoughts. “Yeah. Why?”
The dogs ran out of the house and danced around his feet, sniffing madly at his shoes.
Ruby chewed on her bottom lip. “Because if I remember rightly, the last time you rode a bike was when we first dated and that didn’t end well. Hearing you suggest it made me wonder what was going on and if that was what you meant.”
Heat flared in his cheeks and he adjusted his glasses, to cover his embarrassment. She was right but he thought Ruby might have forgotten that particular part of the day. He’d wanted to impress her and try to dispel her idea that all he cared about was his computer. Since she liked the great outdoors, he offered to take her bike riding. After grazed knees and elbows with a mild case of concussion, he hadn’t offered again.
“I thought it might be nice to get outside and have some fresh air. It’s a beautiful day. Barely a cloud in the sky.”
He patted the four dogs giving him the onceover. “If you’d rather, we can give it a miss and take the dogs for a walk.”
She grinned and a wicked glint appeared in her eyes. “No, a ride would be great. I can walk the dogs later.” She corralled the fur babies back inside and grabbed a small backpack for her purse and water bottle. She slapped a cap on her head and a pair of sunglasses and faced him. “I’m ready when you are.”
He’d never be ready but at least he was being brave. He wasn’t the type to spend long hours in the great
outdoors but he wanted to show Ruby that he’d grown up since they’d broken up. That if she was to take a chance on him, she wouldn’t have a life watching him work. That he could do the things she liked as well. That he wasn’t as self-centered as he used to be.
Simon helped her into the car and started driving back toward San Francisco. He made small talk to hide his nerves until they got to the bike hire company. “Right, let’s go choose our transport.”
“Where are we going?” She followed him inside the store and glanced at the array of bikes.
“I thought we could go over the bridge, ride around Sausalito until we find a café for lunch. Then, it you like we can ride back or we can catch the ferry.”
Her lips twitched. “That’s not a short date, Simon. That’s going to take hours. I hadn’t planned on leaving the dogs for that long today. We usually do lots of walking together on the weekend.”
“I can help you when we get back—if you like that is. Whenever you want to go home, just say so.”
She stared at him for a moment and he had no idea what was going through her head. Eventually Ruby nodded and chose a bike. Once they’d done the paperwork, Simon led her out of the store. His first attempt at getting on the bike was less than stellar. He fumbled the pedals and slipped but soon got the hang of it.
Soon they were biking along the Golden Gate Bridge track and she was ahead of him, her hair flying from under the bike helmet. It’d been too many years to count since he’d been on a bike.
* * *
Ruby loved the sea breeze over her face. She didn’t often get a chance to take a leisurely ride these days. She was far too busy at the shelter so it was a nice change to have someone make her get out and about. Even if that someone was Simon.
Second Chance Billionaire (The Billionaire's Club Book 1) Page 4