“Will Tyler be there?”
“Probably. Is that an issue?”
She snorted. “Hardly. We all go back together. Purely wanting to know for the food quota.”
“Fine. I’ll see you at six.” She hung up and Simon sat back in his chair. Tyler could eat with them but then he was getting pushed out of the picture. He wanted time with Ruby on his own.
“What put that silly grin on your face?” Tyler walked in and slouched near the window watching the boats in the harbor go past their building.
“Ruby’s dropping in tonight with dinner for us. She asked if you’d be here.”
“We are working tonight but I get the hint. I’ll make myself scarce when I’ve eaten.” Tyler turned and grinned at him. “Just like old times, eh?”
“Yeah. Hopefully.”
“Seriously, Simon you need to make a move on her. You’re dragging the chain my friend.”
Simon didn’t want to mention the kiss. Not yet – not when it might jinx him. “I don’t want to push her. She doesn’t trust me yet. Small steps.”
Tyler snorted. “Yeah, backwards.”
“Give me a break. I’m doing the best I can. If I go in guns blazing professing my love, what do you think she’s going to say?”
Tyler pretended to think. “Gee, let me see. Maybe that she loves you too?”
Simon threw a pen at him. “Don’t be a dick. You know how she works. After what I did to her, it’s going to take time. Ruby doesn’t forgive easily and I don’t blame her. Leave it with me. I’ll pounce when the time is right. I’m not letting her get away again.”
Simon swiveled around in his chair and watched the boat tracking past the wharf. “Listen, I spoke to Graham about the property next door. He’s put in your expression of interest. You might hear back this week but I did tell him to make sure you get it. I want you living next door to me.”
“And you always get what you want?” Tyler’s eyes bugged and he started to fidget. A sure sign he was freaking out about spending so much money. But the investment would pay off.
“No more than you do. But this I really want. We grew up together. Why wouldn’t I want you close by?”
Tyler shrugged. “No reason.” He picked up a paperweight off Simon’s desk and tossed it between his hands. “That friend of Ruby’s, Carly.”
“What about her?” Simon had noticed the way Tyler watched her the other night when he’d arrived with dinner for the team at the shelter.
“Just wondered what you know about her.” He put the paperweight down and jammed his hands in his pockets. “She seemed really nice.”
“She is. I’ve known her for ages. Really smart cookie too. She does the books for the shelter and knows her way around a spreadsheet, according to Ruby. Bit of a whiz with figures.”
“Is she seeing anyone?”
Simon stood up and slapped him on the back. “That’s something you need to ask Ruby, pal. I have no idea but to be honest, I haven’t heard her mention any other guy of late but we don’t have that kind of conversations. More chew over the weather kind of chat if we pass each other at the gym.” He walked into the basement. “Google her and see what comes up.”
“Already have. All I get is her fabulous profile from college. She doesn’t seem to be on social media much at all.”
“Maybe she likes her privacy. You can understand that.”
Tyler followed him into the basement and pulled out his chair. “Yeah, I guess but that doesn’t help me now, does it?”
“You have two choices. Go in dark mode and sift through her data or wait.” Simon winked and laughed. Tyler wouldn’t be so rude.
“Wait? For what?”
“To find out the same way most normal people do. Ask her.”
Tyler threw himself into his chair, a look of horror on his face. “I can’t do that. I don’t know her. Can you imagine the shit storm if I got sneaky and she found out? Gross case of getting stalkerish.” He tapped his chin with his finger. “I’ll ask Ruby. She’ll tell me anything I want to know.”
“Good idea. Pretty sure she’ll know everything there is to know about Carly. They’re best buddies.” His fingers raced over the keys and the overhead screen came to life. “Tell me what it was that you didn’t like about this program.”
* * *
Ruby helped bathe the new dogs that had been rescued from a kill center in the city. The small poodle cross trembled under her touch. She was only young and had been dumped because she outgrew the cute puppy stage and had started chewing shoes. Her owner was less than impressed when her pair of Jimmy Choos were destroyed. It wasn’t a hard habit to get a puppy out of if you really wanted to. A bit of training and time together would’ve made all the difference. Instead, the pretty little apricot poodle had been brushed aside. “You poor baby. Such a sweet little girl.”
Ruby turned off the water and reached for a towel, wrapping the shivering dog in it and holding her close to her chest. The worst part about this job was wanting to take every dog she got attached to home with her.
She carried the dog over to a table and rubbed most of the water from her coat before turning on the dryer. She ran her hands over the matted fur and crooned reassuring words to her while the warm air took care of the rest of the drying process. Something about this little one tugged at her heartstrings more than most.
Was it the big pools of sadness she saw swimming in her eyes? Or was it the timid nature that came with many of the dumped animals? Ruby couldn’t be sure. “You poor baby. You look as nervous as I feel right now.” She continued to talk to the little dog while she groomed her. “We’ve reached our target for adoptions, little one. Yep, you heard that right. Sixty animals and we’re over that. I’m still terrified this is all a dream and we’re going to get hit with a lease we can’t afford.” She fluffed up the dogs ears. “So I feel your fear, baby girl. I’m scared myself.”
The poodle licked her hand and lifted her chin to the warm air. Slowly she stopped trembling and inched her way closer to Ruby, glancing at her every now and then as if gauging her reaction.
This little girl had character. You could see it on her face despite the mess she was in. “You know what? I think I know the perfect person for you.” She grinned, and tickled the dog’s ears. “Let’s get you prettied up and settled and I’ll give Graham a call. Get him over to see you once you’ve settled in and lost some of your fear.”
By the time Ruby had clipped the poodle the previous owner had named Petal, it was well past lunchtime. She walked into the office and poured herself a cup of coffee, calling out to Carly. “Do you want coffee?”
“Got one, thanks anyway.” The clacking of the keyboard came from Carly’s office. She was trying to update her spreadsheets for Graham and this was the first chance she’d had since he’d offered them the property.
Ruby sat at her own desk and picked up the phone, dialing Graham’s number. “Hi, Graham. It’s Ruby.”
“Ruby, hello. How are you all settling in?”
“Fabulously. I’m very surprised nothing has gone wrong. Everything is going along like clockwork.”
“Pleased to hear it. How many animals have you managed to adopt out so far? No pressure, just curious.”
“Um, sixty-three and I still have appointments over the next few days.”
“Fantastic. I knew you could do it. When I get the figures from Carly, I’ll show them to the board and draw up that free lease agreement.”
Her shoulders slumped and relief washed over her hearing those words. Even though she’d been keeping tab of the numbers, Ruby needed to hear it was going to be done officially. Now she could relax. She cleared her throat before talking.
“Listen, the reason I was calling is to chat about that other dog you were thinking of adopting. We got some new dogs yesterday from a kill shelter outside the city and one in particular stands out to me. She’s a toy poodle, about two years old and has such a sweet nature. She was terrified when she came in but now she
knows I’m not out to hurt her, she seems really, I don’t know, trusting I guess.”
“And you’d like me to come and look at her?”
“Your call but knowing Bubbles personality and how well she suited you, I thought Petal might fit your family and you did mention getting another dog. No pressure obviously, but I wanted to let you know.”
“I understand. How about I talk with Laura tonight and see how she feels. We’ve discussed it before but I want to make sure she’s ready to go ahead.”
“Of course. She wouldn’t be going up for adoption just yet. Most dogs take at least three days to settle into a new environment and another couple of weeks to understand that we’re not going to hurt them before they begin to trust us and relax. But this little lady seems ready to give her trust already so I have high hopes for her fitting into a new home without too many issues and I feel she’ll make a great playmate for Bubbles.”
“I appreciate the call. I’ll talk to Laura and get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Graham.” She disconnected and sat back hoping that it would work out. Funny how she could sort out unwanted pets and their future but not her own miserable love life.
Chapter 14
Ruby waited for her identification to be checked at the front door of the Seascapes building. She’d known this was Simon and Tyler’s office but she’d never been inside before. From the outside it was very plain although classy and elegant at the same time. Inside, there was dark charcoal carpet and dark leather furniture with mirrored walls behind the sleek dark timber reception desk. Nothing pretentious or too modern. It fitted in with the old world charm of the small town she loved.
The security guard handed her back her identification. “Thank you, ma’am. Mr. Benson said for you to go right up. Can I help you with that?” He pointed to the padded chiller bag of food she had slung over her shoulder.
“I should be okay. Thank you.”
“Let me get the elevator for you then. Follow me.” He smiled and led the way to the bank of elevators and held the door as she wrangled the dogs inside. When he pushed the button to the floor she needed, he stepped back. “You have a nice evening ma’am.”
“Thank you.” The doors closed and she sighed. It wasn’t the best idea to bring the dogs. At least she didn’t think so. It wasn’t even the best idea her going out. All she really wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for days. Being in a building with this many animals was asking for trouble but Simon had offered and she hated leaving them at home if she could avoid it. So long as she didn’t spend all night running up and down for comfort stops, she’d be happy.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened into a shiny chrome on glass reception room. The front desk was unmanned and Ruby checked out the corridor to the right when she spied Tyler striding through an office with his unique lanky walk.
She moved toward him. Dogs pulled on their leads when he turned, saw her and grinned. “Ruby.” He ambled over with his long-legged gait and stopped when he saw her dogs waiting. “Woah, all the beasts tonight.” He turned and called out. “Simon. Your dinner guest has arrived.”
He turned back to Ruby. “Poor guy is going nuts. We can’t get a line of code to go right. We’re both pulling our hair out. Should be simple for geeks like us but for some reason, it’s like a mutant ninja that wants to take over and corrupt the whole freaking system.”
She glanced at him blankly. “You’re talking to the wrong person, Tyler. You should know that. But if you want to talk food, I’m your gal.”
A big grin creased his face. “Do I smell tacos?”
She nodded.
“From Mama Bell’s Tacos on Main?”
She nodded again. “I bought plenty because I knew you’d be here too.”
Tyler punched the air. “You’re a legend. Let me take that bag off you and you can handle those ferocious beasts of yours. I promise to leave you two lovebirds alone after I eat. Simon!”
When he didn’t come out, Tyler tilted his head. “Come this way.”
He guided her down the hall and into a darkened room. “He’s in here. I’ll go get some drinks, back in a sec.”
Ruby stood in the doorway. A wall of emotions hit her in the face. The old couch she used to curl up in when the boys were working sat in the middle of the room with the home made scarred coffee table in front of it just as it had been in the basement of Simon’s parent’s house. A couple of comfy armchairs, covered in checked brown blankets were either side. The box television set with its crooked bunny ears that had belonged to Simon’s grandmother flickered over in one corner, the picture wavering as it always had. It’d never worked back then either but Simon had been gifted it and couldn’t bear to part with it.
“Hey there.” Simon waved from over the other side of the room where he sat facing a large screen.
“You kept it all.” She brushed at the tears trickling down her cheeks. This was the room where he’d first told her he loved her. The room where they made out when Tyler wasn’t around and the couch where they’d first made love together. The couch where she’d cried at the thought of San Francisco setting up an animal kill shelter and where she’d decided to make rescuing animals her life. Simon had been behind her one hundred percent. They’d made plans for the future snuggled together on that couch. So many memories. “Why?”
Simon got up, came over and put an arm around her shoulders brushing her tears away with the ball of his thumb. “We found that we couldn’t work in the kind of conditions that people expected us to so we went back to the drawing board and figured out why. Welcome to the new version of our basement.” He spread one arm out to show her the rest of the room. Over against the far wall where he’d come from, their desks and a series of multiple screens took up most of the space. “This was our gig and it works for us so we do the basic formulas here. Build up our programs the way we like them and then ship them downstairs to the lab to the guys there to clean up and make them look pretty enough for the big guns to sit up and take notice.”
“Why?”
“Because people we do business with have certain expectations about who they deal with. If we want to compete in that kind of market, we have to work in town, not someone’s basement. Even if that space worked better for us. This was the solution.”
He took the bag from her and put it down on the floor and pulled her back into his arms, kissing the top of her head as she snuggled into his chest. She relaxed against him.
Tyler came back, unzipped the bag, opened a box and took out a fry, jamming it in his mouth and chewing with a look bordering on ecstasy before joining the conversation. “We tried it the other way, Ruby. For months we sat in the lab downstairs and stared at blank screens, wondering if we’d ever be able to do anything again. Wasn’t until we put this room together that it all started working for us.”
“I don’t believe it.”
Simon chuckled and his laughter vibrated between them. “Me either. Just goes to show we’re a couple of normal nerdy guys at heart.”
Tyler spoke with his mouth full of food. “You mean nerdy slobs, don’t you?”
Simon laughed. “Probably. But it works for us so who cares.”
Tyler sniffed the other bag of food before answering. “Not me.”
“Sorry, Ruby. I was so close I couldn’t stop until I nailed it. I was going to meet you downstairs if I could. I’m sorry.” He hugged her tighter and she let him, content now she was nestled against him.
Tyler’s mouth dropped open. “You did it?”
“Yeah, man. I did it.” He had a big grin on his face and she couldn’t help but feel a wave of pride. If nothing else, both the guys were dedicated to what they did. Something she’d always admired about the two of them.
“Woo hoo.” Tyler high fived him and gave a laugh. “Thank goodness for that. It was doing my head in.” He frowned. “What was it?”
“Mutated code but it was hiding behind other layers of code. I hacked into it and chan
ged the sequence around a few times and it worked. Now the guys downstairs can have it.”
Tyler whooped again and hurried over to his desk and went into the program while Simon stood with Ruby in his arms. Eventually she moved and tried to control her emotions by taking charge of the dogs again.
Simon wiped a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up. He sniffed the air. “Ah, tacos. You sure know how to please a guy.”
George came out from behind the desk and bounced around when he saw Ruby’s crew, his little growls of joy making her laugh.
“Want to take them outside to play?” Simon picked up Ziggy and got a face wash of kisses. “We have an outside area up here with real grass so they can pee and sniff to their hearts’ content.” He took the food bag and called out to Tyler. “You grab the plates and napkins from the kitchen.”
Ruby followed him into another room that looked like an executive office and out through a door onto a covered balcony. A grassed off area as big as her backyard greeted them. Large planter boxes with leafy trees would give shade in hot weather and a picnic table sat to one side under a sunshade. She could see the water of the bay over one edge of the roof and if she turned and looked back to the hills, she could almost pinpoint where the shelter was.
She let the dogs off their leashes and smiled as they ran around sniffing everything. “This place is awesome.”
Simon gave Ziggy a hug and let her down to go and play with the other dogs. “Yes, it is. It took quite a bit of convincing from my dad to make us move here too. We didn’t want to leave the basement to start with but once I bought them a new house, we didn’t have much choice.”
Ruby shaded her eyes from the setting sun. “So why did you?”
He glanced at her, took her arm and walked over to the table where he pulled out a white chair for her. Simon pulled out a tray of tacos followed by a small container of vibrant green guacamole and set them on the table as he spoke. “Because we had no choice if we wanted to keep doing what we were doing.” He placed all the takeaway boxes together and placed them in a trash bin before he turned a chair around and sat next to her. “When we sold that first program, we had to either keep at it which we wanted to do or risk being a one hit wonder or go away and hide. We chose to keep going because it was what we’ve always wanted. We wanted to build up the company and get it to where we are today. We’re in almost every company in the world that has anything to do with online creating. At least our components or our programs are.”
Second Chance Billionaire (The Billionaire's Club Book 1) Page 9