‘A technicality,’ he said shortly.
‘And a moot point, since it’s never going to happen again. And, for the record, I don’t mix business with pleasure, either.’
Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to think about that for much longer she decided as a conversation she had overheard between her colleagues the day before came back to her. An interoffice transfer was not something she’d ever considered in the past but it might be exactly what she needed. And sure, it might be considered a little impulsive and she’d never been the impulsive one in her family before, but, compared to having sex with a man she hardly knew outside at a party, a work transfer was minuscule. ‘Nor do I want to start a relationship with any man any time soon. In case you’re wondering.’
‘Career first? Is that it, Ruby?’
‘Always,’ she responded briskly.
‘Well, I don’t recall saying anything about a relationship either,’ he mocked.
‘Sorry,’ she said tightly. ‘I meant to say fling, or affair, or whatever you call your little liaisons.’
The muscle in his jaw jerked once more. ‘You’re really trying my patience, you know that?’
Ruby was saved from having to respond when one of the new paralegals poked his head in the door. ‘Oops, sorry,’ he said, a little red-faced when he recognised Sam. ‘I thought the last meeting was supposed to be done by now.’
‘It is done,’ Ruby assured him, tilting her chin in Sam’s direction. When he didn’t immediately agree with her she frowned. ‘We are done, aren’t we, Mr Ventura?’
He studied her with hard eyes that saw far too much for her liking and revealed far too little. ‘We’re done,’ he finally granted. ‘For now.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘ALLISON FROM HR has popped up to see you,’ Veronica said, poking her head into Ruby’s office. ‘Have you got a sec?’
‘Sure.’ Ruby parked her thoughts on the file notes she was making about a new case and ushered Allison into her office. Not that she’d been all that productive. It was five o’clock on Friday night and her concentration had been shot as of about an hour ago. Maybe more. At least this Friday night she was going straight home to the safety of her apartment, where there would be wine, her beloved Law & Order, and both Ben and Jerry waiting for her.
‘Hey,’ Allison said, taking a seat opposite her. ‘So I got your email and I thought I’d come up in person to check if you’re serious about this interoffice transfer before I start working on it.’
Ruby tucked a wing of hair behind her ear. After her disastrous meeting with Sam she’d sent Allison an email about transferring out of the Sydney office, but now she wasn’t so sure about it. She knew Kent’s looked highly on those who expanded their knowledge by working in other offices, but was that really what she wanted to do?
Certainly she’d feel less jumpy if she knew Sam wasn’t able to pop his head into her office when she least expected it, or if she didn’t have to worry about running into him in the hallway, but wasn’t moving to another country a little drastic?
‘Ten out of ten would have meant we were in a bed, naked, and we had all night together.’
Okay. Possibly not.
‘Yes, I’m serious. I wouldn’t mind expanding my horizons and challenging myself a bit more.’
‘In another country?’
No, another planet might be better, but apparently Mars was still uninhabitable. ‘They say a change is as good as a holiday,’ Ruby offered with a shrug. ‘And it won’t be for ever. I just think I need something a bit different right now.’
Allison gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Man trouble?’
Ruby felt herself flush. ‘Sort of.’ Hadn’t she vowed when she was younger that she’d never let a man interfere with her career as her father had done to her mother?
But that wasn’t what was happening here, was it?
‘I feel for you,’ Allison said. ‘And you’re in luck. We have a couple of placements coming up. One in the US and the other in London. Do you have a preference or would you like me to put you down for both?’
The US was a little close to where Sam had previously worked. If she moved there and then he returned for work that would defeat the entire purpose of the exercise.
‘London,’ she said on a decisive note. She’d never been to London. It was cold, yes, but there was the West End, Covent Garden, double-decker buses and, best of all, no distracting boss.
‘Okay.’ Allison stood up. ‘I’ll make sure your name goes to the head of the queue. I owe you a favour.’
Ruby knew Allison was referring to the previous year when she’d helped her nephew out of a spot of shoplifting trouble. ‘You don’t owe me at all,’ she said with a mock frown. ‘But I appreciate the sentiment.’
‘No worries... Oh, hi, Sam.’ Allison stepped to the side to allow the man Ruby was dead keen on avoiding into her office. ‘Hope you had a nice time interstate yesterday.’
‘Very productive, Allison, thank you.’
Of course he already knew Allison’s name. She was bright, bubbly and single. And none of your business, Ruby told herself.
‘Great, well, I hope you both enjoy the long weekend.’ She waved at Ruby as she left, fanning herself as she passed Sam, a cheeky grin on her face.
Ignoring the butterflies milling around in her stomach at finding herself alone with him, Ruby gave Sam a level look.
‘What can I do for you?’ she asked, hoping her tone hit somewhere between professional and unaffected.
Sam glanced back at Allison’s departing figure. ‘You got problems with HR?’
‘No.’ As Managing Partner, he probably had a right to know her long-term plans at the firm but she had no intention of sharing them at this point. Not when she wasn’t completely certain of them herself. ‘Allison just stopped by.’ Which was true enough.
‘Good.’ He moved further into her office, closing the door behind him. ‘I received your update that we now have fifteen of the original nineteen plaintiffs back on board, as well as five women. That’s great news.’
‘It is.’ Ruby had been ecstatic when the boys had responded so favourably to Sam’s pep talk, encouraging their female counterparts to come forward. ‘We have a class-action suit again. Thank you. If you hadn’t insisted on meeting with them we’d have had more of an uphill battle ahead of us.’
‘Don’t thank me. We still have an uphill battle ahead of us, but we’re a team now. If you need something I’d like to think that you’ll call on me to help you get it.’
Ruby nodded, swallowing the weird lump that had formed in her throat. She wondered what it would feel like if they really were a team, with none of this awkward tension between them. ‘I appreciate the offer,’ she began tentatively. ‘But I’m good. Next week we’ll file proceedings, and then there will be a mountain of documents to review before—’ she stopped as she realised she was rambling. ‘You already know the legal procedure.’
‘I do,’ he agreed wryly. ‘And the Star Burger case isn’t the only reason I’m here.’
‘Sorry.’ Feeling as gauche as a first-day trial lawyer, Ruby tried for a smile. ‘Why else did you stop by?’
‘Lawson Publishing House have their national conference on this weekend and Drew is supposed to attend the keynote address tonight as a thank-you for the work the firm did for them last year. Since Mandy isn’t feeling too well right now, he asked me to fill in.’ He rubbed the faint stubble on his jaw and Ruby noted the tired lines on the outer edges of his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t sleeping any better than she was. ‘Since the chairman and I haven’t met and you’ve worked closely with him on one or two issues, Drew thought it would be a good idea for you to attend with me. He apologised for the late notice, but the whole thing shouldn’t last for more than an hour. Two at the most.’
In the past Ruby would have had no problem representing
the firm at such an event. She’d done so on more than one occasion. But tonight, with Sam? She controlled her breathing as she held his gaze, her mind immediately conjuring up images of him and her, the wall behind her, his body in front. Heat surged low in her pelvis, sparking little tremors of need inside her.
‘Apparently we’re free to leave after the keynote is finished,’ he continued. ‘Before that, though, there is a bit of mingling to be done.’
It wasn’t the mingling she was worried about. ‘I...I...’
Have an appointment with a tub of ice cream? Have to wash my hair? Do my nails?
‘You what?’ he asked, nonchalantly leaning against the side of her desk and piercing her with a dark look. ‘Can’t think of anything worse than spending an evening alone with me?’
‘I hardly call attending a business function an evening alone with you.’
‘I wouldn’t either. So why the look of dismay?’ His eyes raked over her face. ‘Disappointed that it’s not an evening alone, perhaps?’
The memory of what had happened between them a week ago, of how she had responded to him, lay hot and heavy between them.
‘Of course not.’ Her chin rose as she fought to slow her heartbeat. ‘But what if I already have a date for tonight?’
‘‘Then you’ll have to cancel it,’ he said so softly she knew it wasn’t a suggestion.
She wanted to tell him that if she really did have a date she’d do no such thing, but the look in his eyes stayed her. ‘Fine.’ She huffed out a breath. ‘Fortunately for you, I believe that work is more important than anything else anyway.’
‘Work is never more important than anything else,’ he said with such conviction she felt a little taken aback. ‘But regardless, this is a work function and your commitment to the firm is duly noted.’
‘Lucky me.’ She closed the law-review tome she’d been consulting earlier with a thud. ‘Which hotel is the conference being held at? I can meet you there.’
‘No need.’ He straightened away from her desk, his eyes cool. ‘I’ve ordered a car.’
Stuck in the back of a car with Sam Ventura during rush-hour traffic...
‘Terrific,’ she said with a wide smile.
* * *
Sam tuned out the keynote speaker’s lengthy address and tuned into the blonde sitting beside him. Not hard when his body was already so aware of her it ached.
While he’d been interstate the previous day he’d decided to ignore the searing attraction between the two of them. He’d already witnessed her turning the other way in the corridor when she saw him coming more than once and it annoyed the hell out of him. What did she think he was going to do? Throw her over his shoulder and drag her into the nearest office to ravish her? He’d already told her that he never mixed business with pleasure and it was a code he’d never broken.
Before.
A moody scowl twisted his lips. The truth was, he still wanted her badly and he didn’t care about the fact that she worked for him. He didn’t care about anything other than taking her and watching her shatter in his arms again until the only name she could form on her well-sated lips was his. It wasn’t a desire that made sense, given the strength of it, but it wasn’t one he seemed able to fight either.
Much to his consternation.
The whole idea of being led around by his passions was anathema to him. Yes, he went after things he desired, and yes, he was usually successful in achieving them, but he wasn’t a risk-taker like Tino, or a win-at-all-costs guy like Dante. He was the easy-going brother. The one least likely to feel deeply about anything or anyone.
Except when it came to Ruby Clarkson.
He took a healthy swallow of the cabernet sauvignon in his glass, easing out a slow breath. The woman was turning out to be a conundrum, and ignoring the stunning attraction between them only seemed to drive his need for her even higher. Would one more night together resolve that? One more night on his terms to work this crazy attraction out of his system. He didn’t know, but his body liked that idea a whole lot more than it did avoidance.
He noticed Missy Lawson, the chairman’s newly divorced daughter, bearing down on him and glanced at Ruby. She had her hair loose, the shiny golden strands like twin curtains framing her perfect face, her black dress, long enough to be demure in the office, short enough that it showed off her sensational legs. It made a man think about setting his fingers to the zipper at the back and sliding it slowly downward.
‘Time for us to leave,’ he growled softly, noticing a fine tremor go through her as his hand settled against her lower back. He inhaled through his nose, drawing her rose-tinted scent into his lungs before he thought better of it.
‘The keynote’s not finished yet,’ she whispered back.
‘I know.’ He glanced over his shoulder to see Missy getting closer. ‘I won’t tell Drew if you don’t.’
Ruby glanced behind him and then tipped her face up to his, her eyes dancing with an impish light that reminded him of the Ruby he had met in that bar two years ago. ‘Missy looks like she wants another word with you.’
Sam took Ruby’s arm in a light hold. ‘Exactly why we have to leave.’
As he was about to surreptitiously tug her towards the exit doors the keynote chose that moment to wrap it up. Polite clapping ensued and before Sam could take control once more he found their way blocked by someone else. A man this time.
‘Ruby.’ Chester Harris, the stockbroker from Tino and Miller’s wedding, zeroed in on Ruby like a heat-seeking missile.
‘Sam.’ Missy Lawson did the same to him as she barrelled to a halt beside him.
‘Chester,’ Ruby said with surprise.
‘Missy,’ Sam said through gritted teeth. ‘We were just leaving.’
‘My father wants to run a small legal matter past you,’ Missy purred. ‘It shouldn’t take long.’
Sam unclenched his jaw long enough to let Ruby know he’d be no more than five minutes.
‘That’s fine,’ she said, ‘I can find my own way home.’
Sam stopped her with a look. ‘Do not leave without me this time, Clarkson.’ His tone promised all sorts of trouble if she did.
Ruby’s eyes flashed like polished emeralds in the bright light of the hotel ballroom, her jaw tight. He didn’t know if her curt nod at his blatant order meant that she would wait or not, and he was further irritated when she allowed Chester Harris to take her arm as they walked away. Had he been the date she’d needed to cancel in order to be here with him?
Realising that the knot behind his rib cage was jealousy only made Sam’s mood blacker. He really needed to get a handle on Ruby Clarkson and how she made him feel.
Thirty long minutes later he assured John Lawson that his latest author was unlikely to be in breach of any copyright laws, gave Missy what he hoped was a polite smile and went in search of Ruby.
His blood pressure, already raised by Harris’s proprietary manner with her earlier, shot a little higher when he found him hemming Ruby in against one of the large supporting pillars in the cavernous room.
‘Harris,’ he said in a low, dangerous voice. I believe you have something of mine. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.’
‘Sam Ventura.’ He gave Sam a smile that displayed every one of his freshly capped teeth. ‘The last time we met was at your brother’s wedding if I’m not mistaken.’
‘Was it?’ Sam considered the merits of bruising his knuckles on the other man’s jaw and taking a few of those shiny teeth out in the process. If nothing else it would distract him from the unexpectedly possessive thought he’d just had about Ruby being his. It made him feel raw. Exposed.
Ignoring Harris, he stared down at Ruby. ‘Ready to go?’
‘You’re leaving already?’ Harris’s eyes widened with interest. ‘Together?’
‘We came together,’ Ruby supplied hastily
. ‘We shared a car.’
They’d shared a lot more than a car and right now Sam didn’t give a damn if Harris knew it. ‘And now we’re leaving. Together,’ he finished, setting his hand to the small of Ruby’s back as he steered her towards the exit.
Sidestepping his touch, Ruby smiled at various delegates as they worked their way out of the room.
‘Why did you have to say that?’ she hissed, frowning at him as their limousine driver opened the rear door.
‘Get in.’ Ignoring her question, Sam ushered her into the plush interior and followed close behind. Her gaze glittered with feminine outrage as he settled on the leather seat opposite her, which only irritated him more.
‘Are you going to answer me?’ she demanded hotly.
‘No.’
‘No?’ Ruby all but vibrated against the soft leather seat. ‘You just told Sydney’s biggest blabbermouth that we were leaving together in a voice that implied we were leaving together.’
‘How you could ever go out with someone like that I’ll never know.’
‘I didn’t go out with him.’
‘Glad to hear it. So why did you take him to Tino and Miller’s wedding?’
‘None of your business.’
Sam noted her stony profile and stiff shoulders, the colour high along her cheekbones. Could it be that Harris had just been a beard at the wedding? A way of keeping Sam at bay? Irritatingly, if it had been, it had worked.
‘Don’t worry, I think I know.’
Ruby gave up glaring at the window and glared at him instead. ‘Know what?’
‘Why you took Harris to the wedding. You wanted me but you didn’t want to admit it.’
‘You are so full of yourself I’m surprised your enormous ego can fit inside the car with us.’
‘And you’re snippy.’ He leaned forward, his knees brushing the outside of hers. ‘Snippy, prickly and jittery. Now, why is that, do you suppose?’
‘I don’t know, Sam. You’re the one who knows everything, so you tell me.’
The Billionaire's Virgin Temptation Page 8
