‘No. Most of them pulled out because Carter Jones started a smear campaign against them. We need to get those clients to re-engage in the case if we want to win and you know it. Come. Sit down.’
‘They don’t trust the system,’ she told him, reluctantly doing as he’d bid and taking a seat on the spare sofa adjacent to his. ‘And why should they? It hasn’t done them any favours so far.’
‘It will after we win their case.’
Ruby’s brows drew down. ‘Just don’t push them too much, okay? They don’t know you from Adam.’
Sam cocked his head, his gaze raking her face to the point of discomfort. ‘You care about these boys almost more than you care about winning, don’t you?’
‘I care about doing what my client wants me to do,’ she said, pushing her hair back behind her ears. She didn’t want Sam to think she brought excessive emotion to her cases because it was one thing to be passionate about work, but quite another to be so involved you stopped being impartial and became ineffective.
‘I have been around the block once or twice, Ruby—I do know what I’m doing.’ He gave her an all-encompassing look. ‘Is that the only thing making you so jittery right now?’
Ruby’s head reared back. ‘First you say I’m prickly, now you say I’m jittery. I’m neither,’ she said hotly, her stomach doing a somersault and making a mockery of her words. Lord, if he could see through her so easily, she was toast.
‘Good. Then help me work out the best strategy to get the full nineteen boys back on board. If we want to beat Jones we’re going to need them to at least agree to show up in the courtroom, even if they have no intention of taking the stand. It will give our current clients a confidence boost and hopefully worry the hell out of Jones.’
Ruby unclamped her lips and found herself envying Sam his ability to remain so composed while she felt as if her insides were getting ready to audition for the lead role in one of Molly’s musicals. But then he wasn’t constantly distracted by flashbacks as to how it had felt to have her hands all over his body on Friday night. How it had felt to have his hands all over hers. And why couldn’t she manage to put that behind her? It had been five days already.
‘I know you care about these boys, Ruby,’ he said softly. ‘You’re not as hard-nosed as you’d like me to believe.’
Ruby opened her file notes and lifted her chin. ‘I’m exactly as hard-nosed as I want you to believe.’
Sam shook his head and moved from his sofa to hers, his powerful thigh brushing against hers as he settled too closely beside her. Fire shot through her at the slight touch and she surreptitiously adjusted her position further along the settee, ignoring his sidelong glance.
‘Ready?’ She arched a brow in question.
‘Always.’ He took the first file from her and Ruby exhaled as his agile brain switched from her to work, forcing her own to follow suit.
* * *
Three hours later Ruby was quietly impressed with the way Sam had approached the case. He did know his stuff and had gone out of his way to put the boys at ease, asking insightful questions and never pushing in a way that might be construed as threatening or manipulative.
Now, with the meeting about to finish up, she couldn’t wait to get out of there. A whole morning of being this close—and this aware—of her new boss had her nerves strung tight. And some sixth sense told her that Sam knew exactly how she was feeling.
It seemed that she only had to take a breath and he glanced her way. It was unnerving. He was unnerving. Why on earth had she become so carried away on Friday night that she’d ignored every cautionary note in her head that screamed Stop! and instead had listened to the racy one that had moaned More?
‘Thank you all for coming today. I know it wasn’t that convenient but I truly believe if we stand together we can win this case for you,’ Sam began. ‘I also think that it’s vital that we win this case for you. Your lives mean something here, they mean something to us, but you need to stand up and believe that too if you want to see justice done for each and every one of you, now and in the future.’ A couple of the boys fist-pumped the air in agreement, while others shifted uneasily in their seats, none unmoved by Sam’s passionate discourse. ‘I know you have to think about everything that was said today but if you could email Ruby by the end of the week with your decision as to how you want to proceed we would greatly appreciate it.’