When both Molly and Miller had asked where she was going she had made up some new, top-secret case that she had to oversee, and, although they had looked suspicious, they were used to her working over weekends, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch for them to believe her.
That had been two weeks ago and since then Ruby had hardly seen, or heard from, Sam. Mainly that was due to Drew and Mandy having had their baby, a beautiful little girl, which had caused Sam’s responsibilities to double. Then last week he’d had to fly to LA when an old case he’d been working on had blown up. He’d been sorry to cancel yet another weekend together but he’d had no choice.
He’d even thanked her for taking it so well, but what had he expected? That she would get clingy? Ruby didn’t do clingy. Ever.
And really, Sam’s being away had been a good thing. Her own caseload had significantly increased since the merger and she’d needed a lot of uninterrupted time to get on top of it.
She’d also used her free weekend to catch up with her mother and Phil, the fiancé.
They’d lunched at a chic French bistro on the previous Sunday, and her mother had been delighted to fill her in on the story of their romance.
Apparently theirs had been a whirlwind affair—her mother’s favourite kind—and Ruby only hoped this one would last longer than the many others over the years. Though, to be fair, none of the others had made it to the engagement stage. It still surprised Ruby that after her father had walked out, leaving her mother shocked and devastated, she was optimistic enough to date as often as she had and to even try marriage again. But she had to admit that her mother did seem happy with Phil, and that was all Ruby had ever wished for her.
With Sam’s sage words in her ear—words she hadn’t wanted to hear at the time—about her mother being a big girl and able to take care of herself, Ruby found herself biting her tongue rather than warning her mother to be careful. Of course, she didn’t think that her behaviour was that different from the norm, but Molly had frowned at her after the lunch and asked if she was okay.
‘Fine,’ she’d said blithely. ‘I’ve just decided to stop trying to save Mum when it’s obvious she doesn’t want, or need, that from me any more.’
Molly gaped at her. ‘Okay, where’s my sister and how much do you want for her return?’
At the time Ruby had given her that look, but deep down she wondered the same thing. She did feel different at times—looser and less worried about everything, and always wondering what Sam was doing. Like now, for instance, when she should be preparing for a major meeting with Carter Jones she was actually working out the time difference in LA.
And every time she wondered if she was being a bit naive in agreeing to see Sam past that long weekend at the beach house, every time she wondered if she wasn’t getting in a little over her head, her body would pulse with remembered longing and she couldn’t bring herself to end it.
Yet.
But what was he doing now? Working, as he had said, or was he catching up with friends? Had he run into an old flame? Was his lack of contact a signal that he was already tiring of their relationship? Ruby’s stomach bottomed out. Had the time they had spent together been enough for him, while for her the more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to spend with him?
It took everything in her not to get uptight or paranoid, and she felt as if she’d succeeded right up until she heard his voice outside her office coming down the hallway.
‘That’s great news. Have their CFO call me. Those contract negotiations can get tricky when you least expect it, so she needs to be fully briefed ahead of time.’
Ruby only had a moment to collect herself before Sam was standing, larger than life, in her doorway, so handsome it hurt her heart to look at him.
Grant muttered a greeting, barely looking up from his computer, his fingers working furiously on the contract they were planning to put to Carter Jones in less than two hours’ time.
Leaving Grant to it, she smiled at Sam, only to find his expression so serious a lump formed in her throat. He had met someone in LA. Someone at a party, he was sorry, but what could he do? It was back to business as usual for them.