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.