‘Sorry.’ Sam moved forward. ‘He hasn’t learnt any manners yet.’
‘He’s yours?’ She was surprised. She hadn’t expected Sam to be a pet person. Pets seemed so permanent for a man who wasn’t the relationship type.
He picked up the puppy and wiped slobber off his face as it licked him. ‘Yes, he’s mine,’ Sam answered her. ‘I just got him this morning from the rescue centre.’
‘Someone disowned him?’
‘They did more than that.’ His voice deepened with disgust. ‘He was thrown into a wheelie bin with his brothers and sisters.’
‘Oh, you poor thing.’ Instinctively Ruby reached out her hand to stroke between his ears, the move bringing her closer to Sam than she would have liked. ‘What’s his name?’
‘Mutt.’
‘Mutt?’ She scowled at him. ‘You can’t call him that.’
‘I haven’t named him yet. Maybe Shep.’
‘Too passé,’ she said. ‘What about Caesar?’
‘And give him unnecessary illusions of grandeur? There’s only room for one alpha in this pack.’
Ruby rolled her eyes, unable to prevent a smile from forming on her lips. ‘I hope he gives you a run for your money.’
Miller laughed. ‘He’s already got Sam wrapped around his over-large paw, from what I can see.’
‘Looks can be deceiving, Millsy,’ Sam countered. ‘What would you call him?’ he asked Ruby.
Ruby studied the puppy, tapping a finger against her bottom lip. ‘Kong.’
‘Kong?’
The scepticism in his voice made her laugh. ‘He’s going to be enormous,’ she said; ‘you can tell by the ears and the feet.’
Sam turned the dog to face him, holding him at arm’s length. ‘Are you a Kong?’
The puppy barked enthusiastically and Miller laughed. ‘He likes it.’
‘And it’s a hell of a lot better than Mutt,’ Tino drawled. ‘Come on, Red,’ he said, ‘time to get underway.’
‘Ah, wait...’ Ruby trailed off as three pairs of eyes turned towards her. Unbidden, her gaze sought Sam’s. She wanted to say that she had changed her mind about the weekend. That something had come up. Something urgent and completely unavoidable. Only her fuzzy brain couldn’t produce a single excuse that sounded urgent or unavoidable. Especially with Sam looking at her with that half-cocked grin as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Her pregnant pause lengthened into uncomfortable territory, the sun beating down hot and inviting on her head, the waves gently lapping at the side of the hull.
‘Did you forget something?’ Miller asked. ‘We probably have it at the house if you have.’
Ruby had that same embarrassing feeling she’d had two years ago. The one where she made a mountain out of a molehill, thinking that Sam had felt more for her than he really had. The one that had made her sit by the phone all weekend, not even questioning if he’d call, but actually believing that he would.
‘No,’ she said, forcing a smile to her lips. ‘I didn’t forget a thing.’
If Sam wasn’t bothered by having her around this weekend then she wasn’t going to be bothered having him around either. Or at least she wouldn’t show that she was bothered.
* * *
After docking at Tino and Miller’s private jetty, Ruby made a beeline for the state-of-the-art kitchen, fetching two mugs from the kitchen cupboard and reaching for the old-fashioned kettle on the stovetop. ‘Tea?’
‘Tea?’ Miller crinkled her nose in disgust, placing a box of fresh produce on the granite countertop. ‘Is it too early for champagne?’
‘Where do you want these?’ Sam stepped inside with another box of supplies under one arm.
‘Over there,’ Miller said, indicating an empty place on the bench behind Ruby.
Quickly skirting sideways, Ruby sucked in her breath as Sam’s elbow brushed her stomach on his way past.
‘Sorry.’
‘No, I should have...’ Ruby pressed closer against the sink and ducked around him to move to the other side of the bench, ignoring his delicious scent as it wafted into her nose.