‘The thing is, Ruby. I care about you. It’s not just the sex. I want you to stay. I want you to be my girlfriend.’
Ruby’s heart stopped beating. ‘Girlfriend?’ she repeated, stunned by this totally unexpected announcement. When he’d been so dour during the drive home, she’d been sure it was all over; that she was to be out of the door that same day.
‘Yes. Girlfriend,’ he repeated, standing up and coming around the table to sit in the chair next to her. ‘But only if you want to, of course.’
‘Only if I want to...’
‘Yes.’
Her joy was instant. But so was the temptation to tease him. ‘Well, let me see now...’
When a sheepish smile spread across her face, he shook his head at her. But his blue eyes sparkled. ‘You are a minx,’ he said, reaching out to cup her face before leaning over and kissing her.
It was a gentle kiss. A loving kiss, nothing but lips. It surprised Ruby. Sebastian was usually a passionate kisser. But she liked the tenderness of his mouth, and his hands. Liked it a lot.
When his head lifted, he opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again and just shook his head at her.
‘Don’t take this the wrong way, Ruby,’ he said at last, ‘but I still want to keep our relationship a secret for a short while.’
‘Our relationship?’ she said, startled by his use of the word.
‘Yes. Relationship,’ he confirmed. ‘A proper one. The trouble is, if we tell my family and friends that we’re an item, they’ll start interfering. I want to keep you to myself for a while at least, whilst we figure this out.’
Ruby didn’t know what to say. She was thrilled that he wanted her as his girlfriend, but wary over him wanting to keep it a secret, even for a short while.
His smile was reassuringly warm, however. Warm and quite sweet. ‘You’ve made me break all my life rules,’ he said. ‘You know that, don’t you?’
‘You’ve made me break a few of mine as well,’ she returned, his words slowly sinking in. Did she dare hope he might feel for her what she felt for him? Or was that too good to be true? He hadn’t said he loved her, just that he cared for her. It wasn’t the same.
‘Sebastian,’ she said when her wariness raised its ugly head again.
‘Yes?’
‘I understand why you would want to keep us a secret for a while, especially from your mother. But I don’t want to spend Christmas Day with her, pretending to be just your housekeeper. I mean, for me, having a real relationship shouldn’t be about pretending.’
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘It shouldn’t. We’ll tell them all on Christmas Day that we’re dating, okay?’
‘Yes, all right,’ she said, suddenly worried that they might think she’d taken advantage of her position to seduce Sebastian; that she was some kind of gold-digger.
‘If it really bothers you, Ruby, I’ll ring them up and tell them today.’
‘No, no,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Please don’t. Christmas Day will do fine.’
‘Why are you frowning, then?’
‘I don’t know. I guess I... I’m worried your family might think badly of me.’
‘Why on earth would they do that? My mother already loves you.’
Ruby sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right.’
‘I am right,’ he said, and gave her another kiss. ‘So what are we going to do today, girlfriend?’
‘Nothing much. I’m awfully tired.’
‘In that case I think we should go back to bed. I might even let you go to sleep.’
‘Thank you very much,’ she said, giving him a peck on the lips. ‘If you do, you might get a reward when I wake up.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SEBASTIAN WAS REWARDED handsomely, pleased to finally make love to Ruby with true affection in his heart. The sex they’d been having had been physically exciting, but it was even better when it was an expression of love. Oh, yes, he’d finally come to terms with his feelings for Ruby. It was love that he felt for Ruby. True love. Deeper than he’d ever felt before.
He’d loved Jennifer, but it had been a young man’s love. Passionate, yes. But selfish. Lacking in maturity and understanding.
He understood Ruby. Understood that she’d been hurt in the past, that she’d had her faith in men shattered. That father of hers had been appalling. Then, when she’d needed him the most, her boyfriend had dumped her. Sebastian suspected there’d been other creeps in her life as well.
It would take a while to win her trust and her heart. Yes, Ruby lusted after him. Maybe she even cared about him a little. But he doubted she loved him. And why would she? He’d hardly been all that loveable. But he aimed to pull out all the stops from this day forward. He wanted her to love him, wanted it more than he’d wanted anything in his life.
Sunday dawned fine and sunny, Ruby waking in Sebastian’s bed, feeling wonderfully rested and sated. Sebastian’s lovemaking had taken a tender turn the night before, but she didn’t mind. She liked him taking his time, liked looking into his eyes and thinking how much she loved him. They’d snuggled up and talked for ages before falling asleep, Ruby happy to find out more about Sebastian—the man, not just Sebastian her boss and secret lover. He liked movies, which was a given, considering his profession. He liked reading. Liked swimming. She’d confessed to her own love of all three, which seemed to please Sebastian a lot.
Unfortunately, as she lay there the next morning, thinking about how much she loved the man lying next to her, Ruby’s happiness slowly began to fade. She began worrying about what would happen when Georgia came back, when she was no longer conveniently living in his house. Did Sebastian plan to set her up in an apartment nearby and visit her on occasion?
He didn’t know her very well if he thought she would go for such an arrangement.
When Sebastian started to stir, Ruby told herself to stop with the infernal thinking and worrying. Enjoy what you have right now, you foolish girl. Because that’s all you can be sure of in life, isn’t it?
‘Did I tell you that Harvest Productions has closed down for the summer break?’ Sebastian told her over breakfast.
‘No,’ she replied, reminding her that there was still a lot she didn’t know about Sebastian.
‘Yes. We do the same thing every year. It’s better to have everyone off at the same time.’
‘When do you go back to work?’