It pleased her that Sebastian recognised she was smart. And it pleased her, in a perverse way, that he wasn’t bowled over by her so-called sexy looks. No woman wanted to be valued for her face or figure alone...though it wasn’t a pleasant experience to be dead plain either, as she’d been as a teenager. Ruby hadn’t blossomed until after her mother had died. She’d lost some weight and grown her hair, after which she’d finally snared her first boyfriend. Bailey, the rat.
She still wasn’t conventionally pretty. But that didn’t seem to matter. Men took one look at her and wanted her.
At least, a lot of men did. Clearly, Sebastian wasn’t one of them. Which, she supposed, was good news. Yes, he recognised her attractions but obviously didn’t feel compelled to act on them. Then again, there was clearly something wrong with him if Georgia had said he never brought a woman home. Never!
The man was a cold-blooded robot, Ruby decided. An emotionless machine. Either that or he was so damaged by grief over his wife’s death, that he’d turned off his libido for good.
No, no, that wasn’t right. If that was the case then he wouldn’t be going away next weekend.
Ruby rolled her eyes, irritated with herself for thinking about the man so much. She had more important things to do. Like going shopping and buying fresh ingredients for tonight’s dinner, along with something suitable to wear in front of a TV star.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘DO ME A FAVOUR, Zack,’ Sebastian said as he approached his home. ‘Try not to hit on my housekeeper tonight, okay?’
Zack threw him a puzzled look. ‘And why would I do that? I never have before. Georgia is safe and sound.’
‘I’m sure she is. But Georgia’s in Melbourne, looking after her sister, who was in a car accident. I have a temporary housekeeper at the moment. Her name is Ruby. And she’s a different kettle of fish from Georgia.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. Younger. Attractive. And unfortunately single.’
‘I see.’
‘You don’t actually,’ Sebastian said ruefully. ‘But you will.’
‘So why am I getting warned off? You want her for yourself, is that it?’
Sebastian laughed. He couldn’t help it.
‘No,’ he lied. ‘You know very well I never get involved with my employees.’
‘Or anyone else, for that matter,’ Zack shot back.
‘That’s not true. I just like to keep my sex life away from home.’
‘Far away from home, from what I’ve gathered. But we’re getting off the point. Why aren’t I allowed to chat this Ruby up? You said she was single.’
‘She’s also a nice girl.’
Now Zack laughed. ‘Too nice for me, is that what you mean?’
‘Yes,’ Sebastian said, though he delivered the barb with a smile.
‘Lovely,’ Zack growled. ‘My best friend thinks I’m a bastard.’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Sebastian said, ‘but you are a bit of a bad boy with women.’
Zack nodded. ‘True,’ he said. ‘But it works for me, Seb. Bad boys often get the girl.’
‘Yes, so I’ve noticed. Just not this time, please. Keep your bad-boy act buttoned up tonight and try to act like a good guy.’
‘Fine. How boring.’ His sigh was the melodramatic affectation of an actor. ‘Very well. I guess I can channel my inner altar boy for one night.’
‘Good,’ Sebastian said as he angled into his driveway and headed down to the garages. Because he knew he couldn’t stand it if Ruby fell for Zack’s charm. And he could be charming. Very charming.
Sebastian’s stomach tightened with tension as he made his way up the internal staircase, Zack hot on his heels.
‘Is she a good cook?’ Zack asked.
‘Very,’ Sebastian threw over his shoulder.
‘That’s good. I can at least enjoy the food, if not the company.’
Sebastian ground to a halt, then spun round to face his friend. ‘What do you mean by that?’ he demanded to know, his deep voice echoing in the cement-rendered staircase.
Zack’s ruggedly handsome face creased into a wry smile. ‘Can you hear yourself? You’ve been like a bear with a sore head all day.’
Sebastian sighed. ‘Sorry. Business worries.’
‘Like what? Your trip overseas went well. What have you got to worry about?’
‘I guess I’m just a natural worrier.’
‘That you are. You should be more like me. Nothing worries me.’
‘So I’ve noticed. But we can’t all be like you, Zack. Some of us actually have consciences.’
‘Ah, so that’s the problem. You do fancy this Ruby but you’re her boss.’
Sebastian pursed his lips. To lie or not to lie? In truth he was sick of lying. And pretending. Last weekend had been hell. He shouldn’t have come home early and even more stupidly gone swimming. Though it had seemed a good idea at the time. Then, to cap off his stupidity, he’d forgotten to take a towel with him. The way Ruby had looked at him when she’d brought him a towel—as if he was a complete idiot—was etched in his mind.
‘Well, do you fancy her or not?’ Zack prompted impatiently.
‘I suppose I do,’ he admitted at last.
‘Then why didn’t you just say so, for Pete’s sake?’
‘Because I don’t want to fancy her,’ Sebastian snapped. He didn’t want to fancy any woman. That was the truth of the matter. After Jennifer’s death he’d vowed never to become emotionally involved with another woman. Not as long as he lived.
Not that he was emotionally involved with Ruby. Lord, no. He felt sure he knew exactly what was eating away at him. It was nothing more than lust. Though given she was living in his house, that could develop into a dangerous situation as the weeks went on.
‘Thankfully, she’s only my temporary housekeeper,’ he ground out. ‘In a few months, she’ll be gone. In the meantime...’
‘In the meantime?’ Zack asked with raised eyebrows.
‘I would prefer not to think of her in your bed.’
Zack smiled. ‘I can appreciate that. Nothing worse than the object of your affections being seduced by another man.’
‘She is not the object of my affections. Just my hormones.’
‘Then perhaps you should do something about those hormones. Oh, yes, you already are, aren’t you? That’s why you’re off to Surfers next weekend. Plenty of hot babes up there.’