He frowned at the dates before letting her wrist go and looking up at her.
‘You must have been young when she died.’
‘Nineteen,’ she admitted, then waited for him to ask more questions.
But he didn’t.
‘My mother died when I was young too,’ he said at last. ‘But not as young as you.’
‘Please don’t tell Sebastian,’ she said quickly, glancing over her shoulder lest her boss suddenly reappear.
‘Why not?’
Ruby sighed. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘Fair enough. We all have our secrets. And yours is harmless enough. Let’s have some wine.’
Ruby was glad for the conversation to move on. Glad too of the soothing effect of the alcohol. It still amazed her how upset she could get when she thought of her mother’s death. Though maybe it was her father’s behaviour at the time and afterwards that kept her distress alive. Men could be such bastards.
She stared at Zack over the rim of her wine glass and wondered what his secrets were. Something deep and dark, she suspected. But any musings about her guest were cut dead by Sebastian stomping back to the table, his face grim.
‘Well, my weekend at Surfers is off,’ he growled as he slumped into his seat and swept up his wine glass.
‘Why?’ Zack asked before Ruby could. ‘What’s happened?’
‘My mother’s birthday is what happened. It’s next Saturday. Gloria was going to take Mum out for the day but her doctor husband has to go to some medical conference in Adelaide and he wants her to go with him. Which means yours truly has to do the honours.’
Ruby rolled her eyes at him. ‘Is that all?’ she said as she rose to her feet. ‘You should be thankful you have a mother.’
He did look a little shamefaced at this comment. ‘Yes, yes, I know that. But she’s just so difficult to please. Never likes anything on restaurant menus. She used to drive my father mad when he was alive. He liked interesting food. But not Mum. She prefers the plainest fair.’
‘Then why not bring her here and I’ll cook her something she likes?’ Ruby suggested before it sank in that it would be better if he took his mother out for the day. The whole day!
‘What a good idea,’ Zack said. ‘This is a great girl you have here, Sebastian.’
Ruby could have sworn that Sebastian threw his friend a decidedly caustic glance. Ruby realised he was probably thinking Zack was trying to butter her up.
Sebastian sighed. ‘Thank you for the offer, Ruby. That’s very kind of you.’
His warm compliment brought a sudden flush of heat to her whole body.
‘Time for dessert?’ she asked, her voice going a little high, as it did when she was agitated.
‘Absolutely,’ Sebastian said. ‘What is it?’
‘New York-style cheesecake. What do you want with it, ice cream or cream?’
‘I’ll have ice cream,’ Zack said before Sebastian answered. ‘And plenty of it. This damned heat is getting to me.’
‘It’s supposed to storm tomorrow,’ Ruby told him.
‘Good.’
‘Not good,’ Sebastian snapped. ‘We’re shooting outdoors tomorrow.’
‘I’m sure we’ll cope. It might add some atmosphere to the episode if it rains. The way it is, that scene is a bit bland.’
Sebastian frowned. ‘You think so? I thought it was intense.’
‘It didn’t read that way to me.’
‘Why didn’t you say so earlier?’
‘I would have, but we were discussing other things, remember?’
Ruby decided it was time to go. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but what do you want with your cheesecake, Sebastian?’
He stared at her for a long moment before a wryly amused smile quirked the corner of his mouth. ‘I’ll have what Zack’s having,’ he said, bringing a laugh from Zack.
‘Very funny, Seb.’
Ruby didn’t think it was funny, the quote from the well-known romantic movie causing her mind—and her body—to zing with the type of sexual tension that was difficult to ignore.
Ruby knew there would be nothing fake about her orgasms if she ever went to bed with her boss. Not that she ever would. But it was still a struggle to focus on the present moment and not some ridiculous fantasy.
‘That reminds me,’ she said, looking straight at Sebastian with a cool, businesslike expression. ‘You didn’t give me the list of your shows like you said you would.’
‘Sorry. I forgot. I’ll get my PA to email you the list and the screening times tomorrow.’
‘Right,’ she said, and went to get the desserts, feeling ridiculously hurt that he’d forgotten. It was silly really. Very silly. But then this whole business of being attracted to Sebastian was silly. He wasn’t interested back. Yet, in that perverse way of human nature, this only seemed to make him even more attractive to her.
Ruby had spent the last few years fending off the attentions of the male sex. It was ironic that the one man she wanted to want her, didn’t want her.
She supposed she should be grateful for that. Sebastian wanting her would have caused trouble in the end because she would have been faced with the dilemma of working women everywhere. Should she or shouldn’t she?
Sleeping with the boss was never a good idea. Never!
Nevertheless, it was a wickedly exciting idea when Sebastian was the boss in question. Ruby should have been shocked at herself for even thinking about it. But she did think about it. Endlessly. And she wasn’t shocked. She was aroused.
Oh, dear, she thought as she spooned the ice cream onto the plates of cheesecake, stuffing a big spoonful into her overheated mouth at the same time.
Do try to cool it, Ruby. You’re on a good wicket here. Don’t do anything to spoil it!
‘This looks delicious,’ Zack said when she put his dessert in front of him. ‘Did you cook it yourself?’
‘No. I bought it from this wonderful bakery not far from here. It’s where I got the bread rolls from too.’
‘A good bakery is worth its weight in gold,’ Zack said. ‘So is a good housekeeper,’ he added. ‘You’re a lucky man, Sebastian.’
Sebastian’s lips pressed grimly together as he cast his friend an exasperated glance.
‘I do know that, Zack,’ he bit out. ‘Ruby is a find, that’s for sure. That’s all for now, thank you, Ruby. We won’t have coffee. We’ll just finish off this wine.’