Flirting With Intent (16 page)

Charming he remained, but Damon was getting restless.

The system design work he’d taken on currently held his attention but Ruby was under no illusions that he was about to forgo his covert work and his travelling lifestyle and become a model citizen. The jobs Ruby had taken to looking at all required her to commit to a particular course of action and stick to it. They all expected her to base herself somewhere for two to three years and stay there.

Ruby pushed the latest company structure and advancements file she’d been reading away from her with a sigh. Lena was at the kitchen bench making fruit smoothies for them both. Lena did not like being coddled
and she’d just finished a workout in the pool that had left Ruby quietly terrified that Lena was going to overdo it and land herself back in hospital.

‘I’m no medical expert,’ said Ruby as Lena walked slowly towards the table, a smoothie in each hand. ‘But have you considered that doing physio three times a day when the doctor recommends you only do it once might be doing you more harm than good?’

‘Stop fussing,’ said Lena. ‘I’m fine. But seeing as we’re being reflective, have you considered where Damon fits into all these work options you’re contemplating?’

‘Why do you think I’m rejecting them all?’ Ruby took a glum sip of her smoothie. ‘Have you any idea how hard it is to make plans that will accommodate your brother in my life?’

‘Well, have you tried making them
with
him? That might help.’

‘Ow,’ said Ruby. ‘Sarcasm. Don’t you think that if I’d wanted to engage Damon on the topic I’d have done so already?’

‘Maybe. Maybe not,’ said Lena. ‘You might be waiting for him to say
I love you.
Which he does, by the way.’

‘And you know this how?’

‘Observation.’

‘I see,’ said Ruby dryly.

‘The thing is, Damon spends a lot of time thinking he’s not worthy of love,’ continued Lena earnestly. ‘Pushing it away. He might not know how to say it. He might have to follow your lead. And you can lead, Ruby. You’re very good at it.’

‘Are you suggesting that I say it first?’

‘That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.’

‘I’ll keep it in mind,’ said Ruby coolly. ‘As long as
you
bear in mind that
I love you
is not an easy thing to say—and mean—no matter who’s doing the talking.’

‘I’ve overstepped my boundaries, haven’t I?’

‘You have.’

‘Sorry. Bad habit.’ Lena looked dismayed.

‘You’re here. The relationship is playing out in front of you and you want to smooth your brother’s way. You’re forgiven,’ said Ruby, and meant it. ‘But let me give you a little background information about me and the way I was raised.

‘My father was a man of many secrets and even more agendas, none of which I was privy to. I loved him but I didn’t know him. I adored him but I was never quite sure when
he was being truthful and when he was lying through his teeth. Hell, I don’t even know if he loved me. If he’s alive and well and living off a mountain of stolen money and has no intention of contacting me ever again, I’m going to have to go with no.’

‘That’s quite a background,’ said Lena with a grimace.

‘Now enter Damon,’ said Ruby. ‘A fascinating, complex, glory of a man with a head full of secrets and a job that requires him to keep them. A man so used to keeping people
out
that getting him to reveal even the tiniest thing about himself requires a patience and perseverance I’m not sure I possess. And then just when I think I can’t do this, he turns around and bares his soul for me—not his secrets but his soul, and I get lost in him, Lena, so lost it scares me. And he gets lost in me.’

Ruby’s headband came off, and this time she left it off as she ran her hands through her already beach-swept hair.

‘If this is love, it’s not a comfortable, easy love,’ she said. ‘If this is honesty, it’s going to take some getting used to.’ Lena’s sympathetic gaze cut to some place just over Ruby’s
shoulder. ‘And if that’s Damon I’m going to freak.’

‘I just remembered a doctor’s appointment,’ said Lena. ‘A really long one.’

‘Lena.’ Damon’s quiet, measured voice confirmed the worst. ‘No need to get up, though it’d be nice if you’d butt out.’

He came into view, a dangerously attractive man wearing long shorts and a simple grey cotton T-shirt that looked anything but simple on him. He held out his hand to Ruby, his ocean eyes stormy. ‘Walk with me.’

It wasn’t a request.

They headed for the beach path, Damon leading and Ruby in his wake once they got there, but he did not let her hand go and he did not slow his stride. He kept walking once they reached the water’s edge.

Walking off a mad, one of her favourite nannies-of-old would have said. Better a walk than broken toys. And once Ruby had finally calmed down enough to be coherent, she’d say, ‘Okay, Ruby Lou, talk. Who’s wounded you most mortally now?’

That particular question had always been a prelude to a conversation about anger and wilfulness and how to manage both. The nanny would bring out her sewing kit and together
she and Ruby would analyse the insult and Ruby’s reaction to it and at the end of the conversation there would be a funny, pretty headband for Ruby Lou to wear.

‘What can’t you have?’ Nanny Laura would say as the headband went on.

‘My way all the time.’

‘And why can’t you have it?’

‘Because other people have feelings too.’

‘There’s my considerate girl.’

A memorably grounded nanny, that one, though she hadn’t lasted long.

But the lesson had sunk in and Ruby did her best to think of other people’s feelings too.

Damon had feelings, ones that ran fathoms deep.

And Ruby had wounded them.

‘How much did you hear?’ she asked when they were halfway along the beach and the silence had reached suffocation point.

‘Damon, stop. Please.’ She planted her feet in the sand at the water’s edge and tugged on his hand. ‘I’m asking you to stop walking while I explain.’

She felt the pull of his hand against hers and held on tight. He could do this. Be still
for her. And she could try and mend the damage done. ‘How much did you hear?’ ‘All of it, Ruby.’

He turned to look at her, and she could see that exercise hadn’t calmed him down any.

‘All of it. Starting with my sister trying to explain away my faults and finishing with you saying you’re too scared to take a chance on me.’

‘I didn’t say that,’ argued Ruby. ‘I said I needed time. There’s a difference. I
am
taking a chance on you, Damon. What do you think I’ve been doing? I’m just not sure what happens next, that’s all, and I’m not pushing you for answers. Dammit, Damon! You’ve made no mention whatsoever about where you’re going or what you plan to do once these two weeks are up. You’re playing us day by day and close to the chest and so am I. Isn’t that what you want?’

Damon smiled mirthlessly. ‘Apparently not.’

‘Then what
do
you want? Because I’m willing to have this conversation if you are. I just didn’t want to be the one to start it.’

‘I want to talk about what comes next,’ he said gruffly. ‘Where you’re going. Where you want to go. The things I have to do and
the things I can change to suit myself. Or suit us.’

Damon took a deep breath and reached out to tuck a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear. ‘No headband.’

‘I left it on the table.’

‘I know love and trust doesn’t come easy to you, Ruby. It doesn’t come easy to me either. But I do want to be with you. Make some changes so that I
can
be with you, at times. If that would suit you.’

It was a start.

T
HREE
days later, on the back of some rather haphazard planning, Ruby went back to Hong Kong. Damon joined her a week later. Living with her, loving her, and watching her try and make up her mind on a new career path and permanent location with a smile on his face and a patience that surprised her.

When she’d gone round in circles a few times he weighed in with reasoned argument.

If she liked it in Hong Kong why not stay on here for a while?

Forget her father’s actions, they were not hers to own and if people couldn’t see that they were fools.

At least in Hong Kong she already knew who her friends were. The ones who’d stood by her when things had gone bad. The ones
who kept in contact with her and valued her company.

An advantage over starting afresh, he’d said.

He could see things very clearly when he wanted to, could Damon. Ruby’s respect for him grew, along with her dependence on making decisions
with
him rather than without.

Eventually, she decided to make Hong Kong work for her for now. The Australian-based law firm still hadn’t filled their Hong Kong position. Plenty of room now for some negotiation of terms. One week every month a trip back to the Sydney office to consolidate the work. Formalised mentorship facilitated by computer conferencing technology. And free rein to do things her way when it came to setting up shop.

And if the decision sounded as if it was based in part on Damon’s solid reasoning that Hong Kong would prove a useful base for them both, well, maybe it was.

Damon too was looking to rent office space in Hong Kong. Build up a legitimate network development service for small businesses. Employ a manager. A couple of technicians. Lend a hand every now and then.

Keep his head in the game. Go legit with at least some of his work.

It sounded good in theory.

Whether he would have enough focus to actually step up and
do
it was anyone’s guess.

Days whizzed by and Ruby took to talking to the cat again.

A vastly friendlier little cat, for little girls were apparently very good at sneaking through a little cat’s reserve. The cat, who now went by the name of Jao, now had two homes to choose from, and one he retreated to when he wanted peace and solitude and the other home he favoured when he wanted to play.

Not bad for a no-name scrap of mistrust and misery.

‘Fall on your feet, don’t you?’ she told Jao, who’d developed a habit of taking a fast and clawless strike at her ankles from beneath the overhang of the kitchen bench. ‘Just like Damon.’

Damon who’d been looking at office space but neglecting to pay attention to the contractual leasing terms of the office space chosen. Damon didn’t have the patience for it. Ruby did. Also a vested interest in not wanting
him to expire of frustration before his venture into the world of small-business ownership had even begun.

‘Damon’s going to need a
very
switched on business manager,’ she said to the little cat as she marked for signing the leasing arrangement he’d decided to go with.

‘Damon’s well aware of that,’ said a voice, and Ruby looked up from the papers and saw Damon coming towards her, fresh from the shower with only a towel to keep him company.

‘You couldn’t afford me,’ she said, and favoured him with a very appreciative smile. ‘Besides, I’ve decided to take the Hong Kong job. Even if I only do the initial set-up and then pass the position on to someone else. That corner suite we looked at yesterday would be perfect.’

‘The ground-floor corner office with the too big reception area, too small a workshop and the little courtyard? The one you told me was on the border of Triad territory?’

‘Yes,’ said Ruby serenely.
‘Border
being the operative word. Between
two
opposing Chinese corporations, actually. Authorities tend to steer clear and that is of benefit to a lawyer with a client base of asylum seekers,
many of whom have not had pleasant experiences with authority.’

‘Get each side to throw in a day guard and lockdown parking facilities for your wheels and I might even agree,’ he said as he picked up the pen and scrawled his signature beside every cross. ‘You’ll be dealing with desperate people, Ruby. You’re going to have to take precautions.’

‘I know. And later on I want to pick your brains when it comes to securing computer files and whatnot. Maybe I can be your first customer.’ She picked up the paperwork and waved it in his face. ‘Next time,
read
it.’

‘Why? You already have.’ He dropped a kiss on her lips and forestalled further comment. ‘You know, you’re lucky to have me. I haven’t mentioned locking you up and not letting you out of this apartment ever again
once
during this conversation.’

‘Nor will you if you have any sense of fair play at all. When it comes to courting danger, each to his own.’

‘The family’s going to say it’s my fault you went dark side,’ he continued morosely. ‘They’ll say I encouraged you.’

Ruby smiled. ‘And they’d be right. Am I
going to have to get undressed in order to win this argument?’

‘You’ve already won it. Besides, I need to change the topic,’ he murmured, and let his bottom lip drag against hers before sliding his lips across to her ear. ‘I have to go to Eastern Europe for work.’

Ruby drew away swiftly and fixed him with an unfriendly gaze. ‘I
knew
you were buttering me up for something.’

‘No, you didn’t. You thought I was just being my usual charming self.’

This was true. Not that she had any intention of saying that aloud.
‘When
are you going to Eastern Europe?’

‘Today.’

Ruby nodded. Thumped him in the chest with a none-too-gentle fist. ‘How long have you known?’

‘Ten minutes.’ He glanced at the microwave clock. ‘Fifteen.’

‘When are you coming back?’

‘A week?’ Damon shrugged. ‘It’s hard to say. Hopefully a week.’

‘Will you call and let me know?’

‘No contact. You know how this goes, Ruby. We’ve talked about it.’

Yes, but talking wasn’t doing. Ruby glared
at him afresh. ‘Make sure you bring me back a present. At least then I’ll know I’ve been in your thoughts.’

‘A headband?’

‘Yes,’ she said and lifted her chin. ‘A headband for reasonable, considerate, loveable little Ruby, and I’ll give you fair warning. Regardless of my
inherently
forgiving nature, I do have a temper, and certain actions have been known to trigger it.’ Her hands had gone to her hips. ‘Keep your secrets when it comes to your work, I don’t want them. As for our personal affairs, I don’t like being manipulated and I resent being lied to. Are we clear?’