‘Why would I put myself through that kind of a challenge?’
‘How many friends do you have?’ she asked, deadly serious.
‘I have hundreds of friends.’
‘I mean real, true, deep friends?’ she asked.
‘Friends are friends.’ He shrugged off her scepticism. ‘I like lots of them.’
‘Then this should be easy, right?’ she teased.
He sighed. ‘You really don’t want to be friends with benefits, or even just little perks?’
‘That way lies mess and complication. This way lies companionship.’
‘Companionship.’ He all but spat the word.
‘I know there’s no such thing as commitment from a guy like you, Ruben.’
He turned into a statue before her eyes.
‘To be honest, that’s not what I want in my life at this stage either,’ she reassured him with a smile. ‘Things are exciting for me. I’ve got this great job with awesome opportunities...’ She wanted to focus on succeeding with that.
‘Do you really think we can get past the physical attraction?’ Ruben really wasn’t sure that was going to be possible.
‘Sure we can. We’re adults, not animals.’
‘You like it animal,’ he taunted softly, pleased that she still blushed for him.
‘You’ll forget that, eventually.’
He doubted that very much.
‘Are you afraid you’re going to fail at this, Ruben?’
Oh, she thought he would, didn’t she?
‘What do you get out of it?’ he asked softly. ‘Surely you have other friends already, right? So what is it you get from me that you get from no one else? If it isn’t going to be stellar sex, what is it?’
Her flush deepened and she looked away.
He moved closer—not to touch her, but to really see her response. ‘Answer me, or I say no to this and get you panting for it in less than a minute. Be honest. What do you get from me?’
‘Just that, I guess.’ She shrugged. ‘I can be as rude as I like with you. I can be honest and you laugh at me and with me. I can completely be myself and it doesn’t matter.’
That struck some long-buried nerve deep inside him. ‘And you can’t do that with anyone else?’
‘Not quite the same, no.’ She inhaled. ‘I don’t feel like I have to please you. I don’t think I have to do anything but be me with you.’
Ruben looked into her blue eyes, trying to read her. He’d decided never to give a damn what anyone thought of him in life. Ellie’s approach couldn’t be more different. She cared too much about what people thought—she worked stupidly hard to please them. But it was both a weakness and a strength. It was part of what made her so good at her job, but clearly it had caused her some misery in terms of affairs. And she felt as if she could be free in his company?
Ruben narrowed in on the vulnerability in her blue eyes—and recognised blossoming fear. She was afraid he’d refuse her—that she’d asked for something he didn’t want.
And what did he want? To have her in his life for a sex-filled night or two, or for longer as someone to hang with? He tried to think but looking into her eyes was a distraction. They were beautiful—wide and deep, like a vast ocean. Oddly he realised that her wanting just to hang out with him, feeling as if she could, made him feel good in a way he’d never felt before. A way that he didn’t know how to analyse—couldn’t—what with that weird ringing in his ears.
‘Saved by the bell,’ Ellie was muttering grimly.
Oh, there really was ringing—the doorbell. Ruben took her hand and marched her to the door with him. He didn’t want her stropping off to her room because he’d taken too long to answer.
‘Ruben?’ An older woman stood in the entranceway, impeccably groomed and dressed in summer country casual. ‘I’m so glad you’re home.’
‘Oh, hi.’ He drew a quick breath and put his photographic memory to good use. ‘Margot, isn’t it?’ He’d placed her face—one of the society matriarchs in Queenstown. Lovely woman, very proper, probably wanted something for a good cause. He let go of Ellie and stepped forward to shake the older woman’s hand.
‘Yes.’ She smiled.
‘Margot, this is my friend Ellie.’ He introduced them coolly, avoiding Ellie’s eye as he labelled her the way she wanted. ‘How can we help?’
‘I’d heard you were in residence this weekend and stopped by to remind you of the gala in town tonight. Given you’ve donated so generously to the hospice, I thought you might like to attend.’
He donated to all the local hospices near his hotels. The care of people in the last stages of cancer in a homelike environment, with family able to be near, was something he felt very strongly about. He and his mother had cared for his father at home, alone. Had a hospice been nearby it might have made some moments almost bearable.
‘My donations are supposed to remain anonymous.’ He wanted no credit for it. No public recognition. Hell, his business was not built on personality but by private perfection. Quietly satisfied customers were his reward—return customers. He had no hunger for this kind of public approval; his assistance with hospices was intensely personal.
‘Yes, and they will remain so.’ Margot spoke with soft care. ‘I only know about it because I’m the treasurer. But I thought you might like to see how your generosity has helped?’ Margot smiled. ‘There’s a beautiful display at the restaurant and we have a wonderful speaker.’
He cleared his throat. ‘Actually, Margot, we’re really tired. We got bogged in the mud for a couple of hours this morning thanks to this.’ He gestured to the damp fog—it had closed in even more while they’d been in the study.
‘So you’ll be spending the night here anyway as the airport is shut,’ she noted brightly. ‘Why not come just for the dinner? It doesn’t have to be a late night. It starts at seven. It would be wonderful to see you there.’
He hesitated and glanced at Ellie. She was watching him closely. For a second he thought he saw sympathy in her eyes but she blinked and it was gone. She knew he didn’t feel like socialising tonight. And she was right—he’d wanted to be utterly alone with her. He’d planned for them to be miles from anyone up in his mountain hut away from everything but temptation. The damn weather had thwarted those plans. And Ellie herself had thrown Plan B into complete disarray.
Nowadays he often had that nagging question as to whether a woman was interested in him mainly because of his business interests and accompanying bank balance. Ellie had been the one perfect exception to that. She’d had no idea who he was, she’d wanted his body, then she’d laughed with him. Apparently now she wanted to be some kind of buddy with
