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‘Ti a fine treainst her lower back He inhaled through his nose, drawing her rose-tinted scent into his lungs before he thought better of it

‘The keynote’s not finished yet,’ she whispered back

‘I know’ He glanced over his shoulder to see Missy getting closer ‘I won’t tell Drew if you don’t’

Ruby glanced behind hi with an iht that reo ‘Missy looks like she wants another ith you’

Saht hold ‘Exactly e have to leave’

As he was about to surreptitiously tug her towards the exit doors the keynote chose thatensued and before Sam could take control once more he found their way blocked by someone else A man this time

‘Ruby’ Chester Harris, the stockbroker fro, zeroed in on Ruby like a heat-seeking missile

‘Sam’ Missy Lawson did the same to him as she barrelled to a halt beside him

‘Chester,’ Ruby said with surprise

‘Missy,’ Sa’

‘My father wants to run a sal ’

Sah to let Ruby know he’d be no more than five minutes

‘That’s fine,’ she said, ‘I can find my oay home’

Sam stopped her with a look ‘Do not leave without me this time, Clarkson’ His tone promised all sorts of trouble if she did

Ruby’s eyes flashed like polished eht He didn’t know if her curt nod at his blatant order meant that she would wait or not, and he was further irritated when she allowed Chester Harris to take her arm as they walked away Had he been the date she’d needed to cancel in order to be here with him?