Chapter 9
When Denver had been arrested, Jax had been subjected to some unconventional proposals from the media desperate to get the inside scoop.
None as outrageous as Ruby Seaborn asking him to marry her.
"You know you don't have to go to those lengths for me to put out. I'm good for it."
She laughed, a genuine belly laugh that made something inside him twist with longing.
"This isn't what you think." She darted a glance over her shoulder, probably checking for eavesdroppers. As if anyone would approach them as long as she hung out with him. "It's a business proposal."
She beckoned with a crook of her finger. He didn't need to be asked twice to get up close and personal with her. When he'd whispered in her ear he'd smelled summer berries. Strawberry? Raspberry? Blueberry? A delicious compote that had him yearning to taste…
He pointed to her empty wine glass. "How many of those have you had?"
"Not enough," she muttered, her wry grin adding to her intrigue.
He'd had women proposition him many times, but none had been crazy enough to propose marriage.
"Just hear me out, okay?"
She laid a hand on his forearm and he stilled, her touch innocuous, his libido's reaction anything but.
"I'm all ears."
She slid her hand down to grab his and tug him to the quietest corner in the room, tucked behind a towering potted palm near the caterer's entrance.
"Shouldn't you get down on bended knee, do this right?"
"Shut up." She made a zipping motion across her lips.
"Is that any way to talk to your prospective fiancé?"
"Jeez, you're a pain in the—"
"You're not sugar-coating how much you want to be my wife, I like that."
Amusement lit her eyes. "Okay, I guess I deserve whatever you dish out considering how I blurted that proposal. But once you hear what I have to say, I'm sure you'll agree marriage makes sense."
He folded his arms. "You think? Because from where I'm standing, marrying a stranger holds little appeal. Not that I'm anti-marriage, mind you, but I always thought if I was crazy enough to shackle myself to a woman in matrimony, we'd have a serious relationship first."
She sighed. "You talk too much. Typical CEO."
"Typical?"
She puffed out her cheeks like a balloon. "Full of hot air and self-importance, likes the sound of his own voice."
He loved sparring with her. Her quick wit, plus her beauty and intelligence, equalled a potential problem for his self-control.
"Why don't you rationalise your ludicrous proposal before you pump up my fragile ego anymore?"
She snorted. "Fragile? Yeah, right."
"You've got two minutes, starting now—"
"Okay, okay." She held up her hands in surrender. "Sheesh, better add impatient to that list of your questionable attributes."
"Ninety seconds and counting—"
"I want to save Seaborn, you want entry into Melbourne's high society. I can give you the latter, if you agree to stop undercutting our mine for a year and give us a chance to turn our profit margins around."
He knew blurting the truth about the crowd shunning him had been a bad move. A smart woman like her had picked up on how much it meant to him and was now using it to blackmail him into marriage. Gutsy.
"What makes you think I need you to introduce me to Melbourne's elite?"
She shook her head. "You disappoint me. I'm being honest with you, I expect the same in return."
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "That mob, the movers and shakers? They have long memories, and will snub without a second thought.”
She paused, the tip of her tongue darting out to moisten her top lip, and his gut tightened. "Especially you, with your background."
Damn, she knew. Of course she'd know. Everyone in this city knew his lineage. They'd driven him away once, and still blamed him for his father’s sins.
It didn't matter how much money his mine had turned over last year. It didn't matter about profit margins or award recognition by the local Mining Commission. It didn't matter that he'd busted his ass taking his mine to the top, lording it over the competition.
They still wouldn't grant him access to what he needed most: Global Mining Corp, the governing body that controlled the fate of Maroney Mine and his dreams to take his company international.
Keeping a tight rein on his bitterness, he feigned a yawn. "I wouldn't believe everything you hear."
She tsk-tsked. "You're taking me for a fool again. Shame, because it's a good deal."
Yeah, if he wanted to be shackled in a loveless marriage with a woman he barely knew.
He'd never really contemplated getting married. He'd have to let a woman get close enough emotionally for a serious relationship to develop and he didn't have the time or the inclination for that.
In the Kimberly region, he focused on business. If he wanted some downtime and female company, he headed to Perth. He liked his dates uncomplicated and his sex with no strings attached, with like-minded, power-driven women.
Married to Ruby Seaborn? A move way beyond strings. More like being hogtied with an unbreakable rope.
There had to be more to this ludicrous suggestion of hers. Why would a beautiful, intelligent young woman want to marry him to save her family business?
"A good deal, huh?" He screwed up his eyes, pretending to ponder. “Apart from having my lowly status elevated to Seaborn level in society, what do I get out of this marriage?"
The intent behind his question registered if the faint blush staining her cheeks a beguiling pink and the aquamarine sparks in her eyes were any indication.
"You're talking about sex?"
She blew him away with her bluntness. He'd never met a woman like her: bold, brazen, not afraid to speak her mind.
It turned him on, big time.
His gaze fell to her chest, rising and falling in time with her rapid breathing, before sweeping up to meet hers in blatant challenge.
"The thought had crossed my mind."
She folded her arms, but not before he glimpsed the telltale peak of her nipples.
She loved their sparring as much as he did.
Defiant, she met his gaze dead-on. "It would only complicate things."
"Are you sure? It could also make this marriage mighty interesting."
A vein pulsed in her neck and he resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.
She shook her head. "Why add confusion to an already difficult situation?"
He chuckled. "Your wooing technique needs a little work."
He tapped his temple, pretending to ponder. "Let's see. I'd be shackling myself to you in a sexless difficult situation."
He snapped his fingers. "Hell yeah, sounds like something I'd do."
Her eyes narrowed, sparking defiance. "I don't like being mocked."
"And I don't like being played for a fool.
" He stepped forward, enjoying having the upper hand when she backtracked a tad.
"As a win-win business proposal, I can see the mutual benefits in this.
But we're adults. We're attracted to one another.
There's no reason why we shouldn't indulge in a little bedroom recreation while the marriage lasts. "
To her credit, she eyeballed him, but he noted the nervous tics: the fingers plucking at her dress's sash, the clenched jaw, the crimson staining her ears.
He decided to up the ante. "Of course, I might like it out of the bedroom too. Is that still viable in our agreement?"
She blushed but didn't look away, and his admiration notched higher.
“Let me get this straight. According to your terms, we marry, we have sex, and we both gain from the arrangement business-wise."
She made it sound like an unappealing transaction.
He admired her bravado but couldn't shake the feeling she wasn't telling him everything.
"That's it. Take it or leave it," he said flatly.
He could see an emotional battle warring in her expressive eyes.
She'd do anything to save her family business, including propose a dubitable marriage to a guy she hardly knew, a guy whom she'd booted out of her apartment last night with a resounding 'when hell freezes over' in response to his takeover bid.
She had to be desperate to do this, so pushing his luck by insisting on sex? Underhanded. Not that she'd agree to it, but he enjoyed pushing her buttons.
"No sex." Her fiery green-eyed gaze radiated enough heat to burn him to the core and he couldn't help but fantasise how sensational those sparks would translate in the bedroom. "That's a deal breaker.”
"You're in no position to make or break this deal," he pointed out, ramming home his advantage.
She needed him to agree and, while he could see the logic of such an arrangement, he never capitulated easily.
"Fine, I'll take it," she said through gritted teeth, her expression mutinous.
"Good." He folded his arms and leaned against the wall, his smugness registering as she glowered. "Though let's make one thing clear. There's no place in this marriage for emotion. Women are notorious for falling in love and complicating matters."
She laughed, a harsh sound devoid of amusement. "Me, fall in love with you?"
She made it sound as likely as him orchestrating a jailbreak.
She patted his chest and he gritted his teeth. He hated being patronised. "Don't worry, there's no chance of that happening. I'm under no illusions what this marriage is, convenient and mutually beneficial for our businesses. That's it."
For some strange, inexplicable reason, her adamant stance that she had absolutely no chance of falling for him rankled.
Not that he wanted her to fall in love with him, but why did she have to make it sound so ludicrous?
Deep down, could Ruby Seaborn harbour the same prejudices about him as the rest of her class-conscious cronies? Once a Maroney, always a Maroney?
"Well, are you in?” With arms crossed she drummed her fingers against her hip, shifting her weight from side to side.
"You're serious about this?"
She rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I'd humiliate myself like this if I wasn't?"
"Good point."
A refusal hovered on his lips. While the possibility of sex with the firebrand in front of him strongly appealed, he could think of less complicated ways to get it.
As for being accepted in this town… He glanced up and saw the CEO of an international mining giant in deep conversation with a rival.
He stiffened and jammed his hands into his pockets. As long as he remained on the outskirts, a pariah, he'd never gain access to the corporate world here. And he needed that access desperately to take Maroney Mine global.
While Ruby’s ludicrous proposal irked, he'd do whatever it took to get this job done.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He deliberately relaxed and rolled his shoulders. "Would this arrangement have a time limit?"
A slight dent slashed her brows. "How long are you in town for?"
"My original plan was three to six months."
Her obvious relief annoyed him more than he cared to admit. "That gives us plenty of time for our objectives to be met, then you can head back to your precious mine and pretend we have a long-distance relationship."
"I said my original plan. My new plan involves sticking around longer than that."
That floored her. She gaped, and he placed a fingertip under her chin to close her mouth.
He chuckled. "You don't honestly think I'd go through all this trouble to gain entry into moneyed circles only to bolt in a few months?"
He shook his head. "I'm here to stay."
When she remained silent, continuing to stare at him as if he'd sprouted horns, he ducked down to whisper in her ear. "Still want to be my wife? Indefinitely?"
He expected her to retract, to bluster, to bolt.
He should've known she'd one-up him.
Sliding a hand around his neck to anchor him, she stood on tiptoes.
"I do," she murmured against the side of his mouth, a moment before she kissed him.