Chapter 11
Ruby had lost her mind.
She'd had some crazy ideas over the years—spiral perm at fifteen, Goth at sixteen, hooking up with Sapphire's bad boy discards at eighteen—but none as outrageous as proposing marriage to Jax Maroney.
It seemed like a good solution at the time, but now, three hours later, pacing his penthouse, reality hit.
She couldn't possibly contemplate marrying into the Maroney family.
Her mum would turn in her grave, and Sapphire would put her in one once she discovered the truth.
Which meant Ruby would do everything in her power to keep it a secret from her until she married. Saph didn’t need added stress, and her sister would seriously freak out when she learned of her nuptials.
"Here's your latte."
A tiny shiver crept across the back of Ruby's neck and it had nothing to do with the prospect of marriage and everything to do with the man she'd be marrying.
Jax handed her a glass and saucer, their fingers brushing, the shiver intensifying. She might be marrying him to save her family's legacy, but since he mentioned making this marriage real in the bedroom, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him in that way.
It annoyed the heck out of her.
She shouldn't want him.
The guy was arrogant, insufferable, and grouchy.
Also gorgeous, commanding, and irresistible.
She ignored her inner voice. She'd wisely refused his offer of adding benefits to their marriage. The last thing she needed, to lust after Jax Maroney.
"What's with the depraved smile?" His potent stare lingered on her lips, making them tingle with remembrance.
She might’ve lost control for a nanosecond and kissed him at the racetrack, but he hadn't needed much prompting to join in. And he'd been amazing. A master, using his lips to coax and charm and titillate simultaneously.
Maddeningly, she hadn't wanted it to end. That annoyed her the most. Despite her protests, if they did go the whole way and have sex, it would be spectacular. His restrained power had been a major turn on, as if he'd been keeping a leash on his uncontrollable urges.
She wished.
"I'm thinking."
"About?" His eyes narrowed. "Last time you did that, you ended up proposing to me."
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"
"Never's a long time, sweetheart."
That wiped the smile off her face. Jax was right. This marriage was nothing more than a convenient solution to an apparently insolvable problem. Those figures her accountant presented had been damning, and who knew what would happen to Sapphire if Seaborn went under?
Ruby had a feeling the business might be the only thing keeping her sister afloat since their mum died, and if she lost that too…
She had to marry Jax Maroney, as crazy and unpalatable as it seemed.
She made the mistake of glancing at his smug face—the high cheekbones, the strong jaw, the sensual lips, the mesmerising eyes—well aware unpalatable didn’t describe him in the slightest.
"We need to talk about getting the details straight before the ceremony next week."
Not surprisingly, his perpetual frown returned at the mention of their impending marriage. "You're the one with all the ideas. How do you propose we pull this off?"
“Like I just said, by getting our stories straight." She shrugged. "People will want to know how we met, how long we've been dating, that kind of thing."
He grimaced. "I've got enough to do without constructing an elaborate lie and then living it."
She knuckled fake tears, relieved when he chuckled. He had to be committed one hundred per cent for this to succeed.
"It's not that difficult. We met through our mutual mines, fell for each other quickly, and carried on a long-distance relationship.” She ticked points off on her fingers. “Then you realised you couldn't live without me and returned to Melbourne."
"You make me sound like a love-sick schmuck," he muttered.
"Aren't you?"
She leaned across the table, in his face, and batted her eyelashes. Teasing him, she could handle. Going through the motions of marrying him and living a lie daily? That would be tough.
He nudged her away. "Let's concentrate on getting our stories straight, and leave the goofing off for later."
As if Mr Uptight ever goofed off in his life.
"When's the last time you dated?"
He tipped two sugars into his espresso and stirred. "Define dating."
She rolled her eyes, well aware of the dating definition differences between the sexes. Some women took a first kiss as a pledge of undying devotion. Most men needed six months and a key to a flat to accept the fact they were in a steady relationship.
“Have you been out with anyone in the last three months?" She tapped her bottom lip, aware she hadn't thought this through. "Because if you've been cheating, people will crucify you."
His mouth kicked up at the corners. “I’d never cheat on you, gorgeous.”
She snapped her fingers in front of him. "Focus and answer the question."
His smile faded, replaced by the usual reticence. "I go out on the occasional date when I'm in Perth, and the last time was about five months ago."
"Nobody serious?"
"I just said that, didn't I?" He muttered, staring moodily into his coffee when she raised a brow at his snark.
"With that kind of attitude, I'm not surprised," she said, calmly breaking a brownie in two and popping a piece in her mouth.
He sighed. "I live in a small outback mining town. Relationships aren't my thing."
"I live in a bustling cosmopolitan city and relationships aren't my thing either," she said, licking cocoa crumbs off her fingertips.
His gaze riveted to her tongue, the instant flare of heat garnering an answering reaction deep within.
"That's surprising."
"Why, because I'm a woman and we crave soulmates?" She made an inverted comma sign with her fingertips and a mock gagging sound. "Don't get me wrong, I date. It's fun. But there's been no one serious."
"Ever?"
She picked up a fork and pushed the rest of the brownie around the plate. "You're one to talk, Mr Outback."
His lips twitched. "Guess that makes it easier for people to buy our story."
She nodded. "Yeah, we've been smitten for a few months, have kept it private because we didn't want publicity, especially—"
She paused too late, by the shadows darkening his brow.
"Especially since my dad's appeal is coming up and the media are all over it,” he finished for her.
She nodded. "You don't have to talk about it, but I probably need to know some stuff in case I get ambushed by the press."
He snorted. "I can see the headlines now. Society princess weds underworld offspring. What was she thinking?"
For the first time since they met, she glimpsed a fleeting vulnerability scudding across his eyes before he blinked. She placed her hand over his on the table between them, hers small and pale, his large and tanned.
"Maybe she was thinking he's a good catch? Maybe she was thinking he's powerful and successful? Maybe she was thinking of indulging her latent bad boy fantasy while saving her business in the process?"
The undeniable spark between them returned, potent and smouldering as his burning gaze challenged her.
"Elaborate, please.”
"On saving the business? Well, it's quite simple really—"
He raised her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips across her knuckles and sending a shiver of longing through her. "Tell me about the bad boy fantasy."
It would be so easy to tell him in exquisite detail what she'd like him to do to her.
But they had a business deal to finalise—namely, their marriage—and being distracted by sex could potentially lead to mistakes later.
She didn't want people to doubt the validity of this marriage.
She needed them to buy the romantic tale in order to achieve her goal: save Seaborn from extinction.
This entire farce was much easier for him, sitting there all gorgeous and brooding and mysterious. What would he lose if the marriage failed? Face in the community? The odd business deal? The guy owned one of the biggest mines in Western Australia. As if a few botched deals would affect him.
Her, on the other hand…
She inwardly shuddered, not daring to contemplate what would happen to Sapphire if Seaborn went under.
She eased her hand out of his on the pretext of picking up her latte. "Save it for the honeymoon. For now, we have details to work out."
"There's going to be a honeymoon?"
His silky smooth tone rippled over her in an invisible caress and she resisted the urge to rub her arms.
"Only if you're lucky." She sipped her coffee, the slight bitterness matching her mood.
She could do teasing. Teasing kept her mind off the constant niggle that what they were doing must be plain wrong.
What would it be like to discuss marriage plans with a real fiancé? A guy she adored, a guy she loved, a guy she couldn't live without? She assumed it might happen some nebulous day in the future, but now her dreams of a fairytale wedding wouldn't happen.
Even if she met the one at some stage, her second marriage would always be that: second. She'd be a divorcee who'd sold out on romance.
But it was for a good cause, a great cause, and she couldn't lose sight of that.
"A honeymoon would add to the authenticity," he said, stating a fact she'd already contemplated and discarded.
It would be hard enough pretending they were married without going away with him on some romantic jaunt. She wasn't a complete fool. They shared an attraction. They might end up having sex. Scintillating, spectacular sex if that kiss had been a prelude, damn her impulsiveness.
However, sex to consummate the marriage was a far cry from a decadent few days away, probably in some posh hotel or lush surroundings, indulging their passion.
The honeymoon didn’t worry her as much as the aftermath. What would happen when they returned? Would they fall into a routine? Marriage with fringe benefits, without the emotional entanglements?