Chapter 32
"Glad I intruded on your solo weekend?"
Ruby reluctantly shifted out of her new favourite spot in the world, snuggled under her husband's protective arm, and glanced up at him.
"What do you think?"
The smile that sprang so readily to his lips made her as happy as him being here. "I think we've had a well-deserved weekend away from business."
"And a weekend to reconnect."
She half expected him to bristle at the inference or make some smart-ass comment that they'd never connected in the first place but thankfully, he didn't. That alone demonstrated how far they'd come this weekend.
Jax had opened up to her, had revealed more about his buried insecurities than she'd ever imagined, had cemented what she'd secretly hoped since he'd arrived unexpectedly.
That he cared as much as she did.
Everything he'd said, everything he'd done this weekend, proved it.
She'd have to broach the topic of their future eventually but for now, she was content to bask in the romance of a decadent weekend away with her husband, as they sat on the verandah of the cottage taking in the view.
"About that…"
The mischievous twinkle in his eyes made her pulse leap.
"What?"
"Reconnecting." He brushed a kiss across her lips and she sighed, content for him to kiss her forever.
He whispered against the side of her mouth. "I've got a surprise for you."
"I'm all for surprises," she said, thinking nothing could top the refreshing ways he continued to invent for pleasuring her in the bedroom.
He slid a hand into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small square box, and held it out to her on his palm.
Her heart stuttered and stalled before firing as if it had been shot with adrenalin.
If that box contained what she thought it did, she'd been wrong.
Surprise didn't come close to describing what she was feeling.
Elation? Joy? Love that defied logic?
She shouldn't have fallen in love with him so quickly, shouldn't have fallen at all. They were so different, worlds apart, but none of that mattered as he gazed at her as if she was the only woman in the world for him.
"Go ahead, open it."
Her fingers trembled and she shook her head. "You do it."
"Okay." His cocky grin reeked of a guy who knew he had her, a guy confident in his ability to woo and charm and confound.
She held her breath as he eased open the lid of the crimson velvet box, not caring it wasn't one of the Seaborn signature navy boxes, not caring much beyond anything but seeing the ring he'd chosen for her.
"For you."
The breath she'd been holding whooshed out in disappointment as she stared at the half carat ruby and diamond cluster.
She shouldn't be so ungrateful, but as an engagement ring, it ranked a lowly two out of ten. Not her taste, not her style, not what she'd imagined at all.
Oblivious to her shock, he plucked it out of the box and held it out.
"It's a promise ring. It means I promise not to be too much of a jerk about this fake marriage when we sort out where we go from here."
Numb with ice trickling through her veins, she watched him slide it onto the ring finger of her right hand.
Not an engagement ring at all.
A promise ring, what some people referred to as pre-engagement, the engagement ring you have when you're not really having an engagement.
And what the hell did he mean by not being a jerk when they sorted out their fake marriage?
What was this, a trinket to buy her off so she wouldn't lose her cool when he said, 'thanks for the good time babe but I'm outta here'?
Stunned into speechlessness, she stared at the ring, the waning sunlight catching the diamonds, sparkling at her with jauntiness.
"I chose a ruby for obvious reasons," he said, raising her hand to his lips and kissing the knuckle above the ring.
Great, he planned on giving her the brush off with a tacky namesake too.
Catty and ungrateful, maybe, but she couldn't get past the fact he'd only given her a promise ring when she'd expected so much more.
"You don't like it."
His cold flat tone scared her as much as the truth she'd have to tell him.
"It's not that—"
"Then what is it?" He dropped her hand and eased away, leaving her cold and bereft, craving his warmth.
"Look, Jax, the ring's nice—"
"Nice?" He spat the word in disgust. "Nice is for cupcakes. Nice is not for a guy giving a girl a ring."
Disappointed he didn't know her better, didn't know her well enough to know what she liked, she tried to smooth the escalating tension.
"It's not what I—"
"Want, right?" He thrust his hands into his pockets, his formidable glower radiating a depth of anger she'd never seen before. "My mistake. Won't happen again."
Stunned, she watched him stalk towards his car, his angry strides eating up the ground too fast.
"Jax, wait—"
"Don't worry, I won't renege on our deal. Your precious Seaborn is safe." He paused and looked back, a tortured expression twisting his handsome features. "That's all you ever cared about anyway."
"That's not true," she yelled, her brain and feet finally working in sync as she ran towards him.
Too late.
He gunned the engine, reversed in a squeal of tires, and floored it out of the driveway and out of her life.