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 myoriginalplan. 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.
Chapter 10
"Who’s the hot blonde you were lip-locking?"
Jax depended on Murray, his manager in Melbourne, but that didn't mean he had to like him. The guy had waltzed into this corporate marquee and shaken hands with half the crowd before eventually sidling up to his boss.
If Jax didn't value his expertise, he'd fire his schmoozy ass.
He followed Murray's line of vision to where Ruby held court in a group of preened, pampered women. They fawned over her, admiring her jewellery, touching the diamonds dangling from her ears. She smiled and nodded and chatted, at ease in this environment while he struggled to comprehend the enormity of what they'd agreed to.
"She's my… fiancée."
Damn, saying it out loud didn't make it easier to understand.
