Jax forced a tight smile. He hated telling lies. Denver had seen to that. But living a lie with Ruby was a necessity. He needed business doors in this city to open, not slam in his face.
Murray glanced at his watch. "I'll see you back at the office?"
"Yeah."
Once he'd ironed out the details for his impending nuptials.
Him,married?
Fuck.
Though it wasn't all bad. While he cemented business deals essential to taking his mining corporation global, he fully intended making the most of his marriage: ineveryway.
Ruby's stipulation of no sex would be the one point in their soon-to-be-signed marriage contract he had no intention of sticking to.
Considering the unexpected kiss she planted on him, he had high hopes that with a little convincing she'd come around.
Yeah, this getting hitched business looked better by the minute.
As if sensing his train of thought, Ruby glanced up and sent him a jaunty wave, her sunny smile slamming into him with the force of a tropical cyclone.
He might have a problem with the concept of marriage, but consummating it?
Not a problem at all.
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 herfamily's legacy, but since he mentioned making this marriage real in the bedroom, she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him inthatway.
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 addingbenefitsto 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.
