As he strode away, he heard her muttered, "That's what I'm afraid of."
Chapter 16
Jax didn't mind the silence as he drove the short distance from the wellness retreat to the luxury B&B he'd booked for the night.
He understood the need for mulling thoughts. He did it regularly, preferring the sharpness of his analytical mind to unsolicited opinions from his co-workers. One of the things he hated most about being stuck in the outback of Western Australia: the fish-bowl mentality. Everyone knew everyone else. Everyone knew everyone else's business, and thought it normal to stick their noses in it.
He deliberately kept his distance, encouraging a boss-employee environment, so no one got too close. Considering the lie his folks had lived—and embroiled him in by association—no great surprise he didn't trust easily.
Maintaining privacy in the mining town had more to do with studied independence than any lack of faith in the townsfolk. Simply, he liked keeping his own counsel, happiest listening to heavy punk rock playlists or reading thick sci-fi novels.
He cherished his own space. Space that now included a bubbly, bold blonde for the interim.
He risked a quick glance at Ruby, something inside his chest twisting at her pallor as she rested, eyes closed, not sleeping.Probably her way of shutting him out. Fair enough. He wouldn't want to discuss his family with a virtual stranger either.
She'd asked him about his confrontation with Sapphire and he'd made a joke, saying he could still walk so it hadn't been all bad. Surprisingly, she hadn't pushed for answers, preferring to stare out of the car window than discuss it.
He didn't like this cool, introspective Ruby. He much preferred sassy, bossy Ruby who gave as good as she got. Her silence worried him as much as the fatigue around her eyes, the slumped posture. And he shouldn't be worried. He hadn’t signed on for emotional entanglement. His signature on their marriage certificate meant one thing only.
Worldwide success for Maroney Mine.
Vindication he’d made a success of his life despite the background he came from.
Proof he was nothing like his father.
Refocusing on the road, he pondered how the next few months would pan out. He had several business deals to nail, including a major agreement to send the mine's profit margins soaring, a deal he banked on to fill the hole left by not acquiring the Seaborn mine.
Then he had to secure admittance to the Global Mining Corporation before making his mine recognised universally.
Confident of achieving the benchmark profit margins to gain acceptance, he knew it would be tougher gaining approval of the board, comprising of people his father had shafted.
To achieve his goal, gain recognition and acceptance with those people, Jax had to make this marriage work, had to convince them this marriage was real.
He’d married Ruby Seaborn.
Hell.
The speed with which she'd coerced him into this marriage made his head spin. Not that he'd needed much coaxing. That kiss at the wedding proved it.
She could give him what he needed: acceptance into a world that slammed doors in his face otherwise. And so much more, considering the potent sexual tension between them.
He couldn't explain the undeniable pull making him crave her with an intensity that terrified.
This might be a marriage in name only but he had every intention of taking full advantage of its side benefits.
He'd had friends with benefitsover the years but who'd ever heard of a wife with benefits?
He swung into the driveway of the B&B, its quaint doll-house appeal lost on him. A whitewashed cottage with duck-egg-blue trimmings, wildflower garden, and symmetrically bricked paths, too prissy by his standards.
Then again, tonight wasn't about him.
When Ruby had trusted him enough to drive her to see her sister, he'd known she might need cheering up afterwards. Her silence spoke volumes. If Sapphire had ripped into him over this quickie marriage, he could only imagine what she'd done to her sister.
People always seemed to take out their worst emotions on family closest to them.
He should know.
Not that he blamed Sapphire. Her only sister had married a stranger; a stranger in competition with the family business. A stranger who'd had his sights set on acquiring that business.
