She rolled her eyes. “Now you’re a second rate spy?”
He chuckled. "Hey, I'm not the one who can sit through that lot of sappy nonsense. You must be a romantic."
She laughed and it relieved the tension, the sadness draining out of her. Saph had promised Mum to keep the company alive. She would understand Ruby perpetuating a marriage myth for the greater good.
She snapped her fingers. "Ah, so that's what you've been doing at the office every night."
Confused, he raised an eyebrow.
She jabbed a finger at his chest. "You've been working your way through my collection via Netflix. Let me guess, your favourite's the one where they meet online and hook up—"
"Marriage hasn't changed my opinion." He snagged her hand and yanked her flush against him. "You still talk too much."
He stifled any further protests she might verbalise by crushing his mouth to hers and kissing her until she forgot where she was, who she was, or why she was here.
Several minutes later, with his bow tie askew and the satin bow on one of her shoulders under serious threat of unravelling, they broke apart.
Chests heaving, breathing ragged, bodies straining.
She touched a hand to her mouth and her ruined lipstick. "People are waiting downstairs."
"Screw them."
He backed her up against the door, slid a hand under her skirt, and proceeded to screw her.
Chapter 21
Jax froze on the threshold of the Palladium.
Clammy fingers of foreboding strummed the back of his neck.
Ice trickled through his veins.
Indecision, potent and savage, strangled his resolve to stride into the ballroom and make people stand up and notice Jax Maroney had returned and there wasn't one damn thing they could do about it.
He had a firm resolve, but acting on it with hundreds of curious, judgemental eyes locked on him proved to be tougher than he'd expected.
"You'll be fine." Sensing his nerves, Ruby squeezed his hand, her intuition scaring him as much as the crowd.
No matter how many times he pushed her away, no matter how hard he tried to keep his distance, he kept coming back for more, drawn to her in a way that defied explanation.
He didn't want to get close to her. Didn't want to see the admiration in her eyes when he'd walked out of the bathroom earlier, didn't want to see the tears when he'd given her the rose on an impulse, didn't want her asking probing questions or being sensitive or trying to understand him.
He didn't want tofeel.
Anything.
Why couldn't she leave him the hell alone? Why did she have to keep digging, chipping away at his defences like a fanatical miner intent on finding gold?
When he didn't speak, the corners of her mouth pinched with worry.
"What's wrong?"
Everything,he wanted to yell.You, these people, my lousy dad, my sneaky mother, marrying you.
Every single fucking thing was wrong, but he'd suck it up, as he'd done before during the tough times in his life, and forge ahead.
"Nothing." He squared his shoulders, and gripped her hand tighter. "Let's give the performance of our lives."
