Her pretend husband was perceptive as well as smart and gorgeous.
"They only just learned we're married. Give it time—"
"This will never work."
Her blood chilled at the finality in his tone, as if he'd given up before they'd even begun.
“I never would've picked you for a quitter," she said, daring him to fight back, fervently wishing he wouldn't walk away.
"We're wasting our time." The worry lines bracketing his mouth deepened as his lips compressed. "They'll never accept me. They can't see past my dad."
His sigh held so much audible pain she slipped her hands around his neck and clung to him, afraid he'd bolt before she broke through his emotional barriers.
"And I don't blame them,” he added, so softly she barely heard the words as his head lolled forward, his forehead resting on hers.
"You're nothing like him—"
"How do you know?” He straightened. “You haven't seen him using people to get ahead. You haven't seen him desperate to stay one step ahead of the game. You haven't seen him repress his emotions and close off from people."
He reached up to unclasp her hands from around his neck. "What if I've got those tendencies?" He thumped his chest. "In here?"
"You haven't—"
"Really?" His self derision chilled her. "Because from where I'm standing, everything I just said could apply to me. Our marriage? I'm using you, desperate to get ahead, repressing my real emotions…"
He trailed off, his expression horror stricken, as if he'd said too much.
She wanted to ask him what he meant by real emotions. Did he mean he’d started to feel something for her, something real, something tangible, something they could base a relationship on?
After only a few weeks, it seemed ludicrous. Unfathomable. So how could she explain that she had no intention of walking away from this man for reasons beyond savingSeaborn?
She'd pushed him to open up, now it was time for damage control.
"I proposed to you, remember? I'm the one using you, using whatever means to get ahead in the jewellery business."
He shook his head, his eyes wild. "What the hell are we doing, Ruby?This isn't right."
Her heart stopped. "Our marriage, you mean?"
She'd seen him many things—proud, arrogant, commanding. Defeated wasn't one of them as he slumped against a nearby wall.
"I'm sick of the lies." She only just caught his muttered, "I'm exactly like my father after all."
Damn, she shouldn’t have delved into his personal life in the hope of exorcising his demons.
Before he bailed on her and she lost a husband andSeaborn, she did the only thing possible.
She reached up and brushed her thumb across his bottom lip. "Enough of the deep and meaningful stuff. Let's go do what we do best."
Thankfully, he didn't have to be asked twice.
Chapter 23
"Come back to bed."
Ruby turned her back on the dazzling view of Melbourne's city skyline from the floor to ceiling window and padded back towards Jax. He lay on his side, propped on an elbow, his chest bare, the top sheet draped provocatively low over his torso, and she wondered how she'd managed to tear herself away in the first place.
He slept after their frantic sex to banish the worries of their reception, but in the aftermath of their blissful encounter she couldn't wipe the events of the evening.
