"I'm your only sis."
She smiled at Sapphire's dry response, a smile that faded as her sister abandoned soaking up the sun's rays to fix her with a probing stare.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing—"
"Rube, this is me you're talking to. What's that no-good Jax Maroney done now?"
"Nothing."
"That's two nothings in a row. Will your response be the same if I ask you if you've been silly enough to fall for his charms?"
Ruby clamped her lips tight.
"I knew it." Sapphire jabbed a finger in her direction. "You've fallen for the jerk."
"He's not like that."
Sapphire's eyes narrowed. "And there's my proof. You wouldn't have defended the guy a few months ago."
"I didn't know him a few months ago."
Sapphire snorted. "The guy was screwing our company."
Ruby refrained from stating the obvious: now she'd become the target of his screwing.
"I proposed this marriage as a deal, Saph, not him. He's gone along with it and he's helped putSeabornback in the black."
Sapphire frowned and shook her head. "You've just admitted your marriage is a sham."
Realising her mistake too late, Ruby deflated. She couldn't continue the pretence any longer, not with her sister.
"Of course I did it forSeaborn. What did you think, that I'd seriously fall for a guy like him?"
Sapphire didn't respond, and when Ruby looked up, the pity in her sister's eyes almost undid her completely.
"Have you? Fallen for him?"
Tired of lying to Jax, to her sister, to herself, she bit her wobbly bottom lip and nodded. "How dumb is that?"
"It's okay to have a crush." Sapphire snagged her hand and squeezed it. "I presume you're sleeping together, so stands to reason you'd fall for him a tad."
When she didn't answer, Sapphire tugged on her hand. "It is just a tad, right? You haven't…"
Unable to hide the truth from her sister anymore, she met Sapphire's astute gaze head on.
Sapphire dropped her hand and leaped to her feet. "No way! You've fallen in love with him?"
"Getting overexcited isn't good for you—"
"Don't patronise me." Sapphire started pacing, her bare feet leaving indentations in the lush lawn. "This is a disaster."
"It's not that bad."
Sapphire stopped and squatted in front of her. "Really? Tell me this. What are you going to do when he heads back to the other side of the country? Because he will, and you'll be left with a broken heart."
Tears welled in Ruby’s eyes and she dashed them away with the back of her hand. "I didn't choose who I fell in love with."
