"Youlovehim?" Sapphire collapsed backwards onto her butt.“Shit.”
RubylovedJax?
No.
Not love.
Like. Lust.Lunacy.
Her phone chose that moment to ping loudly and she snatched it from her pocket before realising how desperate she appeared.
Sapphire arched a brow and Ruby turned away, reading the message, fromhim.
See you soon.
Short. Sweet. Cryptic.
"I can't believe you're in love with him."
Sapphire pronounced it as if Ruby had a terminal disease.
Defiant, Ruby glared at her too-smart sister. "So what?"
Sapphire shook her head. "You proposed this marriage, you proposed this deal. I'm guessing emotions weren't part of the plan?"
Annoyed by her sister's calm rationale as much as her pity, Ruby folded her arms and slumped on the seat. "I'm an idiot."
"You're a softie who always sees the best in people." Sapphire draped an arm across her shoulders. "You always have. But are you sure Jax Maroney is worthy of your love?"
Ruby remembered the small things he'd done for her when he thought she wasn't aware: turning the heating up when he'd stayed over in the wee small hours while she worked, having her coffee ready in the morning, sheltering her from the nitty-gritty financials when backing the auction, leaving her free to create.
Small things, thoughtful things, that belied his toughness and gave a glimpse of the man beneath the hard exterior.
"He's a good guy beneath the bad-boy brooding thing he's got going on."
Sapphire rolled her eyes. "A bad boy. I should've known."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"As if my bright, beautiful sister would ever go for anyone normal."
With his towering height, broad shoulders ,and piercing black eyes, Jax was far from normal.
"Are you going to tell him?"
"Hell no!" The last thing Ruby needed was the guy bolting beforeSeabornhad completely recovered from their financial fall.
Sapphire squeezed her shoulders. "Take it from someone who knows. You can't bottle up this kind of thing. It'll stress you out, then you'll end up here painting eucalypts and drinking wheatgrass."
“Yuck.” Ruby screwed up her nose. "You've gone from martinis to green gunk, gross."
"Yeah, but look at me, I'm a new woman."
Ruby had never heard her sister anything but confident, brazen, and in charge. Seeing Sapphire exhausted and broken had shattered something in her but now, thanks to this place and her sister's determination to recuperate, her Saph was back. Healed. Better than new.
"I've missed you, sis."
Tears shimmered in Sapphire's eyes. "Right back at you, Rubes."
