Marrying the Enemy

by Nicola Marsh

  The tip of her tongue darted out to sweep along her lower lip. Savouring his kiss or checking for damage, considering he’d practically ravaged her?

  It was the damndest thing, having no control around her.

  For a guy who prided himself on staying in control, always, he sure made a mockery of his restraint every time they touched.

  It begged the question, how freaking mind-blowing would it be when they went all the way?

  They might’ve postponed the honeymoon—to never—but no way would he forgo a wedding night.

  He intended on making it one to remember.

  ‘You’re supposed to wait ’til you say “I do” before you get to that part,’ Murray said, breaking the tension, and Jax blinked, clueless as to how long he’d been staring at Ruby.

  Her lips curved in a knowing smile, as if she knew exactly the effect she had on him and was revelling in the power.

  Desperate to regain the upper hand, he ducked to whisper in her ear.

  ‘You’re stunning, and that’s some dress, but don’t get comfortable.’

  Her lips brushed his ear lobe. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because with what I’ve got planned for later, you won’t be wearing it long.’

  Her stifled moan shot straight to his groin and he straightened before he was unfit to stand in front of the celebrant and witnesses.

  With Ruby’s hand in his, he led her to the front of the room, aware of little but her palm in his, her subtle berry fragrance and her clear, strong voice as she recited vows.

  He interjected at all the right moments, following the celebrant’s cues, binding himself in matrimony to Ruby Seaborn.

  While the marriage wasn’t real and wouldn’t last long, for a drawn-out moment after he said ‘I do’ he almost wished circumstances were different.

  ‘You may now kiss your bride,’ the celebrant announced with a beatific smile.

  ‘They’ve already done that part.’

  Everyone chuckled at Murray’s quip and this time he kept the kiss short and sweet.

  For he knew the next time they French kissed he wouldn’t be able to stop until he had her hot and panting and pliant beneath him, begging for more.

  After the ceremony, Opal sidled up to them, her speculative gaze swinging between them. ‘I was wrong about you two.’

  Ruby shot him a hesitant glance he didn’t understand. ‘What do you mean?’

  Opal patted Ruby’s cheek. ‘Anyone can see you two are crazy about each other. Be happy.’

  He intended to be.

  As soon as he got his luscious new bride naked.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RUBY didn’t talk much on the drive to Daylesford, the quaint spa town an hour from Melbourne.

  Thankfully, Jax understood her need for silence and he respected it, humming softly to old eighties songs as he drove. Apart from the occasional glance, he focused on the road, his single-minded concentration probably indicative of everything he did.

  She squirmed, not needing much to remind her of what he’d said at the registry office.

  You won’t be wearing it long.

  She should’ve known a commanding guy like him wouldn’t take no for an answer. He probably saw her refusal to sleep with him as a challenge, hence his ‘It’ll be late by the time you finish seeing your sister, so we’d better stay over in Daylesford.’ Sure, he’d masked it in subtle caring but she’d seen right through his act. And this had been before that kiss at the ceremony.

  Damn him for making every cell in her body throb in anticipation when she didn’t want to do anything but focus on the task at hand.

  Seeing Sapphie and delivering the good news before it hit the papers or she heard it second-hand.

  ‘Is this the place?’

  Ruby squinted at ‘Tenang’ scrawled in flowing duck-egg blue against an ecru background. Tenang meant tranquil in Malay and that was exactly what Sapphie needed.

  Tranquillity, peace, a haven away from the burden she’d been carrying this last year. Making Seaborn’s viable was stressful in itself—she should know considering the lengths she’d gone to to save the business—but dealing with grief over their mum’s death when Sapphie had been so close to her, keeping the secret of Seaborn’s imploding financials from her... Yeah, her sister had been an emotional breakdown waiting to happen.

  In a way, the chronic fatigue symptoms had been a blessing, a warning before she collapsed or, worse, actually had that breakdown.

  Ruby just hoped the news she had to deliver wouldn’t set Saph back. Or cause a relapse.

  ‘Yeah.’ Ruby pointed to the right. ‘You can park there.’

  Jax followed the long, winding driveway shaded by towering pines before pulling up to the side of the main entrance.

  Nerves pinched her gut as he killed the engine.

  ‘You sure you don’t want me to come in with you?’

  She wasn’t sure of anything, least of all the wisdom of marrying the enemy and then having to tell her sister.

  She gnawed on her bottom lip and nodded. ‘It’ll be easier if I see her alone.’

  Lord, she could just imagine the look on her sister’s face if she walked in with him and introduced Jax Maroney.

  Ruby herself had nearly collapsed from the shock that first night at the showroom, so what would it do to Sapphie?

  She fumbled the seat-belt release and he reached across and pushed the button, stilling her shaky hand. ‘Take as long as you like, I’ll be waiting.’

  She’d never heard him anything other than cool and in control, so the sudden hint of emotion in his voice almost undermined her completely.

  She bit her bottom lip and nodded, hoping she wouldn’t cry, hoping he wouldn’t ask her again if she wanted company because this time she might capitulate and say yes.

  Before he could show another glimpse of his surprising tender side she opened the door, wobbled on her stilettos for a second, straightened her sheath and rushed inside.

  * * *

  Ruby had been thankful Jax had offered to drive her here after the wedding but after glimpsing his unexpected caring side, she wasn’t so sure.

  She could handle being married to a recalcitrant grump. A sexy guy with hidden depths? Not so much.

  The last thing she needed was to feel anything other than reluctant lust for her new husband.

  It wasn’t worth the angst falling for someone unattainable and that label fitted Jax Maroney exactly. Emotionally repressed, a loner, who guarded his heart as much as his past, he’d be the last guy she’d fall for.

  Being grateful he had a soft side was one thing, mistaking it for anything other than a guy looking after his investment was another.

  With a wistful sigh she didn’t dare interpret, she entered the foyer, the peace instantly enveloping her.

  She’d initially been wary about her citified, savvy sister spending time at a health farm to recuperate, but her doubts had been assuaged when she’d dropped Sapphie off.

  An appealing mix of five-star hotel and luxury health retreat, Tenang oozed tranquillity, the perfect place for stressed-out executives to find their zen.

  Being surrounded by all this muted music and pastels and soft voices would drive her nuts but Sapphie seemed happy and that was all she cared about.

  Saph had been here five weeks and every time they spoke her go-getter sister seemed stronger and brighter and more like her old self: confident, fit, ready to take on any challenge and win.

  After checking in with the smiling receptionist, Ruby slipped a visitor’s lanyard around her neck and headed for the sprawling rear garden where her sister would be reading by a mineral spring.

  It was Sapphie’s favourite spot and she didn’t blame her, the cushion-covered wrought-iron bench strategically placed beneath a weeping willow offering solitude and privacy.

  She ducked under the branches and spotted her elegant sister wearing a designer leisure suit, sprawled across the bench, the autobiographies she favoured shielding her face
.

  ‘Hey, bookworm.’

  Sapphie peeped over the top of her book, her eyes lighting with pleasure. ‘Hi, Rubes, good to see you.’

  ‘You too.’

  Sapphie shifted and Ruby sat and hugged her. ‘You didn’t have to get dressed up to come visit.’

  Ruby mumbled, ‘You don’t know the half of it,’ before pulling up her big-girl panties. Sapphie deserved the truth. Now.

  ‘I’ve got something to tell you, Saph, and I want you to promise you’ll hear me out.’

  Sapphie frowned. ‘This doesn’t sound good.’

  Ruby fixed a bright smile. ‘It’s all good.’

  Sapphie quirked a brow. ‘Yeah? Then why are you shredding the hem of that gorgeous sheath?’

  Ruby stopped fiddling by clasping her hands and resting them in her lap.

  ‘It’s pretty big, Saph.’

  Her sister paled. ‘Has something happened at Seaborn’s? Was the spring collection a flop? Heck.’

  Sapphie twiddled her thumbs, a nervous habit she’d had since they were kids, and Ruby unclasped her hands to cover Sapphie’s with hers.

  ‘Stop stressing, it’s not good for you. Seaborn’s is fine.’

  At least, it would be now Jax wouldn’t be undercutting gem prices and driving them out of business.

  Sapphie’s thumbs stilled. ‘Then what?’

  Despite mentally rehearsing a million ways to break the news to her sister on the way here, Ruby knew there was no easy way to say this.

  She took a deep breath, blew it out and blurted, ‘I’m married.’

  Sapphie’s jaw dropped. ‘You’re what?’

  Bracing for the worst once she dropped the rest of her bombshell, Ruby squeezed Sapphie’s hands and released her.

  ‘I met someone on that pearl expo trip to Broome, and we’ve been doing the long-distance thing since then.’

  Bewilderment warred with hurt in Sapphie’s expressive blue eyes.

  ‘Why didn’t you say something?’ Sapphie shook her head. ‘For goodness’ sake, Rube, we tell each other everything, how could you do something like this without me?’

  Not everything.

  Her sister had kept their precarious position from her for almost a year and it still stung.

  With only eighteen months between them they’d always been close and the fact Sapphie had lied by omission this past twelve months didn’t make it any easier now she’d have to return the favour.

  Pain ripped through the practised lies she’d have to tell many times over the course of her fake marriage.

  ‘It was all about timing. We really wanted to do this now—’

  ‘You’re pregnant!’

  ‘No.’

  Though the rest of what she had to reveal would be more shocking. ‘You know I’m not the big, fancy wedding type. Registry office is much more my style.’

  ‘At least you looked the part.’

  Saph’s begrudging admission alleviated some of the tension as she checked out her outfit. Her admiring gaze stalled on the pearls and she blinked rapidly. ‘Mum’s pearls.’

  Ruby’s hand fluttered towards them, stroking the silky smoothness like a good luck talisman. ‘Wearing them made me feel closer to her.’

  Sapphie sniffed and reached out a finger to touch one. ‘She would’ve been so happy for you.’

  ‘Are you?’

  Sapphie managed a watery smile. ‘If you’re happy, I’m happy.’

  ‘I am.’

  Happy she’d found a viable solution to save Seaborn’s, happy she’d finally shouldered some responsibility for the family business, happy she could fulfil their mum’s dying wish inadvertently.

  Sapphie tweaked her nose, as she’d done countless times growing up, the familiar gesture not helping her precarious emotional state. ‘Who’s the lucky guy?’

  Oh, boy.

  Ruby curled her fingers into her palm to stop from fiddling, took a deep breath and blurted, ‘Jax Maroney.’

  Sapphie parroted her, silently mouthing his name, the quiet punctuated by warbling magpies and the burbling of the spring spilling over rocks smoothed by time and erosion.

  Sapphie didn’t move, her utter stillness frightening. With that blank stare and expression, it was as if she’d gone into shock.

  Ruby grabbed her hand and rubbed it between both of hers. ‘I know this is a surprise—’

  ‘You don’t know anything.’ Sapphie yanked her hand away, her accusatory gaze slicing through the rest of the platitudes she’d planned on delivering. ‘You’re crazy if you think for one minute I believe any of this rubbish.’

  ‘It’s true.’ Ruby spoke softly, hoping her calm would translate across.

  By the angry flush staining Sapphie’s cheeks, it hadn’t.

  ‘I may’ve pushed myself too hard this last year and ended up with chronic fatigue, but I’m not a moron.’ Sapphie jabbed a finger in her direction. ‘You, on the other hand, would have to be the biggest moron on the planet to marry Jax Maroney.’

  Suitably chastised, Ruby tried the same half-pleading, half-innocent look she’d pulled on Sapphie many times in the past: when she’d cut her Malibu Barbie’s hair, when she’d borrowed her favourite knee-high boots and broken a heel, when she’d deliberately dated a long-haired heavy-metal guitarist because her sister had decreed him not good enough.

  Now, like then, it didn’t work.

  ‘Wipe that fake sorry expression off your face and tell me what the hell you were thinking.’

  It’d be much easier if Ruby could lie to her sister and profess some great, undying love for her husband. But they’d always been close and with their mum gone they only had each other, and she couldn’t start lying now.

  Understanding dawned in her sister’s expressive eyes. ‘Oh. My. God. You did this for Seaborn’s.’

  ‘Uh...well...he’s actually not too bad once you get to know him and—’

  ‘Bull.’ Sapphie snapped her fingers. ‘We’re going under so you attack the source of the problem, exactly how you’ve attacked every problem head on since you were a kid.’

  Sapphie shook her head. ‘Rube, this isn’t some game you can pack up and shelve if it goes wrong.’

  This time, Sapphie took her hand and Ruby let her. ‘You’ve married the guy, for goodness’ sake. Do you have any idea what this means?’

  Yeah, considering she’d be shackled to the enemy for the foreseeable future, she had some idea.

  ‘You’ve given Seaborn’s a lifeline but at what cost?’

  Thankfully, Ruby hadn’t confirmed or denied Sapphie’s assumptions but she should’ve known her sister was too smart to fool.

  ‘I could kill you,’ Sapphie muttered, before hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.

  ‘But you won’t because I’m the best creative genius Seaborn’s has ever seen and I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if you were going to kill me anyway.’

  Sapphie punched her on the arm. ‘I knew it. You’re insane.’

  ‘But you love me.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Sapphie teared up. ‘You’re amazing, sis, doing this for the company, for us.’

  Blinking back tears of her own, she squeezed Sapphie’s hands. ‘You promised Mum to save Seaborn’s. I would’ve done the same.’

  Given the opportunity.

  It hung unsaid between them, the one thing they hadn’t spoken about when Sapphie had finally confessed the truth to her.

  Ruby had threatened to take her to hospital if she didn’t take a few months off and the promise Sapphie had made to their mum spilled out, driving an invisible wedge between them.

  It had seemed petty to blame her dead mum she missed every day at the time, so she’d inwardly blamed Sapphie instead.

  Her sister should’ve trusted her enough to tell her, to allow her to shoulder some of the load, and the fact Saph hadn’t thought her responsible enough...it hurt as much as not being trusted by their mum in the first place.

  She hadn’t said anything at the t
ime. Saph had been too fragile, too sick.

  But now she’d put it out there. If her sister picked up on the nuance, she’d say something. Much healthier than bottling it up as Saph had done the last year.

  ‘You resent me for that.’ Sapphie sagged against the bench and Ruby almost backtracked.

  Until she remembered how awful she’d felt, stewing over this the last month, and she nodded.

  ‘Yeah, a little.’ She touched Saph’s arm. ‘We’re more like best friends than sisters. I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me.’

  ‘I wanted to...’ Sapphie shook her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders as it once had, before it’d turned lank and lifeless with stress. ‘But that promise...’

  Ruby knew how obsessive her sister could be with a promise.

  Sapphie had promised to find their neighbour’s runaway pet mouse when they’d been kids: she’d spent four hours searching the garden, only to use her precious pocket money at the local pet store to replace it.

  She’d promised to help her sixth-grade class bully to pass Maths if he stopped tying her pigtails to the chair. She’d almost failed herself, she’d put so many hours into tutoring the deliberately obtuse brat.

  She’d promised to ‘make it all better’ when Ruby’s first crush had dumped her, and she had. By sitting up with her all night, plying her with ice cream and cookies and candy, before heading around to the jerk’s place first thing in the morning and ramming his prized bicycle into a tree.

  Ruby sighed. ‘I understand how much your word means, I really do, but I could’ve helped. I could’ve eased the load and not been responsible for this.’

  She waved her hand towards the building and Sapphie grabbed it. ‘Don’t do that, blame yourself. You weren’t the stupid one, working ridiculous hours, skipping meals, taking caffeine supplements to get through the night.’

  Sapphie tapped her chest. ‘I did that, not you, so don’t you dare think this is your fault.’

  Trust her sister to shoulder the lot even now. Ruby held her hands and squeezed. ‘But that’s just my point, Saph. It’s my fault for the simple fact you didn’t think I could handle any of this.’ She shook her head. ‘I respect the promise you made to Mum, but when you started going downhill you could’ve come to me but you didn’t. You chose to get sick rather than rely on the bubblehead.’