How long had it been since she'd made the journey here with Jax? Weeks? Months? Enough time to ensure she'd done the unthinkable.

  Fallen for her husband.

  Another annoyance. She kept thinking about him in those terms, her husband, as if it was something to be proud of and treasured.

  Wonder how she'd like it when they divorced and he quickly became her ex-husband?

  Muttering swear words under her breath, she parked, signed in, and headed for the river. Saph would be there for sure.

  She caught sight of her sister, lying flat on her back on a wooden bench, her bare feet dangling over the end, a floppy straw hat shading her face, doing absolutely nothing but soaking up the glorious spring sunshine.

  Ruby’s heart lightened. She'd never seen her workaholic sister sit still for two seconds, let alone lie in the sunshine. This place had worked wonders and she couldn't wait for a healthier, happier version of Saph to rejoin her at Seaborn.

  Okay, so her wish for a speedy return wasn't entirely altruistic: the faster Saph returned to spokesperson duties, the faster Ruby could go back to doing what she did best: create. She needed to put the finishing touches on that commissioned engagement ring by Tuesday. According to Opal, the buyer had paid in full already. Impressive. And handy, considering their overdraft at the bank.

  Another surprise: Sapphire hadn't asked her about the financials once. Sure, she asked about Seaborn during her allowed once-a-week call, but never delved into specifics. Very un-Saph-like. They talked about general stuff, Ruby taking her cue from her sister, who seemed mellower and more relaxed than she could've hoped for.

  Yeah, Ruby couldn't wait for her sister to come back to Seaborn. She had a feeling she'd need her once Jax Maroney strutted out of her life.

  "Are you staring at me?" Sapphire picked up the edge of her hat and squinted up at her.

  "Yep. I’m about to take a pic of this to remind you what you need to do more of once you get back to Melbourne."

  Sapphire removed the hat from her face, swung her legs over, and sat up. "You'll be pleased to know I won't need much reminding." She held up three fingers. "I'm going to schedule weekly yoga, Pilates, and t'ai chi sessions."

  "Wow." Ruby sat, grabbed her sister's shoulders and gave them a gentle shake. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

  Sapphire shrugged, her smile radiant. "It's the new me. You like?"

  "Yeah, I like." Ruby released Saph, tugging on the end of her ponytail. "I don't ever want to see you burnt out again, you hear me?"

  "Loud and clear." Sapphire sat back and tilted her face up to the sun. "I wasn't expecting you this weekend."

  "Can't a girl pop in to see her favourite sis for an impromptu visit?"

  "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 put Seaborn back 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 for Seaborn. 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."

  "You love him?" Sapphire collapsed backwards onto her butt. “Shit.”

  Ruby loved Jax?

  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, from him.

  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 before Seaborn had 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."

  As they hugged, Ruby felt luckier than she had in ages.

  Until she remembered Jax’s text, her newly discovered feelings for him, and the fact she'd soon have to watch her husband walk out of her life.

  Chapter 29

  Jax paced the tiny Japanese garden in the small cottage. He preferred the wide open spaces of Western Australia, not miniature bonsais and white pebbles and breakable lanterns he could trip over at any second.

  Trust Ruby to pick a place like this to stay for the weekend. Not exactly fair, as she hadn't expected him to come, so why wouldn't she pick this dainty doll-house? From what he'd seen so far, the only thing he liked was the outdoor shower. Loads of possibilities in that private, shaded oasis.

  His cock hardened and he tried to concentrate on a cold version of that shower.

  He hadn't come here to ravage his wife, despite his body urging him to do just that. He missed the satisfied purr she made in the back of her throat after she came, missed the mind-blowing combustion every time they had sex. But he hadn't come here for that. He'd followed her to lay it on the line.

  He had a ring in his pocket to prove it.

  From the cottage's vantage point high on a secluded hill, he heard the noise of an engine first, then watched Ruby’s car meander towards the driveway.

  He wished he could hide his car, make this surprise complete, when in reality he couldn't wait another second to scoop her into his arms.

  He'd know how she felt about his showing up here the moment she caught sight of his car. She'd either speed up in anticipation or slow down, wishing he hadn't intruded on her weekend away.

  He waited, uncharacteristic nerves twisting his gut.

  When she hit the accelerator, he muttered, "Yes."

  A few seconds later she screeched to a stop, tumbled out of the car, and ran towards him, her joy obvious in the wide smile and sparkling eyes.

  She didn't ask what he was doing here.

  She didn't question his dishevelled appearance.

  She didn't do anything but catapult into his arms at a speed that sent them staggering backwards and slamming against a brittle stone wall.

  He didn't care.

  As he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled a lungful of delicious berries from her signature shampoo, her arms wrapped tight around his waist, he couldn't care less about anything.

  He had Ruby in his arms again.

  He had no intention of letting go.

  Chapter 30

  "When your text said see you soon, I thought you meant back at Armidale."

  Ruby stroked Jax's chest, her fingertips skating along the skin, her cheek resting an inch from her hand. His heart beat strongly beneath her ear, the fast beats indicative of their frantic reunion.

  She'd missed him.

  More than the sex, more than the intimacy, she'd missed this. Lying close to him in the aftermath of another sensational orgasm, making desultory small talk, content to do nothing but bask in the afterglow.

  "I couldn't wait until Sunday to see you."

  She propped her chin on her hand, looked him in the eye. "Missed me, huh?"

  "Like you wouldn't believe."

  The sincerity in his eyes warmed her. So she'd been silly enough to fall in love? By the way he stared at her, he was halfway there himself.

  What had changed?

  She didn't want to disrupt their unexpected reunion, didn't want to risk him shutting down as he usually did when she mentioned anything remotely emotional, but if they had any chance, he needed to start opening up to her.

  "Careful. Admitting you missed me is tantamount to revealing emotion, something you tend not to do."

  He stiffened, shadows instantly darkening his eyes. At least he didn't scamper for a sudden bathroom visit or snack.

  "You're saying I have difficulty expressing emotions?"

  She raised an eyebrow and his mouth kicked into a smile.

  "Okay, okay, maybe I do, but there's a damn good reason for it."

  Daring to hope he'd confide in her, she sat up and clutched the sheet to her chest. "Tell me."

  After a long, drawn-out moment, he shimmied up the pillows, still within touching distance, his wary gaze not leaving hers.

  "I had a great childhood. Loved my folks. Idolised them. Had a ball with the constant parties and going out and staying up later than other kids. We lived the high life, together."

  A deep groove slashed his brows as she braced for the tough stuff.

  "Until I graduated uni and heard the rumours. Working in the corporate world, there were mutterings about Dad, why he made millions on deals that sent other people broke. And why a cultivated high society woman like Jackie Blaise would be with a guy of dubious background. Slumming it, apparently, considering Denver's dad was a small time petty drug pusher who ended up dead for his double dealings."

  She didn't want to stem the flow, didn't want to intrude, but felt compelled to say something to fill the growing silence.

  "That's harsh about your grandfather.”

  He shrugged. "Never knew him. Which made accepting Dad's betrayal much harder to accept."

  “So he definitely used your mother to cultivate rich friends to scam?"

  Jax winced. "I still don't know if he genuinely loved Mum, or saw her as a meal ticket. She adored him, he used her, and fleeced most of her friends for millions."

  "How did she cope?"

  Sadness pinched his mouth. "She joined him."

  Ruby didn't want to push, didn't want to probe too deep for fear of opening old wounds, but she'd never felt closer to Jax than she did at that moment.

  This was true intimacy, the sharing of confidences, of secret fears.

  She didn't want him to stop.

  "What do you mean?"

  "A lot of rumours circulated when Dad went to prison. Rumours of an accomplice."

  Pain, raw and undiluted, flashed across his face and she reached out to momentarily cup his cheek before letting her hand fall. "There was an extensive investigation but the police never found proof Mum was implicated, so she got off."

  He shook his head, disgust curling his upper lip. "The fact she ran and didn't look back not long afterwards pretty much proves she must've been involved. Makes me sick."

  His hands clenched into fists, bunching the sheets. "Their friends trusted them and they embezzled every last cent."

  She traced his knuckles, smoothing each one until first one hand, then the other, unfurled. “They must’ve shattered your trust too."

  He glanced away and her heart bled at his bleakness. "Dad ruined everything. For months after his incarceration I couldn't work in this city, not with Maroney as a surname. And while people didn't blatantly blame Mum, I reckon they suspected."

  "So you left."

  He nodded. "Never looked back. Mum's mum knew Denver was a ratbag all along and didn't trust Jackie's judgement, so she left me the mine in her will and I headed west to prove myself."

  Ironic, that in proving himself, he'd almost ruined her. If the Seaborn mine went under, so did Seaborn jewel company.

  Not worth thinking along about when they'd come so far, and would continue to grow, together, if she had any say in the matter.

  "You've never visited him?

  Jax’s incredulity answered the question before he opened his mouth. "I want nothing to do with him."

  Her fingers stilled as she covered one of his hands with hers. "I heard his appeal's coming up."

  A deep frown slashed Jax’s brows. "Yeah, as I'm constantly reminded by the press contacting me for the inside scoop." He scowled. "Those vultures won't take no for an answer."

  "Might be good to talk to them to stop them badgering you? Or maybe go see your dad, kind of like an exorcism of the past?"

  He stared at her as if she'd suggested he break his dad out of jail.

  "I've spent the last decade distancing myself from the old man's poison. Why on earth would I want to see him?"

  She saw the shadows clouding his eyes, the pain contorting his mouth, and wanted to butt out. But intimacy went beyond the physical and he had to let her in.

  "Because he's your father, and you said you had a great relationship until he was arrested." She took a deep breath and ploughed on. “It might help you lose the latent anger eating you up inside."

  "You don't know anything about me," he muttered, his expression bleak as he glared at some spot over her right shoulder.

  "Yeah, I do," she said, intertwining her fingers with his and gripping tight. "You're an incredible guy and it's not worth letting the past twist you into knots. Maybe if you talked to him—"

  "No." Jax flung off the covers and stood so fast she almost tipped off the edge of the bed.

  "Jax—"

  "I'm taking a shower."

  He stalked across the room, emotionally closed off, the distance between them bigger than ever. If she hadn't already realised she'd fallen in love with him, she would've known it at that moment, because his impressive butt didn't register as much as the anger radiating off him.

  She did the only thing a woman in love could do.

  She followed him.

  Chapter 31

  Jax lifted the flick mixer and stepped under the rain-shower head, wishing the hot water would wash away the anger and bitterness and regret gnawing his soul.

  Regret he hadn't confronted his dad years ago, regret he hadn't engaged a PI to find his mum, regret he'd blurted his sorry tale to Ruby.

  Way to go with making this a romantic weekend.

  He'd screwed up. Big time.

  If there was one thing he hated more than thinking about his dad, it was pity. Pity he'd seen in Ruby's expressive eyes.

  He thumped the stone wall, wishing he could punch it until his knuckles bled. Not that it would help. He'd trodden the road to oblivion in his twenties, losing himself in alcohol and women, until he'd found a new way to obliterate the humiliation of being Denver Maroney's son: making millions his dad could never touch.