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As if sensing her reaction, he pushed off the wall and took a step forward. In her face, in her personal space.
Her senses went on high alert: too close, too hot, too much.
His lips kicked into a sexy grin. ‘Nothing to say? That’s a first.’
Biting back the irrational urge to reach up and pull his head down to within kissing distance, she eyeballed him. ‘You don’t know me.’
He leaned down and she braced against the incoming assault of hot male and crisp citrus.
‘Maybe I’d like to?’ He murmured in her ear, his warm breath tickling her and her eyelids fluttered shut, lost in the heat of undeniable attraction.
Before reality set in. That was all she needed: to get involved with the enemy.
His fingertip touched her ear lobe, trailing across her jaw, setting her alight.
Desire streaked through every common-sense reason for not grabbing his hand, dragging him out of here and back to her place.
She’d always been spontaneous when it came to guys, not following convention of waiting to be asked out. If she liked a guy, she let him know.
But as Jax stepped away, leaving her hot and bothered and yearning, she knew he was no ordinary guy.
She couldn’t toy with him. He wasn’t the type to tease or taunt without serious repercussions.
Considering the dire circumstances at Seaborn’s, did she really want to play with fire?
‘I’d like you to leave our mine alone.’
The glimmer of lust in his eyes didn’t dim. If anything, her feistiness seemed to turn him on.
‘And I’d like this city to acknowledge I’m nothing like my father and do business with me but we don’t always get what we want.’
His honesty stunned her and when his lips clamped and he tried to turn away, she grabbed his hand.
‘So you have a heart beneath that tough-guy exterior after all.’
He frowned but the rigidness around his mouth softened. ‘Nope.’
He tapped his chest. ‘No heart here; call me Tin Man.’
She loved The Wizard of Oz as a child and the fact this big, bad business bully knew the movie endeared him to her as nothing else could.
‘You want acceptance—’
‘For my business.’ He waved a dismissive hand at the crowd. ‘Couldn’t care less what they think of me.’
His clarification only solidified her impression that this deliberate ostracism had to mean more than he was letting on.
‘Okay, you want them to accept your business, and I want my family business to survive intact. Maybe we should brainstorm a solution to our problems?’
The frown deepened. ‘Why? As you pointed out, we barely know each other. Why the hell would I discuss my private business with you?’ He shook his head. ‘Business proposals I understand. This?’ He pointed at the crowd. ‘Not a hope.’
She stared at him, something tugging at the edge of her consciousness.
He’d used the word proposal again... What if they could nut out a proposal to benefit them both?
The idea shimmered and coalesced, detonating like an ill-timed bomb and she gasped.
‘What’s wrong?’
She glanced at his left hand.
‘Are you married?’
‘No.’
‘Involved with anyone?’
His frown eased, that sexy grin back. ‘If this is your way of asking me out—’
‘I’m not asking you out.’
She placed her palms against his chest, slid them across to his lapels and tugged him closer.
‘I’m asking you to marry me.’
When Denver had been arrested, Jax had been subjected to some pretty outlandish proposals from the media desperate to get the inside scoop.
None as outrageous as Ruby Seaborn asking him to marry her.
‘You know you don’t have to go to those lengths for me to put out. I’m good for it.’
She laughed, a genuine belly laugh that made something inside him twist with longing.
‘This isn’t what you think.’ She darted a glance over her shoulder—yeah, as if anyone would approach them as long as he was part of this twosome.
‘It’s a business proposal.’
She beckoned with a crook of her finger. He didn’t need to be asked twice to get up close and personal with her. When he’d whispered in her ear he’d smelled summer berries. Strawberry? Raspberry? Blueberry? A delicious compote that had him yearning to taste...
He pointed to her empty wine glass. ‘How many of those have you had?’
‘Not enough,’ she muttered, her wry grin adding to her intrigue.
He’d had women proposition him many times but none had been crazy enough to propose marriage.
‘Just hear me out, okay?’
She laid a hand on his forearm and he stilled, her touch innocuous, his libido’s reaction anything but.
‘I’m all ears.’
She slid her hand down to grab his and tug him across to the quietest corner in the room, tucked behind a towering potted palm near the caterer’s entrance.
‘Shouldn’t you get down on bended knee, do this right?’ he teased.
‘Shut up.’ She made a zipping motion across her lips.
‘Is that any way to talk to your prospective fiancé?’
‘Jeez, you’re a pain in the—’
‘You’re not sugar-coating how much you want to be my wife, I like that.’
Amusement lit her eyes. ‘Okay, I guess I deserve whatever you dish out considering how I blurted out that proposal. But once you hear what I have to say I’m sure you’ll agree marriage makes sense.’
He folded his arms. ‘You think? Because from where I’m standing, marrying a stranger holds little appeal. Not that I’m anti-marriage, mind you, but I always thought if I was crazy enough to shackle myself to a woman in matrimony, we’d have a serious relationship going first.’
She sighed. ‘You talk too much. Typical CEO.’
‘Typical?’
She puffed out her cheeks like a balloon. ‘Full of hot air and self-importance, likes the sound of his own voice.’
God, he loved sparring with her. Her quick wit plus her beauty and intelligence equalled a potential problem for his self-control.
‘Why don’t you rationalise your ludicrous proposal before you pump up my fragile ego any more?’
She snorted. ‘Fragile? Yeah, right.’
‘You’ve got two minutes starting now—’
‘Okay, okay.’ She held up her hands in surrender. ‘Sheesh, better add impatient to that list of your questionable attributes.’
‘Ninety seconds and counting—’
‘I want to save Seaborn’s, you want entry into Melbourne’s high society. I can give you the latter, if you agree to stop undercutting our mine for a year and give us a chance to turn our profit margins around.’
He knew blurting out that bit about the crowd shunning him had been a bad move. A smart woman like her had picked up on how much it really meant to him and was now using it to blackmail him into marriage. Gutsy.
‘What makes you think I need you to introduce me to Melbourne’s elite?’
She shook her head. ‘You disappoint me. I’m being honest with you; I expect the same in return.’
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. ‘That mob—the movers and shakers?—tend to snub.’ She paused, the tip of her tongue darting out to moisten her top lip, and his gut tightened.
‘Especially you, with your background.’
Damn, she knew. Of course she’d know. Everyone in this city knew his lineage. They’d driven him away once and were still using it to beat him around the head.
Didn’t matter how much money his mine had turned over last year. Didn’t matter about profit margins or award recognition by the WA Mining Commission. Didn’t matter he’d busted his ass taking his mine to the top of the competition.
They still wouldn’t grant him access to what he needed most: Global Mining Corp, the governing body that controlled the fate of Maroney Mine and his dreams to take his company international.
Keeping a tight rein on his bitterness, he yawned. ‘I wouldn’t believe everything you hear.’
She tsked. ‘You’re taking me for a fool again. Shame, because it’s a good deal.’
Yeah, if he wanted to be shackled in a loveless marriage with a woman he barely knew.
He’d never really thought about getting married. He’d have to let a woman get close enough emotionally for a serious relationship to develop and he didn’t have the time or the inclination for that.
In the Kimberly region he focused on business. If he wanted some down-time and female company he’d head to Perth. He liked his dates uncomplicated and his sex with no strings attached.
Married to Ruby Seaborn? A move way beyond strings. More like Superman being hogtied with Kryptonite rope.
There had to be more to this ludicrous suggestion of hers. Why would a beautiful, intelligent young woman want to marry him to save her family business?
‘A good deal, huh?’ He screwed up his eyes, pretending to ponder. ‘So apart from having my lowly status elevated to Seaborn level, what do I get out of this marriage?’
The intent behind his question registered, if the faint blush staining her cheeks a beguiling pink and the aquamarine sparks in her eyes were any indication.
‘You’re talking about sex?’
There she went again, blowing him away with her bluntness. He’d never met a woman like her: bold, brazen, not afraid to speak her mind.
It turned him on, big time.
His gaze fell to her chest, rising and falling in time with her rapid breathing, before sweeping up to meet hers in blatant challenge.
‘The thought had crossed my mind.’
She folded her arms, but not before he’d glimpsed the telltale peak of her nipples.
She loved this as much as he did.
Defiant, she met his gaze dead-on. ‘It would only complicate things.’
‘Are you sure? It could also make this marriage mighty interesting.’
A vein pulsed in her neck and he resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.
She shook her head. ‘Uh-uh. Why add confusion to an already difficult situation?’
He chuckled. ‘Your wooing technique needs a little work.’
He tapped his temple. ‘Let’s see. I’d be shackling myself to you in a sexless difficult situation.’
He snapped his fingers. ‘Hell yeah, sounds like something I’d do.’
