Free Marrying the Enemy by Nicola Marsh

had done the same when she’d insisted Sapphie take an enforced absence or risk losing her health as well as their livelihood.
    She’d be damned if she failed a month after Sapphie’s collapse and only a year after their mum’s death.
    Swallowing the lump of emotion lodged in her throat, she swivelled the mirror away.
    She might have skipped the chapel but, in a little while, she was definitely getting married.
    * * *
    Jax alternated between tugging at his cuffs, sliding a finger under his collar and adjusting his tie.
    He couldn’t breathe, a vice slowly but surely constricting his chest until the simple act of dragging in a breath hurt.
    ‘Relax.’ Murray slapped him on the back, annoyingly chipper.
    ‘I am,’ he said through gritted teeth, glancing at the door and his watch for the umpteenth time.
    ‘She’ll be here.’ Murray straightened and smoothed the lapels of his tux. ‘Though it’s not too late to change your mind.’ He winked. ‘You make a run for it, I’ll take care of the damsel in distress.’
    Jax’s scathing glare made Murray laugh. ‘You’re a riot but I wish you’d shut the hell up.’
    Murray’s laughter subdued to smothered chuckles. ‘Why? Nervous?’
    ‘Hardly.’
    Jax usually took everything in his stride, from occupational health and safety officers threatening to close his mine if he didn’t comply with their outrageous demands to weepy secretaries pining for their outback lovers gone walkabout.
    He’d dealt with the trauma of his dad’s trial and the resultant fallout, when mates he’d gone to school and uni with had turned their collective backs on him.
    He’d coped with his elegant, classy mother doing the unthinkable in assisting his dad in his underhand dealings before absconding like a thief into the night.
    He’d handled moving across the country and taking over a mine with no previous experience bar a stint at a merchant bank, and he’d handled the isolation and dust storms and cyclones.
    Handling a wife for as long as it took to wrap up a few business deals?
    Easy.
    ‘Good, because here she comes.’ Murray nodded towards the door, his inane grin annoying Jax as much as the leap of his pulse.
    He shouldn’t be looking forward to seeing Ruby this much.
    They were two pragmatic individuals doing whatever it took to achieve their respective goals.
    Tell that to his gut instantly tightening at the sight of her, resplendent in a calf-length off-white dress with thin straps, her hair a glorious muss of curls and those striking green eyes accentuated by lashings of make-up.
    As they locked gazes across the small room he could’ve sworn his heart twanged.
    Damn.
    He strode down the aisle, for want of a better word, to meet her.
    Aware of curious eyes upon them—Murray, the celebrant and her cousin staring daggers at him—he slid an arm around her waist, drew her close and kissed her.
    He’d aimed for a brief, perfunctory greeting kiss but the moment his lips touched hers he couldn’t help himself.
    Increasing pressure, demanding entrance, delighting in the jolt to his libido as her tongue snaked around his.
    She tasted of mint and strawberries, sweet and succulent, and he lost himself in the seductive charms of his soon-to-be wife.
    Wife.
    Marriage.
    For better or worse.
    He couldn’t have imagined a more effective douse for his rising passion and if Murray hadn’t cleared his throat, he would’ve stopped anyway.
    Ruby stared at him, her eyes so wide and luminous a guy could lose it completely if he looked into them long enough.
    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