Free Marrying the Enemy by Nicola Marsh Page A

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
    R UBY 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