She turned her head, trying to capture his mouth, but he lifted it millimeters from hers. “Garrett,” she pleaded, and he groaned, drawing her lower lip between his teeth and nipping lightly. She tugged on his neck, trying to pull him closer, but he resisted.
“You are the sexiest woman I have ever met, and I want you, Blair. I need you.”
She rose on her tiptoes and captured his mouth, and he released a deep groan, his kiss devouring her. He pressed her back against the wall, one hand skimming up her waist and to her breast. His thumb brushed her nipple, sending a jolt of electricity through her, and she wrapped her leg around his and pulled his erection tighter against her.
“Blair. Wait. Stop.” He pulled back, his chest rising and falling, his eyes hooded with desire.
Her back was still against the wall, her hands on his chest, as the horror of what she’d just done washed over her. She tried to break loose, but he held her still.
“I’m sorry. Just listen to me.”
Everything had a weakness. With enough pressure, even the hardest metal bent and twisted. Garrett Lowry was hers. She’d been drawn to him, coaxed to the edge of surrender. She had completely lost control. And Blair could not afford to lose control.
Panic raged through her like wildfire. “I have to go.”
His hands held her waist. “It’s okay, Blazer. We’ll figure this out together.”
The song ended, and her eyes flew open. “One dance. You said one dance and you’d quit the wedding.”
“Blair, I love you, and I think you love me too. But I’m damn sure he doesn’t love you.”
She shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“Do you love him? Tell me that you love him.”
Tears stung her eyes. “Garrett.”
“How can you marry him if you don’t love him?”
She shoved against him. “I have to leave.”
He held on tighter, his eyes begging her to listen. “How can you deny this thing between us?”
She wanted him so much it hurt, but she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t take such a risk. “It’s not real, Garrett. If it were real, we would have lasted the first time.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s not true.”
“It is. You do what I do, so you see the same parade of people. They flow into your office too. They all loved each other once—most of them were head over heels when they married. Hate is the opposite of love, Garrett, and only a fine line separates them. One minute you’re in love and the next…” Her voice broke. “We love each other too much. We would destroy each other.”
“You don’t know that! We don’t know that we’ll break up.”
Sadness filled her with an ache that made it difficult to breathe. “But we don’t know that we won’t.”
His eyes hardened. “The Blair Myers I knew never ran from anything.”
“You already told me this morning that I do. Why should it come as such a surprise now?” She jerked free from his hold and took a step to the side. “I can’t risk it. I’m marrying Neil.”
“You’re really going to throw us away?” he demanded in disbelief.
“There is no us! We were done five years ago!”
He shook his head, anger burning in his eyes.
“I gave you a dance. Now call your grandmother and tell her you’re not in the wedding.”
His jaw tensed. “No. There was no deal.”
Her mouth dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“I only asked you to dance with me. I never agreed to bow out of the wedding in exchange. You concocted that one. I just didn’t correct you.”
Rage rushed through her. She shoved at his shoulders, but he barely budged. “You bastard! Why are you doing this to me?”
His eyes were wild. “Because I love you, Blair. I love you, and I can’t let you marry him.”
“You can’t?” she shouted, her voice drowned out by the music overhead. “When did you get the power to allow me anything?”
“Dammit! That’s not what I meant!”
His hold loosened, and she gave him another shove. He stumbled back several steps, and she bolted for her friends, panic making her clumsy.
Megan spotted her first, and she slid off her stool and rushed toward her. Libby’s eyes widened in concern and she followed.
“Blair?”
“I have to go.” She grabbed her purse from her chair as she passed it.
“Okay.” Both women flanked her as she hurried for the door, leaving behind the McMillans.
When they reached the sidewalk, Libby grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “Blair, slow down. Tell us why you’re crying.”
“I’m not crying!” But when she reached up to touch her face, her cheeks were wet.
“What happened?” Megan asked softly.
And that was what pushed her over the edge. Megan’s kindness. She couldn’t handle softness, not now. She choked on a sob but swallowed it back down. “I have to go.”
“We’ll go with you,” Megan said.
Blair glanced at the entrance to the bar. It surprised her that Garrett hadn’t followed her out. In truth, it disappointed her too. The thought sent a new wave of terror through her, and she felt the desperate need to be alone.
“No.” She took a deep breath, forcing all the escaped emotions back into the cracks from which they’d oozed. Only they wouldn’t go back. Now that they were loose, they refused to be tamed.
An empty cab turned the corner, and Blair flagged it down. She had to get away. She had to escape from her friends’ sympathy. It was unbearable.
The taxi stopped, and she opened the door, pausing only to glance back at her stunned friends. “I have to go. I’ll see you both tomorrow night.”
“Blair.”
Blair climbed into the car and shut the door.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
Where to, indeed. There was only one place on earth she wanted to be, and she wasn’t willing to take the risk. Which meant she had nowhere to go at all.
Chapter Twenty-One
Melissa took one look at Blair’s swollen eyes the next morning and brought her a cup of coffee, shutting the door behind her. Still, typical Melissa, she set the cup on her desk and ignored the elephant in the room. “The only thing on your schedule today is your consultation. Do you want to leave at noon and join Neil and his family?”
“No.” That was the very last thing she wanted to do. “I think I’ll stick around and work.”
Melissa nodded. “You’ll need to go home and change for the rehearsal. Do you have a dress picked out?”
“For the hoedown?” she snorted. “Yes.”
Melissa left without comment, and Blair got to work. She became so engrossed in her computer that she was caught off guard when Melissa buzzed to tell her that her consultation had arrived.
“Send her in.”
Blair hadn’t been expecting a young woman. Her clients were typically in their forties and fifties, but the woman entering her office had to be in her late twenties or early thirties.
Blair stood and walked around the desk. “Mrs. Cooper. Please, come in.” She met the woman in the middle of the room and held out her hand. “I’m Blair Hansen.”
“I expected you to be older,” the woman said, looking Blair up and down.
Blair smiled. “And I could say the same about you. How did you hear about me?”
“You represented my mother. She said you fought tooth and nail for her. When I suspected Thomas…” She paused. “I knew who I had to call.”
Blair motioned her toward her small conference table. “Thank you for the confidence. Why don’t we sit, and you can give me your side of things.”
The young woman told her story, and Blair took notes. In many ways, it was similar to her other cases. The couple had started out young and in love, but for the past several months, Leslie Cooper had suspected her husband of cheating on her. As Blair listened, a cold chill washed over her.
Leslie was a beautiful, intelligent woman. Why would her husband cheat on her?
“So did you catch him?” Blair asked.
“No.”
Blair glanced up. “Do you know who he’s having an affair with?”
“No.”
Blair set down her pen. “What did he say when you confronted him?”
“He swears he didn’t do it. That he loves me.”
“So why do you think he’s lying?”
She looked sad. “He’s just so cold. So distant.”
“Is he working out more? Putting more care into his appearance?”
“No.” She looked confused. “No more than usual.”
“Is he having trouble at work?”
“Yeah, he has issues with his boss.”
Blair took a deep breath. “Leslie, I would be happy to represent you should it come to a divorce, but I think what you need is a private investigator or a marriage counselor.”
“But…”
“We’ll need names and some type of proof he’s cheated on you to build a stronger case. And if your only hint that he’s been unfaithful is that he’s acting distant, I suspect he’s merely preoccupied with the possibility of losing his job.”
Leslie looked surprised.
Blair rested a forearm on the table. “Do you still love him?”
Tears filled her eyes. “Yes.”
“Then fight for your marriage. Don’t give up on him so easily.” Like she’d done with Garrett five years ago. “But if you do find proof or you decide you still want a divorce, come back and I’ll help you in any way I can.”
“Thank you.” Relief washed over her face.
Blair watched her walk out of her office, and Melissa came in several minutes later. “Do you have a new client?”
“No. I told her to hire a private investigator or a marriage counselor.”
Her eyes widened. “The marriage counselor bit is new.”
She shrugged. “Her suspicions were flimsy. And she still loves him.”
Melissa moved toward the door, but instead of leaving, she surprised Blair by shutting the door and moving back toward her. “So you’re still getting married?”
Caught off guard, Blair looked up at her. “Well…yeah.”
Melissa grabbed the chair Leslie had used and moved it in front of Blair. Blair watched in silence as her assistant sat in front of her.
“Blair, we’ve been together for four years. I think I know you pretty well by now, wouldn’t you say?”
Blair sat rigid, wondering where Melissa was going with this. “Of course.”
She took a deep breath. “Sometimes the relationship you and I have is difficult.”
Pain twisted in her gut. “You don’t like working for me?”
“What?” Melissa asked in horror. “No! I love working for you. What I meant is that you’re my boss, but we’re also friends, so I sometimes struggle with knowing when not to cross that line.”
Blair nodded, her anxiety ratcheting up.
“But I decided to risk my relationship as your employee today to approach you as your friend.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t think you should marry Neil. He doesn’t love you, so why does he want to marry you?”
Blair expected to feel anger, but she felt exhausted instead. “We love each other in our own way. I know you don’t understand. No one does, and I get it. It’s different. But let’s face it, I intimidate most men…and even those who aren’t afraid of me wouldn’t tolerate my schedule. Besides, I might not believe in happily ever after, but I think it will be nice to be married and have a partner for special events and vacations. Plus we both know it will help my job.”
“None of those are good reasons, Blair,” Melissa said bluntly. “What about love?”
“I’ve spent all night thinking this over. It’s simple. I can either go with emotion or with reason. Emotion is not to be trusted. At least I know what I’ll be getting with Neil.”
“Do you?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
Blair’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you say that?”
“He doesn’t like me, and while that sounds petty on my part, I don’t get why he sees me as a threat.”
“Surely you’ve misunderstood.”
“No. You know I don’t misunderstand.”
She was right. Melissa was excellent at reading people. “What else?”
“He hates Mr. Lowry.”
“Well, that’s to be expected. Even more so now.”
“I’m certain that he wants to marry you to hurt Mr. Lowry. I don’t trust him, Blair.”
She knew that had to be part of his motivation now, but he didn’t know Garrett was her ex-boyfriend until the shower, so that certainly hadn’t been his motivation to propose. She nodded. “Okay.”
“You’re not angry?”
Blair shook her head. “No. But I admit I probably wouldn’t have listened to you before now.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your rehearsal’s in six hours.”
“I know. For now, we’ll leave it as it stands.”
Melissa stood and took several steps before turning around. “I know you want to keep your job, but don’t do this to save me. I couldn’t live with the guilt.” Then she walked out.
Blair sat there thinking about it. She had three choices. Marry Neil. Give Garrett a chance. Or be alone. If she chose one of the latter two, she would need to make sure Melissa was protected. But how could she do that without letting on that Ben Stuart had told her about her potential partnership and its unique conditions?
Five minutes later, she knocked on the door to human resources, but even as she did, she knew it was a mere formality. The door was always open, and Mary, the one-person department, was always welcoming.
“Blair! What are you doing here? You requested the day off for your wedding.”
She smiled. “Oh, you know work…”
Mary grinned. “I do. But don’t let the important things slip by.”
“Thanks, Mary. I’ll remember that.”
“So what can I do for you?”
“Um…” She’d worked up a story of sorts. “Neil got word that he might be offered a position in Dallas. Now, we’re not at all sure what decision he’d make, but I would go with him if he went.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh! I know they’d miss you around here. Why, Mr. Sisco Sr. himself was raving about you just last week.”
“Really? Mr. Sisco Jr. sat in on one of my depositions this week. I was worried they found my work unsatisfactory.”
She waved her hand. “Standard performance review. He didn’t tell you?”
“No.” Had Ben lied to her? But then again, the partners probably wouldn’t have informed Mary of their intentions. “So…if I were to move to Dallas with Neil, what would happen to Melissa?”
Mary smiled. “Oh, aren’t you a sweet girl. She’s a wonderful employee. We’d find a place for her.”
“So she wouldn’t lose her job?”
“Good heavens, no. Half the attorneys here would duke it out over who gets to work with her.”
“Thank you, Mary.” She turned to leave, then asked, “If it comes to that, promise me that you’ll make sure to put her with someone who will be good to her. Not Mark Garter. He’s an ass.” Her voice tightened. She couldn’t handle Melissa working for that jerk.
“Blair. You two are as thick as thieves. I know you care about her.” She lowered her voice. “I’d sooner quit than put her with Garter.”
“Thanks.”
So Melissa was covered. That only left herself. What the hell was she going to do?
Chapter Twenty-Two
At 6:05 p.m., Garrett stood in the Presbyterian Church, trying to swallow his nausea. Blair was sequestered in a corner with Libby and Megan, glancing around the church as she counted off who was missing. Neil stood nearby with a couple of his friends. He crossed his arms and shot Garrett a
smug grin. The bruise on his cheek and under his eye gave Garrett minimal satisfaction.
Blair was still going through with it.
Noah had arrived with Josh and Megan, and Garrett had wondered why until Libby showed up a few minutes later holding hands with another man, presumably her boyfriend Mitch. He was bigger than Noah, a beefy-looking guy with oversized muscles, and he seemed protective of Libby. Garrett would have found it amusing if he weren’t so miserable. Of the two women in his acquaintance who least needed protection, Blair ranked first with Libby at a close second.
While the ladies pow-wowed near the church door, Mitch was hanging out with Josh and Noah. Given the amount of time Noah had spent with Libby over the past week, Garrett was surprised by the apparent lack of tension between the two men. Still, Noah didn’t look disappointed when Garrett pulled him into a side aisle so they could chat without being overheard. “Is Blair okay?” he said in an undertone. “Did Libby get a chance to talk to her?”
Noah just shook his head. “I don’t know. Blair never returned her or Megan’s calls. But she texted them around noon to say she was fine and that they should come to the rehearsal.”
Garrett ran his hand through his hair. “I screwed up last night.”
“Libby’s not so sure about that. But it was a gamble.” He clapped a hand on his back. “Hey, she’s not married yet. You still have about twenty-four hours.”
True, but while they were talking, Blair and Neil had walked up to the altar and started talking to the minister who was scheduled to marry them the next afternoon. The sight didn’t fill him with a lot of confidence.
Blair looked over her shoulder, and Garrett’s eyes met with hers. He expected to see anger or derision there, but instead he found sadness.
What was he going to do? He had to convince her not to make this colossal mistake. It was time to tell her about Layla, even though he knew it would be the kiss of death to any chance of a relationship between them. He just hoped she believed him.
Garrett’s parents had arrived, and his mom and his aunt wasted no time in picking a nothing argument. This time it was over the faded lines in the parking lot.
“You think I had control over that?” Aunt Debra demanded.
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