The Player (21 page)

Garrett could only presume the
prick
was Neil, which eased some of the tension from his shoulders.

Without warning, Libby snatched Garrett’s right hand and pulled it closer, her thumb brushing his fingers open.

He considered pulling free until he remembered her earlier demand to read his palm.

Her index finger traced his hand, following lines for several seconds until she looked up into his face. “When you love, you love for keeps. Is she the one?”

Noah chuckled as his brother disappeared out the door. “Libby, just look at him and you’ve got your answer. Let me handle this.”

She studied him for another second before dropping his hand. “Okay.”

With a grin, Noah handed one of the beer bottles to Garrett. “Libs, go out and keep an eye on things—Josh included. This might take a little bit, but come get me if you need me.”

Libby gave them both a once-over, then pointed a finger in Noah’s face. “You better not screw this up.”

He laughed, completely unthreatened, then clapped an arm around Garrett’s shoulders and led him through the living room and out the front door.

“This some elaborate ploy to kick me out?” Garrett asked, half-joking.

“Nah. Josh and I could have easily kicked your ass out the door. We wouldn’t need a ploy.” He settled onto the top step and opened his bottle, then took a long drag.

Garrett sat next to him, putting his hands behind his head. He wasn’t sure what Noah’s purpose actually was. He had one, Garrett was sure of that, but he wasn’t about to let down his guard. Now that Blair had kissed him with that same fiery passion he remembered, he wasn’t backing down. Not a chance in hell.

Noah leaned his elbows on his knees and tilted his head to look at him. “So you love her, huh?”

Was it so obvious? “Yeah.”

“Do you think she loves you?”

Garrett didn’t answer, sorting through his thoughts. From the way she’d kissed him back, he thought there was a definite possibility. But she’d walked out on him no more than a couple of minutes later. “I don’t know. This morning I would have said no. I broke her heart five years ago. I definitely don’t deserve her. But now . . .”

“Hey, who does deserve the love of a good woman?” Noah asked, but it sounded self-deprecating. “But it doesn’t mean you should give up. Otherwise hardly anyone would get married. So what are you going to do about it?”

Garrett sighed and ran a hand over his head. “My sister told me to show her I’m not an ass anymore, but I’m under a tight deadline here. That plan might work if I had a month or two. So I tried to apologize to her in the kitchen . . .” He wasn’t sure he should confess that she kissed him first. He knew her, and he suspected she was in agony over the thought that she’d just cheated on Neil. “I know she still feels
something
for me.”

“You need to step up your game, dude.”

Garrett took a long sip of his beer and lowered the bottle. “I think I may have just pushed her away.”

They sat in silence for a minute before Noah said, “I don’t know Blair very well, but I know she likes to act like a hard ass. From what Libby says, she resists letting anyone get close to her.”

Garrett shook his head. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.”

“Okay then, Mr. Know It All. How do you get to her?”

He groaned. “Persistence. Patience. Things I don’t have time for.” He motioned to the house behind him. “She’s out there opening wedding gifts with my asshole cousin.” Should he give up? Let her go? But he knew she wasn’t happy with Neil, and said asshole was cheating on her. He just had to make her realize he really loved her, and he’d do his damnedest never to hurt her again.

Noah’s brow lowered in concentration as he stared out into the street. “So what you need is an accelerated plan. Sometimes a chemical reaction speeds up when heat is applied.”

Garrett’s eyes widened.

Noah chuckled. “I’m an engineer, and contrary to what my younger brother thinks, I did pay attention in a few of my college courses.”

“Heat, huh?” He might be right, but he still needed a plan.

“Are you going to their party tomorrow night?”

“Yeah. Nana’s insisted that I attend all of the wedding functions, but I would have been there anyway. I’m going to take every opportunity I can to see her. In fact, we have a deposition together tomorrow.”

“We’ll come up with something by the party. Just keep trying to charm her in the meantime.”

Noah was being a little too friendly—why was this total stranger so gung-ho to lend his assistance? “Why are you helping me? We’re plotting to break up a wedding.”

He grinned. “Instigating trouble is something I’m good at, and Libby’s a perfect partner in crime. The two of us made sure Josh and Megan were officially married, and if we managed to do that, we can definitely break up Blair and Neil’s wedding.”

Garrett’s hand tightened around his beer bottle. “So this is all some game to you?” His voice rose with his anger.

Noah shook his head. “Hell, no. I’m doing it because there’s no way she’s happy with that dickhead.”

Garrett’s gaze jerked up to his. “How do you know?”

“I spent time with them a couple of months ago at Josh’s wedding. The guy’s a total douchebag. Blair might come across as a bitch—no offense, dude—”

He shrugged. He knew how she came across. “None taken.”

“—but she doesn’t seem like the type to tolerate a guy like him for very long.”

Garrett took a long drink. “And yet she has . . . she is.” Could their arrangement be as practical as Neil had suggested?

“Look, I don’t know you, man, but I saw my brother with Megan in June. When he thought he was going to lose her, he was totally messed up. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t taken a chance.” He paused, twisting the bottle in his hand. “If you love her, win her over. You still have a couple of days, and the two of you have history. Josh had less than that with Megan. Hell, the two of them met on the plane on her way to her wedding.” He flashed a grin. “But I bet beating the crap out of Blair’s fiancé in front of her friends isn’t going to win you any favors. Not with a pistol like her.” He laughed at the surprise on Garrett’s face. “Yeah, it was pretty easy to see your intention.”

Garrett grinned. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Noah’s smile widened, and he held out his hands. “Why can’t more people see that?”

His grin morphed into a laugh. “Won’t your girlfriend be looking for you soon?”

Noah took sip of his beer, then lowered his bottle. “Libby’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.”

Garrett studied him for a moment. Given the way those two acted around each other, he was pretty sure Noah might need a straight talk of his own.

“Libby’s worried about her and would do anything to protect her. That’s why she and Megan were so quick to jump in when Neil showed up.”

That got Garrett’s attention. “Blair’s not the type to tolerate people hovering and taking care of her. She’s too independent for that. I can’t believe she let Megan drag her off like that.”

“Blair hasn’t been acting like herself lately, and like I said, they’re worried about her. They think she’s making a mistake but is too scared to admit it. If they push too hard, she’ll do it anyway just to prove them wrong.”

Garrett suspected they were right.

“I’m sure the way Neil was acting in the kitchen hasn’t done much to set them at ease.” Noah drained his bottle, then stood. “Let’s go out there and keep an eye on the douchebag. Libby doesn’t trust him, and neither do I.”

Though the last thing he wanted to do was watch Neil parade around with Blair, he forced himself to rise from the stoop. If he truly wanted a chance with her, what choice did he have? Maybe it was time to tell her that Neil was cheating on her. Perhaps it would ease the guilt she was sure to be feeling. But he worried it would harden her heart against love even more, or worse, she’d accuse him of lying about her worst fear in a desperate attempt to win her back.

He’d sit on the information and hope he could win her over his way. He only hoped his way didn’t take too long.

Blair didn’t have a lot of experience with showers, but this had to be the strangest one she’d ever attended. After the gifts, Knickers divided the attendees into three teams and set them to work draping one team member with toilet paper in an attempt to create a wedding dress.

Knickers insisted that if Josh and Neil were going to sit in on the shower, they had to join a team. So Josh was sent to Megan and Libby’s group with a couple of other partygoers, and Neil joined forces with his mother and sister and a few others. Of course, Neil’s mother decided it would be cute if Neil was the bride, and soon he was draped in long ribbons of paper. He shot a grin at Blair, who was waiting by the food table. Her job was to judge at the end. She was sure his amusement was supposed to give her warm fuzzies or fill her with reassurance after the kitchen debacle, but all she felt was disgust, directed at both Neil and herself.

Libby was the model for their group, and Megan and the others wasted no time before slapping toilet paper on her in a haphazard manner.

Dena’s kids were out in the yard, each with a roll of toilet paper, throwing streamers up into the trees. Knickers watched in dismay, gnawing on a knuckle. “Oh, dear.”

The back door burst open, and Megan’s grandmother let out a shout. “Ho, boy! You’re playing dress-up. I wanna play.” She was dressed in a hot pink bowling shirt, paired with silver sparkly leggings and orthopedic shoes. Her gray hair was accented with pink streaks, and her arms were wrapped around a present wrapped in purple paper. She set the gift on the presents table and hurried over. “Is the theme Vegas-style weddings? I want to be the bride.” She started to lift up her shirt.

Knickers cringed. “Mother, stop! There are children present.”

Her mother looked taken aback. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Several people laughed, much to Knickers’s chagrin.

“You can be on our team, Gram,” Libby said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer. “Where have you been? It’s not a party without you.”

“It’s bowling night. I couldn’t let my team down, but I decided to come home early.” She pinched Libby and Megan’s cheeks. “I couldn’t miss my girls.”

Megan gave her grandmother a hug. “I’ve missed you, Gram.”

“Then you and Josh need to get your hienies back in K.C. I’m not getting any younger.”

Blair was surprised by the sorrow that crept into her as she watched the exchange. The only real family she had left was her mother, and she hadn’t expected to miss her so much, especially at her stupid wedding shower. In fact, her mother had been more upset than Blair that she was missing it. Blair had truthfully assured her it was no big deal, so she was shocked at the sudden realization that she now felt very alone.

Gram looked over at Blair and reached for her, pulling her into a bear hug. “You think you’re getting out of some lovin’?”

Blair found herself hugging the woman back. Gram held tight and whispered in her ear, “You got a lot of people who love you, girl, me included. Don’t you ever forget it.”

Blair leaned back and looked up into her face. Gram had been around as long as the three women had been friends. And while she and Libby were much closer, Blair had always loved her antics. Still, she’d never guessed that Gram was so sentimental about her. “Thank you,” she whispered. It was as if Gram had known exactly what she’d needed to hear.

Gram winked. “Now someone make me a bride!”

Megan laughed and handed her a roll.

Neil’s grandmother sat close to his group, of which she was technically a member, but she didn’t participate. She watched everything around her with an expressionless face, and Blair couldn’t help but wonder what the older woman was plotting. She was definitely the polar opposite of Megan’s grandmother.

“Hold still, Neil!” Debra cried out, stumbling as she tried to wrap the toilet paper more firmly around his chest. “I think the patio must be uneven. I can’t seem to stay upright.”

Neil rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to Blair. “Do we get to play-act the wedding ceremony, Blair?” There was a huge grin on his face as held out his arms so his sister could give him sleeves. “We can practice our kiss.”

“Only if you win!” someone in the third group shouted.

Blair watched him, wondering what in the hell she was doing. Neil wasn’t fireworks and rollercoaster feelings, but did she really want that? There was no doubt she and Garrett still had chemistry, but a fire could only burn so long before it became a pile of ashes—a lesson she’d already learned the hard way.

And as she watched Neil good-naturedly play along with the game, she realized he really was a great guy. He had a respectable career. He was responsible. He was good-looking. And he was capable of adapting to social situations. Neil wasn’t a stupid man. He had to know something had happened between her and Garrett, and yet here he was making an effort to have fun.

Was she really willing to throw away everything they had together? And for what? A few months with Garrett before he changed his mind again? She needed stability and respect, and she got both of those things from the man she was engaged to marry in a few days.