“I don’t believe you.”
He held out his hands. “Why would I lie now? Why not just own up to it? I won’t deny I slept with quite a few women afterward, so why would I lie about that?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice cracked.
Time to go for broke. “I’ve spent five years regretting both of those nights. If I could give up everything I’ve achieved in the last five years to go back and live that first night over again, I’d do it.”
She shot him a look of indecision.
“I was too stupid to see that you were lashing out because something had happened. I’d gotten a bad grade on my paper—the one I’d worked on relentlessly for two weeks—and I was mad and upset. All the way to your apartment I kept thinking about how much I wanted to see you. I knew you’d help me put everything in perspective. Then I walked in, and you got pissed because I hadn’t picked up laundry detergent for you, and the next thing I knew we were both yelling, and before I could even process what was going on, I’d packed my things and left.”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered as she turned to face him.
They were inches apart, and without thinking, he reached for her face and cupped her cheek. “And I didn’t know about your dad. Oh, God, Blair. You have no idea how devastated I was when I heard.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into his palm.
He wrapped his other hand around her back and slowly pulled her to his chest. “Nothing happened with Jody. I swear to you. She brought me home. I stumbled inside my apartment, and before I knew what happened, she kissed me and then stripped off her clothes before I pushed her away.”
“How can I believe you?”
“If I wanted to break up with you, why would I have run after you? Why would I have stood outside your door half the night, begging you to let me explain?” His thumb stroked her jaw, and he couldn’t believe she was in his arms again. Could it be this easy? “I was crushed, Blair. I didn’t have a clue how much I really loved you until I lost you. I had this gaping hole in my heart. I knew you’d never give me another chance, so I tried to find other ways to fill it. But no one ever came close to you.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at him with such longing it stole his breath.
“I love you, Blair. I never stopped loving you.”
She lifted her hand behind his neck and kissed him, her lips soft on his, hesitant. His tongue slid along her lower lip, and her mouth parted. Her grip on his neck tightened, and her tongue joined his as she dropped her guard and lost herself to the moment.
The fire that swept through his body caught him by surprise, and he pulled her closer, his hand sliding from the small of her back down to her ass and pulling her against his pelvis.
She groaned, and he felt her free hand grabbing his own ass, pulling him closer.
The sound of a doorbell barely registered in his head, but the voice he heard several seconds later sent ice water through his blood.
Neil was at the front door.
Chapter Fourteen
What the hell had she done?
She heard Neil at the front door. “Hey, Josh. I didn’t know you were here,” he said. “I thought I’d crash the party.”
Shit.
Blair froze in Garrett’s arms and tried to jerk away from him, but he held her tight.
Josh answered, “Bart invited me over to hang out in the basement and watch a game. He was feeling outnumbered. Noah’s here too.”
Panic flooded her, and she pulled against Garrett’s vise-like grip. “Let me go!” She couldn’t let Neil find her like this. Oh, God. What had she done?
He dropped his hold, and worry filled Garrett’s eyes as she took several steps backward.
“You have to break off this wedding, Blair,” he insisted in a whisper. “Tell him when he comes in. We can tell him together.”
Lifting a hand to her temple, she shook her head. “This is all happening too fast. I have to think.” She couldn’t just throw away a two-year relationship over a hot kiss—and from a man who’d slept with half the women in law school after their breakup. This was ridiculous. She was getting married in three days.
But her panic increased, stealing her breath. How could she face Neil after what she’d just done?
“They’re out back,” Josh said, and moments later, Neil stood in the doorway with Megan’s husband.
“Oh, hey, Blair,” Josh said in surprise. “I didn’t know you were in here. Look who just turned up.”
Neil surveyed the both of them. He smiled, but his eyes were cold as his gaze swung from her to Garrett and back.
“What are you doing here?” Blair asked, placing her hands on the kitchen island to steady herself, her peripheral vision darkening. She wasn’t a fainting kind of girl, but the situation seemed to warrant it.
Neil’s eyes pinned hers. “Funny, I was wondering what Garrett was doing here.”
Garrett gave him a lazy grin. “Nana made me come with her.”
“So I see all the guys are here,” Neil said, his jaw tightening. “Why didn’t you ask me to come, darling?”
She knew that look. He was pissed.
Suddenly Noah appeared behind Josh. “Bart needs another beer,” he said, slapping a hand on his brother’s shoulder. His eyes widened as soon as he sensed the tension in the kitchen. “Whoa.”
“Noah, how about you go out back and grab Megan for me.” Josh tried to sound casual, but no one in the room was fooled. “Hey, Neil,” he said. “There wasn’t any mal-intent here. Bart invited me and Noah today, and Garrett’s grandmother insisted that he come.”