A wave of desire washed through Blair, and she fought it back into submission. There was no doubt Garrett was all fire and passion, but she’d found out firsthand how badly it burned. She’d rather take practical and sensible. Safe and reliable were exactly what she needed. So why was she struggling to convince herself?
Chapter Six
The shock on Blair’s face matched his own surprise at his out-of-nowhere declaration.
Nana Ruby was going to kill him.
He’d had no intention of laying claim to the ring, and in truth, he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about it. But damned if he was going to stand by and let his punk cousin marry Blair, let alone with that ring.
Now, instead of defusing the situation, he’d ratcheted it up to DEFCON 1. Jesus, he had to get things under control.
“I won’t rip the ring off the bride-to-be’s hand, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” he said, dropping Blair’s hand and trying to control his racing heart. “We’ll wait for Nana to come tomorrow night. She can help make the decision.”
This brought on a new round of shouting and dismay. Whiny Neil tossed out the phrase “you’re her favorite.” While that was probably true, he doubted Nana could help him get the girl, which was his real goal. That one was all on him.
Blair looked on in confusion, making it abundantly clear they’d kept her in the dark about the questionable ownership of her ring. But soon her bewilderment turned to anger as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“It’s time for all of you to pay up,” his aunt said, shaking the plastic cat jar. “Blair, you got off easy this time. You only owe a dollar. Neil, you owe two, and you, Gene Neilson Fredrick, must owe at least five between the drinking and the cursing.”
Uncle Gene and Aunt Debra had a stare-off for several seconds before Gene caved. He must have decided to choose his battles because he dug out his wallet and sheepishly stuck a five-dollar bill into the jar. Neil put in his money, and Garrett handed over a dollar when Debra shoved the jar in Blair’s direction.
His aunt scowled at him. “Surprisingly, you don’t owe anything.”
Garrett tucked his money into the jar and winked at Blair. “Oh, this is for the bride. Call it an early wedding gift. But if this is for cursing, as the label suggests, you owe some money yourself, Aunt Debra.” His eyebrows rose with mock recrimination. “And I do believe I need to have a discussion with my mother about my true parentage. No one ever told me I was a bastard.”
Debra’s face turned red, although Garrett couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. Probably both.
He’d earned a scowl from Blair for donating the money on her behalf, but now he could tell she was trying to hold back a grin.
“That was an unfortunate loss of self-control.” The woman’s face twisted into disgust as she jerked her wallet out of her purse and pulled out one dollar. She screwed an indignant expression on her face. “The Lowrys seem to bring out the worst in me.”
Blair tipped her head, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Actually, Debra, you owe two dollars. One for informing your nephew of his illegitimacy and the second for spelling out the home of you know who.”
Debra’s eyes widened in shock.
“Blair!” Neil cried out in horror.
Garrett knew the Fredricks liked to tiptoe around his aunt’s self-righteous attitude. He was glad to see Blair hadn’t kowtowed like the rest of them.
“You know who?” Garrett asked in amusement. He couldn’t help but take pleasure in riling up his aunt and irritating his cousin. Especially since Blair seemed to find Debra as obnoxious as he did. “Dare I ask who that is?”
Blair lifted her eyebrows. “Why, the prince of darkness himself.”
“Lord Voldemort?” Garrett teased, shooting his aunt an amused look.
She wasn’t so pleased. “Who is this Lord Voldemort you keep talking about? Do we need to add him to the kitty list?”
Garrett burst out into laughter. He was surprised his aunt didn’t already know about the notorious villain.
“No, Mom,” Neil said. “He’s a character from a children’s book, which explains why Garrett is so enthralled with him.”
Garrett noticed he left Blair off the naughty list, but it didn’t stop him from giving her a look of reproach. She glanced away, trying to hide her grin.
So his Blair was still there, lurking below the prim and proper exterior. Just like he’d found her years ago.
Their original waiter appeared with Gene and Garrett’s beers—apparently the other guy had wisely handed the task off to the poor man who’d been assigned to them. Gene gave the beer a longing look, but one glance from his furious wife was enough for him to push it to the middle of the table.
Garrett had no such qualms. Taking a drag from the bottle, Garrett wondered if he should leave. An already tense dinner would be all the more so after his bombshell and after the way he’d teased his aunt, but one look at Blair helped him decide. He had five days to win her back, and he was going to make every second count. He asked the waiter to bring him another beer.
“Really, Garrett,” Aunt Debra mused, pressing her hand to her chest. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Garrett grinned at the waiter. “Make sure it’s extra cold.”
Neil ordered water, although he gave his father’s drink a longing glance, and his mother ordered iced tea. When the waiter turned to Blair, she looked torn, her previous steely presence returning. She cast a glance at Garrett for several seconds, then looked up at the waiter. “Hard lemonade.”
Garrett nearly laughed at her order. From the look on her face, it had to be killing her to order something fruity. She was more of a beer and hard liquor kind of girl, but she was obviously trying to make peace with his non-worldly aunt, who would likely miss the fact that she was ordering alcohol.
Neil tensed. “Are you sure you don’t want tea? Or water?”
Garrett leaned forward, unable to stop himself. “Let the lady have her lemonade, Neil. I knew you were a stuffed shirt, but I never figured you for a tightwad.” He turned his attention to Blair. “Does he make you buy bargain brand toilet paper too?”
Neil’s face turned red, and Blair glared at him, but he could tell she was fighting a grin.
“Of course Blair can have whatever she wants.”
Garrett’s grin spread as he looked up at the waiter. “Then a hard lemonade for the lady it is.”
“Lemonade does sound good on a hot day like today,” Aunt Debra said, chewing on her lower lip. “Maybe I should change my order.”
Blair’s eyes widened slightly, but not enough that anyone would notice unless they were watching her closely. Like he was now. A blind man could see the two women didn’t get along. This would be one more log tossed onto a fire that Blair now seemed eager to put out. “Maybe I should change—”
“Don’t be silly,” Garrett said. “Neil just gave you his blessing to spend another dollar or two. But Aunt Debra,” he turned to his aunt. “I’m not sure you’d like their lemonade. I hear it’s really bitter.” He shot the waiter a pointed glance, letting him know not to counter him.