THE VALENTINE
THE WEDDING PACT #4
DENISE GROVER SWANK
DGS
Contents
The Valentine
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Also by Denise Grover Swank
About the Author
The Valentine
The Wedding Pact #4
Denise Grover Swank
Copyright © 2016 by Denise Grover Swank
Developmental Edit: Carolina Valdez-Miller
Copy Edit and Proofread: Shannon Page
Cover: Trisha Leigh
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Chapter 1
Blair Hansen-Lowry stared at her client in disbelief.
“You never closed the toilet lid,” Allison DeSanto shouted across the conference table. “You caused me pain and suffering that I will never recover from.”
“Are you kidding me?” Marco, her soon-to-be ex-husband, shouted back. “I forgot to close the lid one time and you claimed you broke your tailbone, a claim that wasn’t even substantiated since you never went to the doctor!”
Blair pushed out a heavy sigh, rubbing her temple with her fingertips, and shot an exasperated glare toward Marco’s attorney, Dane Albright. Blair had spent her short career representing women who were divorcing assholes set on bilking them out of every dime they could get, but the more time she spent with Allison DeSanto, the more she wished she was representing the husband.
Allison started in on a new litany of perceived wrongs, but Blair had reached her limit. “Allison. Enough.”
Blair’s harsh tone drew a jolt of surprise from Dane, a man known for his steel edge.
Allison gave her a startled look, and her mouth dropped open. She obviously wasn’t used to being called out for her narcissism, which Blair suspected was the root cause of her impending divorce.
The sooner this settlement was agreed upon, the better, but they weren’t even close since Allison refused to budge on anything. The only reason Blair was even representing her was as a favor to her best friend Megan’s mother—a decision she’d regretted the minute Allison DeSanto had walked into her office.
Blair gave Dane a pointed look. “Can I have a moment with my client?”
Dane pushed his chair back, shaking his head. “You can have as many moments as it takes.” He lifted his eyebrows to help convey his meaning.
“If you want to wait in the client lounge, I’ll let you know when we’re ready,” Blair said. But it was wasted breath. Both men were already out the door.
Blair picked up her phone and called her assistant. “Melissa, will you meet Mr. Albright and Mr. DeSanto in the lounge and make sure there’s a fresh pot of coffee? We’re all going to need it.”
She cast a glance to her client, who was already on her phone, tapping away on the screen.
“Of course,” Melissa said. “But before you hang up, Garrett called for you.”
“Oh?” Blair couldn’t stop the smile that curled her lips. She probably didn’t deserve that man, but she loved him more than she could have imagined. She’d only been married for six months, but she was happier than she’d ever expected. Especially since Garrett wasn’t the man she’d originally intended to marry. “He didn’t try to call my cell or text me.”
“He knew about your meeting and called me instead so he wouldn’t disturb you. He said for you to call him back whenever you can.”
Blair knew she shouldn’t be talking about personal matters in front of her client, but Allison was thoroughly engrossed in some text conversation. And from the wicked gleam in her eyes, she was probably sexting her new boyfriend.
One more reason to regret taking this case. Damn Megan’s mother and her country club friends.
Blair glanced at the clock on the wall. “Garrett’s supposed to be getting on a plane in the next half hour.”
“I think it’s been delayed,” Melissa said.
Blair tried to ignore the churning in her stomach as she hung up. Flights were delayed all the time. It was no big deal. Garrett would still make it back by tonight. Besides, they didn’t do Valentine’s Day. For their first and only Valentine’s Day together while they’d dated, they’d celebrated Anti-Valentine’s Day, doing the exact opposite of all the poor fools who fell for the commercially generated holiday. They’d played arcade games and ate pizza at a Chuck E. Cheese, and then he’d taken her to the roof of his apartment building and showed her the star he’d bought for her, which he’d named Blazing Supernova. And while they hadn’t specifically made plans for their first married Valentine’s Day, Blair had decided to come up with her own—Anti-Valentine’s Day 2.0.
“How much longer will we be here?” Allison asked, her attention still on her screen. “I have plans tonight.”
Irritation rippled through Blair. “Perhaps if you would act like a grownup instead of a spoiled child, we could be done by now.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What?”
“The purpose of this meeting is not to air every single grievance from your two years of marriage. It’s to go through the list of your joint property and come up with an agreement on the division of your assets.”
Allison gave Blair a full pout. “Like my ass, which is one of my better assets.”
“I would hope it would be your brain.”
The woman blinked.
“Allison,” Blair said with an exaggerated sigh. “Let’s just stick to the list of things you haven’t agreed upon yet and try to come to a resolution for each one. And remember, this is supposed to be a fair distribution.” This was so outside the realm of Blair’s usual cases. Most of the time she was fighting tooth and nail for everything she could get for her client. This was the first time she felt obligated to encourage a client to not insist on everything. Now she knew how most of the attorneys she faced felt.
“Fine,” Allison said in a huff. “I need to go to the restroom.”
“You know where it is. I’m going to go check my messages.” Blair left the irritated woman and went down the short hall and around the corner at a fast clip.
Melissa was sitting at her desk, staring at her computer screen. She glanced up as Blair approached, giving her boss a sympathetic look.
“How’s it going in there?”
“It’s a freaking disaster,” Blair whispered. “She’s the poster child for entitlement.”
Melissa tilted her head with a smirk. “She is a product of the country club.”
“Don’t remind me. We’re taking a short break, and then we’ll try again. I’m going to call Garrett. Did you check on poor Mr. Albright and Mr. DeSanto?”
“Not yet.” Melissa’s face puckered. “And poor Mr. Albright, my ass. Dane Albright irritates the crap out of me. His head is so big I have no idea how he carries it around. He must do some impressive neck exercises at the gym.”
Blair grinned and lifted an eyebrow. “You think he goes to the gym?”
Her assistant’s face flushed. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Not to me,” Blair said. “I guess I’m too busy looking at Garrett.”
Melissa stood. “You might be married, but you’re not dead—and you don’t have to pretend like you are for Garrett’s sake. Since when does your world revolve entirely around anyone else’s?�
� Then she stomped off toward the client lounge.
Blair watched her for a moment, wondering why Melissa had gotten so irritated. Was she insinuating that Blair had changed since she’d gotten married? Just because she chose to focus on her own husband and didn’t drool over other men’s sculpted bodies didn’t mean she’d gone all soft…did it?
The question nagged her. Before Garrett, she’d been known for her tenacity and her ferociousness. She’d seen fear in men’s eyes when she’d met them in the conference room or in the courtroom. But marriage had softened her. Garrett had softened her. She’d dismissed it in the beginning, but six months after their honeymoon, she knew it to be true.
Blair had lost her edge.
And that scared the crap out of her.
She entered her office and sat at her desk, pulling up her emails as she called Garrett.
“Hello, beautiful,” he answered in that husky voice that sent her pulse racing.
“Why aren’t you boarding a plane?” she asked, trying to focus on her computer screen. All she could think about were the promises contained in his sexy voice.
“My plane’s not in yet. It’s still stuck in Chicago. Something about a snow delay.”
“But you’re in San Diego.”
“I know, but I hear Chicago got six inches last night.” He laughed when he heard her snicker. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Blazer. I know what you’re thinking with my six inches remark.”
She grinned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m never impressed until we’re talking nine.”
“I miss you.” His voice was low and seductive, but his tone changed, no longer light and honeyed but suddenly heavy and deep with mournful longing.
She found herself struggling to respond. “I miss you too.”
“I never want to be gone this long from you again.”
“It’s only been four days,” she protested, more to appease her own anxiety. She’d missed him more than she’d expected—more than felt safe—and it scared her.
“Four days too long,” he said, his tone blunt. He knew her too well.
She cleared her throat, sensing the need to change the topic before her emotional security crumbled. “I take it your early morning meeting went well.”
“It did. Barton changed his mind and agreed to all the terms,” he said.
She could hear the pride in his voice. He’d quit his practice in San Diego and moved to Kansas City to open a practice with Blair, but he’d agreed to handle a few open cases he’d been working on before he moved. “How’s the settlement meeting going?”
“Allison DeSanto is a disgrace to womankind. She’s the opposite of every other client I choose to represent.”
“Then dump her, Blair. You don’t have to retain her. I know the money looks good, but we’re doing pretty well, considering our law practice is so new. You’ll find other cases.”
“It’s not about the money,” she snapped. She instantly regretted it. For one, it was partially about the money—Allison’s mother was writing large checks to pay for her legal fees—but more importantly, lashing out was her go-to defense when she felt uncomfortable, and poor Garrett had seen more than his fair share of it lately. She’d never been happier, yet she still held him at arm’s length. And the closer they grew, the crankier she got. “I’m sorry. I haven’t slept well since…”
“Since I left?” he asked quietly, without gloating. “There’s no shame in admitting that you love and miss me, Blair. We’re married. It’s kind of expected.” He hesitated. “You’ll never guess what happened after my meeting. When I called my old boss and told him the good news about settling, he offered me an insane amount of money to come back to work in San Diego.”
Her heart seized. Did he want to go? He never would have left San Diego if it weren’t for her.
“And what did you tell him?” Blair asked, keeping her voice as even as possible.
“What do you think I told him?” he asked, sounding surprised. “I told him no. Our practice is in Kansas City.”
This discussion caught her so completely off-guard she didn’t know how to react. She refused to stand in his way if that’s what he wanted. “You don’t have to stay here, you know. We could have a long-distance relationship. People do it all the time.”
He was quiet so long she was sure he’d hung up, until he said, “I would like to believe you didn’t mean that.”
His voice was so cold it frosted the surface of her heart.
Clearly, he didn’t want a long-distance relationship, which both eased her mind and made her even more anxious.
“You know we could use the money.” Oh, God. Why did she say that? Why was she pushing him away? All she could think about was how much of a bitch she’d been to him lately, and she wouldn’t blame him for wanting to leave her. Maybe this was his way of saying he wanted out.
Melissa appeared in the doorway. “Blair, I hate to interrupt, but Ms. DeSanto…” The look on her face warned her it wasn’t pretty.
“Garrett…” She cleared her throat. “I have to go.”
“Blair, wait.”
“I don’t have time for—”
“You can wait ten fucking seconds. It’s my office too. I know how it works.” He sounded so pissed that a lump filled her throat.
She started to protest. Garrett was pushing too many buttons, and she felt the strong urge to retreat and hole up behind the protective wall she’d erected. The one Garrett had taken down brick by agonizing brick. Now she had a hole large enough to leave her exposed and vulnerable, two things Blair Hansen never let herself be. Her anxiety skyrocketed.
She wasn’t used to needing someone—to counting on them to be there. She kept waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath her. Maybe this was it.
But Garrett remained silent, making her even more anxious.
“Well?” she said, sounding short. “I gave you ten seconds, and now we’ve used up five.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” The defeat in his voice sent a jolt of panic into her heart. He paused for several seconds before he finally said softly, “I love you.”
She’d screwed up. Why couldn’t she be like normal people who were in love? Why did she have to be such a bitch to him? Garrett understood her better than anyone ever had. Loved her despite all her porcupine tendencies. He’d been patient, but he needed more from her.
“I love you too,” she told him softly, already regretting her temper.
But Garrett had already hung up.
Chapter 2
Garrett stared at the phone in his hand, his heart heavy. He’d known the woman he married. He’d known her fears and insecurities. Hell, if he were honest, he’d added to them when he’d hurt her nearly six years ago. When they had gotten together in law school, he’d walked out on her when she needed him the most. He’d left a scar so deep, some days he wondered if she’d ever recover. He’d let her temper chase him away before and had vowed not to let it happen again. He’d erected an internal buffer to withstand Hurricane Blair, but Hurricane Blair had been making appearances more and more frequently lately. He swore to batten down the hatches and ride out her storms, but damn, some days it was exhausting.
He never should have told her about the job offer like that, so out of the blue and catching her so off guard, but he’d scrambled for something to say when she refused to admit she’d missed him. Too bad he’d chosen a topic that had made things even worse.
Garrett called the restaurant where he’d made the Valentine’s Day dinner reservations for that night and asked if they had anything later in case his flight got into Kansas City too late. He knew she hated Valentine’s Day, but it didn’t feel right not celebrating it with her since it was their first as a married couple. But to help with the surprise, he planned to get her a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese as her gift. If he got home in time to buy it.
“We’re sorry, Mr. Lowry. We’re completely booked. It is Valentine’s Day, you know.”
/> “I know,” he grumbled, releasing an exhausted sigh. Like Blair, he hadn’t slept well the last few nights either. He’d missed Blair. He’d missed lying with her in the middle of the night. He’d missed touching her soft skin. He’d missed kissing her senseless right before he took her, plunging deep as he watched her tilt her head back in satisfaction. He missed talking to her about the little things that no one else gave a shit about, yet she did, listening to every word. And he missed waking up with her next to him, her blonde hair spilled around her head, making her look like an angel even though she was a gladiator when she was awake.
But he was becoming more and more convinced that she didn’t miss him. That she didn’t need him the way he needed her.
He’d always been the aggressor in his past relationships, if he could actually call what he’d had with his many women relationships. But even with Blair, he’d been the aggressor until he had her. And then he was content. Content to build a life with her. A life she seemed to progressively resist and resent.
He was beginning to feel like a yoke around her neck, not a partner to share her life with, and he was at a loss as to how to deal with it.
He told himself that Valentine’s Day wasn’t the day to address it. Then again, maybe it was. Blair hated anything and everything to do with Valentine’s Day. What better day to ask her if she was happy with their marriage?
Because above all else, Garrett wanted her to be happy.
Even if it wasn’t with him.
His phone rang and his heart leapt. Blair. But he felt like a fool when he saw it was his sister’s name on the screen instead.
“Hey, Kelsey.”
“What’s got you so down, little bro?”
“Who says I’m down?” he asked, stretching out his legs in the chair at the airport gate where he was sitting.
“Please, you sound like someone kicked your puppy.”
“I’m fine.”
“Never try to bullshit a bullshitter.”
He laughed as he sat up. “How’s the baby?”
The Valentine: The Wedding Pact #4 Page 1