The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,176

him in shock.

“Look, I’m not cut out to be faithful. If I’m with a woman for more than six months, I get bored. Hell—” he waved a hand toward Garrett, “—you know what I’m talking about. You move from woman to woman. Maybe it’s a genetic trait.” Mistaking Garrett’s silence for approval, he continued. “Blair won’t have a shot at partnership if she’s not married, and I’ll be taken more seriously here if I’m married. I’m doing her a favor. She demands little of my time, and I let her work her crazy hours without complaint. She doesn’t really want kids, and neither do I. We’ll live our mostly separate lives, and everyone will be happy.”

“Except for the part where you’re cheating on her.”

Neil rolled his eyes in exasperation. “She’s too busy to notice, Garrett. And she doesn’t want to know. It’s not like I’m depriving her of anything. She doesn’t have much of a sex drive.”

Garrett sucked in several breaths, fighting the rising urge to beat the shit out of his cousin. He was using Blair, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it from him, him of all people. He’d heard enough. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen.”

Neil’s eyes widened in surprise, then turned to amusement. “Okay.”

“You’re going to go to Blair tonight and tell her that you have changed your mind. That you aren’t worthy of her or you don’t love her. Or both. I don’t care. But you will not tell her that you are cheating on her, or it will kill her.”

Neil eyed him with disbelief. “Did you just listen to what I said? Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s the decent thing to do.”

“Why do you even care?” He gasped. “Oh! This is about the ring. You want me to break my engagement so you can get the ring.”

“I don’t give ten shits about that damn ring!” Garrett shouted. “Keep the stupid thing!”

A smile of understanding spread across Neil’s face, and maliciousness filled his eyes. “Oh, my God. You still love her.”

Garrett swallowed his rising nausea. He’d just screwed up big time. Now Neil would use this against him. “Don’t do this to her.”

“You do.”

“At least one of us does.”

Neil started laughing, and Garrett’s anger grew. “I’m not going to break up with her. This is exactly what she wants. What she needs.”

Garrett shook his head. “She needs someone to love her.”

“And that person is you?” Neil laughed again. “You showed her how much you cared about her in law school, when you broke up with her and slept around. Besides, she’s already told me that she doesn’t love me. Not in the matrimonial sense. We care about each other in our own way. This is the perfect solution for both of us.”

“You’re crazy if you believe that.”

Neil crossed his arms. “I really don’t care what you think. I’m not breaking up with Blair days before her wedding. That would kill her just as much as finding out I’m sleeping with Layla. And if you don’t know that, then you don’t know her very well after all.” Neil hunched over his computer and tapped a few keys, then straightened up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to visit a couple patients before I leave for the day. As you know, I have plans.” Then he winked.

Garrett’s hands clenched at his sides. “What’s to stop me from telling Blair everything you just told me?”

“She won’t believe it if you do.” Neil grinned. “Not that I have anything to worry about. You won’t tell her. You just admitted you don’t want her to know I’m sleeping with Layla. The only other thing you have over me is that I’ve told you I’m not passionately in love with her, and while I’ve never outright told her so, it wouldn’t come as a surprise. Especially after she recently confessed the same thing was true for her.”

The words penetrated the haze of his shock: Blair doesn’t love him.

Neil ushered him out of the office and turned to lock his door. “I presume you’ll be at the party tomorrow night.”

“Yeah,” he said absently. He was busy reworking his plan.

“Then see you later, cousin.” Neil winked again, with the assurance of a man who had everything he wanted, then walked down the hall, whistling softly.

Garrett shot daggers at his back. Let Neil think he had the upper hand. He might have practicality on his side, but Garrett had something else . . . something that was certain to