The Valentine: The Wedding Pact #4 by Denise Grover Swank Read Free Book Online

into his arms, intending to set her on the kitchen counter so he could look her over, but she wrapped her arms so tight around his neck he knew she needed to be held. Glass crunched under his shoes as he walked to the opposite end of the sofa and then settled her sideways on his lap. “Blair, what happened?”
    “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry I’m such a bitch.”
    “Shh…” He’d never seen her like this, and it scared him. “Stop. I love you, Blair.”
    Her hold tightened. “I thought you were dead,” she cried into the nape of his neck. “Your plane crashed.”
    “What? No, Blazer. We landed just fine. Why did you think that?” He glanced toward the television, his chest tightening when he realized what he was seeing. Images of a burning plane filled the screen along with Western Airlines Flight 756 Crash on a banner at the bottom.
    “Why didn’t you call me?” she sobbed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were okay?”
    She sounded so pathetic, his heart cracked into pieces.
    He was supposed to have been on that flight. He swallowed his shock. But Blair needed him to be calm. He stroked the hair from her face. “Blazer, I missed my original flight, so I took another one. When I landed, I came straight home.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
    “I barely made the new flight, and I tried to call you, but the flight attendant told me to turn off my phone. So I snuck a text to tell you I was coming home. I didn’t think to tell you it was a different flight.”
    Her sobs quieted, but her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. “Because you thought I didn’t care?”
    Her question caught him off guard. “No, I didn’t think it mattered because it wasn’t getting in much later than my original flight from Denver. It had been delayed too. And I didn’t answer because my phone died. But I was almost home anyway, so I didn’t stop to get a charger cord.”
    She started crying again. “I thought I lost you, Garrett.”
    He cupped the back of her head, searching her eyes. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
    She kissed him with a desperation that surprised him, tangling a hand in his hair while she reached for the button on his shirt.
    His body ignited, and his hold on her tightened until he remembered how he’d found her. “Blair. Let me look at your foot.”
    She shook her head no and captured his mouth again, her tongue searching out his.
    He gently grabbed her wrists and pulled back. “Blair. I need to see your foot. You’re bleeding all over the sofa.”
    She looked down at the bloodstained fabric. “I’m sorry.”
    “I don’t care about the damned sofa. I care about you .” He stood and carried her into the kitchen, setting her on the counter as he’d originally intended. “Let me take a look.” He lifted her foot, cringing when he saw the jagged glass sticking out of her skin. “I think you should go to the E.R. You probably need stitches.”
    “No. Just take out the glass, and we’ll put some gauze around it.”
    She sounded more like herself, and he worried she’d close herself off even more now that she’d laid herself so bare. That was what she did. Offer herself however briefly, then retreat and run. Maybe she’d continue to expect him to give up on her, but every step forward was a victory, no matter how small, and he wasn’t giving up. He was there for the long haul.
    “Blazer, this needs stitches. You need to go to the E.R.”
    She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him close. “I need you.”
    She lifted her mouth to his, and he responded, dropping her foot and wrapping his arm around her back. He pulled her body flush with his, leaving no question about how much he wanted her, but he still needed to take care of her injury.
    “Your foot first,” he said against her lips.
    “No E.R.,” she murmured.
    “Okay.” He forced himself to step back. Vulnerable Blair was still there, and he had to