Free The Player by Denise Grover Swank Page A

passing waiter. “I’ll take another one of these.”
    “Get me one too,” Garrett said.
    The server looked confused. “I’m sorry, but I’m not your waiter.” But then he scanned the chaos at the table and patted Gene’s shoulder. “Not to worry, sir. Coming right up.”
    “Gene!” Debra shouted. “Stop this nonsense right now!”
    “If Garrett can drink, then so can I.”
    Debra must have decided her husband was now the lesser of the evils. She picked up the plastic cat and shook it as she swung her attention to her nephew. “You had this in mind all along! You’re here to cause trouble! First you claim the ring, then you encourage my poor gullible Gene to drink.”
    “You can’t blame Uncle Gene’s newfound independence on me, although I would gladly accept some of the credit, and I’m only here because of Nana. Until now, I didn’t care about the ring, but seeing it on Blair’s hand has given me second thoughts.” His gaze found Blair’s. “Now I know what I want, and I intend to fight for it.” There was no mistaking the true meaning behind his statement.
    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