Page 37 of Beyond Reach

“Haven’t you been listening? Chanda is about to leave town. My question is, are you going to let her get away again?”

“No!”

Chapter 15

She sat on a bench with a bag clutched on her shoulder and a suitcase at her feet. The way she hunched her shoulders told him she was miserable. Part of him welcomed the sign that she didn’t want to leave. The other part—the part that loved her deeply—hurt for being the cause of her pain.

Still, it was a good thing that she hadn’t gone through security yet. Once again, he knew it was because she didn’t really want to leave.

He checked the street where Steven had dropped him off. His friend waved and pulled away from the curb. Garner had allowed Steven to drive him to the airport as the idiot insisted every second counted toward getting there on time. Garner knew better.

Steven wasn’t happy unless he was nosing in on someone else’s business and making a nuisance of himself. Of course Garner didn’t mind. His friend had been like a brother from the first moment they met, and Steven had helped to get him through the toughest days of his life—after Chanda left him.

Garner dropped down in the seat beside her. She looked up with a frown curling her beautiful lips. He figured she thought some stranger was about to come on to her. When she recognized him, those same full lips rounded in a satisfying O. He allowed himself a millisecond to think about kissing her and then pushed the thought away.

“Running?” he commented causally.

“That’s not fair, Garner. After last night—”

“I apologize. You’re right. I was more to blame than you were.”

“This isn’t the time to fight over who was more wrong, and you shouldn’t be here. You should be back at Marcella’s, convincing her about how sorry you are. You should be letting her know it will never happen again.”

“I don’t think so.”

She blinked in surprise. “You’re a better man than this. Don’t tell me you’ve changed. It’s reasonable to think you’re different, I guess. I don’t know you anymore, which of course tells me I shouldn’t feel—”

He watched in curiosity as she clamped her teeth together. She ducked her head and fiddled with her phone. Garner’s amusement increased. “What do you feel?”

“Nothing. Go home.”

“What if I said I don’t want to? What if I walk over to that counter and buy a seat on the same flight as you?”

“Are you nuts?”

“I want to spend time with you.”

“Hello! We did that, and it got us into trouble.”

“Stay, Chanda. Let me explain why I’m asking you.”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She stood and hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. “I’m leaving, and you’re not going with me.”

He thought about how to break it to her that he wasn’t going to marry Marcella without her coming to the conclusion that it was her fault. If he didn’t approach the subject right, Chanda’s moral code would stand between them.

She turned her back, and he saw no alternative than to lay everything out plainly. But she changed her mind and faced him again. Worry furrowed her brow, and she clenched the strap on her bag until the leather creaked.

“I can’t stay silent,” she told him. “Maybe it’s interfering, but it’s not right. Garner, you’re the sweetest man, and you deserve better. I don’t think Marcella loves you. I overheard her and her friend talking, and the gist of it is that she went after you only to spite me. I’m so sorry. I know it hurts, or maybe you won’t believe me. But I—”

He drew her to him and wrapped an arm about her waist before covering her mouth with his own. The sweetness that was Chanda hadn’t changed. She intoxicated him. Her soft form stirred his senses until he forgot about every other person in the airport or even his former fiancée.

At first she stood stiffly in his arms, perhaps in shock. Then almost immediately she plastered herself against him, wrapped her arms about his shoulders and kissed him back. He crushed her tighter to his chest, almost raising her off her feet so that he could devour her mouth. Long moments passed where he was simply drunk from the woman he loved more than life.

After a while, he wasn’t sure if it was him or her who came to their senses. They separated just a few inches, and he enjoyed watching her brush fingers over her lips. The view tempted him to go back for seconds, but he maintained sharp control of himself.

“Garner.” She sounded like she bit off a small sob. “This isn’t right.”

“I’m not engaged.”

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