The Rebound Pact (8 page)

Holden sat at his island counter, finishing off
a bottle of cab-sauv and gazing up at the sheer black thong dangling from his pots.

Hot damn…

Gabrielle continued to amaze him, to shock him, to give him a raging hard-on. He frowned and drank down half his glass in one gulp, feeling the burn of the wine as it slid down his throat.

When
Max had said those things years before, it had been hard. Damn hard. But he’d backed off, never mentioned it again. Accepted that he wasn’t good enough. Until the night she’d crawled into bed with him. He’d felt like a slime ball afterwards, betraying Max’s trust. Taking advantage of her warm and willing body. He’d known it was her from the first touch. But his feelings for her had never waned and he wanted so badly to think she wanted him as much as he’d wanted her. Then she’d shafted him. Made him feel like a total jackass.

And still, the next morning when he
found out she’d left the country he wanted to chase her across the Atlantic and pour out his heart.

But he hadn’t. He’d moved on instead.

Met up with Lacy—a lot of good that did him.

Holden
was no good with women. A disaster. Not relationship material. Evidence proved he couldn’t seem to keep them around. And now he’d gone and betrayed his best friend’s trust again. Shit, Max had come and warned him off not an hour before he fucked Gabrielle in the same spot.

Finishing
off another glass—he’d lost count of how many—and rather than pouring another, he just grabbed a new bottle. He hoped
The
Post
didn’t have any reporters peeping in his windows. It wouldn’t do for a wine connoisseur to be seen drinking from the bottle. Holden laughed, then flicked off the window and chugged. How very uncouth of him.

The house felt especially empty tonight as h
e walked through it, staring at the note-worthy artwork, the fine lines of the structure he’d seen implemented, the various expensive furnishings. Holden kicked off his shoes, bounced around on one foot and then another as he tried to keep hold of his wine bottle as he removed his socks. His bare toes sunk into the plush carpeting on his stairs before hitting hard wood again in the hallway. Finally he ended up in his bedroom, set the bottle on his nightstand and fell onto the bed. He lay there for a minute, before digging his cell from his pocket, and skimming through his contacts until Max’s number popped up.

He hit
the call button. Dammit, Gabrielle had said Max was sleeping off his jet-lag. And what would he say anyway? Quickly, he hung up after the first ring. He sure as hell wasn’t about to confess to fucking his best friend’s sister twice. The man would hop into his car without a second thought to kick his ass.

Holden chucked his cell across the room
, hearing it crash into something. Calling Max was an idiotic idea. Although, staring at the ceiling and thinking of Gabrielle’s rockin’ body wasn’t much better.

Chapter Six

H
olden woke to the urgent and ear-piercing sound of his phone ringing. His head felt like it’d been speared by a hundred nails and his stomach rolled violently. How much wine had he drank? Two bottles? Rubbing his head, he swung his feet over the side of the bed, hitting three empty bottles. Well, that would explain things.

The phone ceased ringing for only a few blessed seconds before going off again.

“Fucking A,” he grumbled and grabbed for the receiver. “Hello?”

“Holden, its Donna.
Look, I’m just going to be straight with you.”

Immediately, a portion of his mind cleared. Why did his new head chef sound so…
curt?

“Morning, Donna.”

“I’ve taken a job with Ridge.”

Holden blinked, his mind trying to process what exactly she meant by that.

“I’m sorry. I know you really wanted the Bistro to be big, but… I’m sorry. I have a family to support and they offered a better deal.”

“Wait a second. Are you saying you took a job with Ridge and you’re quitting on me?” He just couldn’t wrap his mind around that.

“Yeah. Best of luck.” The phone went dead.

Holden stared at the receiver until the annoying automated operator told him to hang up and try dialing again. He let out the breath he’d been holding in, slammed down the phone and punch
ed his bed. Fucking Ridge was trying hard to sabotage his plans. Trying to steal his builder was one thing—taking his chef away and copying his entire idea for a one of a kind restaurant was another. If he was going to save his bistro he had to think fast.

He
grinned. He had a secret weapon—Gabrielle.

He’d read the reviews of her restaurant in Georgetown, even though he’d never admit it. People clambered for reservations at her restaurant, some waiting weeks for a table.
She didn’t even realize how much he needed her to make his vineyard infamous. Only the best chef would do. And Gabrielle was the best.

Dressed and ready to go to the gym for real this time, Gabrielle bounded down the steps only to stop, nearly tripping over the final step when she heard Holden’s voice in the kitchen. At once, her nipples hardened, clit twinged, with the memory of his touch. No. That wasn’t the way it worked. Casual. No strings. No crazy body reactions.

She’d just have to sneak out. Grabbing her keys from hook by the door, she was almost free when Max called out to her.

“Where you going? Come say hi.”

Holding in a grown, Gabrielle reluctantly turned around and walked back toward the kitchen. Max looked smug and her Dad looked pleased. But Holden looked stressed out.
Which made her stress out, sweat beading under her arms. She shifted her feet and clenched her keys.

“Hey, Holden.”
Turning toward Max she tried to act casual. “What’s up? I was going to try a Zumba class at the gym.”

Oh my… Was that Holden’s cologne? Damn if it didn’t smell so sexy… She swallowed hard afraid at any moment she’d turn toward the man in question and start sniffing him, nose stroking up and down his neck as if she couldn’t get enough.

“Holden’s got a problem you might be interested in helping him with.” Max raised a brow. “Want some coffee?”

Had he somehow found out about their pact? Holden wanted her to help him get over his ex… But that couldn’t be it. She glanced from one to the other. They wouldn’t all be so casual would they?

“Maybe we ought to talk about this on the porch?” she asked, trying for casual.

Holden nodded and stood from the table. “Thanks for the coffee, Mr. Dane.”

Max eyed them like a hawk as they walked out back, but whatever it was Holden needed her help with, she’d be damned if she was going to discuss it in front of everyone.

“How are you?” he asked softly.

Gabrielle shook her head, feeling extremely awkward. “No small talk. Tell me what you’re doing here. Did you tell them about our… you know?”

Holden smiled. He had a gorgeous smile that was contagious, but the black circles under his eyes betrayed that not everything was copacetic. “Is that what’s got you all strung up? I didn’t say anything.”

She let out a long sigh. “Okay, then why are you here?”

“Turns out I’m being royally screwed on more than one front, and you showing up in town might actually work out to both our satisfactions—and I don’t mean the sexual kind.” His gaze roved over her form sending an instant wave of heat straight to her groin.

Swallowing past the knot in her throat, she raised a brow and said, “What are you talking about?”

“
I have a job offer for you.”

“Really?”
Her ears perked up. She needed a job and soon. She had enough money in the bank to get by for only a few months. She didn’t want to go back to Georgetown. Everyone there knew she and Len were going to get married, and then he’d given her the axe. It would just be too embarrassing. But Holden already had a head chef. “I’m not interested in being a waitress or line chef.”

“
I know. And I’d never ask you to do that. Turns out the Bistro needs a head chef.”

“I thought you had one?”

“Yeah… Ridge Vineyards is playing hard ball. They stole her away. I need someone I can trust. Someone who’s the best. I think that’s you.”

D
id he really just offer her a job? The chance to be around him all day, every day? Stare at will at his muscled chest? This wasn’t a good idea on so many levels. But… She needed a job. The chance to work in Mount Airy and near her father was a great opportunity.

“So what do you say, Gabrielle?”

She cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips. “I’d love to.”

“We’ve already been spreading the word
about it, not too many veg places to eat around here. The guys at the firehouse are totally psyched about it.” He winked, and appreciated the pretty flush that covered her cheeks.

A slow smile spread on her face. “I like the sound of that. When would I start?”

“How’s Monday? The restaurant won’t be open for a couple more months, but we need to get started on menus and ordering and all that. Besides, you can look over the kitchen plans and see if they are to your liking.”

She n
odded, feeling more at ease than when he’d first offered her the position. The more she thought about it, the more she warmed to the idea. The first chef at an up and coming Bistro—and the ability to help in the design. Taking on a new place was risky, but she was good at what she did. Together, they could make it a success. As long as they could keep their hands off each other.

“Monday sounds good.”
She pointed at him and smiled. “Thanks for thinking of me, Holden. I’m excited. I can’t wait to get started.”

“I’m excited
, too.”

Gabrielle
bit her lip, darted her eyes toward the kitchen to make sure they weren’t being spied on. “This is going to complicate things… Maybe we should forget about our pact. It might interfere with our work.”

Shaking his head
, a gleam of enticing wickedness in his eyes, he said, “Only if we let it. Let’s give it a shot. Business is business. The pact is outside of work only.”

Oh, she wanted to say yes. A new, potentially awesome
job, and a sexy friend with benefits… But sleeping with her new boss was bound to be an issue. Employer/employee relationships were never good for business…

Her lip was bound to be raw from all the chewing on it she was doing. What the hell, it’d been a long time since she’d done anything for herself. The last year had been one stress after another, and to top it off, Len had completely
whipped her world upside down, taken her heart and put it through her Vitamix blender, then chucked it out the window. She deserved the rebound pact. They were both adults. They could handle it.

Taking a deep sigh, she held out her hand to Holden. “It’s a deal. But the moment anything gets…weird, we
call it quits.”

“Deal.”
His warm hand encompassed hers and a shiver passed up her arm.

A kiss to seal the deal was much more alluring, but Gabrielle could feel eyes on her from
somewhere inside the house. Any kissing they did—and they would definitely be doing some soon—had to be in complete privacy.