The Rebound Pact (9 page)

Man she hoped this worked out
. She started to walk Holden to the door but was stopped by Max. “Wait up, Holden. Wanna go out for a run and then get some lunch?”

Holden glanced from Gabrielle to her brother and she prayed Max didn’t read more into it.

“Yeah, dude. Now?”

Max nodded, shouted goodbye to Dad and then they were out the door with Gabrielle
watching them leave—feeling a lot like she had back in high school. And she’d missed her Zumba class.

“Did you take the job?” Her dad’s voice startled her from her thoughts.

Gabrielle turned around with a smile. “Yeah. I think it will be a great opportunity, plus you and I will get to spend more time together.”

“You know I like that, just as long as you don’t get sick of me.”

“I could never get sick of you, Dad.” He put his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug.

“What will you do there?”

“He’s opening a vegetarian bistro at the winery and the chef he had bailed. I’ll get to really stretch my skills since I can design the menu and of course the hours will probably be better. Mount Airy tends to shut down a lot earlier than Georgetown.”

They walked together into the family room, taking their respective spots—Dad in his favorite chair and Gabrielle on a corner cushion of the couch.

“Working at Belle Ami is an amazing opportunity,” Dad said.

“So was La Peche.” She’d gained national recognition with her culinary skills while there. That was hard to give up. She’d essentially be forging a new path, but she’d contact some of the food critics who’d enjoyed her food in the past and see if they didn’t want to make a trip out to the vineyard where she could literally wine and dine them.

“Peche, smesh. You made that place great. Without you it’s just another restaurant. Belle Ami is going to gain national critical acclaim.”

“Way out here in the boonies?” She rolled her eyes. Her father was jumping ahead of himself. Making her see things in her head that were years away. “I doubt it. But I’m okay with that. I just want some job security doing what I love most. And, I’m kinda glad
to be back here in town. I’ve missed you, Dad.”

“I’ve missed you
, too, sweetheart. But,” her father raised a brow, “for all good reasons, you’d best do some research on the vineyard. It may be located out here in the boonies as you say, but its gained attention and a lot of it. The place has visitors from all over the world. Holden has really taken the wine scene by storm.”

Gabrielle’s cell buzzed in her pocket. Fishing it out
she saw Darla’s name on the screen. “Mind if I take this?”

Her dad waved her away, flicking on the
tv to the Discovery Channel.

“Hey,
Darla,” she said, escaping back out onto the screened-in porch where she’d chatted with Holden only a few moments before.

“Hey,
how’s it going?”

“Max
is here.”

Darla
laughed so hard, Gabrielle thought she’d strain something. “I could have guessed. He never could stay away if there was potential for you and Holden to possibly get in trouble. So spill, have you gotten into trouble with Holden?”

Mel must have called and spilled the beans to Darla.
Many times her BFF had been there to pull Max away—while she claimed the make-out sessions were her taking one for the team, Gabrielle knew better. Darla would have dropped anything to have a little interlude with Max. Darla knew all about Gabrielle’s crush, even if she’d never done anything about it.

“He offered me a job,” Gabrielle answered, hoping that would appease her.

“Oh, that’s exciting! Doing what?”

“What I’m best at.”

“Uh… I’m hoping you mean cooking and not something kinky.”

Oh, God!
Darla had no idea how close she was to the truth. Gabrielle laughed away the spike in nerves Darla’s comment had caused. “I’m going to be the head chef at his new restaurant.”

“So are you going to take the job?”

“Yes. I start Monday.” A jolt of nervousness made her belly flip. On the one hand, she wouldn’t have to start a job search, go through a bunch of interviews. She’d be able to immerse herself in work, which would help her forget about Len. On the other hand, she would be working with Holden
and
sleeping with him.

“Things a
re moving fast,” Darla said.

You have no idea
. “I need the change of pace.”

“Fast to fast?”

“Change of scenery?”

“I bet the view is luscious,”
Darla teased.

“He is definitely still hot.” Maybe she could just tell
Darla a little bit… “Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

“What, working with him or sleeping with him?”

Gabrielle gasped.

“Oh, don’t play
coy, you know you were thinking about it.”

“Maybe a little,” she lied.

“Keep it away from work if you do. Your coworkers will resent it if they think you’re sleeping your way to a bigger check.”

“I definitely don’t want anyone to think that.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea, Gabs? I mean, this is Holden. Max’s best friend and your new boss.”

Darla was starting to sound like Melanie
, the voice of reason… Gabrielle rolled her eyes, shifted the phone to her other hand. “I know. But like you said, it’s Holden… I don’t know if I can
not
sleep with him.”

Melanie’s laughter tinkled through the phone. “Not too shabby for a rebound.”

“Right, a rebound. That’s all it is.”

Monday morning took forever to roll around.
And not because she, Max and their Dad spent a good amount of time reminiscing over bottles of wine at Belle Ami while listening to, Dave Brandon, a local guitarist, strum and sing. Gabrielle spent most of Sunday going over some of her favorite recipes and trying to decide which ones would work best for a debut restaurant. She’d tossed her ideas away a hundred times only to grasp them back.

An
inappropriate amount of time had also been spent staring at her car keys too. Wondering if she should scrap her menu planning and drive over to Holden’s for another round of sexcapades. She’d bagged the idea more times than she could count. Every inch of her remembered how he’d touched her, made her shout out his name. A shiver stole over her.

Within minutes, she would pull up to Belle Ami and face her sexual tormenter.
Ugh… How to get over him? Even knowing her brother would completely flip wasn’t enough of a reason to stay away from Holden.

Taking a
swig from her water bottle, she dribbled a little on her shirt. She swiped at the droplets and frowned. She wasn’t even wearing a proper outfit. Instead she’d put on another ridiculous pair of heels—silver this time—that would have her feet screaming within an hour. She wore a short black pencil skirt and a silver and black stripe cowl-neck tank.

Sure, it was a sexy outfit—but completely inappropriate for working as a chef. Now, granted she wasn’t
going to wow anyone today with her gastronomic genus, just going over menus, but hello—mini-skirt and spiky heels? She was dressing to turn heads—Holden’s head.

She parked her car and considered driving home to change.

With a deep breath and a roll of her eyes, she grabbed the file holding all the menu ideas she’d come up with and climbed from the car. Inside her trunk was a chef’s jacket which would look completely ridiculous since there was no kitchen yet, but at least she could cover up her outfit.

Her
shoes crunched over the gravel, and she walked awkwardly to keep her heels from sinking. As soon as she reached the front doors she stood tall. Squared her shoulders. Lifted her chin. This was her moment to shine. She was a good chef—better than good. Why then, was she so damn nervous? She’d been written up in
Bon Appetit
. Twice.

And she looked sexier than hell if she didn’t say so herself.

She pushed and the door swung open, washing her immediately in that tangy sent of wine. She breathed in deeply of the earthy, sweet aroma and glanced around. At the bar she found Holden with several others going over paperwork and building plans. She briefly glanced at the wine servers who worked to take down chairs, wipe down counters, set out oyster crackers, pitchers of water and dumping bowls.

“
Gabrielle,” Holden said, his eyes roving over her from head to toe. His eyes met hers, smoldering.

She smiled,
how could he look at her like that when she wore her frumpy chef’s coat? “Good morning, Holden. What time do the wine tastings start?”

“Early. Believe it or not we’ll get quite a few groups in here at opening time—ten o’clock. A few tours
, too.” His eyes roved hungrily over her form.

Gabrielle
turned her gaze from him, liking how he couldn’t stop staring. It was kind of amazing considering she’d worn her ridiculous outfit to entice him, and all she had to do was wear a white coat. She felt powerful and it was liberating, wielding that kind of sexual appeal. It wasn’t something she ever had with Len, even when she wore her sluttiest Victoria’s Secret lingerie.

“I never would have guessed
so early.” She shrugged. “Good morning, Belinda,” she said recognizing the woman who stood beside Holden from the other night. She turned to the remaining people at the counter with him, two men. “Hello, I’m Gabrielle Dane.” She put out her hand and the two men scrambled to shake.

Gabrielle
shook both their hands.

“I’m Hank Barnes, the building contractor,” said the slightly older, balding gentleman.

“Darren Mark,” the shorter of the two answered. “Foreman.”

“Good to meet you both.”

Holden seemed to finally return to his senses, and came around the counter to stand beside her. His hand pressed lightly, hotly, to the small of her back.

“
Gabrielle is the amazing chef I told you about.” He gazed at her for a moment too long. “Belinda, whom you’ve met already, is the bar manager, but she’s also agreed to take on the job of restaurant manager. I thought it best for you two to collaborate on getting the menu together. Belinda can help you with pairing wines.”

“Excellent,” Gabrielle said, with a nod, even though she felt a little disappointment at not being able to work directly—and alone—with Holden. Relief, however, did wash over her. One thing she’d been worried about with their hooking up was that her job would suffer. If she was working with Belinda, then she wouldn’t have to worry about smelling his cologne, or the way her nipples hardened with just one glance at him, or how she had to squeeze her thighs together to try and quell some of the delicious pressure thoughts of him cultivated.

“Darren, Hank and I have some plans to go over if we’re to break ground this week. Will you ladies be all right out here?”

Gabrielle nodded, but when Holden started to leave she brushed his bare arm with her fingertips, the crisp hairs tickling her—which of course had her remembering his arms wrapped around her. He must have felt a similar reaction from her touch. His pupils dilated when he turned back to stare at her. She hurried to ask her question, hoping the slight change in octave of her voice wasn’t a dead giveaway of how much he turned her on. Prayed Belinda didn’t notice. “When will the building be finished?”

“Within two months, if all goes well. We have a large team waiting to get started as soon as we approve these last specs.”

“Great news. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a copy of the kitchen plans when you’re done, I can start looking into kitchen appliances and equipment.”

“Actually, as far as the kitchen, I’ll need you to approve
the specs. It’s your kitchen, Gabrielle,” Holden answered.

Her heart thudded
against her ribs. Surely everyone could hear it. A quick perusal proved no one seemed to notice how much her interaction with Sexy Holden affected her. His words sent her mind reeling. Though he’d said she could be involved with the design, she’d never expected to have approval on anything.