The Rebound Pact (15 page)

Okay, so she didn’t want a relationship. Didn’t he know that already? She’d said as much. Anger swelled inside him. At himself. She was honoring their pact and he was acting like a total loser about it.

“All right, Holden. Get it together.” He pushed off the door. He needed to run, to burn off the excess
mental baggage he was carrying around. He left the winery and went home. Changing into his jogging clothes, he took off at a brisk pace through the vineyard surrounding his place. There was a good five mile trail he’d made over the last few years. Within the first mile he started to feel a lot more like himself. He was sweating out the craziness. He stopped every mile to do push-ups and mountain climber lunges.

When she came over tonight, he would be the old Holden again. Act like nothing was wrong. He could be strong.
Casual sex. No strings attached. Just a rebound.

He was going to be the best damned
fuckbuddy she’d ever had.

Gabrielle
pushed back the chair at Holden’s desk. Everything was ordered, refrigerators, freezers, three ovens, a twelve burner gas range, warmers, mixers, blenders, choppers. She couldn’t wait to see her kitchen in completion. They were breaking ground within the week and from there the progress would be quick.

Excitement thrilled through her veins. She would be the ground-breaking chef for Belle Ami Bistro. It was a life-changing move, one she would be forever grateful to have. She stood up, grabbed her purse, intent on going into town for a salad and a latte. A headache had started about half an hour ago. Partly from stress, partly because she’d skipped her coffee that morning and after her late night with Holden
, she needed the caffeine burst.

“Oh
, hi, Gabrielle.” Belinda stopped at the door. “I thought Holden was in here.”

“He said he had a meeting with Darren and Hank.”

Belinda frowned. “Oh.”

“I’m definitely not Holden, but is there anything I can do to help?”
She shifted her purse on her shoulder.

Belinda
shook her head, still looking a little confused. “No…it was more personal.” She shifted her gaze over her shoulder.

The woman was acting completely strange.
Almost paranoid. Gabrielle strained a little to see what Belinda was looking at, but everything appeared normal. She shouldn’t care…but…

“Oh.”
Personal? That sounded cryptic. Did Belinda have a thing for Holden? Had they rebounded with each other before?

She stopped herself from shaking her head, that didn’t seem possible.
Belinda was much older, and they seemed to be on really good terms. Another bad omen. People who slept together often didn’t continue to work together. She tried not to frown.

“Well, I’m going to go get some lunch, do you want anything?”

Belinda shook her head. “No, thanks. I packed a sandwich.”

“I need to start doing that. I haven’t had time to shop yet.” And she didn’t want to raid her father’s fridge. The man barely had time
to shop for himself since he had about a thousand hobbies and was always doing odd jobs around the house or for someone else in town. In fact, several women in the neighborhood had been bringing him casseroles, and he seemed more than content to keep eating them.

“If I see Holden
, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

Belinda nodded. “Thanks.”

As she exited the winery, a tall platinum blonde stood outside, a scowl marring her pretty face. She wore a thin, short, flower-print baby-doll dress, and six-inch wedge sandals that made Gabrielle’s feet scream. She looked to be about six months pregnant, the belly-ball on her thin frame a dead giveaway. Weird that she was at a winery. To each his own, Gabrielle supposed.

“Excuse me, do you work here?”
the blonde asked, flipping her long wavy locks over her shoulder.

Gabrielle
stopped her trek to her car and nodded. “Yes, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be, I just started.”

“Figures,” the blonde sneered
, sliding her glasses down her nose to reveal chocolate brown eyes as she looked Gabrielle up and down with disapproval. “What is it that you’ll be doing?”

The way she said
doing
sounded dirty, like she knew exactly what—or rather who—Gabrielle had been doing.

“I’m the chef for the
new bistro.”

The woman waved away her answer. “Whatever.”

Gabrielle tried not to be annoyed at the woman’s rudeness. She kept her face void of any emotion and studied the prego-wino. She had that stance that screamed she was a hoity-toity bitch. Exactly the type of woman Gabrielle couldn’t stand. Probably the perfect woman for Len. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for Holden.”
She spoke in a sugary-sweet, super-fake voice and rubbed her belly.

Was that a subtle way of saying the baby was his? As hard as she tried,
Gabrielle couldn’t keep the blood from draining from her face all the way to her toes. This must be why Belinda had acted so strange.

“I’m afraid he’s stepped out. Can I give him a message for you?”

“Just tell him Lacy came by, and that I really need to speak with him.” She rubbed her belly again and looked down pointedly at her stomach.

That mother-fu
— Inside, Gabrielle seethed, Holden had knocked up some chick and didn’t even bother to tell her about. No, instead he’d wanted to play games. Good thing they’d used a condom each time. She couldn’t believe it. She felt totally deceived. What kind of guy got a girl pregnant and then dumped her?

Gabrielle
took a subtle deep breath and blew it out, a smile plastered on her face. “I’ll be sure to tell him. Lacy, was it?”

“Yes, thank you so much, hon.”
The bitch turned around and walked back toward a silver Mercedes convertible.

Gabrielle
watched her climb in and peel out of the parking lot, her long blonde hair waving in the wind. She stared until the dirt and gravel settled and Lacy was long gone.

Then she gave into the anger whizzing its way through her veins.
She’d be damned if she was going to go cook for Holden tonight. She’d be damned if she was going to do anything, anymore with or for him. Fuck
that
. She could not believe that he was having a baby and didn’t even think that was relevant enough to tell her.

She climbed into her car and when she
grabbed fresh lettuce, tomatoes, an avocado, broccoli, green onions, cukes and walnuts for her salad at the local grocery, she decided to head home to look at the job openings at area restaurants.

Belle Ami Bistro was
obviously just a pipe dream in her career path. Not for real. She’d messed that up the moment her thong hit his pot rack. She needed to move on. She needed to find a real job. Lacy showing up was definitely a wake-up call. Gabrielle wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl. She couldn’t do casual sex. Holden’s rebound pact was way over her head. And obviously he had a lot of things he’d kept hidden.

She stormed across the parking lot
of the grocery store.

“I guess Max was right,” she said
, staring at her reflection in her car window.

Holden paced the foyer of his house, staring out the window at the long, winding drive every thirty seconds. Where was
Gabrielle? She was supposed to be there forty-five minutes ago.

He glanced down at his phone, checking and re-checking the call log, even though he knew she hadn’t called
him back. This wasn’t like her. He frowned. At least not that he knew of. He
knew
her, but did he really
know
her?

Dammit, he thought he did.

There were a lot of windy roads in Mount Airy, and not a lot of lamps to light up the darkened streets. Worry burned a hole in his stomach. Something could have happened.

Dread iced over his heart.

With a curse, he grabbed his keys and cell from the table by the door and ran outside. He hopped into his Jeep and tore down the road. Once he reached the end of his driveway he drove slowly on the route to her house in case he came upon her car broken down on the side of the road. But all was calm.

Not a single car on the side of the road. No signs of an accident. No police or ambulance lights.

He finally ended up in front of the house he’d gone to many times as a kid and teenager. A brick colonial, surrounded by trees and a few acres of rolling hills. The Dane residence. So many memories, mostly good.

The lights were on a
nd her car was in the driveway.

She was home.

What the hell was going on? With narrowed eyes, he drove up behind her car, threw his Jeep in park and climbed out, running up to the front door. He knocked three times. Each knock echoing in the darkness. Holden’s heart, which had been pounding erratically with panic, now beat with irritation.

Mr. Dane opened the door.
“Hiya, Holden. What can I do for you?” He looked over his shoulder toward what Holden knew was the den.

“I came to see
Gabrielle. We had plans this evening to work on our menu but she didn’t come by and she’s not answering her phone. I got worried.”

Again Mr. Dane looked over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised in that direction. Obviously
Gabrielle was there making hand signals of some sort.

“She’s not here,” the older man said dryly.

“Her car is here.”

“Yup.”

Frustration that she was playing hide and seek overrode his earlier fear. “Would you tell her it’s important?”

“She says
she’s definitely not here,” Max interjected, arms crossed over his chest. The glare on his face was enough to send Holden into fight mode.

“Why?” He too crossed his arms, trying hard not to fist his hands.

“I got this, Dad,” Max said, chest puffed out.

Holden felt like he was being transported back into high school
and college all over again. Mr. Dane rolled his eyes and walked away.

“Max, seriously?” Gabrielle’s voice came from behind her brother, sounding both irritated and exasperated.
Gabrielle stood in the doorway of the den, looking pissed and wearing a pair of sexy sweatpants, a t-shirt and flip-flops. She looked great in anything.

“
Gabrielle, can we talk? Just for a minute?” Holden asked.

“No,” Max said, putting his hand on the doorjamb to block Holden’s view.

“Max, really! Go work out or something.” Max turned enough so Holden could see Gabrielle. She glowered, crossing her arms over her.

“Fine.
Come in,” Max said. He glared at them both then trudged back into the den.

Holden
stepped inside and without looking, Gabrielle headed for the kitchen. He followed her out the back door to the screened-in porch. She didn’t even bother putting on a light. When she turned toward him, her face was bathed in shadow, only the shine of the moon outlining her features.

“What do you want, Holden? Didn’t you get my email?”