The Borrowed Boyfriend (24 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Grady returned to Marydale a day ahead of schedule. Since he had extra time on his hands and an abundance of pent-up energy, he decided to dedicate them to his house. He was refitting the windows with contemporary replacements that had no framing on the bottom half and let more light in. He’d already replaced the ones at the front of the house and was working his way around to the kitchen. Unfortunately, when he lifted the smaller window that went over the kitchen sink, he noticed its frame had separated in one corner. He thought he could fix it with some wood clamps and a special carpenter’s glue he kept on hand, but when he checked the bottle, he found it was nearly empty.

Grady tugged on his jacket, intending to make a quick trip to the hardware store to pick up what he needed. It was tough letting things “simmer.” The more he thought about his disastrous ending with Allison, the more driven he was to fix it. But he had to fix things with Kate first. After his serious conversation with his grandmother, neither of them had mentioned his love life again. Instead, Grady had taken his grandmother out to lunch, then had set about making handyman repairs to her place. Every time he visited, it seemed more work needed to be done. But Grady didn’t mind the physical labor. It felt good to keep busy and helped him keep his mind off his worries.

He’d been struggling over what to say to Kate, and ultimately decided the truth was best. The arrangement they’d made had been fine in the beginning, but it now seemed a detriment to both of them. Grady’s heart wasn’t in it, and he could never give Kate more than he already had.
Besides, she’s already giving what she’s got to somebody else,
Grady thought bitterly, recalling the condoms. Grady parked in front of the hardware store and climbed from his car, eying the restaurant next door, where he and Kate had gone for their first date. They’d had lunch in a cozy booth in the front window, but had never appeared as head-over-heels in love as the couple sitting there now. Grady blinked hard, then had to look again.
Wait a minute! Is that Kate?

The slight woman with short brown hair had her arms wrapped around some guy’s neck and was devouring his mouth in a massive make-out session. She broke away and threw her head back in laughter before glancing out the window. Kate’s eyes locked on Grady’s and her jaw dropped. The man with her turned and followed her gaze. All at once they were both looking at him like he’d just arrived from outer space. Grady’s head reeled. Kate was here in Marydale? What about the conference in San Francisco? Had Allison been right? Did Kate even go at all?

Grady stood on the sidewalk, transfixed, while passersby bustled around him on their way to run lunchtime errands. Kate quickly said something to her lunch partner and scooted out of the booth. The next thing Grady knew, she came flying out the restaurant door and landed at his feet. “Grady!” she said in shock. “What are you doing back so early?”

He viewed her in disbelief. “Weren’t expecting me, I see.”

Kate huffed. “Of course I wasn’t expecting you.” She set her hands on her hips. “What does it look like?”

“Uh, cheating.”

“Cheating? You can’t be serious. Beau’s just an old friend.”

“A very close friend, it seems.” Something about the name rang a bell. Grady examined the guy, who lifted a menu in an attempt to shield his face. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t that the name of the guy you dated in college?”

“You never answered my question,” she demanded, like Grady was the one in the wrong. “What on earth are you doing back in town?”

“What about San Francisco?” he countered.

Kate twisted her lips in thought. “The conference was canceled.”

“Canceled. How convenient.”

“Where’s Allison? Did you drop her at home?”
 

“No, she’s still at the beach.”

“I knew it,” Kate spat viciously. “You screwed that up too.”

He peered into her eyes, wondering how he could ever have found them pretty. At the moment they just looked cold and judgmental—as if Kate should be the one judging. “It seems the only screwing that’s been going on has been here in Marydale.”

Kate smirked and lowered her eyebrows.

“Let’s just say…what you won’t supply, Beau’s happy to provide.”

That was hitting below the belt and Kate knew it. “If you were so unhappy with me, why didn’t you call things off? I would have been glad to oblige.”
 

She flinched just a little and set her lips in a thin line. “You think you’re so special. Like every woman should wait for you. Well, here’s the deal. I’m tired of waiting.”

“Waiting? But I thought we agreed—”

“Agreements change, Grady.”

Grady cocked his chin toward the restaurant. “Obviously.”

“Look, I was going to tell you.” Her features softened, but not a lot. “After you got back tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Why not before?”

Grady shook his head, the truth dawning. Allison had been right to suspect it. Kate had wanted Grady out of the way so she could test the waters with someone else: her old boyfriend Beau. If that didn’t work out, she’d still have reliable old Grady around to take her on expensive trips and show off to her sister, while she secretly back-stabbed and dissed him. He narrowed his eyes at her. “I get it now. I was your backup plan.”

“Backup plan? What are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Tell me something, Kate. Have you already texted Marie photos of the new guy? Because if you haven’t, you’d better get busy.”

She stared at him, befuddled.

“You might also want to change your cell wallpaper.”

Grady angled toward the hardware store, amazed at how easy this was. Walking away from Kate. He hadn’t a shred of remorse or any qualms about the decision. He only wished he’d made it sooner, before Kate had made such a fool of him. He sauntered down the sidewalk feeling about a hundred pounds lighter than he had just a few minutes before.

“Grady O’Brien!” Kate shrieked. “Don’t you walk away from me!”

Without turning around, he raised his hand and waved good-bye. Then he casually pulled back the hardware store door and stepped inside, its chime tinkling.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Allison opened her apartment door and called out, “Hello! Anybody here? Kate, I’m—” She stopped dead in her tracks when a guy wearing a towel emerged from the bathroom, and he sure wasn’t Grady. He had short blond hair and medium-brown eyes, and was about six feet tall. He didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed to be standing there half naked. His eyes crinkled in a smile. “Hi there,” he said, his British accent evident. “You must be Allison.”

Allison set down her travel bags with a
thunk.
She’d ridden with Deb and Patrick to
 

Washington and they’d put her on a train to Marydale. Allison felt like she’d been thrown for a loop. If she’d expected to see any man in her apartment, it wasn’t this one.

“Where’s Grady?”

“Long gone, I’m afraid.
Finito.
”

Kate appeared from her bedroom. “I’ve just finished clearing out Grady’s opera CDs, what should I—?” She halted suddenly and stared at Allison, then at Beau, then back at Allison again. “You’re home.”

“Of course, it’s Saturday.” Allison was still staring at the guy, who viewed her curiously. Even if Grady had broken up with Kate the minute he got back, Kate was moving pretty quickly to already have dropped another man in his place. Hang on. What was Kate even doing here? Wasn’t she supposed to be in San Francisco until tomorrow? “I thought you weren’t due back until Sunday?”

“Long story,” Kate said dismissively.

“Oh, yeah?”

The guy watched them, apparently interested in what Kate had to say. She swatted his arm with a CD and gave a flirtatious laugh. “Go on and put some clothes on, Beau. Certain things here are meant for my eyes only.”

Beau? Wasn’t that Kate’s old flame from college? The guy Kate mentioned as being “the one that got away”? Of course, this was normally after a couple of beers, and she generally said it to her other girlfriends and not directly to Allison. Beau cinched the towel around his waist and ambled to the bedroom, glancing over his shoulder before he shut the door.

“So,” Kate said, eying Allison oddly. “I hear the beach was a bust.”

Allison removed her vest and scarf and hung them in the coat closet. “Went as well as expected, I guess.” For some reason, she had the instinct she shouldn’t tell Kate everything. Why was Kate’s old boyfriend in their apartment? Could it be that Allison’s hunch was right and that Kate had been two-timing Grady while he was away? “How was the weather in California?”

“Funny thing about that.” Kate flipped through the stack of CDs like she was shuffling cards and staged a frown. “The darn thing was canceled. And after everybody went to so much trouble.”

Right. Allison would buy that about as readily as swampland in Florida. Allison met her roommate’s eyes, then asked unabashedly, “And Beau? How does he fit into this pretty picture?”

Kate waved her hand. “Beau and I go way back. It was such a coincidence that I happened to run into him at the college during the week. He was here for an interview. Math department,” she said, smiling. “Word is, he got the job.”

Allison threw a glance at Kate’s closed bedroom door. “Looks like he got more than the job.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I already broke up with Grady.”

“
You
broke it off?”

“Yeah, and he took it kind of hard too. But what do you expect? It’s not like the man has options.”

“I thought he was such a great package?”

“On the
outside,
Allison. No woman in her right mind would date him seriously. Grady’s got issues. God knows what they are, but he’s got them.”

Allison’s blood started to boil. Okay, so Grady might be sneaky in business, but he was a person after all. A genuine flesh-and-blood person, with a heart and real feelings. While he’d explained the nature of his relationship with Kate, he’d never said an unkind word about her. “Maybe you don’t know Grady as well as you think you do.”

“My, my. Defending him. That’s a new twist.”

Just then, the doorbell rang and Allison answered it. A flower delivery man held the most stunning bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed roses arranged with sprigs of baby’s breath. They stood elegantly in a tall glass vase tied with a pretty red ribbon. Allison thanked the man and accepted the flowers, but as soon as he’d gone, Kate stepped forward and snatched away the card wedged in its slim card holder. “Obviously for me.” She pulled it from its envelope and rolled her eyes. “Poor Grady. How pathetic. Who knew he was the begging type?”

She shot Allison a superior look, then scanned the card, her face scrunching up. “
One cup of coffee? Cream, no sugar. My treat
? What’s this supposed to be? Written in code? And why did Grady leave his cell number at the bottom. I
know
it, for crying out loud. I’ve got it on speed dial.”

In spite of herself, Allison’s spirits soared. She’d tried to forget him, push him out of her mind. But she hadn’t been able to do it completely. It wasn’t like she wanted to see him, or even talk to him in person, but the fact that he’d made this gesture touched her heart. Unless he was merely trying to get her to sign a contract again. Allison heaved a heavy sigh. “Sorry, Kate!” she said, plucking the note card and its envelope out of Kate’s hand. “But I think these are for me.”

“You?” Kate asked mockingly. “You must be joking.”

Allison flipped over the envelope and held the front of the card toward her.
Allison Murphy
was typed in big, block letters above their apartment’s address.

Kate gasped in understanding. “Something happened at the beach, didn’t it?” she asked, her eyes flashing. “You didn’t actually…? You promised me, Allison! Not in the same bed!”

If anyone was guilty of two-timing, it was Kate. Grady might have his faults, but he definitely wasn’t a cheat. Given her behavior, did Kate really deserve to know that? Allison approached her and saucily raised an eyebrow. “Who said anything about a bed?” she asked lightly. “Maybe we did it on the floor.” Then she carried her bouquet to her bedroom, leaving Kate standing there with her mouth agape.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Allison walked out of her regular Monday morning meeting with her design team more determined than ever to save her company. She didn’t have the heart to fire either of them, but if something didn’t change soon, she’d have to cut back their hours. She’d come into the office on Sunday and had spent all day poring over her books. In the past six months, things had gone from bad to worse. Allison needed to face facts. Her business was failing. The clients that had been her bread and butter were turning away in favor of cheaper alternatives.
 

While Allison’s labels weren’t extremely expensive, they were more costly than those offered by the majority of her competitors. That’s because they were better. Each of her personalized designs was handcrafted with the particular client’s needs in mind. Allison was also committed to using only natural or recycled materials and that commitment had cost her. She’d lost a handful of clients this year, and her in-box revealed that a few more were considering bailing if Bella Fortuna Wine Designs couldn’t offer more competitive terms.