Perfect Secret by Molly McLain

Chapter 9

HOLDEN

We arrive at Wren’s a few minutes later and the waitress seats us at one of the bistro-style tables near the front of the diner. She comes back with our drinks and we give her our food order, but she no sooner walks away than Alana gasps and quickly turns toward the window, shielding her face.

“What? Are you hiding from someone?” I chuckle.

“Mmm hmm.”

“Who?” My gaze shifts to the door where an older couple has just entered, followed by a dark-haired guy in a dark green polo, dark jeans, and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Given the couple is in their eighties and completely harmless, my money is on the guy. “Him?”

“Shh!” she hisses, shooting me a quick ‘I will kill you if you draw attention’ glare. Of course, I grin, because she’s obviously forgotten that drawing attention to her is my new job.

“Is he the ex?” I ask, lowering my voice and trying to check out the guy in my peripheral. He’s yet to look our way as he talks with a waitress at the cash register.

“No!” she spits, then mutters, “Not the one you’re thinking of anyway.”

My eyebrows lift. “Oh, really?”

She glances up just long enough for me to spot the color in her cheeks.

“You got a little history you forgot to mention, darlin’?”

She rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to say something when a masculine voice sounds from a few feet away.

“Alana? Is that you?”

I don’t need to look to know we’ve been seen, and Alana’s whimper confirms it.

“Haven’t seen you outside of the market in forever,” he adds.

I glance to our left as the guy strolls over with a take-out bag in hand. His sunglasses hang from the collar of his shirt and his eyes are locked on my date like I’m not even here. Something about that rubs me the wrong way, but I’m far more interested in figuring out why Alana hoped to avoid him.

“Uh, hi, Cole.” She pastes on a smile, barely flicking it his way. “How are you?”

“I’m great.” He takes her in without shame, his cocky grin hitching a little higher on one side, clearly liking what he sees. “You look good, babe. Love what you’ve done with your hair.”

Babe?Another wave of something unsettling rolls through me and I clench my fist against my thigh as I remind myself that this isn’t a real date and I have no friggin’ right to want to punch this guy for flirting with my girl.

“Thank you. Um, this is Holden.” Alana’s pleading, but hopeful eyes meet mine across the table as she gestures my way. “Holden, this is Cole Jackson. He works at Dream Big. He’s also a Mason Creek lifer.”

“Ah.” I think what she meant to say is they go back, and not in a platonic sort of way. Despite wanting to jab my fist into his gut, I offer my hand. “Nice to meet you, Cole.”

He accepts with a smirk. “You’re the new guy out at the ranch, right?”

“Yup.” I can’t quite read the grin, so I’m not sure if he’s trying to be a condescending prick or if it’s just his style. “Alana’s new neighbor, too.”

I swear to God I hear her gulp across the table.

“Is that so?” Cole shifts his focus back to her. “Glad to see you doing something other than work, but I’m not going to lie—I’m a little jealous that you’re having dinner with this guy and not me.”

Yeah, well, when you’re the type of guy who interrupts other people’s dates to try and score one of your own, no wonder the ladies don’t want you, dude.

Alana blinks. “We’re just—”

“We hit it off right away,” I interject, covering her hand with mine. “And who am I to decline time with a pretty lady?”

The guy’s brows lift and then he clears his throat. “That’s… that’s really great, Al.”

She nods a little too eagerly. “Yeah, um, it is. Listen, it was really great seeing you again.”

That’s my girl. Get him the hell out of here.

Cole dips his chin, clearly getting the message, and then glances back to me. “Nice to meet you, Holden. Be good to her, okay? She’s special.”

I can’t resist winking. “Believe me, I’ve already figured that out.”

The guy eyes me for a second longer before saying goodbye to Alana and then leaving the diner. The door is barely closed behind him when Alana’s shoe connects with my shin under the table.

“A little overkill, don’t you think?”

I laugh. “The guy was ready to swoop you up and carry you off to his lair like I wasn’t even here.”

“Cole is the town flirt. He’s like that with everyone.”

“Yeah, but the two of you have done more than flirt, haven’t you? You said something about him not being the ex I was thinking of, so obviously, you’ve dated.”

Her face turns as red as the plastic cup holding her Diet Dr. Pepper. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“Ohh. I see.” I tip my head back and laugh. “I thought you said it’d been a while?”

“It has. But can we… can we just not?” Alana pleads, head hung low again. “It was a post-breakup thing and clearly not my best decision.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, darlin’. We all do shit we wish we could take back. And some of us do shit we’d happily do all over again, too. It’s part of life. Gives us character, too.”

She eyes me reluctantly from beneath her lashes. “You don’t think less of me?”

“Darlin’, I may come off as old fashioned because I’m all chivalrous and shit, but don’t think for a second I’d ever judge you for having a little fun.”

A small smile flits across her lips before she bites at one corner. “We’ve talked far too much about me already tonight and we haven’t even gotten our food yet.”

I stroke my thumb over her knuckles. “I like talking about you.”

“Yes, but it’s hardly fair. Tell me something about you.”

“Like what?”

She narrows her eyes for a second and then asks bluntly, “You’ve had lots of one-night stands, haven’t you?”

I damn near choke on my own saliva. “Damn, girl, just go straight for my jugular, why don’t you?”

She laughs softly. “No shame, Colorado. Besides, you just said it gives us character.” She adds a wink and I pull my hand away from hers to scrub it over my face, laughing right along with her.

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about sex,” I say. “At least not in public where anything and everything we say has a fifty-fifty chance of ending up in a gossip column.”

She snorts. “True, though I’m sure we’ve given them plenty of fodder already, especially with Cole coming over.”

“Eh, I’m used to people talking shit about me. This is nothing.”

Her eyes go wide before I realize my screwup. “Oh?”

Shit. “You know how small towns are,” I say, quickly redirecting.

“You’ve been the talk of the town back in Bear Creek, too? Maybe I should Google you.” She reaches for her phone, but I grab her hand again.

“How about you just ask me?” I ask, cursing myself the second the words leave my mouth. I don’t want her looking me up and finding out shit that might scare her away, but I certainly don’t want to bullshit my way around the truth, either. I like this girl too much to lie to her any more than I already have to.

“Okay…” She pauses as the waitress arrives and sets our plates in front of us. When she’s out of earshot, Alana asks, “Why have people talked shit about you?”

I unwrap my utensils and put the napkin on my lap before cutting my chicken parmesan. “Like I told you, Bear Creek is a small town, too. Let’s just say… well, let’s just say I’m well known.”

“For being a playboy?”

I give a laugh, but it fades quickly when I realize she’s being serious and not in a judgmental way.

“I wish it were just that.” Having a reputation as a player is a hell of a lot less threatening than being accused of sexual assault. “Let’s just say I know some people who’ve tried to use their social status to get what they want, no matter the consequences or impact it might have on others.”

Her brow creases as she tears a chicken tender in half to cool. “And by ‘others’, you mean you? Or maybe your family?”

“Just me, thankfully.” If I hadn’t been cleared right away, my family probably would have felt the impact, too. So, as much as this whole thing sucks, I know it could have been a lot worse.

“Does this have anything to do with the ranch you were working on?” she asks.

Fuck. There are only so many ways I can answer her questions without giving too much away or blatantly lying.

“No.” I stab another bite onto my fork, pop it into my mouth, and chew for a ridiculously long moment, trying to come up with something better. But I can’t, because there isn’t anything. I can’t lie to her about this. “What would you say if I told you I’d been accused of something I didn’t do?”

She lifts a shoulder, her expression unfazed. “I feel like I know you well enough to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you say you didn’t do it, I believe you didn’t.”

Was she for real? “You’ve known me for a matter of days.”

“You’ve not only offered to help break me out of the Fort Knox of sad social lives, but you saved me from becoming a vampire princess too, remember?”

I chuckle. “How could I forget?”

“So, what have you been wrongfully accused of?” she asks before I can even finish my question. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“If I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t Google me later. Your brother and Wilder know everything and I can guaran-damn-tee that if Aiden thought you had anything to worry about, he would’ve beat my ass in the street earlier. More than that, he wouldn’t have suggested I move in next door to you.”

Her curious eyes dance back and forth between mine. “Okay. I won’t look if you don’t want me to.”

“Seriously?”

She nods. “Seriously.”

“Wow.” It’s not that I don’t believe her. It’s that I do believe her and, after so many people have turned their back on me, her trust means more than I would have expected.

This time, she’s the one to reach across the table and take my hand. “No shame and no judgment, Colorado.”

Well, shit. I set down my fork and swallow. There’s no good way to say it that will make it sound any less awful than it is, so I just come out with it.

“I was accused of forcing myself on a girl. The only issue with her claim was that I was in another state at the time. I was arrested at home but cleared less than six hours later. Unfortunately, the girl is from a well-off family and the media wasted no time dragging my name through the mud anyway.”

She wets her lips and I can tell she’s trying so damn hard not to react. “That’s awful, Holden. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. It’s been one hell of a month.”

“Is that why you were laid off? Does your boss not believe you?”

Dammit. I need to tell her the truth about what I do for a living, too, but with the way gossip runs rampant in this town, I can’t risk telling her just yet. Especially not out in public where anyone could hear and leak my real name to that damn gossip site.

I pull in a deep breath. “He believes me, but he isn’t a fan of the drama. He forced me to take a voluntary leave of absence until things settle down.”

“Things being?”

“The media mostly.” They might’ve moved on from the accusations, but they’re still curious about why the ABR decided to ostracize one of their biggest stars despite being cleared.

“Jesus,” she murmurs. “Sounds worse than the Mason Creek gossip grapevine.”

“Yup.” I force a smile and fork up another bite. “I can’t believe you’re not freaking out right now.”

“Why would I freak out?” She frowns and dips a piece of chicken into a small container of honey mustard.

“I just told you I was arrested for assault.”

“And you told me you didn’t do it.”

I study her for a long moment, trying to figure out if she’s really as cool about the confession as she’s trying to appear or if she’s going to add a few more locks to her door as soon as we get home.

“You’re really something,” I say, mimicking words she’s said herself and deciding to be grateful instead of skeptical.

Alana smirks. “A good something or a bad something?”

“Definitely a good something.” Something I really never expected to find here in this sleepy little town, but here we are.