“Riley, baby, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I made a mistake, a huge mistake, but my mistake wasn’t not trusting you.” Josh loved Riley. He trusted her, and he believed with his whole heart that she was telling the truth, but that didn’t stop a little nag in the back of his mind from reminding him to be careful. Your reputation is on the line. He hated the sickening feel that the nag brought with it, and he did everything within his mental capabilities to squelch that little voice, but the voice would not be silenced. He pushed forth, ignoring that awful voice that conflicted with his heart, and as he tried to convince Riley, he had to wonder if he was also trying to convince himself.
“You have to believe me on this, Riley. My mistake was not coming to you before bringing the staff into it. I was trying to clear your name. I realized my mistake after calling them, but by then it was too late.” Words weren’t enough to express the sorrow that felt like needles beneath his skin. He reached for her hand and she turned away. “Please don’t tell me that in an effort to clear your name I’ve lost you forever.”
Shit. What could he do but tell her the truth? He felt her slipping away, and he couldn’t stand it. “Riley, please. I reacted. I jumped in thinking I was protecting you. I fucked up. Please forgive me, Riley.”
She turned and faced him, tears streaming down her cheeks. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until all the hurt fell away, but he didn’t dare move.
“I swear, Riley, I’ll never hurt you again. Not ever. Please, Riley.” He’d beg all night if that’s what it took. “I fucked up, and I regret it more than you could ever imagine.”
“It’d be easy for you to walk away. Everyone would forget what happened, and your life could go back to normal. You’d be free of this mess,” Riley said.
“Easy? You think it would be easy for me to walk away from you? To be free from this mess would mean losing you, and that would be the hardest thing I could ever do. I’d rather lose everything to be with you than go on without you.” Jesus, I really would.
Stunned by his own admission, he couldn’t move. He and Riley stared at each other, each wrapped in a cloak of pain. He wasn’t letting go. Rage brewed within Josh’s gut—an unfamiliar, heated, uncontrollable anger. He fisted his hands. There was no way he was going to let Claudia take away what they had together, and there was no way he’d let her ruin the career that Riley deserved. Claudia. He clenched his jaw against the thought of her. His pulse raced, and Josh looked away from Riley, trying to calm the mounting, menacing hatred. He’d never felt out of control of his own temper, and he didn’t understand what was happening. But he was sure of one thing. There had to be a way to prove Claudia was lying.
His cell phone rang.
“Go ahead. You can get it,” Riley said.
“It’s okay. I can get it later.”
It rang again.
“I’m fine. Please,” she said.
He reluctantly got up and picked up his phone from the mantel. Mia.
“Yeah?”
“Just got a call from my contact at Page Six asking for a statement,” Mia said.
“What the hell? A statement?” Josh shot a look at Riley, hoping it wasn’t about the designs.
“Claudia must have leaked the issue. They’re doing a story on it,” Mia answered.
“Shit. Goddamn it.”
“What?” Riley flew to her feet.
He took her hand and held on tight. I won’t let go. Ever. “Do you know what it’s going to say?” he asked Mia. His pulse raced. This was the worst thing that could happen. He had no proof to stand behind Riley.
“No. Just that they’re doing the story,” Mia said.
“Here’s my statement. You got a pen?” Josh fumed. He pulled Riley against him and hoped he was doing the right thing. “We believe the allegations made by Claudia Raven are completely unfounded. An internal investigation is underway.”
He hung up the phone without waiting for Mia to respond and wrapped his arms around Riley.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“All hell’s broken loose.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
THE FIRST CALL Josh made was to Claudia, placing her on administrative leave while he had the matter investigated. She was livid, but he didn’t care. The second call he made was to Kelly Treejen, his public relations manager, the third was to his attorney, advising him to hire a private investigator to find out the truth. After the calls, he went into the master bedroom, where Riley was sleeping, and lay beside her. After Mia called, they’d talked for an hour and he’d finally gotten through to her. He didn’t know what he’d have done if she didn’t take him back; the thought of losing her was too dark to ponder. She stirred beside him, and he wrapped his arm around her.
“You okay?” he asked.
She rolled over and faced him. God, she was beautiful, even with the world crashing down around her, the essence of her positivity remained. He brushed her hair from her eyes and kissed her.
“We need to talk,” he said.
Riley’s body went rigid within his arms. “Don’t worry. It’s not anything horrible.”
She sat up and crossed her arms. “Okay.”
“I put Claudia on administrative leave.” He searched her eyes, but knew she had no clue what he was about to say. “And I have to put you on administrative leave, too, just until this thing is dealt with.” He expected her to get angry, just as Claudia had. Instead, she nodded.
“Okay, I understand.”
“You do?”
“Of course. If you didn’t take equal measures then it would look like something was up between us,” she said.
“That’s the other thing. Riley, I have to hire a private investigator. If you have no way to prove that was your original design, then someone else has to find a way.”
She furrowed her brow. “What can they possibly do to prove they were mine?”
“Maybe nothing, but we have to try; otherwise this nightmare will go on forever.” He drew in a breath and blew it out slowly. “That means we’re going to be exposed. You and me.”
“But that’ll make things worse,” she urged.
“Maybe, but if we’re going to clear you, we have to be transparent about everything. Including us.” As much as it worried Josh to reveal their relationship alongside being sucked into Claudia’s craziness, he was also relieved. In his heart, he knew Riley didn’t steal those ideas, and he was tired of pretending that his love for her didn’t exist.
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“Page Six is doing some kind of article on the accusations. Who knows what it will say, but you heard my response. It’s Christmas week, so, hopefully, this will blow over and come to a resolution before the New Year. I want you to go back home so you’re not caught in the crossfire.”
“Aren’t you coming?” She moved closer to him. “I don’t want you to deal with this on your own. Isn’t it better if you leave town, too?”
“No. I have to be here to manage things. I’ll come home for Christmas, but I want you to leave tomorrow morning. You don’t need to see this craziness spread out before you. I’ll take care of it, and then I’ll join you.” At least I hope to. Josh recognized that he was putting himself in a vulnerable position. Without proof that Riley didn’t steal the design, he might not be able to clear her name, and then not only would JBD be seen as the scandalous design studio, but he’d be seen as the designer who was duped.
One look into Riley’s eyes told him that none of that mattered. He had faith that she was telling the truth, and his only regret was not standing behind her that first night. He should have climbed right into bed with her and told her what was going on—and believed every word she said afterward. He knew the message silence and hesitation sent, and he regretted having done both.
He climbed from the bed and stripped off his clothes, needing to feel Riley’s body against him before she left. He climbed beneath the covers, helped her out of her T-shirt and panties, and pulled her close. Her chest against his, her heart beating in perfect rhythm to his. God, she felt good.
She looked up at him, and he lowered his mouth to hers, taking her in a deep, passionate kiss, wanting to kiss the hurt right out of her heart. Needing to heal the pain that slayed them both. His hands rushed with need over her breasts, and his mouth followed, fondling and sucking her nipples until she made sexy little noises in her throat. She grabbed at his hips, settling him over her. He slid inside her, and with one desperate thrust after another, he reclaimed their love, groaning aloud, then burying his mouth against her neck, tasting the salt of her sweat as her hips moved to meet his efforts. He had to taste her, had to kiss her more, deeper, longer. She returned his eagerness, fueling his passion even more. He took her face between his large hands and whispered, “I love you, Riley. God, I love you.”
He withdrew from between her legs, wanting to postpone the end of their lovemaking, and he slid down her body, tasting every blessed inch of her beautiful, full curves. He licked circles around her nipples, holding her arms flat against the mattress.