Page 77 of Our Sweet Destiny
Riley reached up and touched her shoulder-length brown hair, feeling the little confidence she’d mustered being whittled away.If the receptionist is that perfect, what are the other employees like?
“Good morning, Mr. Braden,” Chantal said with a practiced smile. “Good morning, Riley.”
You know my name?Riley pushed past her rattled nerves, forcing her mouth to obey her thoughts, and felt the grace of a smile. “Good morning…Chantal.” She pulled her shoulders back, reclaiming a bit of her lost confidence.She knows my name!
“Chantal is an assistant in the design studio. She fills in for our receptionist when she steps away from her desk. I’m sure you’ll see her in the design studio later,” Josh explained.
Riley felt like she was in a dream as she walked beside Josh through the elegant offices. She’d spent years dreaming of what it might feel like to work in New York City, and more specifically, in a design studio. After graduating with a degree in fashion design with a 3.8 GPA and winning two design awards, she’d longed to move to New York City and land a job in the design field. After several months of applying for positions and receiving enough rejection letters to wallpaper her bedroom, Riley had given up and settled into her life in Weston, working at Macy’s and designing clothes no one would ever see. Riley had come to accept that working in the fashion industry had more to do with connections than skills. She’d given up that dream until Jade had begun dating Rex, one of Josh’s older brothers, and she’d worn one of Riley’s dresses on their first date. One recommendation from Rex, and a few days later, Riley was having lunch at his father’s ranch, Josh eagerly reviewed her portfolio, and the next thing she knew, she had a job offer and was packing to move to New York City. Now, as she walked beside Josh, Riley wondered if he was thinking about the time they’d spent together as much as she was.
They rounded a hall and Riley stifled a gasp. Racks of designer clothing lined the walls; dozens of fabric samples were strewn across long drawing tables, and sketches littered an entire wall. The combination sent her pulse soaring. Men and women milled about, talking quietly and fingering through the samples. A woman wearing jeans, her jet-black hair cut short, pulled a rolling cart filled with clothes across the floor. A man scurried around her with a notebook in hand, talking into an earpiece.
Without thinking, Riley grabbed Josh’s arm—as if they were back in Weston at a farm show and he were Jade. “Oh my goodness. This is amazing!” she exclaimed.
He laughed, and several eyes turned in their direction.
Riley cringed. She must have looked like an excited child seeing Santa for the first time.
“I’m sorry,” she said, frantically patting down Josh’s suit sleeve. “I just…I’m so sorry.”Ugh, I’m an idiot.
“That’s the kind of reaction I’d hoped for,” he said.
She let out a relieved sigh as a tall, auburn-haired woman appeared at Josh’s side and locked her green eyes on Riley, then drew them down her dress, over her curvy figure, all the way to her heels.
“This must be Riley Banks?” She extended a pencil-thin arm in Riley’s direction. “Claudia Raven, head design assistant.”
Claudia’s forced smile and threatening gaze reminded Riley of Cruella De Vil. There was no mistaking the way she pressed her right shoulder into Josh’s back. Riley thought she saw him flinch, but his eyes never wavered from her, his smile never faltered, and she realized that she must have been projecting her own bodily response onto him. Every ounce of Riley’s cognitive thought screamed,Run! Run far and fast.She wanted to flee from the awful woman who, by the look in her evil eyes, already hated her. The woman who silently staked claim to Josh. Instead, Riley forced a smile and took her hand in a firm grip.
“I’m honored to be working with you,” she said, and tucked away any lingering thoughts about Josh. She needed a career, not aFatal Attractionsituation.
JOSH STIFLED A flinch at the feel of Claudia against him. She’d made no bones about being open to sleeping her way to the top, and while at first he’d found her innuendos comical, recently he’d begun to loathe them. But she was a dedicated worker and had been with JBD for five years, the last two as the head design assistant. She hadn’t slept her way to that position. Josh had better scruples than that, even if to an outsider Claudia might appear to be the “right” kind of woman for him. He couldn’t deny that she was attractive, intelligent, and she knew the design business inside and out. But Josh had seen the other side of Claudia—the manipulative, competitive-to-the-point-of-nasty side—and those were qualities that Josh was not looking for in a lover. As the niece of one of his oldest supporters, Josh felt trapped by loyalty to keep her on staff.
He was impressed by Riley’s steely, though professional, reserve. He doubted that Claudia or anyone else could tell that her smile was forced. They couldn’t know that the way her lips pulled tightly at the corners was different from the casual, natural smile Riley usually possessed. And they wouldn’t notice the underlying discomfort in her hazel eyes, the discomfort that Josh recognized and longed to soothe.
He couldn’t seem to remove his hand from her back. The feel of her curves beneath his palm were refreshing. The women he’d dated were usually pencil thin. Going out to dinner equated to watching skeletons graze on leafy greens, with fake smiles plastered on their artificially plumped lips and dollar signs in their eyes. Then again, Josh’s dates had primarily been setups from business colleagues who believed he needed to date the “right” women for his social status. Over the past year or so, he’d become disenchanted with those expectations, and he’d taken to dating fewer and fewer of them, but that was a thought for another time.
“I can take her from here,” Claudia said, pushing between them.
Josh reluctantly removed his hand. He looked into Riley’s eyes again, remembering how he’d been drawn to her when they were teens. The way her eyes had always been like windows to her emotions. Even back then he’d known when she was happy or sad, angry or bored. He had an urge to put his arm around her and soothe away the worry that lay there, but just behind that worry, he saw excitement mounting, and he knew she’d fare just fine—at least he hoped she would.
“Riley, I’m glad you’re here.” Josh ignored the narrowing of Claudia’s eyes and the iciness that surrounded her like a cloak. “If you need anything, just let Claudia know. She’ll take good care of you. Right, Claudia?” He took pleasure in nudging Claudia out of her villainous stare.
“Thanks, Josh. I appreciate everything. I won’t let you down,” Riley said.
“Shall we?” Claudia grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
Josh headed for his office, thinking about Riley. Her designs were really good—fresh and stylistic in a way that was different from the typical New York trends. He’d have brought her on as a junior designer if he hadn’t believed that she needed to first learn the down-and-dirty side of the business. Claudia’s designs, on the other hand, left much to be desired, as did her people skills, but as head design assistant, he knew she was the cream of the crop. Organized, efficient, dedicated, and never missed a deadline. Claudia kept the staff in line, even if a little heavy-handedly. He hoped she’d put away her claws long enough to teach Riley the ins and outs of the fashion world.
If not, he thought,I just might have to do it myself.
