Page 19 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
Riley shrugged. “Something about the way she was around you the day we met.”
“She’s a master at manipulation and creating false impressions. I’m aware of her tricks, but I didn’t think you’d really buy into them.”Or I’d have cleared it up right then.Josh would straighten that situationout tomorrow as well. No more of her invasions of his personal space. It was high time he stepped up and gave Claudia a few rules.
Riley shrugged. “It was hard not to.”
“Wait, you don’t think that I…No, no, no. I have never and have no interest. Riley, really?” How could she think he’d ever fall prey to Claudia’s games?Do I come across as that much of a player?Josh hadn’t realized that theimage he projected of himself could be so clearly misconstrued by those who knew him. Then again, he’d only begun to get to really know Riley. Growing up together in a small town where family feuds ruled out friendships and crushes grew from afar didn’t exactly offer a chance to develop a well-rounded view of a person.
“Sorry. I know better now, but then…”
Josh let it drop. At the exit, he watchedher walk alone down the busy street. Every second made him feel more like a heel.Screw this.He hurried down the sidewalk and clasped Riley’s hand before she turned the corner.
She started. “Wait. They might—”
He kissed her—hard—and when her body relaxed in to him, he kissed her longer, deeper. When they drew apart, she was breathless again. He was beginning to enjoy the haze of desire in hereyes each time their lips met.
“I’m not hiding, Riley. I’ll deal with Claudia and make sure you have nothing to worry about, but I’m not going to let one woman rob us of these moments.” Josh breathed fast and hard, bowled over by his own desire to go public about their relationship. Even if it appeared to be in the beginning stages, it had been silently incubating for years, testing his willpowerwhen he was younger and waiting at bay ever since. He wanted to tell everyone—his family, his employees, his colleagues.
Riley blinked at him in silence.
His gut wrenched. “Did I misunderstand? Are you not interested in seeing each other?”He held his breath.
“No.” Her eyes grew wide. “I mean, I didn’t realize how much I wanted this. I do. I want this.”
He let out a relieved breath.
“But,Josh, I’ll be a laughingstock. A cliché.Girl sleeps her way to the top.I’ll be tomorrow’s water cooler chat, and I don’t want that.”
She was right. The problem was, Josh wasn’t willing to let her go before they even got started. He respected her, and he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable, but he also wanted to be with her.
“Does that mean you want to sneak around?” Josh asked. Before sheanswered, he guided her around the corner of the building, beneath a blown-out light and out of eyesight of any passersby. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered his lips to hers again, pressing his hips against hers—and, wow, she felt incredible. He ran his hands along the curves of her hips, memorizing the feel of them for those moments when he wouldn’t be able to reach out and touch her.He kissed her neck, her shoulder.
“Yes,” she said in a rushed whisper. “Yes, I want to sneak around. I know that sounds stupid, but I just got here, and I’m already fighting an uphill battle.”
He ran his finger along her collarbone.
“Okay,” he said, looking into her eyes. “Sneaking around it is, but just for the record, I hate it already. It’s been so long since I’ve felt enthusiastic aboutanything other than work, and Riley”—he lifted her chin so their eyes met—“you stir all sorts of excitement within me.”
When Josh had offered Riley the job back in Weston, he’d planned on showing her around New York, getting to know her a little better, and figuring out if what he felt in Weston had been real. He no longer needed clarification. His body ached for Riley. He wanted her. He neededher. From the sultry look in her eyes, he thought she felt the same, but he also didn’t want to rush her.
RILEY HEARD HIS words, but her heart had leapt into her throat and stolen her voice when he’d said,You stir all sorts of excitement within me.
“Riley?” Josh touched her arm. “Do you want to take a walk?”
My pulseis racing. I could jog if you wanted to.
He closed in on her again, pressing her back against the wall, and he settled his cheek beside hers. Riley breathed in his rich, distinctive scent, which seeped right into her body, and drew her hands to his waist.
“You smellsogood.”Shoot. Did I say that out loud?She closed her eyes.
“It’s Clive Christian,” he whispered in a deep, seductive voice.“They say that for four thousand years it’s been used to draw soulmates together.”
She swallowed a whimper of desire.
He slid his mouth toward her ear, exposing his neck too close to Riley’s lips. She could practically taste his skin. She bit her lip to stop herself from doing just that.
Josh kissed the edge of her ear. “Are you sure you want to sneak?” His breath was hot against her skin.“Because there’s nothing I’d rather do than hold your hand when we walk down the street.”
How could she tell the man she’d dreamed of for years that she didn’t want to hold his hand, when she really wanted to do so much more?
