Page 21 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
“We are.” He reached for her hand again, andshe put it out without thinking. Their fingers touched, their eyes met, and for a split second everything felt perfect, and then the voice came back—he’s your boss—and Riley drew her hand back to her side and looked away.Maybe I made a mistake. He is my boss.She looked back at Josh’s hand.But he’s also Josh.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Come on.”
She followed him inside the exquisite building.Her heels clicked and clacked as they crossed the station. The impossibly high, arched, green ceiling grew from golden walls with thick columns. Riley took in the magnificent structure with glorious windows that allowed the moonlight to filter in, giving the evening an even more charming feel.
She and Josh walked past an enormous newsstand and under a portal. They appeared to be walking to anotherexit, and just before they reached it, Josh pointed to an escalator.
“Down there? Where exactly are you taking me?” she asked.
“I’ll show you.” He motioned toward the escalator, and Riley stepped on.
She clutched the railing as they descended beneath the ground. “This is a little nerve-racking.”
“That’s why you’re doing it with me,” he said.
They landed on a concrete platform with subwaylines running in both directions.
“Josh,” she said. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
“Ri, look at me.”
She did, but her eyes darted back to the platform and the dark tunnel just beyond.
“I’m right here,” Josh said. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You are a smart, capable woman, and I don’t want you to feel like there’s anythingyou can’t do. I promise that when we’re done, you’ll feel totally different about the subway.”
She wished she could just tuck herself beneath his arm and cuddle up against his muscular body, hiding from any possibility of getting on a train.
“Trust me?” he asked.
She nodded.
“That’s all I ask,” Josh said.
Riley’s legs shook and she held her breath as they stepped over the edge of the platformand onto the train. Josh held her arm in one hand and put the other firmly across her back long enough for her to find safety hanging on to a metal pole. She didn’t mind that there was no place to sit. It gave her a reason to stand closer to Josh, and with her nerves tied in knots, she needed the security of being close to him. An older woman read the newspaper; her silver eyeglass frames slippeddown her nose every few seconds, and she’d wrinkle her nose, then push them up with her finger, and repeat the act again a minute later. At the far end of the train, a group of high-school-aged kids gathered, laughing and smiling. Riley marveled at their ease.Why am I so nervous?The seats were packed tight with people whose eyes were locked on the floor before them.
Each time the train stopped,more people got off the train, and by the third stop, Riley wasn’t as nervous. She watched women and men in groups and alone, and the longer she watched, the more she realized that the subwaywasa way of life in New York. It was like taking the bus through Weston or Allure. She looked up at Josh, who was watching her intently, and she couldn’t believe he’d take his time to help her through herfear. Then again, this was Josh Braden, who, as a fifth grader, had given his lunch to a boy who had dropped his tray in the school cafeteria. She’d almost forgotten about that incident, and as she looked at his handsome face, she realized that the boy he’d been was likely very similar to the man he’d become.
After the next stop, they settled into the hard seats, and soon there were only threeother people on the train with them.
“It smells a little like cigarettes and stale food, but you can’t smoke in here, can you?” Riley asked.
“It’s from the people. Pack enough smokers into any confined space and you’re bound to have some residual odor. I close my eyes and imagine the rumbling beneath me is a roller coaster, or a toboggan, and then I can actually smell it,” Josh said.
“You cansmell the crisp air of a snowy mountaintop? In here?” Riley asked with a smile.
“I’m a designer. I can design anything in my head. Then all I have to do is convince my brain to believe it. Try it,” he said.
Riley closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
“Think about being back home. Remember that hill behind the high school?”
Riley nodded.
“Remember as a kid how everyone would sled all day whenthey closed the schools? Pretend you’re there.”
Riley knew exactly where he was talking about. The problem was, every time she and Jade had gone there, they’d spent half the time pretending not to stare at Rex and Josh. As she tried to force the smell of the Colorado winter air, thoughts of Josh brought the smell of Clive Christian cologne. Riley felt her cheeks flush.
“Is it working?”
