Page 27 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
Chapter Twelve
JOSH SAT IN his office looking over a portfolio and trying to stop thinking about Riley. When he’d seen her standing by her desk, it had taken all of his willpower not to wrap his arms around her, and his body had reacted in ways reminiscent of his teenage years—even back then the mere sight of Riley incited a rise within his pants. He’d had to retreat to the safety of his officeto regain control.
Mia peered into his office. “Treat’s on line two for you.”
“Thanks.” He picked up the phone. “Treat, how are you?” He hadn’t seen Treat since he and Max announced their wedding date a few weeks earlier.
“Great, and you?” Treat’s voice was comforting, familiar.
“Better than ever. What’s up?”
“Max and I are coming into town tomorrow. I’m sorry for the short notice, but I’vegot a business thing, and I thought if you’re free, you could meet with Max about her wedding gown.”
“Sure, whatever you need. When?”
Mia peeked into his office and he waved her in.
“I’ll be done with my meeting around four, and we can meet anytime after that,” Treat answered.
Josh covered the receiver. “What’s on my plate tomorrow evening?” he asked Mia.
“Nothing. I already cleared it forTreat.” She beamed.
Josh thought about Riley and wondered if Treat would mind if he brought her along. He turned his attention back to their call.
“You already cleared my schedule with Mia?”
“Hey, you’re a busy man, and so am I.” Treat laughed.
“It’s cool. Actually, it’s a big help. Do you mind if I bring Riley along? I’d love to hear her thoughts about Max’s dress.” Josh watched Mia raiseher eyebrows. He covered the receiver again. “Did you need something else, Mia?”
“Just to let you know that Claudia is beyond evil today. I thought you might like to know.”
His nerves twitched just thinking about Claudia treating Riley badly. It was one thing to allow her to remain as an employee out of loyalty and another to allow her to abuse his sense of loyalty and do harm to others.Ismy relationship with Peter worth this?If only it were that easy to decipher. In the fashion industry, someone like Peter could make or break a designer’s career, and vice versa.
“Oh, and don’t forget,” Mia added, “you have a seven-o’clock conference call tonight. Do you need me to be here?”
He made a mental note to have a stern talk with Claudia and to delay his date with Riley. “No, I canhandle it. Thanks, Mia.” He watched her leave the office.
“How’s it going with Riley working for you?” Treat asked.
He knew his brother well enough to hear the silent question carefully wrapped within the verbal one, and he chose to ignore it. “She’s doing a great job.”
“And?”
“What makes you think there’s anand?” He’d never been able to pull the wool over Treat’s eyes. He didn’t know whyhe expected to now.
“Josh, you brought her to Dad’s for lunch a while back. You’ve never brought a single woman to Dad’s for anything. Am I to believe that you were just being nice by bringing her to lunch because she’s from our hometown?”
Josh leaned back in his chair. He’d spent years watching Treat in action. His brother owned resorts all over the world; he charmed some of the smartest businessmeninto deals no one else would ever be able to secure. Josh had learned a lot about negotiations and manipulation from him, and now he couldn’t come up with a single sentence to waylay his brother’s inquiry.
“That would be nice, yeah,” Josh said with a smile.
“Yeah, okay, so we’ll pretend. You’re still young. You have time to figure these things out.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. Let’scut to the chase. Riley and I just started dating. Yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Wow, you did well. She’s been in New York for a week and you held back a whole six days.”
