Page 37 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
“Do you want to walk a bit?”Josh offered.
They threw away the remains of their subs and he reached for her hand. Holding in his thoughts was making Josh’s stomach ache. He needed to get the rest of what he had to say out in the open. Now. “I need to tell you something,” he said.
“Sounds serious.”
“I’m an honest guy. I just don’t know how to be any other way, not with the people I care about. And I want to be honest withyou.” He stopped walking and placed his hands gently on her arms. “There was an incident with Claudia tonight.” He felt her stiffen beneath his touch. “She came into my office and made it very clear that she wanted to be with me. Sexually.”
He watched Riley swallow that chunky, awful pill.
“I made it clear to her that it would never happen, and I told her I was involved with someone. I didn’ttell her who, and I’d never do so without your consent, but I don’t want her pawing after me on any level. And I made it quite clear to her that she’s not to take my denial out on the office staff. There’s no way she didn’t understand what I said.”
Riley looked down, but not before Josh spotted the worried shadows within her eyes. “Josh, you don’t have—”
“Yes, I do. I don’t know where you andI are headed, but I want to go wherever it is for however long it lasts, and we can’t do that if Claudia is always undermining our relationship. I never want you to worry, especially about her.” Josh felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. That was only the first step in a long line of things that would need to happen to clear the way for them to have a relationship, but it was astart.
“Thank you for that,” Riley said.
They walked in silence, and as Josh opened his mouth to break it, Riley beat him to it.
“I can’t blame her, really. I mean you are charming, even if a little too handsome.”
“Too handsome?” He grinned. He’d never met a woman who could take a threatening situation and turn it into a joke. “What does that even mean?”
“Oh please.” Riley laughed. “It’slike walking around with a Photoshopped model. I love it, but whew, I can’t take my eyes off of you, so how can I expect anyone else to?”
Josh shook his head. He knew that women found him attractive. He’d graced magazine covers and been told how handsome he was all of his life, but that didn’t mean Josh gave it any credence. Hearing it from Riley—that drove it home and meant more to him thanany magazine cover ever would.
“I want you to know, to really understand and believe, that as long as we’re together, I’m fully committed. You’ll never have to worry about me straying with anyone else. Especially Claudia. There is something I need to ask you,” he said.
“Go ahead, but the answers are no, I won’t wear edible underwear, yes, I will make out in a movie theater, and…well…we’ll leavethe rest up to your imagination.”
I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.“Really? No edible underwear?”
“Well, maybe you can convince me,” she teased.
“While I think about you in edible underwear, we probably need to come up with a backup plan in case—or for when—people find out about us. I’ve always thought of myself as a patient guy, but I’m not so sure I can publicly deny my feelings for youfor very long, and I know it may mean trouble for you. Even if I do talk to Claudia, she’s just the tip of the iceberg. You probably will encounter gossip about sleeping with the boss, which hurts me to admit, but…So I think we should try to come up with a strategy for how we’ll handle things if and when people find out. A way that will protect you as best we can.”
Riley walked in front of him,then turned around and stopped, forcing him to stop walking, too. She stood on her tippy-toes and kissed him. “Can I just say that I love how you think about me? There aren’t many men who would worry about a woman’s feelings as much as you do, and there aren’t many men who would want to take steps to protect them in a situation like this. Thank you.”
He pulled her to him and dipped her over hisarm, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her like she was a movie star on a stage.
“I can’tstopmyself from thinking about you,” he said as he brought her upright once again. “I am worried about you having to deal with gossip or whatever our relationship might stir up. The last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable about us in public or at work.”
She put her head on his shoulderas they strolled by the water. “I don’t have an answer. Any way I look at it, it’s torturous. I guess I could quit working for you and try to get another job, but I know from experience that it won’t be in fashion design.”
He heard the regret in her voice. “That’s not even an option. Your design skills are superb. Maybe it was a mistake to have you learn the nitty-gritty of the business first.I should have brought you in as a designer.”
She squeezed his arm. “You think I’mthatgood?”
“I know you’re that good.”
“Then why couldn’t I get a job after college?”
“Probably because this business has more to do with who you know. There are hundreds of applicants for every position. Right out of school, probably none of the people reviewing your résumé even looked at your portfolio. I’mglad I did. You should have come to me years ago,” he said.
“You’re kidding, right? We avoided each other because of the family feud between your family and the Johnsons. Besides, I’d never dream of using our friendship like that,” she said.
He arched a brow at her.
