Page 64 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I should have come to you first. I should have fired Claudia ages ago, but she’s Peter’s niece, and he did so much for me. I’ve always felt indebted to him. But I’m done worrying about him.”
Riley cried into his wrinkled dress shirt. She wanted to stay right there in his embrace, with his kindwords bathing her like his hands once had, but she wanted to push him away in equal measure.How could you do this to me if you love me? Why does love hurt so much?
Josh shut the door behind them, Riley still in his arms. “Can you forgive me?” he asked.
She pushed away then, just enough to see his dark eyes staring down at her with the most intense stare she’d ever seen, strangling her wordsonce again.
“You don’t have to forgive me. Just know we’ll figure this out together. You’re right, Riley. I can’t imagine that you’d have done something like this. I just couldn’t see that clearly last night.”
“This whole thing sucks,” she finally managed. She pulled away from him, set her chin straight, and pulled back her shoulders. She had to do this. “I’m really hurt that you’d even considerwhat she said as true, and I’m beyond humiliated that you’ve spread this to all of the staff.”
“I understand,” he said. He ran his finger along the line of her jaw. “Riley, please believe me when I say that I did that in an effort to clear your name. I was hoping someone would have seen you designing.”
“Oh, right, like I’d let anyone know I was doing something other than JBD work.” She turnedaway. “Listen, I don’t know what to do about this—you, me, my career—in the long run, but I’m going to honor my commitment. I’ll go run the show and I’ll be at work Monday.”
She watched him swallow, then cross his arms. “What are you telling me?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly.
“You don’t want to be with me?” Josh asked.
The hurt in his voice rivaled the ache in her own soul. “How togetherare we, Josh? We’re a secret love affair.” The words surprised her as much as they did him. He reached for her, and she stepped away, unsure of what she was doing, much less saying. “I love you, but I’m hurt. Beyond hurt.” She grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open.
“Riley, wait,” Josh said.
Riley closed her eyes, unable to form a rational response or even weed through her tangled feelingsto know if she should listen to him or not.
“Claudia won’t be at the show today. I know she was scheduled to run it with you, but I’ve told her not to. Until this is figured out, I don’t want you two in close quarters. She assured me that until this was figured out, she wasn’t going to talk to anyone about it, so at least it isn’t public knowledge.”
With her eyes locked on the door, she asked,“Should I not do the show?”
“No, you can. I just didn’t trust her.”
That was enough to allow her eyes to meet his. Those five words meant that he did trust her, at least more than he trusted Claudia. She realized that didn’t say much, but at least it was something. And right then, Riley needed something to pull her through the morning.
