Page 68 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
Chapter Thirty-Two
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN Josh and Riley was far larger than the two feet that separated them on his living room couch. Riley fidgeted with the edge of the throw that was draped over the back of the couch. She had hardly looked at Josh since she’d arrived, and it was killing him.
“I went into the office today to see what I could find on my own,” he said.
“All of my original drawingsare in my desk. I know she’s accusing me of stealing Max’s dress, but it’s with the other ideas that I’ve thought of over the last few weeks. And I forgot to tell you that I had faxed the design of Max’s dress and another dress I was thinking of making to Jade a while back,” Riley said.
“I went through your desk. There were no drawings.”
Her hands froze. He watched her finally lift her disbelievinggaze to meet his.
“No drawings? That’s impossible. I kept them all in the bottom right drawer. They were there a few days ago.”
He covered her hand with his. “Maybe Claudia took them.”
“She had to. Josh, this is awful. How am I going to defend myself if I don’t have my drawings?” She stood and paced.
“What about the drawings I saw at your apartment the night we had dinner with Peter?” Joshasked.
“I drew those the weekend I got to New York, before I even started working there, and they had nothing to do with Max’s dress.”
“Is there anything else you can think of that would prove that you drew Max’s dress? I wish you would have shown me the drawings when you first began sketching them. Why didn’t anyone else see you doing it?” The accusatory tone of his words surprised him, andhe quickly added, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean that the way it sounded.”
Riley stared at him, her lips a tight line, her deadpan stare unmoved by his apology.
“Riley, these are serious accusations. I’ve gone through it all hundreds of times over the last twenty-four hours. I was ready to fire her this morning at the office.”
“She was there?” Riley asked.
“When I arrived, she was drawing.”
“Ofcourse she was,” Riley said with a shake of her head. “She’s one step ahead of me, Josh. How can I ever prove myself if she’s stolen my drawings? I can’t believe it’s come to this. I have to prove my innocence? This would never happen in Weston.”
He held her stare, wishing he could tell her she didn’t have to prove a blasted thing, but he knew that wasn’t true. This was a serious issue, and ithad to come to some kind of closure.
“You’re right, Riley. This would never happen in Weston. But we’re in New York. It’s where you wanted to be, and with your skills, it’s where youshouldbe. I’ll bring you both into my office and we’ll hash this out,” he said.
“Hash this out? What does that even mean?” She flopped back onto the couch, shaking her head.
He sat beside her again and liftedher chin. “Babe, this whole thing sucks, but we can’t let it ruin us.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.
“How can this not ruin us? How can it not ruin me? Everyone thinks I’m a thief. We can never go public with our relationship now—that would only make things worse, and if we wait, then people will think badly of you for being with me. She’s single-handedlyruined my life,” Riley said. Before he could answer, she added, “And you hurt me. You don’t trust me, Josh.” Tears sprang from her eyes. “How can I be with you, knowing you don’t trust me?”
“Riley, baby, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I made a mistake, a huge mistake, but my mistake wasn’t not trusting you.” Josh loved Riley. He trusted her, and he believed with his wholeheart that she was telling the truth, but that didn’t stop a little nag in the back of his mind from reminding him to be careful.Your reputation is on the line.He hated the sickening feel that the nag brought with it, and he did everything within his mental capabilities to squelch that little voice, but the voice would not be silenced. He pushed forth, ignoring that awful voice that conflictedwith his heart, and as he tried to convince Riley, he had to wonder if he was also trying to convince himself.
“You have to believe me on this, Riley. My mistake was not coming to you before bringing the staff into it. I was trying to clear your name. I realized my mistake after calling them, but by then it was too late.” Words weren’t enough to express the sorrow that felt like needles beneathhis skin. He reached for her hand and she turned away. “Please don’t tell me that in an effort to clear your name I’ve lost you forever.”
What could he do but tell her the truth? He felt her slipping away, and he couldn’t stand it. “Riley, please. I reacted. I jumped in thinking I was protecting you. I screwed up. Please forgive me.”
She turned and faced him, tears streaming down her cheeks.He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until all the hurt fell away, but he didn’t dare move.
“I swear, Riley, I’ll never hurt you again. Not ever. Please, Riley.” He’d beg all night if that’s what it took. “I messed up, and I regret it more than you could ever imagine.”
“It’d be easy for you to walk away. Everyone would forget what happened, and your life could go back to normal. You’dbe free of this mess,” Riley said.
“Easy? You think it would beeasyfor me to walk away from you? To be free from this mess would mean losing you, and that would be the hardest thing I could ever do. I’d rather lose everything to be with you than go on without you.”Holy cow. I really would.
