Friendship on Fire (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 3) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  “Take a deep breath, Riley. Let this mess blow over, then talk to him. It’s Saturday. Talk to him tomorrow, when you’re less upset. That way you can fix things before Monday.”

  “I don’t know if I want to fix things. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this backstabbing business after all.” Or a relationship with Josh.

  “I can’t give you the answers, but I wouldn’t make any final decisions today,” Jade said.

  “I told Josh to get someone else to run the show,” she admitted.

  “Then Cruella wins. Hands down.”

  She knew Jade was pushing her in the same way that she might have pushed Jade if she were in a similar situation, but it hurt so damned much.

  “So come home. Give up,” Jade urged.

  Riley wiped her eyes as reality dawned on her. Jade was right. If she gave up, Claudia won. Even if she didn’t carry on her relationship with Josh, she couldn’t let Claudia define her career. “Sometimes I hate you,” Riley said.

  “I can accept that. Now get your ass in the shower, show up on Josh’s doorstep, and tell him that you’re doing the show. Then hold that beautiful head up high and don’t let the bullshit weigh you down. You’ll figure this stuff out. And if you don’t, you can come home to me. I’ll open a bottle of Middle Sister margaritas, and we can drink all the hurt away.”

  She heard a forced smile laced with worry in Jade’s voice. Riley sighed. “And what about Josh?”

  “That’s a hard one. I get why you feel he doesn’t trust you, but also, he’s a businessman, and there’s that to consider. He has a company and a reputation to protect. Riley, without talking to him, you can’t know where he’s coming from. Maybe he’s as confused as you are.”

  Riley wiped her remaining tears and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll try, but I might end up on your doorstep tomorrow.”

  RILEY STOOD IN front of Josh’s door with her hand perched to knock. There wasn’t much she could do about her red-rimmed, puffy eyes or the deflated feeling in her chest, but at least she looked good. She wore the other JBD outfit Mia had picked out for her, and the form-fitting navy dress gave her a modicum of confidence. She’d been practicing what she was going to say for the past thirty minutes, but when Josh opened the door wearing his wrinkled clothes, his eyes also puffy and bloodshot, his hair still askew, it completely derailed her.

  “Riley,” he said in an exhausted whisper. He stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come in, please.”

  The little confidence she’d mustered shattered with his broken voice. Her eyes filled with tears, and she squeezed them shut. “Damn it.”

  His arms were around her then, holding her against his chest. His lips on the top of her head, kissing her in a way that pulled more tears from some invisible well deep within her.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I should have come to you first. Hell, 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 kind words 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 words once 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 consider what 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 turned away. “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 together are 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 feelings to 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.

  Chapter Thirty

  JOSH NEEDED HIS morning run more than he ever had before. He ran like he was being chased through the park, in and out of the streets, until finally, he ended up in front of the JBD building. He’d rip the office apart if he had to. Damn it. If Riley was designing Max’s dress while at work, even when using stolen moments, there had to be some proof.

  He stormed through the doors and into the design studio.

  Claudia looked up from a drawing table with a smile. “Hi, Josh. I thought I’d be alone this morning.”

  His sweat-covered body was ablaze. “What are you doing here?” he snapped.

  “Sketching.” She tossed the answer as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

  “Sketching.” Sketching, my ass.

  “Yes, refining one of the designs in my portfolio. Wanna see?” She lifted her brows, and her green eyes sparkled, inciting a surge of anger within him.

  “No.” He clenched his fists and stomped past her to Riley’s desk.

  He pulled each drawer open, rifled through them, then slammed them closed.

  “What are you doing?” Claudia asked.

  Ignoring her, he continued his search, pulling out her file drawers and leafing through each and every folder. If there was proof, it was there somewhere. He felt Claudia’s eyes on his back, and that just spurred his vehemence to clear Riley’s name.

  Ten minutes later, and having come up without any evidence of her drawings, he turned on Riley’s computer.

  “You need her password,” Claudia said.

  He glared at her.

  “It’s WestonGirl4Life. Number four, all one word, initial caps.”

  Josh narrowed his eyes. “How do you know?”

  “It’s my job to know the passwords on all design computers, remember? You added that to my duties two years ago, when you were trying to find something or other.”

  My mistake. Josh sat in Riley’s chair. Her scent was everywhere, momentarily distracting him from his anger. While the computer booted, he thought about their conversation ear
lier that morning. He’d been so relieved to see her that he’d almost teared up, and when he’d held her, he’d wanted to tell her not to go to the show, but to stay with him. They could make love and figure out this mess later. He felt like she’d been ripped from his arms—and he knew she hadn’t been ripped at all. She’d been pushed, and he was the one who had done the shoving.

  “Did it work?” Claudia asked.

  Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. He typed in Riley’s password, and her JBD home screen came to life. He didn’t answer Claudia. The less interaction with her the better until he knew the truth about her accusations. He went through Riley’s files, feeling slightly voyeuristic; then he clicked over to her JBD email account. He went through anything with an attachment, hoping for something that would validate her innocence. Coming up empty once again, he went to her scanned documents. Maybe she’d have done the same as Claudia and scanned them into the computer. A few clicks later, nothing was revealed. Riley appeared to be the typical JBD employee doing her job. Damn it.

  She’s not a typical employee. She's talented beyond belief. She’s honest and more Weston than New York. He spun around in the chair, scrutinizing Claudia as she leaned over the drawing table. She’s not honest. More Alcatraz than anywhere else. Something’s not right.

  RILEY TRIED TO ignore the differences she felt in Mia and Simone and concentrated on the mass of buyers instead. She was taking an order and had stopped writing to present an accessory ensemble to the buyer when the flash of a camera went off. She looked up, and two clicks later, she was seeing spots.

  She smiled at the photographer, pleased that JBD would be included in the event’s media coverage.

  Mia squeezed between Riley and the camera.

  “Riley, why don’t you take our buyer someplace a little more private?” Mia asked.

  Riley turned back to the buyer, watching Mia in a heated discussion with the photographer out of the corner of her eye. When the photographer left, Mia whispered something to Simone, before grabbing her phone and heading to the ladies’ room.

  Another wave of buyers came through, and as Saturday afternoon turned to evening and the show finally came to an end, Riley was surprised to realize that she hadn’t thought about Claudia all afternoon, while thoughts of Josh pressed in on her every thought. Maybe she could get through this. Maybe it would pass without a lot of fanfare. Feeling mildly better, she wished Jade were there to go out for a drink or even just to be there to give her strength to deal with all the crap swirling around in her head.

  She packed the brochures and correlated the orders while Mia and Simone prepared the clothes for shipment back to the office.

  The last thing Riley wanted was to go home to Treat’s empty apartment. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to be in Josh’s arms, listening to him telling her it had all been a mistake, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She looked at Mia and Simone, hoping she could catch a break, at least with them. They hadn’t said a word about Claudia’s accusations, and she didn’t like it hanging between them like the white elephant in the room. She steeled herself for rejection.

  “Hey, do ya’ll want to have a drink tonight?” Riley cringed at her hometown drawl.

  Mia and Simone exchanged a glance, sending a clear, painful reminder of the accusations that hung over her head like a dark cloud.

  “I’ve got a date,” Simone said and turned away.

  Mia grabbed Simone’s arm and cast a harsh look in her direction.

  Simone made a tsk sound, rolling her eyes. “Fine,” she huffed.

  “Sure,” Mia said.

  A new worry entered Riley’s mind. What if they believed that she really had stolen Claudia’s work, and they’d agreed to go for drinks just to give her a hard time about it? It was one thing to dislike a coworker, but calling her a thief took it to a whole new level.

  “You don’t have to,” she said, feeling like she’d jumped into a night out with Mia and Simone too quickly. Maybe what she really needed was to go home and talk to Josh.

  “Yes, we do,” Mia said.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  THEY CHOSE A quiet bar that was off the beaten path. Mia and Simone sat on one side of a booth in the back corner. Riley sat across from them nervously chewing the inside of her cheek. What was I thinking?

  “Wanna talk about it?” Mia asked.

  No. I want to hide under a rock. She let out a sigh. “Not really,” she admitted.

  “Did you do it?” Simone asked.

  “Simone!” Mia punched her arm.

  “No, I didn’t do it,” Riley spat. She tried to hold back the rush of tears that welled in her eyes.

  “I know you didn’t,” Mia said.

  “That’s not what you said earlier,” Simone said.

  “Why are you such a bull today?” Mia said to Simone. “I said that I didn’t know what to believe, and I don’t, but I’m more inclined to believe Riley than Claudia.”

  “Aren’t we all,” Simone agreed. “Riley, you must have proof. Original sketches? Something to just knock the air out of this.”

  Riley had been so consumed with the accusation that she hadn’t even planned out a way to prove that she was the original designer.

  “I have them. They’re in my desk drawer. And I’ve faxed a few to a friend,” Riley said, thinking of Jade.

  “See.” Mia nudged Simone. “So tomorrow, get the drawings and call Josh. He’s not leaving for the holiday until late Sunday. I’m sure he’ll meet you in the morning; then you can put an end to this before it goes any further.”

  Christmas. Damn it. She had forgotten all about Christmas. She’d been so excited about spending the holidays together, and now—oh God—she had no idea what now would hold. “I will. Hopefully that will put an end to it, but I’m so embarrassed. I almost quit this morning.”

  “Did Josh call you?” Mia asked.

  She blinked away the memory of finding him asleep on the couch, so peaceful and handsome. That was before…before she knew what lay within his heart and he broke hers.

  “Yeah,” she lied.

  “Did you tell him it wasn’t true?” Simone asked.

  “Yeah, but…”

  “But he’d already spoken to everyone and knew that no one had seen you doing any designing,” Mia said.

  “Yup,” Riley said, relieved when the waitress brought their drinks. She took a gulp of her drink and closed her eyes as it burned her throat on the way down. “I still can’t believe this is all happening. I don’t blame you guys for not believing me. You hardly know me. I promise you, though, I didn’t steal anyone’s design. That wedding dress was my original idea.”

  “When did you draw the dress, Riley?” Mia asked. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, but rather curious.

  Riley shrugged. “I don’t know. Whenever I could find a few spare minutes. It’s not like I kept track. I wish I had started drawing it back home, but I was really just thinking about ideas until I got here. I never thought I’d be in a position of defending myself.”

  Mia and Simone exchanged another look.

  “In this business, covering your ass is one thing you should never forget to do,” Simone said. “Have you told your boyfriend yet? This town has eyes and ears everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if Claudia has already shouted it from the rooftops. Can’t you just hear her?” She flung her head back dramatically and put the back of her hand over her forehead. “The wolves have stolen my work. Woe is me. Come to my rescue.”

  Mia slapped her arm. “Cut it out.”

  “You don’t think she’d really tell anyone outside of JBD, do you?” It was bad enough being humiliated in her coworkers’ eyes, but having something like this go public would be too much for her to take. She guzzled her drink in one gulp. “I’ve gotta go. You guys are freaking me out.” She grabbed her purse just as her cell phone vibrated.

  “Listen, we’re on your side, even without the evidence,” Mia said with a friendly smile.

 
“That’s how much we despise Cruella,” Simone added.

  Mia rolled her eyes.

  “What? We do despise her,” Simone said.

  “Yes, but that’s not why we support Riley. We support her because we believe her,” Mia explained.

  “Of course. Jeez. I thought she knew that already,” Simone said.

  Riley wasn’t listening to them bicker. She threw money on the table and read the text message from Josh.

  Can we talk?

  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 drawings are 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 disbelieving gaze 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?” Josh asked.

  “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.”