by Addison Cole
“Nonsense,” Josh whispered to her.
“You can’t embarrass a Braden.” Savannah laughed. “We’ve got thicker skin than alligators.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
JOSH SENT RILEY a text as Jay drove away from the airport. Don’t worry. We’ll get through this. Love you. J.
He waited for Riley to respond, and when he hadn’t received a response ten minutes later, he ignored the unsettled feeling in his stomach and assumed she was going through airport security. He called his attorney, who advised him that he had not yet reached his private investigator, he assumed because of the impending holiday. Josh mentioned Reggie to him, and when his attorney agreed that Reggie was qualified and one of the best, Josh called him. An hour later, he was sitting in Reggie’s office.
Reggie Steele’s voice was deep and gravelly. He was a burly, dark-haired man in his late thirties, Josh guessed, with slate-blue eyes and an affable personality.
“Savannah called me this morning after speaking to you. I’m sorry to hear about what you’re going through. The media can be a bear—but I suppose you already know that,” Reggie said. “If the claim is false, this kind of nonsense should be easy to crack.”
“I hope so, because I can’t find one piece of evidence to discount Claudia’s allegations, but my gut tells me she’s lied her way onto the front page.” Josh’s nerves wrenched just thinking of Claudia’s smug face—and Riley’s sad one.
“I take it that you and the accused are an item?” Reggie leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers before him.
“We’re seeing each other, yes. We were trying to keep it out of our professional lives.” Josh now wished that they’d exposed themselves as a couple from the start. It would have been one less issue to deal with. His phone vibrated. Mia. He clicked the Ignore button.
“Anything else I should know that could impact this discovery process?” Reggie asked.
“Only that Claudia has come onto me several times, and a few weeks ago, I shut her down pretty harshly. But I can’t see how that would affect your investigation one way or another.” At least he’d remembered to document those instances in her personnel file, alongside all the rest of the complaints, which he’d never filed formally. Out of loyalty to Peter, he’d wanted to keep her indiscretions under wraps. Now he wished he had canned her the first time she’d come onto him and had just faced Peter with the truth.
“You’d be surprised at what comes up with these types of investigations. You might find out things about other staff members that you don’t want to know. And, I hate to say it, but you might find out that you’re wrong about your girlfriend, too,” Reggie said.
“I appreciate your candor, but I doubt that’s going to happen. She’s been under Claudia’s thumb the past few weeks, and when she hasn’t been at work, she’s been with me. She didn’t have time to steal anything. If anything, we might find out more about Claudia than I’m prepared for.” Josh realized the truth of his words and was even more determined to get to the bottom of this garbage.
“Fair enough. Tell me more about Claudia’s habits. Does she work later, come in early? Does she work odd days, weekends, through lunch? What kind of access did she have to Riley’s work files? And I’ll need to know the same about Riley, of course.”
Finally, a break. He’d been with Riley every morning and evening. She’d never been in the office alone. “Riley has no access to personal files. She works earlier than some, later than others, but there’s always someone here before she arrives and after she leaves. She works from home when she needs to on the weekends, whereas Claudia has been with us for five years. She’s often in before anyone else, and on the weekends she’s often alone in the office. As the head design assistant, she’s the password keeper for the entire design area. She has full access to Riley’s files.” It all sounded so easy to decipher. Riley had no access. Claudia had full access. Why was it so difficult to find proof of what seemed so obvious?
“Have you gone through security tapes?” Reggie asked.
Josh shook his head. “Not yet, but…”
“Don’t sweat it. That’s what I’m here for. Do you have separate security files for each area of the office?”
Thank goodness, yes. He felt warmth run up his chest, remembering the things he and Riley had done in his office. “Yes, I’ll give you full access to the design room tapes.”
Reggie nodded. He lowered his chin and looked down the bridge of his angular nose. “This is just one woman against the other, right? You don’t think any other employees are involved? It’s not a case of one trying to get a promotion so she can bring another up riding her tail feathers? Tag team?”
Josh shook his head. “Claudia isn’t well liked enough to have a partner in crime.”
“And Riley?” Reggie asked.
Josh’s protective urges surged forward. He reminded himself that Reggie was only doing his job—a job he was hiring him to do.
“Not that I’m aware of,” he said, meeting Reggie’s stare.
“I was planning to take a few days off for R & R before the holiday, but it sounds like this might be a good time to get a jump on investigating while your employees aren’t in the office. What’s your time frame?”
“Now,” Josh answered. “The media’s following my every move. I came here directly from the airport, so they have yet to link us together, and I’d rather they didn’t get wind of my hiring you.”
“I’m very good at being discreet. I’ll keep you abreast of critical findings, and until then, I’ll need access to your security files, the desks of the employees in question, their personnel files, and of course, access to their computers.”
“How long do you expect this will take?”
Reggie shrugged. “I won’t know until I get started. We could get lucky and find something in an hour, or it might take weeks.”
“I’ll go with you to the office,” Josh said.
“Don’t you want to know my rates?” Reggie asked.
“Savannah says you’re the best. I trust my sister’s judgment. I’ll pay whatever it takes to get this misery over with as fast as possible. Just do something so you don’t look so much like a PI.” Josh smiled.
Reggie looked down at his jeans and T-shirt and smiled. “Shall I wear an Armani suit?”
“I was kidding,” Josh said. “I’m heading to the office now.”
Reggie tossed a folder toward Josh. “I’ll need you to complete these forms, and I’ll be right behind you,” Reggie said.
Josh called Claudia from the car.
“Yes, Mr. B.?” she said.
The sound of her too-perky-for-the-situation voice addled his nerves. “I’m sending Jay to pick up your key to the office.”
“What? Why?” Claudia snapped.
“Because you’re on administrative leave, and all employees on administrative leave lose their free-office privileges. He’ll be there within the hour. And, Claudia, I need your password.”
She sighed. “Fine. It’s winners take all, all one word, no caps.”
The next call he made was to Riley. When her voicemail picked up, he left a message. “Hey, babe, just wanted to be sure you arrived safely. Call me when you get a second. I’ve met with the PI and I think we’re in good hands.” He ended the call and hoped he was making the right choice by hiring the PI—and putting his career on the line by supporting Riley.
When his phone rang, the last person he expected it to be was his youngest brother, Hugh.
“Hey, Hugh, how are you?” Josh asked.
Hugh spent his days racing Ferraris and his nights bedding women.
“I’m great. Working my way down the West Coast at the moment. I hear you’ve been working your way into a new employee,” Hugh joked.
“Hugh.”
“Sorry. I saw the crap on Yahoo! News. What’s going on? You’re sleeping with an old schoolmate and she’s a design thief? Fill me in. I don’t know Riley very well, but she seems pretty much like t
he rest of the Weston women. Not exactly the conniving type.” Hugh was usually the last to reach out to a family member in crisis, and this time he’d beaten his brothers Rex and Dane to the punch.
“She’s not,” Josh said flatly. “I’m dealing with it. It’s a mess, but we’ll figure it out.”
“You need anything? Want me to come run someone over?” Hugh laughed.
Yes. Josh smiled at the thought. Hugh looked like a taller, more muscular Patrick Dempsey, and he pictured his brother’s wide smile, his eyes alit with laughter. Josh was only a year older than Hugh, but the way Hugh lived his life—like it was one big party—made the age difference seem much greater.
“Nah, I think I can handle it, but I appreciate the offer.”
“When are you arriving at Dad’s?” Hugh asked.
“Wednesday. You?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll see you then, and if you need anything, I’m your guy,” Hugh said.
What Josh needed could come only from Riley’s innocence. “Thanks, Hugh. Love you, man.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
THE SECOND RILEY stepped out of the airport and breathed in the crisp Colorado air, she felt better. She dropped her bags on the pavement, opened her arms wide, and looked up at the sky. Then she closed her eyes and inhaled.
“Have you turned all New Agey on me?”
Riley screamed at the sound of Jade’s voice and ran into her arms. “I’m so glad to see you! Thank you for picking me up.”
“Who else would do it?” Jade teased.
“Shut up.” She hugged her again and retrieved her bags. “It feels so good to be home. I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing the grass and the mountains. I didn’t realize how much I missed smelling something other than perfume, electric heat, subway steam, and garbage.” She laughed.
“Come on. Are you hungry? Want to grab a bite?” Jade wore jeans, cowgirl boots, and a dark T-shirt beneath a flannel shirt, and it made Riley long to wear the same comfortably familiar ensemble.
Riley tugged playfully on Jade’s waist-length black hair. “I thought you were going to cut your hair. I see you went with the take-me-hard length so Sexy Rexy could grab hold and tug,” she teased.
“Duh. What else would I do? You’ve seen my man.”
“Oh yes, I have,” she said, thinking not of Rex, but of Josh. She missed him already. She’d gone over and over their situation, and no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t get around the selfishness of it. She loved him so much her heart ached when she wasn’t with him, but did that mean that it was fair of her to drag him through the mud with her? She threw her bags into Jade’s car and tried not to let the weight of her situation spoil her time with Jade.
Hunter Hayes was on the radio, and they both hummed along.
“Fingers okay?” Jade asked.
It took a moment of staring at her hands for Riley to realize that Jade was asking if she’d like to go to Fingers Bar and Grill, in Allure, a town just outside of Weston and on their way home.
“Sure, perfect,” Riley said.
They rode in silence. Riley laid her head back on the headrest and promptly fell asleep.
RILEY BLINKED AWAKE when Jade pulled into the parking lot of Fingers Bar and Grill. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t slept much lately.”
Jade wiggled her eyebrows up and down with a wide smile.
“That’s not why.” Riley swung her arm around Jade as they entered the restaurant. “I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you, too,” Jade said.
They sat at a corner booth and ordered lunch, and then Jade folded her hands on the table. Her vibrant blue eyes burned a path to Riley.
“What?” Riley asked.
“Nothing,” Jade said.
“Liar.”
“Okay, I’m waiting for you to spill your guts. When I went online to get my email, I saw all the pictures of you and Josh and the whole awful story. You must be ready to die inside, Ri.” She reached across the table and took Riley’s hand in her own. “Don’t you want to talk about it?”
Riley blinked away the rush of emotions that was becoming all too familiar. “It’s all so…wrong. I mean, one minute Josh and I are happy as can be, and the next minute, I’m being accused of stealing Max’s wedding dress design and I can’t prove it’s mine. It’s such bull. That woman is evil, truly evil.” Riley pursed her lips. “She’s…You know I don’t hate people easily, but she’s really awful, and she made moves on Josh, too.”
Jade’s eyes opened wide. “No way.”
“Way. And now all of my other original designs are gone, too. There’s no record of my drawing, and of course, no one ever saw me drawing at work. That’s what I get for trying to keep my extracurricular designing a secret, I guess.”
The food came, and Riley pushed her salad away. She couldn’t eat if she had a gun to her head.
“What about the faxes you sent me?” Jade asked. “That has to prove something.”
“Josh said that won’t prove they were my original designs. I don’t know…I’ve been thinking about it the whole way home. I’m not sure I should go back. I mean, look at what Josh is being dragged through, and it’s all because of me. He was this well-respected, successful designer, at the top of his game, and suddenly I waltz in and he’s being seen as a man who’s sleeping with the enemy.” Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Riley turned away, swiping at them.
Jade grabbed her hand across the table. “Riley, honey, you’re not the enemy.”
“I know,” Riley cried. “Stupid tears.” She wiped her eyes with a napkin. “I just feel like I want to hide in a cave. I don’t ever want to go back.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Jade said.
Riley remained silent. She needed Jade’s support. She needed to know she could come home and stay home if she wanted to.
“Cruella can have your drawings. She can even have your man, for that matter. Really, Ri, why do you need Josh Braden anyway?” Jade took a bite of her baguette, her eyes never leaving Riley’s.
“I know what you’re doing. You pushed me like that in New York. I’m not stupid, Jade.”
“Are you sure? Because I know many women who would give their left arm to be loved the way Josh loves you,” Jade said.
“How would you know?”
“Rex told me that Treat said he’d never seen Josh fall for a woman at all, much less practically live with one. And Max said that Josh looked at you like Rex looks at me—and you know how Rexy looks at me.” She shrugged. “Small town and all that.”
“They said that?” Riley knew how much Josh loved her. It showed in everything he did: the way he told her to look at him while they made love, his confession about not having women in his apartment, running all over creation to secretly be with her. Who else would throw their career on the firing line to stand beside her? Then the memory of that awful night when she found him on the couch came searing back, and the hurt of the accusation came right along with it. She reached up and rubbed at the pain in the back of her neck.
“Yes, of course,” Jade said.
Riley wished the cave was really an option. It would be so much easier than weeding through her tangle of conflicting emotions.
“Let me ask you something,” Riley said. “If you knew that you didn’t deserve something, but that if Rex stood up for you it could hurt him, would you let him do it? Or would you extricate yourself from the situation so he wouldn’t have to deal with it?”
“Hasn’t he already?” Jade answered. “We’ve both gone up against our parents at the risk of losing them. That was very painful for all of us. It might not have been Yahoo! News painful, but it was every bit as emotionally disabling.”
“I guess.” Riley sighed.
Riley’s phone vibrated, and she ignored it. She’d seen a message from Josh while she was waiting for the plane to take off, and she’d been too conflicted to respond.
“I’m so afraid of hurting him,” she a
dmitted to Jade, ignoring her phone’s incessant vibrations.
“Riley?”
“What?”
Jade nodded toward Riley’s purse. “I know what you’re doing. You can’t just ignore him. Relationships don’t work that way, and you’re not that kind of woman. You’re a communicator.”
Riley sighed. “I’m just not ready to talk to him. I can’t help but feel like I’ve hurt him, and when he first told me what was going on, I swear I hated the look of pity in his eyes. It was like he loved me, but he wasn’t sure if he quite believed me at the time, and he felt sorry for me.”
“So tell him that. That’s what you would tell me to do. Pick up the phone and tell the man. He’s going to the ends of the earth to make sure you’re taken care of. It’s the least you can do.”
Riley dug through her purse. “Sometimes I hate you when you’re right.”
“I know. Luckily, we have a love-hate relationship that can survive any man problem,” Jade teased.
She read the messages from Josh. She couldn’t deny the love she had for him. She texted back. I’m here safe and sound. Thank u 4 standing by me. Love you. Ri.
Then she scrolled to a message from Mia and read it.
Hang in there. Here if u need me. Xox. M.
“Mia texted me.” She smiled and texted back. Thx. U r not mad at me for not telling u? I’m so sorry.
“And?” Jade asked.
Riley’s phone vibrated. Maybe a little hurt, but I get it. Don’t worry. We’re cool. Xox.
“She’s supportive.” Relief swept through her. Thank you! Xox.
She listened to Josh’s voicemail and then put her phone away.
“Don’t you feel better?” Jade asked.
Riley let out a sigh. “I do, and I’m glad Mia texted. I guess I’ve made a friend. Thank goodness, because it’s been weird not having any girlfriends.”
“Hey, what about me?” Jade feigned a frown.
“You’ll always be my best friend, but you’re here, and sometimes I need someone there, too. Thank you, Jade. I feel much better having read Josh’s text and hearing his message. He said he’s met with the PI, and he thinks we’re in good hands. Knowing how much he loves me does help.” If I could only remember that ten minutes from now.