Friendship on Fire (25 page)

JOSH STOOD IN the lobby of the Dakota with his shoulders hunched forward and bags under his eyes as the elevator made its slow descent.

“I always knew there was more to you hiring her than just her skills.”

Josh spun around at the sound of Claudia’s voice. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He pushed the elevator button several times, wishing it would move faster so he could escape Claudia.

Wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans, spike heels, and a GUESS Candide faux-fur jacket, Claudia looked more like she was going on a date than throwing virtual darts at her boss.

“Why? Afraid she’ll see us together? According to my sources, your girlfriend is long gone. She ran back home to hide. Oh…” She feigned a long look at her red nails, then planted one hand on her hip and set her eyes on Josh. “I guess you already know that, since you took her to the airport.”

Every nerve tightened. Josh fisted his hands, his nostrils flaring as he bit back the impulse to tell her to get the fuck out of his sight. The elevator opened and Josh stomped inside. Claudia stepped in beside him, and in the next breath, bright flashes of yellow blurred his vision as a photographer clicked picture after picture of Josh and Claudia.

“What the hell?” He covered his face. “Get out, Claudia. You’re a sick person.”

She sauntered out of the elevator. “You should have taken me up on my offer when you had the chance.”

The elevators closed behind her. Josh swore. By the time the doors finally opened on his floor, he was red with fury. He swung his apartment door open and then slammed it shut. He paced, cursing and punching the air. Too angry to speak to anyone, he ignored his ringing cell phone.
Thank God Riley isn’t here. The last thing she needs is Claudia on her ass
. He stomped into the bedroom and took off his dress shirt, throwing it onto the chair in the corner, and caught sight of the photo of him and Riley on the dresser. He picked up the frame with a groan, then set it it back down. He was too angry to think, much less feel anything other than the river of hate that Claudia stirred in him.

Ten minutes later, he stepped into a hot shower, letting the scalding water beat the tension from his back and shoulders. He knew he had to make a decision. What if he found no proof and Riley was stuck taking the blame for stealing the designs? What then? How could they move forward? Claudia hadn’t taken any steps toward placing formal charges against Riley for supposedly stealing her designs, which only further pushed Josh toward believing that Riley had done no wrong and that this was all some sort of game to Claudia.

Josh stepped from the shower and toweled off his lean, muscular frame. His phone rang again and, still reeling, he let it go to voicemail. It was all becoming clear to him. While he’d been worried about proving Riley’s innocence, he’d completely overlooked the bigger issue.
What if she’s never cleared of the accusations?
He felt himself teetering between two worlds, and he didn’t want to let go of either.

 IT WAS NEARLY midnight when Riley finally got around to emptying her bags. She unzipped the suitcase and pulled the flap open. On top of her clothing was an envelope.
Josh
. She sat down on her childhood bed and brought the envelope to her nose, smelling the scent of him that remained on the fine linen paper. She ran her finger under the flap, withdrew a piece of monogramed stationery, and read the handwritten note.

Hey, babe,

This stinks, huh? I’m sorry for everything. For not coming to you before talking to the staff and for this whole mess. I believe in you, and I’ll do everything I can to get it worked out quickly so that I can come see you. By now you’re at your parents and I’m back at my apartment, wishing you were here. Never before has the thought of sleeping alone felt so lonely.

We’ll figure this out. I love you.

—J.

Riley lay back on the bed, holding the note to her chest.
But will you still love me tomorrow?

RILEY AWOKE THE next morning to commotion downstairs. She climbed out of bed and took a quick shower in an effort to wake up. She hadn’t slept well after falling asleep waiting for Josh to call and convincing herself not to call him. What if he was wavering in his support of her? What if he was having second thoughts about them? She hadn’t wanted to hear the difference in his voice then, and now she felt guilty. She’d left him to tackle the situation head-on and alone, while she was in the safety of her parents’ house with the support of family and friends. She glanced in the mirror and sighed. The stress of the past two days was evident in the dark rings under her puffy eyes.

She checked her cell phone for messages and read a text from Josh that had come in at four in the morning.
Know I love you today. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
She loved that he’d thought of her in the middle of the night, then wondered why he would have waited until it was so late to text.

She texted back,
Love you 2. Call me later?

Riley pulled on her skinny jeans and a thick, comfortable sweatshirt, intentionally veering as far away from designer labels as she could. She needed comfort today. This week.
Maybe forever
.

On her way down the stairs, she heard Jade’s voice, then Max’s, and then Savannah’s.
What is going on?
She crept silently to the wall beside the kitchen and listened.

“What she needs is a girls’ day out to forget about all this nonsense,” Jade said.

“And a girls’ night out,” Savannah added. “I can’t believe that photo. Maybe she won’t see it.”

What is she doing here? What photo?
She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“I still can’t believe this is actually happening,” Max said. “I mean, one minute I’m in love with my bridal gown, and the next minute it’s the center of some scandal. How is Josh handling it all? Treat couldn’t reach him last night.”

“He’s not answering his phone,” Savannah answered. “But I spoke to the PI he hired, and it looks like they’re working as hard as they can to figure it all out. The photo though…poor Riley.”

Riley crept back upstairs and closed her bedroom door. She navigated to Google on her phone and searched Josh’s name. Her jaw dropped open when she saw the front page of the
New York Post
. A photo of Josh and Claudia in the elevators at his apartment building stared back at her. She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Josh’s face, then zoomed in, hoping to see an obvious Photoshop marking or anything to indicate that the picture had been faked. She read the article, which was sketchy, at best, claiming that the two were “seen together” in the lobby of his apartment building.

She checked her text messages, then her voicemails. Nothing from Josh. Was that why he hadn’t called last night? She lay back on her bed, wondering what the hell was going on, her pulse kicking up a notch with each passing second.
Goddamned Claudia
. Her mother’s words came rushing back.
You’ve confronted bigger rivals
in your life than some New York woman.
She sat up and dialed four-one-one.

“Claudia Raven, Manhattan, please.”

After calling three wrong numbers, she finally connected with the right one. Riley took a deep breath and held the phone with a trembling hand. Claudia answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

Her casual tone threw Riley off. “Claudia?”

She didn’t respond. Silence filled the airwaves, and just as Riley opened her mouth to speak, Claudia said, “Riley Banks. What on earth might you want? Oh, I saw your boyfriend last night.”

The taunting sneer in her voice came through loud and clear and sent Riley’s mind careening in ten different directions. She stood in an effort to walk some confidence into her shaking body and spinning mind. When that didn’t work, she closed her eyes and blurted out what she’d called to say.

“You stole my drawings. You’re dragging me through God knows what kind of muddy hell, and you’ve obviously pulled no punches getting that picture of you and Josh.” Riley didn’t realize she was yelling until her bedroom door flew open and Jade, Max, and Savannah tumbled in. Her mother stood in the doorway, giving her the courage she needed to continue.

“Well, let me tell you something, Claudia Raven. I might not be a savvy New Yorker, but I’m a Weston woman and Weston women are proud, honest, and strong. If you think your tactics will tear me away from Josh, you’ve got another thing coming. You could be naked in the pictures, for all I care. I know Josh, and he wouldn’t touch the likes of you if his life depended on it.” Her eyes jumped from Max’s wide eyes to Jade’s thumbs-up, then up to Savannah’s wide, mischievous smile, and finally landed on her mother’s nodding head.

Claudia gasped, fueling Riley’s rant.

“It doesn’t matter to me if we prove this or not,” Riley said. “I know the truth, and so do you, and you’re the one who will have to live with the guilt of knowing how low you sank and how many lives you hurt along the way.” Riley pushed the End button on the phone.

“Jesus, you did it.” Jade wrapped Riley in her arms.

“Wow, you go, girlfriend!” Savannah laughed, embracing both Jade and Riley.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Max added.

Riley’s mother stood in the doorway with a proud smile that filled her eyes with tears. “Now, that’s the girl I raised.”

Tears streamed down Riley’s cheeks. Her legs trembled. She collapsed into her friends’ arms, hoping to hell that she hadn’t just done the absolute wrong thing.  

JOSH STARED AT the photo on the cover of the
New York Post
, his cell phone pressed against his ear. Kelly, his publicist, had been hammering him for ten minutes about not calling her last night when Claudia had showed up.

“I could have jumped them on this, Josh. You know that. Even if I couldn’t have stopped the presses, I could have had a rival article written. Now it will look like you’re just covering your ass with a retaliatory article,” Kelly said. 

“I realize that. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Did you tell Riley when it happened at least? Is she prepared?”

“No,” he said, realizing his mistake. “I was too pissed, and by the time I settled down from being angry, I wasn’t thinking about the newspapers,” he admitted. He’d been too wrapped up in figuring out what he’d do about Riley if her name was never cleared. The impact this situation would have on his career had yet to be seen, but if this crap never went away, if Riley was linked in articles and photos as a design thief, how would he overcome that? He wasn’t prepared for the rage that ripped through him over the past twelve hours and still held him prisoner. Just seeing the goddamned picture of him and Claudia made him want to rip someone’s head off and throw it into the East River.

“You have to always—always—be thinking about the newspapers. Especially now. Damn it, Josh. I’ll do what I can, but you’d better get in touch with Riley. If she’s seen this, as I’m sure she has—hell, everyone has—then you’ve got a lot of explaining to do. I swear it’s like you fell in love and lost all your faculties.”

I swear it’s like you fell in love and lost all your faculties.
If that was her impression, then what was everyone else thinking? His mind came back to Riley. It always came back to Riley. He pictured her trusting eyes, her smile when he told her he loved her. He did love her.
Damn it, I do love her
. But he also loved his career, and his career wouldn’t survive if he couldn’t contain the rage that kept his fisted hands at the ready.

When his phone rang, he brought it to his ear, distracted by the argument going on between his heart and his mind.

“Hello?” he said.

“What the hell are you doing?” Treat fumed.

“Nothing,” Josh snapped.

“Max is over at Riley’s right now; so is Savannah. They’re trying to clean up this mess so you don’t lose your girlfriend.”

Josh didn’t answer.
My girlfriend
.

“Listen, little brother. I don’t know what’s going on, but if you want to salvage your relationship with Riley, I don’t think hanging out with Claudia is the way to do it.”

“Damn it, Treat. Do you really think I’d do that? She showed up and the photographer snapped the photo, and then she was gone. I’m not thrilled about any of this shit.”

“Did you tell Riley when they took the picture?” Treat asked.

Josh closed his eyes. “No,” he snapped.

“It’s like you want this relationship to fall apart.” Treat softened his tone. “Josh, what’s going on with you?”

Josh didn’t have an answer.

“Open your front door,” Treat said.

Josh went to his front door and opened it, watching Treat, in person, lower the phone from his ear and open his arms. Josh felt like a needy kid again as he accepted his brother’s strong embrace, and he felt his protective, steely resolve begin to thaw.

“What are you doing here?” Josh asked.

“You’re used to the upside of the media circus. I’ve been on both sides. I figured you might need some support.” Treat headed for the kitchen. “I’m starved. You have eggs?”

Leave it to Treat to fall right back into Mom mode. Ever since Josh could remember, when he or his siblings were having a hard time, Treat would swoop in and cook for them and figure out how to fix things—or at least make them feel better. At this point, Josh needed all the help he could get.

“Fridge,” Josh answered.

Treat whipped up egg-white omelets and toasted whole-wheat bread while Josh explained what had happened with Claudia and the quandary his mind was now tackling.

“So, let me get this straight,” Treat said as he handed Josh a full plate of food. “After two days, you’re ready to tell the world about your feelings for Riley; then this shit happens, and now you’re questioning if you can stand behind her if she never gets cleared because you’re afraid that a year from now, or ten years from now, you might kill someone if they badmouth her? Even though you know she’s innocent.”

Josh speared a hunk of eggs with his fork and nodded. “I’m an asshole.”

Treat shook his head. “Yeah, you are. Riley is dealing with seeing you and Claudia together and you haven’t called her?”

“I was going to…”

“But you wanted to figure out your own shit first.” Treat narrowed his dark eyes, pinning him to his chair. “Don’t be surprised if you’ve already lost her. I thought you were smarter than that, Josh.”

Josh threw his fork down on the table. “Goddamn it. I don’t know what I am. I love her. I
adore
her, Treat. Every ounce of me wants to be with her. But what if someone says something about her and I lose it? Then we’re right back in this shit storm again, with Riley going through it all as the innocent goddamned party. And what if that means losing what I’ve created? I’m not like you. I can’t give up what I’ve built. I love my work. I love my business, and trust me, I know just how much of a self-centered asshole that makes me.”

“It does,” Treat said with a nod.

“No shit.”

“Why do you see this as all or nothing? You know how these things go. It’s a setback, Josh. So what if you fall back a year or two while this thing blows over? You climbed that ladder once; you’ll climb it again. And as far as losing it goes, or hitting someone, you’re a Braden. Your first line of defense isn’t your fists. You might feel like it’s going to be, but your mind will always override that physical side.”

Josh ran his hand through his hair. “I want an assurance that I’m not going to kill someone, and…” He pushed past his embarrassment and admitted what he’d been thinking for the last twenty-four hours. “I want to be like you and be ready and willing to give it all up for the woman I love. I know that would make me so much more of a man, but—”

“Bullshit,” Treat said with another glare. “Being a man has nothing to do with giving up anything. I built my business to prove something to myself and to my family. That was it. There was no
love
built into that. I love negotiating, but I could have done that in any business. I could have built a business on resorts, sailboats, or freaking playground equipment, for all I care. You built your business based on something you
love
, and you wouldn’t love doing any other work the way you love designing. Hell, we’ve known that since you were six years old.” Treat shook his head.

“What are you getting at?” Josh asked.

Treat sighed. “What makes a man isn’t what he’ll give up, Josh. It’s the grace in which he lives his life. The level of honesty and the moral code he lives by. The ethics of being aboveboard, and…” Treat looked away.

“And?”

Treat drew his eyes back to Josh, and when he spoke, his voice was tender. “And the value he places on those he loves combined with the efforts he takes to protect them. Those are the qualities that make a man. What I did wasn’t manly. What I did was sort of cowardly.” Treat laughed. “I would have walked through a field of dinosaurs to be with Max. Nothing else mattered to me. Doling out my responsibilities for work to enable me to be by her side was weak. It was the easy way out, but it made me happy, and I’m okay with that. I could have fought for her to bend to my lifestyle, and she probably would have. No, she definitely would have. But I can tell you this. Working on Dad’s ranch and running my businesses remotely was worth it. I’ve never been happier than when I’m with Max.”

“It wasn’t weak. It was chivalrous,” Josh said.

“Hardly,” Treat said. “Okay, maybe to some people. But, Josh, we all have our own paths to happiness. Yours doesn’t have to include giving up your career. You just need to figure out if you can live with the world around you seeing Riley one way when you know her to be another.”

“That’s just half of what I’ve been wrestling with,” Josh admitted.

“And what have you come up with?” Treat asked.

“I can’t imagine my life without her. I’ve spent my career worried about doing the right thing, dating the right women, dressing appropriately, attending all the right events, and for the first time in my life, when I’m with Riley, I feel free from that. But it’s more than that.” Josh took a deep breath, hoping his brother wouldn’t think less of him for what he was about to say. “It’s like there’s another person controlling my emotions. The anger…” Josh looked away.

“Go on,” Treat urged.

“Treat, man, if someone were to say something derogatory about Riley in my presence, I don’t know what I’d do. When those media hounds were all over her, I felt something I had never felt before. I swear my blood was on fire. It was all I could do not to rip them to shreds, and that’s not who I am. I had to stop myself from getting physical. I mean, really stop myself. Tell myself, ‘This isn’t you.’ You know me. I’m not a fighter, never have been. ” Josh watched a smile spread across Treat’s face.

“You’re also a man in love, little brother, and that’s something you’ve never been before either. It takes you by surprise, doesn’t it?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Josh said.

“All those protective urges that you always thought were reserved for your family members suddenly apply to someone else in a bigger, more powerful way, and it scares you. That’s natural. It
should
scare you,” Treat said.

“Scared the shit out of me. It still does.” Josh sighed, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease. Treat understood. He wasn’t losing his mind after all.

“Your rational mind will always override the physical,” Treat assured him.

“I keep going over and over this in my head. As scary as all this shit is—and believe me, lately it feels like the Incredible Hulk is trying to break through my body—it’s not half as scary as losing Riley. I know I fucked up. I should have fired Claudia ages ago, before Riley ever came to work there. Claudia’s been an issue for a long time, but she was so damned good at her job, and she’s Peter Stafford’s niece, so there’s the whole damn loyalty thing. I never thought…”

Treat leaned back and crossed his legs. “You’re a good person, Josh. You see the best in people and want to believe no one is as slippery as they are. You’ve been that way your whole life. Hell, when Hugh used to do stupid shit, you’d try and take the blame for him so that he didn’t get in trouble. Dad would turn his back and chuckle.”

“If he didn’t believe I did those things, why did he allow me to take the heat?” Josh remembered a handful of times he’s taken Hugh’s punishments, usually for Hugh being selfish toward others. Josh had never wanted to believe that his little brother could be selfish and self-centered.  He’d learned a lot about Hugh over the years, and he’d come to accept that the youngest Braden was, in fact, exactly that. Although, Hugh’s recent call had him questioning if the assessment was still accurate.

“Because Dad was teaching you a lesson just as he taught the rest of us. If you’re going to step in to take the heat, you’re going to get it. It was a good lesson, at least for me. You learn to pick and choose your battles. You do realize, Josh, that if you move forward with Riley, nothing in your life will ever be the same.”

“You’ve convinced me. No one could ever make me believe Riley stole anything, and I feel better knowing you understand the anger that’s been eating away at my gut. I’ll trust your experience, Treat, that I won’t hit someone,” Josh said.

“What are you saying?” Treat asked.

“I’m picking this battle.” Josh nodded as he stood from his chair.

“And what if you’re wrong and she stole the design? You can’t have a life with a woman you can’t trust,” Treat said.

“Maybe I really am an asshole, because now I want to hit you,” Josh said.

Treat shook his head. “Seriously, Josh.”

“It’s Riley. She’s worth it, and I’m not wrong. She didn’t steal the drawing, and even if we can’t prove it, I’m ready to take the heat.”