Chapter 5

RIVER

After spending about twenty minutes on the phone with his best friend Edward, River finally made his way up to Mariah’s apartment. The matter that he needed a PR firm for was so top secret that he couldn’t just tell anyone. He had to be sure that they wouldn’t spill the information to a tabloid at the first opportunity that came up.

A little test was in order, and as much as River hated the idea, it was necessary to ensure loyalty to him no matter what the news stories said. River had dealt with far too many organizations which offered privacy and the best help possible, but at the first opportunity to get their company name out into the press, they took it.

Public Waves seemed like a typical PR firm at first when Mr. Waves came in and met with River. It wasn’t until Mariah arrived that he actually felt like he may have found the right firm.

River didn’t need to be coddled or have the truth hidden from him; he wanted a firm that could tell him the truth about how damaging something was going to be. Then he wanted that same firm to help prevent that damaging truth from becoming a reality if it was at all possible.

As River knocked on the door to Mariah’s apartment, there was one huge problem that he felt lingering. Mariah was beautiful, funny, and full of attitude. She was the kind of girl that drove him crazy, and he always avoided girls that drove him crazy.

River stuck to dating women that were beautiful but didn’t have much else to offer. It made things simpler for him when he wanted to move to the next woman and not get attached. But River wasn’t dating Mariah; he was simply going to use her firm for PR.

He didn’t know why he was so damn nervous while he stood at her door, though, a business dinner shouldn’t make a man nervous. As she opened the door, River initially was relieved at the attire Mariah had chosen. At least, she wasn’t wearing something revealing that would tease him throughout their dinner; that would have been torture.

He followed her into her apartment and watched as she downed a shot of what looked like vodka. River had to turn around as he laughed at the look on her face when the harsh liquid entered her body. Mariah certainly wasn’t a heavy drinker; her cheeks were flushed almost instantly from the alcohol.

She must be nervous.

He couldn’t help continuing to smile as Mariah grabbed her things and they made their way downstairs and into his waiting vehicle. The more River looked at Mariah, the more he realized her outfit was just as distracting, if not more so, than a revealing outfit. Her black turtleneck made him laugh because of their conversation earlier, but it was so tight he could see all the glorious curves of her body. The tight skirt was certainly not revealing in a traditional sense, but it also gave River a beautiful view of her hips and the curves that accompanied them.

As they arrived at the Sushi restaurant, the manager quickly took them to a table in the corner. It wasn’t that River minded when he was recognized, but on that night, it was important that they have some time to talk quietly. Plus, River had a plan to test Mariah’s reactions, and it required them to be seated a little out of the normal table area.

River needed to get to know Mariah a little more, and he wanted her to pass the test he had planned, only then would he tell her the scope of what was going on for him. Scandal was something that he didn’t mind in his personal life, but only if it didn’t affect his business. This particular scandal was surely going to change his business, and he just couldn’t afford that.

Within the year, he was going to have a family friend food delivery line released that would be delivered throughout the country. The new line that was to be launched was in partnership with one of the most family-friendly companies in America, Wholesome Foods. Wholesome Foods was already leery about working with River, and he had promised them he was a trustworthy and honest man. If his secret got out, it was surely going to make his new business venture tank and probably take down most of his company with it.

“Do you always look this beautiful for business dinners?” River asked as they both slid into their seats.

“I don’t go on business dinners,” Mariah said, looking down.

“But yes, you always look this beautiful?”

Mariah laughed, and River felt his whole body freeze still as he watched her. The way her smile broadened from ear to ear; her blue eyes fixated on him. Her cheeks arose to an even higher spot on her face—it was mesmerizing.

“You’re trying to make me blush,” Mariah said as she did indeed blush.

“Do you have a boyfriend? I can’t believe a woman like you doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

“Well, you didn’t let me answer the first question before you asked the second, but no I don’t have one. Is that a normal question to ask when on a business dinner?” Mariah asked with a wry smile.

Just then the waitress joined them, and River made a point to look at her and listen while she rattled off the specials of the night. He didn’t like it when people of his status looked down on the waitresses and waiters; it was a bit of a pet peeve of his.

“We have California rolls with tempura for half price. We also have buy two get one free tonight,” the waitress said as she looked from River over to Mariah.

River ordered everything that the waitress mentioned as specials for the night plus several other rolls and some sake to drink. He didn’t look away from the waitress to even ask Mariah what she wanted to eat or drink.

As the waitress left the table, River looked back toward Mariah and smiled. His smile was met with a less than warm response, though. Mariah looked away almost instantly and appeared agitated with River about something. He didn’t mind, though, beautiful women were often easily agitated by him.

It was part of his plan, though, being a little brash with Mariah. If his test for her later was going to be effective, River knew he needed to be less wrapped up in how beautiful Mariah looked. He had to be a bit of an ass and hoped that later he could make it up to Mariah if she passed his test.

“So tell me, Mariah, how will you handle my case?”

Mariah looked annoyed as she searched for the words she wanted to say. River knew she wanted to know all the details, but that wasn’t going to happen yet. He wasn’t going to give her the information she needed yet. He wanted to hear how she would handle a case even if she didn’t have all the details to hand.

“I can’t give you details about how I can help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Okay, let’s just assume I’ve got a gay lover, and I need to hide him. How would you handle that?”

Mariah earned instant points in River’s mind when she didn’t seem shocked or thrown off her game at all by the idea that River might have a gay lover. Instead, Mariah quickly went into work mode and came up with a plan of attack.

“First, we would need to discuss why you were hiding it. It’s the twenty-first century, and being a gay man is cool. So my advice would be to come out publicly by doing a well-known magazine article first and then one interview. But if you insisted on keeping it quiet, we could discuss who you thought knew about it and how we could convince them to stay silent. So is that it? Are you gay?” Mariah said as she looked intently at River.

He could tell that she didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. It was obvious she thought there was some other secret going on that he hadn’t gotten to yet.

“Yes, that’s it. But I don’t want anyone to know. I want to keep it a secret. Where do we go from there?”

“Who’s your boyfriend? I need to meet him, discuss the situation.”

River tried to keep a straight face, but the way Mariah was looking at him made it practically impossible. Her bright blue eyes sliced through him and made it downright unfeasible to keep a straight face.

“I can’t let you meet him. He’s married to a woman.”

Mariah’s look got more sinister as she tried to analyze what River was saying. She wanted to stay professional, River could see that, but she didn’t believe him. River knew he was going to have to move his plan forward a little bit if he was going to test her at all.

“I can’t help you then,” Mariah said with a firm, stern look.

“So you aren’t actually a good public relations person after all. Okay, I understand. Not everyone knows how to do their job well.”

“What? How do you know what I can and can’t do if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”

“I told you.”

“Don’t give me that shitty lie about being gay. You aren’t gay.”

Just then a man came up behind River, wrapped his arms around him and sat down next to River. Mariah’s face changed hugely as she watched the two men and studied the situation. Suddenly, she felt horrible about saying that River wasn’t gay, the look on her face said it all.

“Mariah, this is my boyfriend Edward,” River said as he grabbed his friend Edward’s hand and pulled it up to his lips.

“Nice to meet you, Edward. Will you excuse me for a moment?” Mariah said as she jumped up from the table and made her way to the bathroom.

River and Edward broke into uncontrolled laughter as soon as Mariah was out of view from them. He couldn’t remember if the gay idea had come from him or from Edward, but it was hilarious.

“So what’s this supposed to do?” Edward asked.

“Well, watch this.”

River sent a text message, and within two minutes, there was a woman with a camera standing near the back of the restaurant and taking pictures of River and Edward. When Mariah came back to her seat, she would easily see the woman before she was able to sit down.

“Go handle her,” River said rudely as Mariah looked at the woman.

“She’s just taking a picture of her boyfriend across from her.”

“No, she’s taking pictures of me. Go deal with her.”

Mariah looked from River to the woman while she contemplated if she should go talk to the woman or not. River needed to see Mariah in work mode, though, and she had to go talk to the woman.

River had to work to keep a straight face as Mariah ran off to talk to the woman. Luckily, the woman was a friend of River’s and was asked to take pictures of him. So River didn’t have any real concerns over the situation. He did find it humorous how Mariah seemed to try and intimidate the woman into putting down her phone. Mariah didn’t seem the type of person who could intimidate anyone; it made River really happy to see how hard she worked to keep his picture from being taken.

When Mariah started to walk back to their table, River grabbed Edward and leaned him back and tried to kiss him. Unfortunately for River, Edward had had about enough of the charade and pulled away instantly.

“No man, that’s too far,” Edward said. “I’m going home.”

“Oh, come on Edward. I love you. I can’t live without you,” River said dramatically as his friend got up from the table.

“It was nice to meet you, Mariah,” Edward said as he left.

“I think your pretend boyfriend just broke up with you.”

“Pretend? What, no way. We have been lovers for years,” River said as he finally broke down and started to laugh.

“Come on River. I want to help you. But can we, at least, be real here? Obviously, you aren’t gay. What’s the real issue? I can’t help you if you don’t give me all the information.”

River sat back and watched as the waitress brought their food and drinks. He wanted to talk with Mariah about where she grew up and how she ended up working with her father. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful again and watch as her face flushed an even brighter shade of red. But he knew he needed to get things back on track and be more professional.

“Let’s have dinner; I promise we can talk business later.”

Mariah downed two quick cups of Sake while she appeared to contemplate what River had just said. She looked annoyed at River, and he knew he was walking a very fine line between getting to enjoy the rest of the night at dinner or having Mariah just leave from agitation.

“You didn’t even ask me what I wanted for dinner. That’s a pretty chauvinistic thing to do. Are you always like that?” Mariah asked, looking River straight in the eyes.

Her agitation caught River off guard at first. Of course, he had been trying to be a bit of a jerk, but Mariah seemed to take it very seriously.

“Yes.”

“Women like that?”

“I don’t really care. I’m in a hurry, so I ordered.”

“Okay, Mr. Anders; I’m not exactly sure what is going on here. But my time is valuable, and I don’t need to play games. You are more than welcome to continue working with my father, but this isn’t going to work for me.”

Mariah stood up, and her heel got caught on the rug. The amount of alcohol in her system had her reflexes moving slower than usual, and she stumbled as she started to walk away. She reached for the table, but instead, River grabbed her hand and steadied her to prevent her from falling. He slipped out of the booth and stood next to Mariah, wrapping his arms around her to prevent her from tumbling to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” River said as his six-foot-one-inch body towered over Mariah.

His hands slid around her tiny frame, and he felt his body turn to electricity because of her. Mariah’s blonde hair covered her face, and River took his fingers and pressed it behind her ears. She was so sweet, so innocent; he couldn’t stand the thought of sharing his past secret with her. She would think he was an even more horrible person than she already did.

“I need to leave,” Mariah said as she pulled in a deep breath and looked up at River.

“No, you don’t. I’ve scared you off; I’m sorry. Please stay.”

Mariah continued to hold onto River as her body searched for a good reason not to stay. But River felt how badly she wanted him. Everything about the way she looked at him made him know she wanted more from him.

“Mr. Anders, this isn’t what I need.”

“What do you need?” River said as he pressed his hands slightly firmer against her body.

He knew what she needed. Mariah Waves needed a night in bed with him. Her body screamed to him, and River wasn’t in the habit of letting such a loud message go unheard. Their lips were only inches apart as he looked down at her.

Again, Mariah took in a deep breath, and River felt her body move in his arms. She bit her lip and threw her head back in uncomfortable laughter. But in doing so, she exposed the small of her neck and forced River to restrain every nerve in his body as he started to move in and kiss her. She was charismatic and drew him in with her laugh. The energy and power she had were more than River had the ability to refuse. He released her as he placed her hand on the table to ensure she had the means to steady herself.

“You’re a dangerous man,” Mariah said as she pulled on River’s tie to keep him close to her.

“Yes, you should steer clear,” he whispered in response.

“I really want to bring you home with me,” Mariah said with newfound confidence.

River raised his eyebrows in surprise at her comment.

“Oh, really?”

“Shit, no. Did I say that out loud?” Mariah said as her face turned red, and she sat back down in the booth. “I should probably call a cab and get going. I don’t normally drink. I’ve had too much. Please excuse me.”

Mariah got up again, but River wasn’t about to let her leave in the condition she was in. He needed to talk to her some more; he wasn’t going to work with any other firm. Mariah was the one he wanted to work with. He just needed to get up the nerve to tell her everything.

“I’ll take you home.”

Mariah didn’t have the energy to fight with him anymore and just nodded in agreement as he wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her out of the restaurant. She felt good by his side, and for a moment, River wished that he wasn’t such a jerk and that something real could come out of things with Mariah.

River knew it wouldn’t happen, though. Mariah was a nice girl, and she wasn’t going to have a thing to do with him once she knew about his past. Surely, she would continue to work with him. But she wouldn’t be thinking of him the way she was that night. As soon as Mariah knew the truth about River’s past, she was going to hate him.