Chapter 7

RIVER

The second River got into the elevator, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He had literally been two seconds away from giving in to his desire for Mariah. Not only would that have been bad for his personal life, but it would also have been horrible for his business. The public relations problem he had was only days away from being a disaster, and as much as he wanted Mariah, he had to stop himself. River needed her firm to represent him; there just wasn’t time to hire anyone else.

River was pretty damn proud of himself for resisting Mariah. Being able to resist a pretty woman was not something he was very strong at throughout his past. It gave him a little boost of confidence that everything was going to work out alright after all. Surely he could wait until after the public relations nightmare to go after Mariah.

There was more than just the public relations issue at hand, though. River wasn’t the type of guy who stuck around very long with his women. He enjoyed going on a date or two and then moving on. In certain situations, he would date the same girl over several weeks, but he always made sure to break up with them before anything could be considered a regular relationship.

Mariah didn’t seem like the type of girl who would handle a short fling with River very well. She seemed like she would rather have a typical or traditional relationship, and that wasn’t River’s thing. He liked to keep things short and simple; it helped him avoid drama in the tabloids.

“Hey, Edward, sorry about the scene at Blue Sushi, but thanks for coming,” River said as he dialed his friend’s number and left a voice message. “I promise that next time I’ll think of a cooler story than us being a gay couple. Thanks again, see you tomorrow.”

Edward was used to River and his wild ways of trying to test people out. Pretending to be a gay couple was just one of the tricks that River had tried to pull. The woman taking pictures of them had been a plan of River’s to test Mariah and see how capable she was at stopping an immediate crisis. Mariah did well, but River hadn’t finished with all his tests for her. He had a paparazzi reporter that he wanted to sneak in and offer Mariah a couple hundred thousand to help him with his story.

The problem was when Mariah got up to leave, River knew he couldn’t let her go. Nothing in his body would allow her to leave him, and he didn’t care at all about his little test anymore. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to River was feeling Mariah’s curves pressed up against his body.

Boy, oh boy, did Mariah’s body feel good against his. River could still feel her hips as they pressed back against him. For a moment, River was going to walk into that apartment with her. For that brief second, he didn’t care about the politics of working together; he wanted Mariah, and that was all that mattered to him. But luckily, River had the sense to walk away and not give in to his desire. He was a brilliant businessman, and he hadn’t gotten to that point by giving in to his desires.

River knew how to run his company, and he didn’t get to be the success that he was by giving in to every desire he had. There had to be an ability to step back when things got out of control, and that was exactly what River did with Mariah. He felt his body taking control of the situation, and his mind had to step back.

Having a desire for a woman and going after her had always been easy for River. But he stayed away from dangerous women like Mariah. Sure, she wasn’t dangerous in the typical sense of the word. She was sweet and kind, she worked at her father’s PR firm, and River knew that he couldn’t sleep with her if he were going to keep working with her firm. As much as his body desired her, River had to stop it.

He still had no idea how he was going to reveal his secret to Mariah. The way she looked at him with admiration was something that he hated to ruin, and the second she knew the truth about him, she wouldn’t think of him the same.

But River didn’t have time to worry about Mariah and what she thought of him, he needed help right away. There were only a few days left until all hell would break loose; River needed the expertise that Mariah and her firm could provide.

Whatever feelings he had for Mariah would just have to sit in the background unrequited while he dealt with the impending public relations disaster ahead of him. Mariah really seemed to know what she was doing, and River just had to trust that she would do what was best for him, even after she found out what was going on.

No matter how badly he wanted to turn around and go back up to Mariah’s room, River had to keep walking away. A relationship, or even a one-night stand, with her, would get way too messy for River to deal with.

He had more than enough to deal with. There were only a few more days before his secret was bound to come out. As much as he hoped that Mariah and her company could prevent the gossip magazines from running the story, River lived in the real world, and in the real world stories were never permanently squashed. Eventually, everyone’s dirt got released. The goal for River was to make sure when his story got released that it didn’t ruin him.

Finally, he had come to the conclusion that he was going to have to let all the details out and hope that Mariah and her team could protect him. He picked up his phone and dialed the number of the woman from his past.

“Hello,” the woman on the other end said.

“Kimberly, can you meet me at Public Waves tomorrow?”

“They can help us?”

“Yes, I think they can.”

“We don’t have much time; he’s going to the press at the end of the week. I don’t know what he knows, but I know he’s suspicious. He’s been acting strange lately. It could just be because of work or something like that. But I’ve got a bad feeling.”

“It’s alright Kimberly; I’m going to protect us both. I won’t let this ruin our lives.”

“River, you don’t understand. You’re single; it won’t ruin that much for you. I’m married; it will ruin my entire world.”

River knew that Kimberly was scared, but she was going to have to trust him. He really did think that Public Waves could help them and could keep their secret from destroying their lives. Unfortunately, River didn’t want to tell Kimberly that he thought the secret was going to come out eventually.

Kimberly was right; personally, the secret was going to change her entire life. She wasn’t going to be able to live her day to day life like she normally did. For River, the news getting out wouldn’t change his personal life at all. Instead, the secret could destroy his multi-billion dollar company and the huge upcoming deal he had going on.

“Meet me there at noon,” River said as he hung up.

He knew Kimberly was scared. They had been scared for the last ten years. But River was tired of running from his past. He couldn’t do it alone any longer and felt like it was finally time to get the professionals involved in the secret he and Kimberly had kept for so long.

It was time to face the reality and hope that both he and Kimberly would be able to live with the consequences of their past together. No more hiding, no more hoping that no one found out; deep down, River just wanted the news to come out so they could move forward. But he only wanted that to happen if it wouldn’t ruin his company. River hoped that with the help of Mariah and her company, he would be able to have his secret out and be able to save the upcoming deal. It was a big hope, but it had to happen that way.

The secret had been held silent for ten years. If it came out now, River wasn’t really sure how he would deal with it. He wasn’t sure how Kimberly would deal with it. All River knew was that he had to do everything possible so he was prepared. Being prepared was his only possible advantage in the situations.

***

As River walked into his penthouse floor office, he felt like everything in his life was about to change. Once he and Kimberly let their secret out to the PR firm, it was going to expose them to the reality of the situation. For ten years, they had successfully kept their secret, now it was time to let someone in on it with them.

The only other person who knew about River and Kimberly’s secret was his assistant, April. But she was more like an extension of River, and he had never thought of her as someone who he was exposing his secret to. April had been his personal assistant for years, and she would do absolutely anything for River, including keeping his secrets for him.

“April, good morning,” River said as he walked past her desk.

“Is it done, River? Are they on board?”

“Not yet, I’m having Kimberly meet me over there today at noon.”

“River, you can’t play these games. They need time to defend the information. You need to tell them.”

April was worried about the news getting out and ruining both River and Kimberly’s life. She knew how shocking it was, and she also knew that it wasn’t something that was going to sit well with their family-oriented business partners. Unfortunately, they might not be able to prevent the news from becoming public knowledge, even if River did everything right.

Kimberly and River handled their situation extremely well and got along better than most ex’s who had been married. Both of them had made an effort to keep the secret between them, and they both wanted what was best for everyone involved. Even April agreed that Kimberly and River had handled the situation well. But it was time to get even better at it. They had to keep the information in their control and not let the tabloids gain control of the story.

“I know April. Is Edward here?”

“Yes, I’ll send him to your office.”

River looked out over the city as he contemplated telling Edward everything. Edward suspected the news had something to do with a woman, but River had been diligent in keeping the news away from his friend as well. Edward only knew that there was a possibility the information would make it difficult for them to continue to release their new line of products. That was enough to make Edward worried, though, and he trusted that River would take care of everything that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.

“How’d your business dinner go?” Edward laughed as he made a kissing face at River.

“Good, she’s tough under that gorgeous exterior. I think she’ll be able to handle the case.”

“Okay, I trust you. Is there anything else?”

“Do you want me to tell you everything?” River asked as he sat down at his desk and looked sternly at Edward.

Edward thought about it for a moment. He seemed deep in contemplation at the idea of River actually telling him this secret that he had kept for the last ten years. Edward knew it had something to do with a woman, but he didn’t exactly know who the woman was or what the secret was. There had been a lot of women in River’s past; perhaps one of them had married River while in Vegas or something like that. Maybe they had done something illegal together, and she had gone to prison for it? Edward had thought of dozens of possibilities, but he never wanted to know the truth. Plausible deniability had always been something Edward wanted, just in case the secret River had was illegal.

“Oh, God, no! I don’t want to know your secrets. Keep that filth to yourself,” Edward said as he stood up and shot River a huge smile.

The two didn’t just work together, they were friends. River knew that Edward didn’t like to get involved in his personal life, but this story from his past could really change how their business dealings went over the next few months. River thought that he was going to have to talk to Edward and explain things.

“Edward, it could affect our new product rollout,” River said with a solemn face.

“Listen to me, River; you won’t let it affect anything. You’re too good for that. Whatever it is, take care of it. Work your magic. Let’s get this deal done.”

Edward turned and left River’s office without looking back at him. River knew Edward was scared. He was scared to death of what the secret was and how it could change the company. But in the end, it was River’s company, and not Edward’s. He couldn’t control what River had gotten himself into, and it was River’s job to deal with it. Only when it became absolutely necessary did Edward want to get involved in what was going on in River’s past.

As he got ready to visit Mariah’s office, River couldn’t help thinking about their kiss the night before. The way her body and his had felt like electricity when they were close together. It was a memory that he still felt throughout his being. Mariah was intoxicating, and River was excited to get to see her again. He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset about him leaving and not accepting her offer to stay the night.

River’s fingers still felt the touch of her hair as he moved it out of the way so he could kiss the back of Mariah’s neck. He laughed as he remembered the turtleneck she had worn in an effort to look professional and not sexy. The problem was, River suspected Mariah would look sexy in anything she had on; there was just no keeping the sex appeal from falling off of Mariah. She dripped sex appeal with the way she walked, talked and even the way she sipped from her water glass. River couldn’t think of a single thing that Mariah did where she didn’t look sexy as hell.

He took a couple deep breaths as he sat in his vehicle and watched Kimberly walking into the Public Waves building. Kimberly looked paranoid as she looked back and forth before heading into the main entrance. It was all happening, everything that River had worked so hard to keep secret was about to be exposed.

Kimberly had a reason to be paranoid; she was married, and it was entirely possible that her husband could have had someone follow her. River stayed outside to keep an eye out and see if any vehicles looked suspicious outside of the office building. It was one thing for someone to expose River to the press, but he was going to try his best to keep Kimberly out of the story.

River felt stuck in his car as he looked up at the building. How could he go into Mariah’s office and admit his horrible past? He should have slept with her the previous night was all he kept thinking; because once she knew the truth, there was no way she would want him.

He couldn’t wallow in his fear, though. The secrets of his past were coming out, and unless he got ahead of the news quickly, it was going to eat up his entire business deal and Kimberly’s family life. People would shy away from all his products, and he would quickly be left with a dying company.

River wasn’t about to lose the company that he had worked so hard for. He was going to fight for it. He was going to make sure that he did absolutely everything in his power to ensure they remained in control of the information that was going to be leaked. If they couldn’t stop the release of the information altogether, then they had to make sure it wasn’t hurtful to those involved.

As he walked into the building, River felt more confident than before about his secret from his past. Not because it wasn’t horrible. Not because it wasn’t going to change his whole world; River felt confident that he was prepared for whatever did happen. He was tired of running from his past. It was time to move forward. He was going to hold Kimberly’s hand, and they were going to figure the situation out, and hopefully, it would work out well for both of them.

“I’m here to meet with Mariah,” River said to the receptionist.

“Yes, in there,” she pointed back to the conference room River had been in the day before.

Kimberly was waiting for him in there, and he walked around and sat next to her. Gently, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it as they waited for the PR team to join them. She shook out of fear, and he knew there wasn’t much he could do to calm that fear. Her life could be destroyed by their secret; it was nothing like what River had to deal with.

“So he knows everything?” River asked.

“I’m not sure, but he’s acting weird enough that we need to be prepared.”

“It will hurt his campaign if he comes out with it. There’s no way he will,” River said as he tried to reassure Kimberly.

“His competition will release it if he doesn’t.”

River knew she was right. Politics wasn’t like it used to be; in the current world, every bit of dirt ended up coming out about a candidate. There was no way to keep private lives private in the twenty-first century.