Again, River had to think about what he should answer. Yes, he saw his son often, but no, Jackson didn’t know that River was his father. It wasn’t a typical relationship, and for some people, it might seem like River was shirking his parental duties. But River and Kimberly had worked closely to figure out a way for River to be involved with Jackson without exposing who he really was to his son.
“Jackson and I were matched up at a Big Brother technology club that his mother brought him to. Jackson and I are friends, but he has no idea I’m his father. Kimberly’s husband has raised him as his own.”
“Who is going to know that Jackson is yours? Besides your assistant, there isn’t anyone you identified as knowing all the facts. But in my experience, there are always people who know enough of the facts to be dangerous. Can you honestly tell me there isn’t another person on earth that knows this secret?”
Mariah obviously didn’t understand the level of scrutiny that was involved with presidential candidates. River felt himself getting frustrated at Mariah’s seeming inability to understand just how easily it would be to figure out that Jackson was really River’s son. It really didn’t matter if people knew any facts at all. They could simply have seen River and Kimberly together eleven years prior and use that information to start with a simple rumor. The rumor would grow, and the facts would have to come out eventually.
“Trust me Mariah; this is going to come out if her husband announces he is running for president. We need to put a plan in place to minimize the blowback on Jackson, Kimberly, and my business. Personally, I can handle it, but my business won’t be able to stick it out.”
Mariah took a minute to write down a few notes before she closed her notebook and stood up. She looked angry, and as much as River wanted to talk to her some more, he didn’t want to push things. There was a lot going on, and River knew he had to stay out of Mariah’s way if she was going to be able to work.
“I’ll be honest with you, River, I don’t know if you’ll make it out of this very well. The governor is very loved by his supporters.”
River grabbed Mariah’s hand and pulled her back into her seat. He needed to talk with her more. They had to figure out a way to keep the news from getting out. River felt the electricity between them again as his hand stayed with hers. There was no way to avoid it; River needed to have her. Somehow, someway, Mariah had to be his. He couldn’t imagine not feeling her body and his together; fully naked and in his bed.
For every moment that he thought he could resist Mariah, there was another moment where he couldn’t imagine ever being able to resist her. River hated that his complicated life was getting even more complicated by his feelings for Mariah. But as much as he hated the complication, his body urged him to continue forward with his interest in Mariah.
“Stay,” River quietly requested.
“River, I don’t know exactly what happened between us yesterday. But things have changed; I need to keep our relationship professional. No more dates, or business dinners, or whatever that was.”
In one swift movement, River pulled Mariah’s chair close to his and gently spread her legs apart so his could fit between them. He wasn’t about to stand for her line of crap. Nothing had changed, they were still extremely attracted to each other, and just because she knew the truth about his past didn’t change what was going on between them in the present. He couldn’t take it another moment, and that was all there was to it. River wanted Mariah, and he liked to get what he wanted.
“Stay,” he said again more demandingly.
Mariah looked at him, and River could tell she felt the same. She might try to hide it, and she might be able to pretend like she didn’t want him, but the energy between the two of them didn’t lie. Mariah’s breathing slowed as she held her breath in and looked at River. He loved the way she eyed him like he was some sort of villain.
“I need to get your case ready; you should go,” Mariah said as she looked down at River’s hands on her thighs but didn’t move them.
His body reacted instantly to the soft touch of her skin under his fingers. Only a few more inches, and his hands could have touched her delicious center. River lost all focus as he tried to figure out a way to convince Mariah to come home with him. She was putting up an act, and he had to figure out a way to break down her resistance.
He had spent most of the previous evening awake as he mulled over why he had actually left Mariah’s apartment. She was ready for him, she wanted him, and he denied her. It certainly wasn’t something he normally did. River had replayed his choice to leave her apartment over and over in his head. Sometimes he hated it when he was a gentleman. He should have stayed with her. They would have had a perfect evening together.
Somewhere deep down, River felt himself having an internal struggle on what was right and wrong with Mariah. It was by far nothing he normally even thought about. If a woman like Mariah wanted to invite him to her home, he had no reason to deny her. Certainly, he would welcome the opportunity to be with such a beautiful woman. Never had he walked away from such an invitation before.
The problem he was having was that on the previous night, River did refuse Mariah. A sexy, beautiful, smart young blonde had invited him into her apartment, and he had said no. Sure, he had convinced himself he couldn’t go in because they were going to work together and she had been drinking. But did that really matter? Surely, they could have worked together still, and Mariah had not drunk enough that she was unaware of what she was doing. She knew very well that she had invited River into her home.
River felt like he had missed the perfect opportunity, and now he was stuck trying to get it back. He was fine with them working together and sleeping together; if Mariah was alright with it, he would have been just fine with it. Nothing about his moral code gave him any qualms about it. There may have originally been concern, but after getting to know Mariah, River was sure he would have to have her.
“Come home with me, we can discuss your plans over a bottle of wine.”
Mariah laughed. It was that infectious laugh that she had where she looked up in the air and all River could think about was pulling her neck close to his and kissing it. She was more than beautiful, Mariah was enticing to River, and he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He worked through a variety of thoughts on how he could convince Mariah to come home with him. River wasn’t used to having to ask a woman more than once, and he certainly wasn’t used to her saying no.
“I’m not going home with you, and I’m certainly not drinking around you again.”
“Why not?”
River wasn’t about to take no for an answer. When he decided he wanted something or someone, he always got what he wanted. Mariah wanted to say yes to him; River just had to figure out what her weak point was. There was something about him that she couldn’t refuse, something that kept her sitting with him. If she really didn’t want to be there, she would have left already.
“Because I made a fool of myself last night,” Mariah said.
River noticed her face started to turn red at even the mention of embarrassment. He didn’t think she had made a fool out of herself the previous night. In fact, he thought everything about that night had been absolutely perfect. Up until River left Mariah alone for the evening, he had felt pretty damn good about their business dinner.
“I don’t think it’s possible for you to make a fool out of yourself.”
“Oh, please. I practically threw myself at you. I almost straddled you in the car on the way over to my house you know. What kind of businesswoman am I?”
River’s eyes widened at Mariah’s confession about almost straddling him in the vehicle. There had been a moment when his hand touched hers that he felt like she wanted to take things up a notch. He had pictured her climbing on his lap and sliding her skirt up; it was a shock that she had actually been thinking about that exact same thing. Instantly, he regretted not kissing her in the back of the SUV.
“You can try it now if you’d like
,” River said as he leaned back in his chair.
“No!” Mariah said as she laughed and swung her notepad at River’s arm in protest. “I’m not straddling you. I’m definitely not going home with you. And I’m not drinking tonight.”
River had to laugh at the flustered look in Mariah’s eyes. She wanted to do all of those things with him, and he knew it. She wouldn’t have protested so much if they weren’t things she was already thinking about. River smiled a mischievous smile as he watched the internal struggle that was going on with Mariah. She wanted to say no; she knew it was the wrong thing to do, yet her entire body was saying yes to him.
Mariah got to him, and River loved it. He couldn’t get enough of her, and for a moment, he didn’t even care about the scandal that was going on. River knew that occupying Mariah’s time would take away from her ability to get prepared for the impending scandal. The problem he was having was that he was touching her. His hands on her body made it physically impossible for him to think about anything else but having her in his bed.
“Are you sure you couldn’t spare one night?” River asked as he finally pried his fingers away from Mariah.
“Nope, you need me to save you remember. If I’m at your house, then that means I can’t be working on your case.”
Her smile went from one side of her face to the other as she pushed her chair back and away from River. At least, Mariah had willpower because River certainly didn’t have any. She was going to have to have the strength for the both of them because River didn’t feel strong enough to walk away from Mariah at all. He wanted her so badly that his brain felt like it wasn’t even working like it was supposed to.
“Alright, I’ll let you go for now. We can talk more tomorrow,” River said as he got up and made his way to the conference room door.
He knew when he had been defeated, and there wasn’t anything else he could do to convince Mariah to come home with him. For the time being, River was going to have to admit defeat and leave Mariah to deal with the press dilemma that was his life.
It was better to let her work, he knew it. Mariah had to be prepared for any news or tips that came through about River’s scandal. The next few days were going to be really crazy, but River had to keep his hands to himself and let Mariah work. It was his only chance of saving his company.
“I’ll call you in the morning; I’m sure I’ll have questions after I go through all this information tonight.”
“Good night,” River said solemnly as he left Mariah alone in the room.
River made a point not to turn around and look at Mariah after he had left the room. His father had always told him not to give a woman the upper hand by looking at her last. For some reason, out of all the advice his father had given him, that was one of the things River remembered most.
He kept walking and didn’t turn back.
Chapter 10
MARIAH
“What was all that about?” Elizabeth asked as Mariah got back to her office.
“I thought I told you to go home?”
“Let’s remember that I’m the one with the experience here little lady; I don’t need you bossing me around,” Elizabeth joked.
Elizabeth was only a couple of years older than Mariah, and they were more like equals than any other people in the office. The pair had known each other in college, and Elizabeth had been only a year ahead. It was a running joke between them that Elizabeth was the boss and Mariah was the boss's daughter who needed tough supervision.
“I don’t know what it is, but River just drives me crazy.”
Mariah started to pace back and forth in front of her desk while Elizabeth sat and watched. It was hard to describe just how crazy River made her feel. It wasn’t as easy as just feeling like he drove her mad. River made her whole body feel like it was short circuiting, and there wasn’t anything she could do to control it.
The feeling of being out of control wasn’t something that Mariah liked at all. She liked to be in control, she always wanted to be in control. Throughout her life, Mariah had planned and controlled all aspects of her personal and work life. She wasn’t about to let someone like River swoop in and take away the control that she cherished.
Just having River in that close of proximity to her made Mariah feel like her brain had turned into a jumble of scrambled eggs and didn’t work anymore. Why did a guy like him want her? She couldn’t help having that question running through her brain. He was rich, handsome, and ran in a totally different crowd than Mariah did. She doubted they would have anything in common at all.
“You should go after him, just have some fun,” Elizabeth said as she watched Mariah pacing the room.
Mariah stopped pacing and looked at Elizabeth skeptically. Surely she wasn’t suggesting what Mariah thought she was suggesting. Elizabeth knew that Mariah’s father would freak out if he found out she was sleeping with their biggest new client.
“What? No, you know I can’t sleep with him while he’s a client here. My father would freak out if something like that happened.”
As Mariah continued to pace, Elizabeth stood up and walked right in front of her. She knew Mariah better than Mariah knew herself sometimes, and Elizabeth knew that Mariah needed to relax. Sure, her father said he would fire someone for messing around with River, but he wasn’t going to fire his sweet little girl. Mariah was the pride and joy of her father, and he wasn’t about to take her away from the office. They used Mariah in their advertising ads both on television and in print. Mariah was the face of Public Waves, she was the one new clients looked for when they walked in the office door.
“People have done it before,” Elizabeth said as she stood there.
“What?”
“Slept with a client. It’s happened with a couple of the higher up clients and staff. I think Stan’s wife was even his client once before.”
“No? Really?”
“Listen, Mariah, if you don’t like the guy, then don’t sleep with him. But this publicity issue will be over soon enough, and if you want to have a thing with the guy, then I say go for it. Just don’t be obvious about it.”
Mariah couldn’t believe what Elizabeth was saying to her. Elizabeth was a rule follower like Mariah, so it was a huge surprise that she would even consider something like having a fling with a client.
The thought of actually giving in to her desires for River was more than she could handle, though, and Mariah had to change the subject. They needed to be prepared, or it wasn’t going to be possible to prevent the bad publicity from hitting River.
If the news got out that River Anders was a home wrecker, it wasn’t going to be news that they could keep quiet for long. It was essential that they either prevented the news from getting out at all or minimized the information that could be confirmed.
“Is it weird that I actually think of him as less of a ladies’ man now that I know all this dirt on him?” Mariah said as she finally sat down.
“I know, it’s weird. He had an affair with a married woman, and you would think that would make him even less likable. But I think I like him even more. It’s too bad the news would ruin his deal with Wholesome Foods.”
“Elizabeth, do you think it would really ruin that deal? I mean it’s the twenty-first century and his affair happened over ten years before.”
Elizabeth typed some information into the computer and took a few notes as Mariah sat and processed everything that was going on. It was more than just an affair that they had to deal with. There was a child, a governor, who was going to announce that he was running for president, and a huge business deal for River’s company. There were so many things that needed to be considered and weighed out. Mariah and Elizabeth certainly had their work cut out for them. It was going to take day and night of them researching and working on the case so they could do the best job possible.
No matter what her feelings were about River, Mariah had to make sure she did her job. Doing her job well would ensure her job security as well as keep River a
nd his situation under the radar. She was nervous to deal with such a big case, but it was the perfect opportunity for Mariah to show her father that she really did know what she was doing.
Mariah knew she had to figure out what would be the least damaging solution for River. As much as she worried about Jackson and Kimberly, River was her client, and she had to minimize the effect on his business dealings; that was what she was hired for. Keeping the client happy was always their biggest priority, and that meant that Mariah would juggle everything about the case that River said was most important to him. She would try to keep the details of their secret private, prevent the press from getting a hold of it, and keep his deal with Wholesome Foods from falling apart.
“Uh, oh, I think we are in trouble,” Elizabeth said as she stared at the computer.
“Big time trouble?”
“Yes, everyone loves Governor Emerald. Not like a little love, they are bat shit crazy in love with him. His supporters will turn River into the villain within a day of the news coming out.”
“Well then, we need to keep the news from coming out,” Mariah added.
Mariah leaned over and scanned the article that was pulled up on the computer. It was a story from a girl that knew Governor Emerald in college. She had said, ‘he wasn’t always nice. In college he was a jerk,’ and the press went crazy. People called into the news station to report the woman was a fraud, and she hadn’t even known the governor all that well. His supporters took to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to protect him from the negative press. Even going so far as to egg the woman’s house that had made the comment.
“Yikes, he’s got super-fans,” Mariah said as she read the story and sat back down. “I wish I had that many people that would defend my honor in light of bad news about me.”
If even the slightest gossip got out, Emerald’s team would release those super-fans and let them protect him. Especially during a campaign, those rogue supporters would make sure that River was seen as a horrible person and that his business felt the burn from the news. Mariah knew more than ever that she was going to have to make sure the news did not get out.
Breaking the Rules: A Billionaire Romance Page 8
