Friendship on Fire (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 3) Contemporary Romance Read online

  Friendship on Fire

  The Bradens, Book Three

  Love in Bloom Series

  Melissa Foster

  “A sinfully sexy and heartwarming series."

  —Amy Manemann, bestselling author

  This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

  FRIENDSHIP ON FIRE

  All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright © 2013 Melissa Foster

  V1.0

  This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Cover Design: Natasha Brown

  WORLD LITERARY PRESS

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  A Note to Readers

  Friendship on Fire is the sixth book in the Love in Bloom series, and the third book of The Bradens. While it may be read as a stand-alone novel, for even more enjoyment you may want to read the rest of the Love in Bloom novels.

  For Les

  PRAISE FOR MELISSA FOSTER

  "Contemporary romance at its hottest. Each Braden sibling left me craving the next. Sensual, sexy, and satisfying, the Braden series is a captivating blend of the dance between lust, love, and life."

  —Bestselling author Keri Nola, LMHC

  (on The Bradens)

  "[LOVERS AT HEART] Foster’s tale of stubborn yet persistent love takes us on a heartbreaking and soul-searing journey."

  —Reader's Favorite

  “Smart, uplifting, and beautifully layered.

  I couldn’t put it down!”

  —National bestselling author Jane Porter

  (on Sisters in Love)

  "Steamy love scenes, emotionally-charged drama, and a family-driven story make this the perfect story for any romance reader."

  —Midwest Book Review (on Sisters in Bloom)

  “HAVE NO SHAME is a powerful testimony to love and the progressive, logical evolution of social consciousness, with an outcome that readers will find engrossing, unexpected, and ultimately eye-opening.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “[WHERE PETALS FALL] With vivid prose and a tender heart, Melissa Foster has crafted a psychological and emotional mystery fueled by love in all its forms.”

  —Jennie Shortridge, Author of Love Water Memory

  "TRACES OF KARA is psychological suspense at its best, weaving a tight-knit plot, unrelenting action, and tense moments that don't let up, and ending in a fiery, unpredictable revelation."

  —Midwest Book Review

  “[MEGAN’S WAY] A wonderful, warm, and thought-provoking story...a deep and moving book that speaks to men as well as women, and I urge you all to put it on your reading list."

  —Mensa Bulletin

  “[CHASING AMANDA] Secrets make this tale outstanding.”

  —Hagerstown Magazine

  “COME BACK TO ME is a hauntingly beautiful love story set against the backdrop of betrayal in a broken world.”

  —Sue Harrison, bestselling author

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  RILEY BANKS HURRIED down Thirty-Seventh Street in her red Catherine Malandrino dress and Giuseppe Zanotte leopard-print, calf-hair pumps. It was the week after Thanksgiving, and Manhattan was buzzing with the feverish zeal of the holidays. Riley slowed her pace to catch her breath. Tomorrow I’ll find the courage to take the subway. Maybe. She tugged her coat tighter across her chest to ward off the chilly air and silently hoped that nobody would figure out that she’d purchased her outfit on Outnet.com, an online designer outlet store. She felt like such a hypocrite, heading to her first day at her new job as one of world-renowned designer Josh Braden’s assistants wearing discounted clothing. The thought turned her stomach—but not as much as showing up in her hometown jeans and cowgirl boots would have. She was a long way from Weston, Colorado, and she’d spent the last few weeks gathering discount designer clothes and practicing omitting “y’all” from her vocabulary.

  She stood before the thick glass door of Josh Braden Designs and took a deep breath. The sign above the door read, JBD. This is it. She closed her eyes for a split second to repeat the mantra she’d been playing in her mind like a broken record for weeks: I’m educated, knowledgeable, and eager. I can do this.

  A warm hand on her lower back pulled her from her thoughts.

  “Have any trouble finding us?” Josh Braden stood beside her with a friendly smile and perfectly shorn, thick dark hair. His black Armani suit fit his lean, muscular frame perfectly. A few years earlier, he’d been named one of America’s Most Eligible Bachelors. Back then she hadn’t given the magazine cover a second thought. He was in New York, and she was back in Colorado, so far removed from him that she’d still thought of him as Josh Braden, the boy she’d had a crush on for too many years to count. Now, standing on the streets of New York City beside the man whose name rivaled Vera Wang, she felt the air sucked from her lungs.

  His deep voice sent a shiver right through her. Not only had she had the good fortune to be reconnected with Josh when he was back home visiting his family, but during his visit, the two of them had also spent a few days getting reacquainted. Riley hadn’t been sure if it was her crush going haywire or if there was something more real blossoming between them, but those few days had each felt a little more intimate than the last. And while their lips never touched and their bodies remained apart, she’d felt like they were always one breath away from falling into each other’s arms.

  “Uh�
�ye…no.” Oh God, please kill me now.

  Josh smiled, lighting up his brown eyes. “Nervous?”

  At five foot eight, she was a full seven inches shorter than him. She wondered what it might be like to stand on her tiptoes and kiss those luscious lips of his. Stop it! The way he held her gaze brought goose bumps to her arms. Stopitstopitstopit. She envisioned him at seventeen; he’d reached his full height by then, thin but well muscled, with testosterone practically oozing from his pores. She’d wanted him then, but those schoolgirl feelings didn’t come close to the desire that begged to be set free now. She cast her eyes away and took a deep breath, trying to ignore her thundering heart. The last thing she needed was to become one of those girls who swooned every time her boss appeared. She was here to build a career, not a reputation.

  “A little,” she answered honestly.

  He pulled the heavy door open and waited for her to walk through before placing his hand on the small of her back once again. Josh spoke softly, his mouth close to her ear as he guided her through the expansive lobby.

  “Think of this as Macy’s back home. There’s the customer service area.” He nodded toward the elegant mahogany and granite reception desk.

  Her heels clacked across the marble tile as they passed the desk.

  “Good morning, Chantal.” Josh smiled at the blond woman behind the desk, who looked like she’d come straight from an eight-hour session at a local salon. Her hair glistened, and her green eyes were perfectly shadowed to match her emerald- green blouse.

  Riley reached up and touched her shoulder-length brown hair, feeling the little confidence she’d mustered being whittled away. If the receptionist is that perfect, what are the other employees like?

  “Good morning, Mr. Braden,” Chantal said with a practiced smile. “Good morning, Riley.”

  You know my name? Riley pushed past her rattled nerves, forcing her mouth to obey her thoughts, and felt the grace of a smile. “Good morning…Chantal.” She pulled her shoulders back, reclaiming a bit of her lost confidence. She knows my name!

  “Chantal is an assistant in the design studio. She fills in for our receptionist when she steps away from her desk. I’m sure you’ll see her in the design studio later,” Josh explained.

  Riley felt like she was in a dream as she walked beside Josh through the elegant offices. She’d spent years dreaming of what it might feel like to work in New York City, and more specifically, in a design studio. After graduating with a degree in fashion design with a 3.8 GPA and winning two design awards, she’d longed to move to New York City and land a job in the hub of the fashion industry. After several months of applying for positions and receiving enough rejection letters to wallpaper her bedroom, Riley had given up and settled into her life in Weston, working at Macy’s and designing clothes no one would ever see. Riley had come to accept that working in the fashion industry had more to do with connections than skills. She’d given up that dream until Jade had begun dating Rex, one of Josh’s older brothers, and she’d worn one of Riley’s dresses on their first date. One recommendation from Rex, and Josh had eagerly reviewed her portfolio. A few days later, Riley was having lunch at his father’s ranch, and the next thing she knew, she had a job offer and was packing to move to New York City. Now, as she walked beside Josh, Riley wondered if he was thinking about the time they’d spent together as much as she was.

  They rounded a hall and Riley stifled a gasp. Racks of designer clothing lined the walls; dozens of fabric samples were strewn across long drawing tables, and sketches littered an entire wall. The combination sent her pulse soaring. Men and women milled about, talking quietly and fingering through the samples. A woman wearing jeans, her jet-black hair cut short, pulled a rolling cart filled with clothes across the floor. A man scurried around her with a notebook in hand, talking into an earpiece.

  Without thinking, Riley grabbed Josh’s arm—as if they were back in Weston at a farm show and he were Jade. “Oh my goodness. This is amazing!” she exclaimed.

  He laughed, and several eyes turned in their direction.

  Riley cringed. She must have looked like an excited child seeing Santa for the first time.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, frantically patting down Josh’s suit sleeve. “I just…I’m so sorry.” God, I’m an idiot.

  “That’s the kind of reaction I’d hoped for,” he said.

  She let out a relieved sigh as a tall, auburn-haired woman appeared at Josh’s side and locked her green eyes on Riley, then drew them down her dress, over her curvy figure, all the way to her heels.

  “This must be Riley Banks?” She extended a pencil-thin arm in Riley’s direction. “Claudia Raven, head design assistant.”

  Claudia’s forced smile and threatening gaze reminded Riley of Cruella De Vil. There was no mistaking the way she pressed her right shoulder into Josh’s back. Riley thought she saw him flinch, but his eyes never wavered from her, his smile never faltered, and she realized that she must have been projecting her own bodily response onto him. Every ounce of Riley’s cognitive thought screamed, Run! Run far and fast. She wanted to flee from the awful woman who, by the look in her evil eyes, already hated her. The woman who silently staked claim to Josh. Instead, Riley forced a smile and took her hand in a firm grip.

  “I’m honored to be working with you,” she said, and tucked away any lingering thoughts about Josh. She needed a career, not a Fatal Attraction situation.

  JOSH STIFLED A FLINCH at the feel of Claudia against him. She’d made no bones about being open to sleeping her way to the top, and while at first he’d found her innuendos comical, recently he’d begun to loathe them. But she was a dedicated worker and had been with JBD for five years, the last two as the head design assistant. She hadn’t slept her way to that position. Josh had better scruples than that, even if to an outsider Claudia might appear to be the “right” kind of woman for him. He couldn’t deny that she was attractive, intelligent, and she knew the design business inside and out. But Josh had seen the other side of Claudia—the manipulative, competitive-to-the-point-of-nasty side—and those were qualities that Josh was not looking for in a lover. As the niece of one of his oldest supporters, Josh felt trapped by loyalty to keep her on staff.

  He was impressed by Riley’s steely, though professional, reserve. He doubted that Claudia or anyone else could tell that her smile was forced. They couldn’t know that the way her lips pulled tightly at the corners was different from the casual, natural smile Riley usually possessed. And they wouldn’t notice the underlying discomfort in her hazel eyes, the discomfort that Josh recognized and longed to soothe.

  He couldn’t seem to remove his hand from her back. The feel of her curves beneath his palm were refreshing. The women he’d dated were usually pencil thin. Going out to dinner equated to watching skeletons graze on leafy greens, with fake smiles plastered on their artificially plumped lips and dollar signs in their eyes. Then again, Josh’s dates had primarily been setups from business colleagues who believed he needed to date the “right” women for his social status. Over the past year or so, he’d become disenchanted with those expectations, and he’d taken to dating fewer and fewer of them, but that was a thought for another time.

  “I can take her from here,” Claudia said, pushing between them.

  Josh reluctantly removed his hand. He looked into Riley’s eyes again, remembering how he’d been drawn to her when they were teens. The way her eyes had always been like windows to her emotions. Even back then he’d known when she was happy or sad, angry or bored. He had an urge to put his arm around her and soothe away the worry that lay there, but just behind that worry, he saw excitement mounting, and he knew she’d fare just fine—at least he hoped she would.

  “Riley, I’m glad you’re here.” Josh ignored the narrowing of Claudia’s eyes and the iciness that surrounded her like a cloak. “If you need anything, just let Claudia know. She’ll take good care of you. Right, Claudia?” He took pleasure in nudging Claudia out of her vill
ainous stare.

  “Thanks, Josh. I appreciate everything. I won’t let you down,” Riley said.

  “Shall we?” Claudia grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

  Josh headed for his office, thinking about Riley. Her designs were damn good—fresh and stylistic in a way that was different from the typical New York trends. He’d have brought her on as a junior designer if he hadn’t believed that she needed to first learn the down-and-dirty side of the business. Claudia’s designs, on the other hand, left much to be desired, as did her people skills, but as head design assistant, he knew she was the cream of the crop. Organized, efficient, dedicated, and never missed a deadline. Claudia kept the staff in line, even if a little heavy-handedly. He hoped she’d put away her claws long enough to teach Riley the ins and outs of the fashion world.

  If not, I just might have to do it myself.

  Chapter Two

  “THIS IS THE DESIGN studio,” Claudia said. She waved a hand at the tables as they passed. “Everything happens here as far as design is concerned, but it’ll be a while before you sit at one of those tables.”

  “Yes, of course,” Riley agreed, taking note of how the other employees put their heads down as Claudia passed. She wanted to run up and greet each of them. Hi. I’m Riley Banks. I can’t wait to work with you! But she already knew better than to irk Cruella. She wondered how a cold fish like Claudia got the job working for someone as warm as Josh in the first place. Is there another side of Josh that I’m not seeing? Riley made a mental note to watch how other employees reacted to Josh. Maybe he was one of those guys who knew how to charm women but sometimes forgot to hide their wolfhound ways. She didn’t want to believe that the Josh she’d spent time with would have that side to him, but Riley was a realist. Anything is possible.