Bayside's Most Unexpected Bride

by Kerri Carpenter

  “Sawyer.”

  He nipped at her lips. “Is this okay?”

  “Yes. Oh, yes.”

  He didn’t need to hear more than that. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was wondering how they’d gone from her bad morning to him carrying her into the living room and gently placing her on the couch. But it was very far in the back of his mind. Right now, all he wanted was more of her.

  He covered her body with his and she welcomed it with open arms that twined around him, moving up and down his back. When her fingers snuck under the bottom of his shirt, he jumped at the touch.

  She giggled. He looked down at her face. She was smiling and her eyes had finally lost some of the hurt. “Is someone ticklish?” she asked with humor in her voice.

  “If I remember correctly, I’m not the only one who is.” With that, he ran his hand up her side. She bucked and would have jumped right off the couch if he hadn’t been lying on top of her.

  “Touché,” she said, trying to move his hand from her sensitive spot.

  But Sawyer simply ran his other hand up her other side, lightly grazing the skin under her shirt. She shuddered and he covered her mouth with his again. Soon, it wasn’t about one ticklish spot or another, and their hands were all over each other, caressing every spot they could reach. Over clothes, under clothes, it didn’t matter.

  He trailed his mouth down the column of her throat, eliciting something that sounded very similar to a purr. Riley took the opportunity to try to remove his shirt. He shifted helpfully but, somehow, they got twisted, and the next thing he knew he was falling.

  Sawyer hit the floor next to the couch with a thunk and before he could recover from that, Riley landed on top of him. They were both stunned, and there was silence for a long moment before they started laughing.

  “Are you okay?” they asked at the same time. Obviously they were if the laughter said anything.

  “Holy crap. Did we just fall off the couch?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbows and looking down at him.

  “Seems like it. That’s definitely a first for me. Now that was quite a kiss.” He’d meant it lightly but a shadow passed over her face. “Ri, what’s wrong? Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

  “I landed on you, remember?”

  “You weigh like two pounds.”

  “There’s a comment I’d like to hear over and over for the rest of my life.”

  She made to move, but he yanked her back to him. He kissed her lightly and tightened his arms around her. “Where did you go just now?”

  She averted her eyes. “Nowhere.”

  “Don’t avoid me. You gave me the same look you did back in the kitchen when I asked you to talk to me.”

  She bit her lip, deciding. “There are things from my past that I just don’t like talking about. And when you pointed out that we’d been kissing—and of course we had—I kind of, well...”

  “Freaked out a little?” he guessed.

  She nodded. “You’re my boss.”

  “But I’m also your friend.”

  She cupped his cheek. “That makes it worse. We shouldn’t keep doing this.”

  He didn’t second-guess himself. Instead, Sawyer went for it. “I want to keep doing this.”

  “You do?” Her voice was filled with shock. “Why? I mean, really? What would our parents think?”

  “Ah, I really don’t want to think about my parents at this particular moment.”

  What he did want to do was probe into that secret she was keeping from him, find out just what it was holding her back. But before he could do any of that, the doorbell rang and Riley jumped off him. She was already straightening her clothes and the couch cushions by the time he righted himself.

  He took one last long look at her and decided that anything he was going to ask would have to wait. Instead, he walked to the door and pulled it open to see Cam standing there with two six-packs of beers and a grin.

  “Since you refused to come meet me for a drink, I’m bringing the drinks to you.” He handed one of the six-packs to Sawyer. “You’re still lame for pretending to work on a Saturday.”

  Having hung out for years, Cam was comfortable in Sawyer’s house, and he headed toward the living room. When he saw Riley, who, for her part was looking extremely guilty, he stopped in his tracks.

  “Wait, were you actually working?”

  At least Cam seemed oblivious to what they’d actually been doing. “We were just going over some edits on late deadlines,” Sawyer lied smoothly.

  “Nice work outfit,” Cam said to Riley.

  “I was at yoga earlier,” she said, blushing.

  “I’m just teasing you, Ri. But speaking of yoga, did something happen? Elle was in a weird mood when she came home.”

  Riley jumped. “Um, I don’t know. It was fine. I mean, um, I have to go.” She pointed toward the door and then quickly made her retreat.

  “Riley, wait.” Sawyer gave Cam an apologetic look, handed the six-pack over, and ran after Riley, who was faster than he realized. He caught up with her in the driveway, her hand clutching her key fob.

  “Sorry, Sawyer,” she said. “I need to go.”

  “Was it Cam’s question or the couch? Or the floor?”

  She blew out a long breath. “All of the above?” she asked. Her face grew serious. “It’s been a weird morning. I have a lot to think about.”

  “We both have a lot to think about. But I meant what I said in there. I don’t know when or why or how this all started. All I do know is that there’s something between us that I want to explore.”

  “But...but,” she stammered. “We’ve known each other forever. And we’ve never done any of that before. I mean, except for Thanksgiving.” She wiggled her finger toward the house as if that was a clear indicator of their earlier make-out session.

  “Things change and I’m okay with that. The question is, are you?”

  “Sawyer, I just hurt my two best friends. I need to fix that first.”

  “And you will. Like I said earlier, just give them some time.”

  She nodded firmly, although her face belied the action. She was uncertain and nervous. He got that. It had been a big morning for her.

  Sawyer waited until she got in the car and watched as she pulled out of his driveway, drove down the street and turned the corner. Before heading back inside to Cam, he took a moment in the brisk November air.

  The one thing that had come out of the entire day was that Sawyer had finally realized all the feelings and urges he’d been suppressing about Riley were out in the open now.

  He wanted her. It was as simple as that.

  Chapter Seven

  Spotted: Sawyer Wallace “working” over the weekend. Only...he wasn’t alone. What member of the Bugle’s staff kept him company? Or, should I say, what FEMALE staffer... New couple alert? Keep me updated, faithful gossip birdies.

  “Where you off to, boss?”

  Sawyer halted in his tracks. He’d been trying to sneak out quietly without drawing attention to himself. His sports reporter’s question had squashed that hope. Every head in the bull pen turned in his direction, including Riley’s, the one person he was really trying to avoid.

  “I’m just running out for an hour or so to do some errands. Carry on, everyone.”

  He hated acting suspicious and shady. He knew his intentions were noble, but he didn’t want to share the details of his outing until he returned. Since it involved Riley and her new predicament, he’d been laying low all morning.

  He could feel those gorgeous emerald eyes burning into him now. Don’t look at her. Don’t look.

  Of course, he looked.

  As usual, she was beautiful. She was wearing a pink sweater and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. But those who really knew her would notice the shadows under her eyes. Be
cause he understood what was happening in her life, he realized she’d probably spent the whole weekend fretting about the fight with her friends.

  That’s why he was sneaking out now.

  She tossed him a questioning stare. He responded with a nod and continued out the door, zipping his coat as he went.

  It didn’t take long to walk from the Bugle’s office to The Brewside, which was great since it was a particularly cold day. The wind was biting and there was a feeling of snow in the air.

  He pushed open the main door to the coffee shop, soaking in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee beans. A blast of air from the heater washed over him, warming his chilled skin.

  He sidled up to the counter where Carissa was talking with Tony. “What’s that amazing smell?” he asked. Besides the coffee, there was something sweet in the air.

  Carissa beamed. “Just some of my world-famous cinnamon raisin scones.”

  “Carissa’s catering company is going to start offering one specialty item every day,” Tony said around a large bite of the scone.

  “Want one?” she asked Sawyer, gesturing to the tray of fresh-from-the-oven scones.

  “Do you really even need to ask me that?”

  Tony wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So, Sawyer, what brings you in this time of day?” He looked at his watch. “You want the usual?”

  “Sounds good,” he said. “I’m actually here to meet with your new baker and...” They all shifted their attention to the front of the room as the door let out a little jingle. “Here’s my other date,” he said as Elle smiled at them and crossed to the counter.

  “Dates with two of Bayside’s most beautiful women,” Tony said with a wink. “Lucky guy.” He leaned across the counter. “I should warn you, though. They’re both taken.”

  Sawyer faked shock. “Ladies, you deceived me.”

  “I’m making up for it with scones,” Carissa said, and led them to a table near the window.

  “Fair enough.”

  After Tony brought over their drink orders and they’d dispensed with the pleasantries, Sawyer jumped right into business.

  “You’re probably wondering why I asked the two of you here today,” he began.

  Carissa sat back in her seat. “I think we figured out the crux of it.”

  “You want to talk about Riley,” Elle added.

  He nodded and sipped his coffee.

  Carissa huffed. “Riley or the Bayside Blogger? Seems they’re the same person.”

  Suddenly Sawyer wasn’t sure how to proceed. Riley had been right when she’d said Carissa was upset. Even now, there was an angry tint to her cheeks and her eyes had narrowed. But he’d decided yesterday to try and right this situation. Riley was an employee of the newspaper, and therefore he had a responsibility to try to fix this.

  Hell, even he didn’t buy that.

  He was going to try to fix this because it was Riley.

  “I can’t image how you felt learning that Riley is...” He glanced around the nearly empty coffee shop. Still, he lowered his voice. “Learning about Riley’s alternate identity.”

  “Alternate identity? It’s not like she’s Batman,” Carissa said with a snort. “She’s a gossip columnist.”

  “How could we have not figured this out?” Elle asked. “How does she know all the information and details that she does? We took a trip to DC together a while back and I remember that the Bayside Blogger still put out a column.”

  “Technology,” Sawyer answered. “She can write from anywhere. As to all the details, well, let’s just say that as much as the fine citizens of Bayside complain about the gossip, they sure do love to contribute to it.”

  “You mean, people help her write her columns?” Elle asked.

  Sawyer nodded. “She gets tips and items all day long, every day. She could probably stay in her house for a month straight and still put out a column every single day.”

  “I still can’t believe that she hid this from us. We’re so close.” Elle worried her lip.

  “Couldn’t have been easy. She came to my house after she told you on Saturday. She was a mess.”

  Elle seemed sympathetic to the statement, but Carissa held firm. “Oh, so sorry that Riley was distraught over something she caused. Poor little blogger.” She sighed. “You don’t understand, Sawyer. You’re not the one she keeps writing about.”

  “Um, I beg to differ. Thanks to one of her items, my mom started grilling me on these imaginary girlfriends Riley threw in her column.”

  Elle and Carissa worked hard to stifle smiles. In the end, they both lost the battle and it didn’t take long for Sawyer to join in on the laughter.

  “See, it’s not that bad,” he said.

  “But, Sawyer, you weren’t dating anyone else and you’re not getting engaged.” She paused. “Right?”

  “Of course he’s not,” Elle chimed in. “He wouldn’t have kissed Riley on Thanksgiving if he was into someone else.”

  Gah. “She told you about that?”

  Elle and Carissa exchanged a look that clearly read, Duh.

  “Of course, she did, although, it’s really not that surprising,” Elle said.

  “It’s not?” he asked. “What else—”

  Carissa interrupted him. “Can we stay on topic here? I went through a lot of tough times that I would have preferred to keep to myself. The Bayside Blogger didn’t give me that option. She told the whole town my very personal business.”

  “I know she did and that sucks. But let me ask you this. Was any of the info she reported on false?”

  “Huh?” Carissa asked.

  “Was it gossip or fact?”

  “Well, fact, I guess.”

  “See, Riley and I had two rules when it came to the blogger. The first was that every single item she posted, tweeted, wrote about, had to be fact. No presumptions. No lies. No embellishments. If she reported that someone cheated on their significant other, they did. When she says someone is raising havoc in The Brewside, they are.”

  Elle leaned forward, interest shining in her eyes. “So Mrs. Winters really did take a burlesque dance class over in Riverdale?”

  “My eyes are still burning over that one, but yes,” Sawyer admitted.

  “What’s the second rule?” Carissa asked. “Between you and Riley?”

  Sawyer waited a beat, making sure he had their full attention. “That she wouldn’t tell anyone her identity.”

  They all paused, realization settling in.

  “Then why would she tell us?” Carissa asked softly.

  “Because she loves you and respects you.”

  “And she trusts us,” Elle added.

  “I think she was probably feeling a little bad, too. It’s a big secret she’s been keeping completely to herself all this time. Couldn’t have been easy. In fact, it must have been pretty lonely.”

  “She betrayed my trust,” Carissa said, and crossed her arms.

  Sawyer stifled a sigh. “You could argue that she betrayed the whole town. And that most of the citizens of Bayside betrayed one another. There’s a lot of betrayal going on here.”

  He finished his coffee and put the empty cup back on the table. “I understand you’re mad at her. I’m just asking you to forgive. Riley really loves both of you and she’s devastated to realize how much she’s hurt you. And I know you both love her.”

  Elle leaned her arms onto the table. “What about you, Sawyer? How do you feel about Riley?”

  Heat washed over his face and suddenly Sawyer felt uncomfortable in his chair. “Riley and I have known each other our entire lives. She’s a talented writer and a good employee. And she’s my friend. She always will be.”

  Elle’s eyes softened. “Sometimes relationships change.”

  If he thought he was uncomfortable before, it was nothing compared to how h
e felt now. “Well, I don’t know that we need to...”

  “Oh, give him a break, Elle.” Carissa rolled her eyes. “They have to come to it in their own time.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Elle agreed.

  “I appreciate you meeting with us, Sawyer,” Carissa said. “But I just need a little more time to work out how I feel about all this.”

  He supposed that was the best outcome he could hope for at this point. Besides, when it came to things concerning Riley he had quite a bit of thinking to do himself.

  Interesting meet-up at The Brewside today between Sawyer Wallace, Elle Owens and Carissa Blackwell. The three had their heads together for a long time. Couldn’t catch any snippets of the conversation, but maybe it had something to do with Carissa and Elle running out on Riley the other day.

  Riley stared at the message that Tony had sent her over direct message on Twitter. Why in the world had Sawyer, Elle and Carissa gotten together? Of course, Elle and Car were on friendly terms with Sawyer, but that was still an unlikely trio.

  Maybe this had something to do with how weird Sawyer had been all morning. She knew something was up with him when he left earlier.

  Riley turned her attention back to her computer screen, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Tony’s message. Not to mention the fact that, as usual, Tony had been sending her tips all weekend and she’d yet to post any of them.

  The blank Word document staring back at her was like a big neon sign shining the word loser over and over again. She had a major case of the blogger’s block. Ever since she’d spilled the beans to Car and Elle she’d been unable to post anything other than a couple of lame tweets. Pretty soon people would start to notice.

  Since she’d spent the entire weekend moping in her apartment with Chinese takeout and bad reality television, she took some time to go through all of the tips she’d received. She’d have to cobble an article out of them.

  She was halfway through a column about a possible new romance between two of the teachers at the high school when Sawyer’s voice bellowed out from his office.

  “Hudson. Get in here.”

  When had he gotten back? Must have used the back door.