Riley got up. She shook her head at the oohs emanating throughout the bull pen as she walked to his office, entered, and shut the door behind her.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?” She took a seat in front of him, smoothing down her black wide-leg pants, pink wool sweater and leather belt with polka dots. Her matching pink pumps peeked out from the bottom of her pants as she crossed her legs.
“It’s almost noon. Where’s the blogger’s column?”
“Ah, I see, I knew you loved reading it.”
“Riley.” His voice may have taken on a hard tone but sympathy shone in his eyes. “What’s going on? Is this because of what happened with Elle and Carissa the other day?”
She shrugged. “A little. I mean, it was a pretty tame weekend around here, too. Nothing exciting to report.”
He leaned forward on his desk. “No tips came in from your usual sources?”
“Actually...let’s talk about that.” She leaned forward, mirroring his pose. “I did happen to get the most interesting tip just now.”
She paused and he waited.
“Well? Are you going to tell me what it was about?”
Riley tapped her foot in a quick staccato. “Why don’t you tell me, since the tip was all about you.”
Confusion crossed his face, followed by awareness and a cute reddening of his cheeks. “Someone told you that I met your friends at The Brewside this morning, didn’t they?”
She nodded. “Was it just a coincidence? Maybe you went in for some of Tony’s Monday-morning sticky buns and ran into Elle and Carissa?”
“Or maybe I asked them to coffee.”
She frowned. “Why would you do that?”
He removed his glasses and the confused expression she thought was adorable crossed his face. “I guess I was just trying to help you.”
Her heart melted. When was the last time someone had helped her? When was the last time someone had spoken up on her behalf?
Certainly not when she was in New York.
“Well? Do they still hate me?” She held her breath, fearing the answer.
“Your friends don’t hate you, Riley,” he responded quickly. “But they are angry.”
“I deserve that.” She stood and crossed to the window. Peering out at the street below, she said, “I shouldn’t have told them. I can’t believe I did.”
“Neither can I. Riley?”
She turned back to face him.
“Why did you tell them? What made you pick that moment?”
She shrugged as if the answer was inconsequential or elusive when, really, she knew exactly why she’d spilled the beans.
She was lonely. Revealing her secret to her two best friends gave her a moment of inclusion. Of course, that only lasted a second before reality came crashing down. Now she felt even more isolated.
“I wanted to unload my biggest secret,” she told Sawyer.
He saw through her words immediately. Sometimes it was like he had an insight right into her mind, as though he could edit through her thoughts to get to the crux of the matter.
“I don’t think the Bayside Blogger is your biggest secret.”
She crossed her arms around her stomach protectively. “Oh really? Think I have some other identity that’s bigger than the blogger?”
He’d been watching her from behind his desk. Now he joined her by standing. “Yes.” He skirted the desk and stopped in front of her. “I think you have a whole story from your time in Manhattan. One of these days, you’ll trust me enough to share it.”
Her mouth fell open. How did he know?
They stood like that, in front of his desk, only inches apart, for a long time. Vaguely, she wondered if any of their coworkers noticed them. Surely someone was watching the two of them staring into each other’s eyes.
He had the most alluring hazel eyes. She’d always been able to get lost in their depths.
Eventually Sawyer broke the spell by sitting down on the edge of his desk. “In the meantime, I have a favor to ask of you.”
Not what she was expecting him to say. “Okay?” she said, uncertainly.
“You know I go to the annual Technology in Print Publication Conference every year.” She nodded. “It’s two days from now and Bob had to back out. He has a family commitment he can’t get out of.”
She had noticed Bob was out of the office this week. “And you want me to go with you?”
“In Bob’s place. Yes. You know how you always think of me as Superman?”
“I literally have never thought of you in that way.”
He ignored her. “Turns out I can’t be in more than one place at once. There are some workshops on social media and communications I think would be beneficial to the newspaper. You’re the perfect person to cover them.”
Something felt fishy about this invite. She was the perfect person to cover anything related to social media. Heck, she’d taught most of her coworkers how to use Instagram and Snapchat. But why hadn’t he asked her to go to this conference in the first place?
Unless...it was due to money.
“Sawyer, why didn’t you ask me about this earlier?”
He coughed. “We never send more than two people and Bob has seniority over you.” He didn’t meet her eyes. “Is that a yes then?”
She ignored his question. “So we’ll be going away together. Just the two of us.”
He made a low, guttural sound. It was pure male and pure sex.
She knew the feeling. A couple days away with Sawyer. Alone. Despite her hesitation to get involved, she knew her resistance was wearing thin. Besides, this was for work. Her job. “Uh, I guess I can do that.”
“It’s a couple hours away at a ski lodge. Not sure if they have snow yet or not. But there’s all kinds of things there—sledding, exercise facilities, spa, that kind of stuff. Bring warm clothes. The conference is pretty casual.”
“Do I need to register or anything?”
“Um, no. Don’t worry. The paper will take care of everything. Just be ready to head out early in two days.”
She left his office, but stopped right outside the door. Leaning against the wall, Riley took a moment to compose herself. She would be ready for the conference. The real question was, would she be ready for Sawyer?
Chapter Eight
Ho. Ho. Ho. Anyone guess the Bugle’s potential new couple yet? The lovebirds didn’t get the memo about going south for the winter. I heard they’re traveling to a swanky ski resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Is conference the new term for tryst?
Having Riley by his side was torture.
Especially when she smelled so damn good and looked even better in an outfit that she had deemed was “ski-chic casual” when he picked her up. Whatever that meant. One hour into their car ride and he was already having a heck of a time keeping his eyes on the road and off her. Not to mention the itching in his fingers to reach out and touch her.
For her part, Riley seemed oblivious to the frustrated attraction on the driver’s side of the car. She was singing along to some Christmas song on the radio.
The truth was, he’d lied about Bob. In fact, he’d just used this whole conference as an excuse to get her out of town for a few days to clear her mind.
Clear her mind, but cloud his.
He stifled a grumble. While he might have lied about Bob, who was never supposed to attend this conference, he hadn’t been completely dishonest. There would be workshops and lectures on social media. When it came to anything remotely related to the internet, Riley was the best.
After what felt like a million years, they arrived at the hotel. The Pine Ridge Ski Resort was nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a couple of hours from Bayside. The backdrop was stunning. Snow fell onto the forested peaks from the cloudy sky.
The resort looked just h
ow he’d imagine a ski resort to be. It was constructed of a dark brown wood and had a plethora of tall windows. He could see smoke rising from several chimneys and a chairlift traveling to the top of a mountain behind it.
There was actually snow on the ground already and a flurry of activity as other cars pulled in, no doubt also attending the conference. A large sign greeted the attendees as hotel employees helped collect baggage and usher the guests into the lobby.
Sawyer and Riley made their way inside the rustic lodge and to the front desk, where they waited in line for about ten minutes. Sawyer felt nerves in his stomach as he stepped up to the counter. He glanced at Riley, who was busy checking her phone. No doubt, dealing with the Bayside Blogger.
“Checking in?” The man behind the counter smiled at them. His name tag read James.
“Yes. Room under Wallace.” He eyed Riley, who was still ensconced with her phone. Perfect. He leaned closer to the counter and lowered his voice. “And I had called about getting a possible second room.”
James typed quickly on the keyboard as his eyes stayed trained on the computer screen in front of him. “Yes, I see the note here. One moment.”
Sawyer held his breath. He really hoped they could accommodate his request for a second room. He’d had no problem getting Riley into the conference, although he did have to pay the highest rate for registering her so late. Still, if his libido was so out of control during one car ride, there was no telling how he’d handle sharing a hotel room. Not to mention how irritated Riley was likely to be.
He was determined to stay positive.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any spare rooms.”
There went that.
“We’ve been booked with this conference for several months. Plus, the weather forecast is calling for snow so every other available room has been reserved by skiers and snowboarders. I do apologize.”
Sawyer stifled a groan. “I understand. Do you think we can get a room with two beds at least?”
More fast typing. “Hmm. I’m not sure we can do that, either.” He studied the screen. “Tell you what. Check-in is not for another couple of hours. I know the conference starts before that. Why don’t you leave your bags here and see to your conference sessions? No promises, but I will do the best I can to accommodate you.”
“The best he can for what?” Riley asked, suddenly appearing right next to Sawyer.
Before Sawyer could answer, James said, “A room with two beds.”
Riley tilted her head in question. “We’re sharing a room?” She bit her lip and appeared nervous.
“Yes, we’re sold out this week,” James answered helpfully.
“That’s odd. What about Bob’s room?”
“We don’t have a reserve—”
Sawyer sprang into action. “Uh, I think that Bob canceled his reservation when he realized he couldn’t attend.” He sneaked a glance at James, who was watching him with an amused expression on his face. “They must have given it to another guest.”
James grinned. “Exactly.”
“Oh. Well, um, okay.”
Was it his imagination or did Riley seem as nervous about bunking together as he was?
“James is going to do his best to get us a room with two beds.” Sawyer gave the attendant the eye. “Right, James?”
James spoke up quickly as he took Sawyer’s ID and credit card. “Absolutely, sir.”
Riley twisted her fingers together. “It’s not like we haven’t shared a hotel room before.”
That was true. Their families had gone on countless vacations together over the years. Of course, they were no longer kids and their parents were nowhere to be seen. This time, it would be the two of them. Alone. In a hotel room. For three days.
Suddenly, Sawyer’s face felt flushed. He accepted his driver’s license and credit card from James and shoved his wallet back into his pocket.
They secured their bags with the bellman and did a quick tour of the hotel. If Sawyer hadn’t been feeling so anxious he would have been charmed by the high ceilings, exposed beams and countless fireplaces with comfy sitting areas. Not to mention the views of the snow-covered mountains.
They registered for the conference, received a packet and name badges, and reviewed the schedule. “I guess we should go to this first session. It’s for all attendees. After that, I’m going to meet with some different vendors for our app.”
“Thinking about switching?”
“I just want to see what else is out there. Can we save any money.” He noticed her raised eyebrow. “Don’t start.”
“Fine,” Riley said. “I’d like to attend the workshop on Facebook Live and videos for Twitter.”
As they walked toward the meeting rooms, he could feel the tension rolling off Riley in waves. Couldn’t blame her. They’d kissed twice now. Besides all of the issues Riley was having with her friends and the Bayside Blogger, she had made it clear that they really shouldn’t kiss again. Well, mostly clear.
Sawyer ran a hand over his face as they found two seats and settled in to listen to the first lecture. Three days with the woman he wanted to kiss—and perhaps more—but who he absolutely should not kiss—or do more with. Great.
This was going to be the longest three days of his life.
* * *
It had been one heck of a long day.
As they rode the elevator up to the third floor, Riley rolled her head back and forth trying to dislodge the tension that had formed as she’d sat through lecture after lecture.
While most of the sessions she’d attended had actually been interesting, it had still been a lot to take in at one time.
Technology in Print Publications. Riley knew it was an important subject. Keeping up with the latest trends was important for all publications but especially for a small outlet like the Bugle. Hadn’t she been pushing social media for years now? How many reports had she compiled for Sawyer so he could see the benefits of increasing their use?
God bless Bob for attending this with Sawyer in the past, although she didn’t know how he’d managed it. Bob was an amazing writer and an even better editor. But he was very much the stereotype of the old-school news reporter. As far as she knew, he never went online. She wasn’t even sure if he had a Facebook page.
At least she’d had a good time at the mandatory cocktail hour and dinner. She’d loved meeting reporters and editors from different publications. And if she did say so herself, she’d dazzled quite a few stuffy librarian-types with stories from her various experiences.
She’d told a table of freelance reporters all about the Bayside Blogger. Well, not everything, obviously. In third person, she was able to convey how popular their blogger was. And how the residents of a small town that was rather dead during non-tourist times had come alive with the opportunity to gossip about one another.
She glanced at Sawyer. He’d seemed to be in his element, as well. He knew a lot of the attendees and speakers. More, they all knew him. Even though he tried to downplay it, they’d been impressed with him.
Was it crazy that she found him even sexier than before? The way he’d taken the time to really listen to each person he spoke with. How he’d fiddled with his glasses when he was intrigued with a new idea. How he was dressed in another argyle sweater and corduroy pants that should have made him look like one of her college professors...but made him look completely sexy.
She was out of her mind.
She’d overheard more than a couple conversations praising him for sticking it out. Their fellow attendees appeared to believe that small newspapers were soon to be a thing of the past and they couldn’t believe the Bugle was surviving.
What exactly did that mean?
She’d had a feeling for a while that Sawyer was keeping something from her regarding the newspaper. She’d even asked him a couple times, but every time she did, he�
�d brushed her question off.
Riley opened her mouth to ask him again, but he beat her to it.
“Did you enjoy the sessions today?”
She could tell he had. Besides the constant compliments, he’d been busy scribbling notes, eyeing different exhibits and excitedly talking to vendors.
“They were interesting.”
The elevator stopped on the third floor and they stepped out into the hallway. Sawyer grinned at her. “So, tell me, could you have taught any of them?”
She held her own smile in. “Maybe. Just a few.”
“Before you came along, we didn’t have much of a social media presence. You really upped the bar for all the departments.” His grin faded. “I hope you weren’t bored today.”
“Are you kidding? Social media is constantly evolving. There’s always something new to learn.”
He mock-wiped his forehead. “Phew.”
They started walking down the hallway toward their room. “I’m here for you.”
He stopped outside their room and looked at her. A crease formed on his brow, a sure sign he was deep in thought. “Yes, you are and I appreciate it, Riley. I really do.”
* * *
Sawyer let them into their room with the key card and stopped in the entryway. Riley ran right into his back.
“Hey, what gives?” she asked, even as her hands lingered a little too long on the strong muscles of his back.
“I don’t think you’re going to be too happy but...”
He trailed off and she peered around him. “What? I don’t see any...” And it was her turn to trail off because what she did spot was a bed. A large king-size bed that certainly appeared to be extra comfy with plush white bedding and an ample amount of pillows. The operative word was one. One bed. As in, oh my God, she was sharing a bed with Sawyer.
Sawyer, her boss. Who she was now lusting after day and night. Night and day. Around the clock.
“Riley!”
Sawyer’s loud voice pulled her out of the merry-go-round of thoughts. “Sorry, what?”
“I said, I can call down to the desk. They told us we would have two beds.”
Bayside's Most Unexpected Bride Page 9