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“What’s with him?” Dennis, her next-door cubicle mate, asked quietly.
“Dunno. Probably pissed about that restaurant review I did. They were an advertiser.”
“Hold strong.” He touched his stomach. “I ate there, too. It wasn’t good.”
Riley grabbed her notebook and pen. “Will do.” Then she headed toward Sawyer with the sinking feeling she already knew what this was about.
When she reached his office, she stayed where she was in the doorway. She crossed her legs, accentuating the fabulous brown suede knee-high boots she’d bought in DC last weekend when she and her best friend, Elle, had driven to the city for a girls’ weekend.
“Hey, boss. What’s up?”
He steepled his hands on his desk and peered at her with his dreamy hazel eyes.
Damn. Dreamy? She meant irritating. Beady even.
The weather was unseasonably cold already and he was sporting a pair of corduroy pants and a somewhat ugly argyle sweater that she knew had been a Christmas gift from his mother last year. Not the most stylish of outfits and yet somehow he looked like he’d walked out of the pages of an L.L.Bean catalog. Just because he was tall with broad shoulders and had really cute sandy-brown hair that flopped on his head because he needed a haircut. And today he was wearing his glasses. What was it about a large lumberjack-looking man who wore glasses? Why did that make her stomach twist up into knots? And then there was his lopsided smile...
What in the heck was she doing? This was Sawyer Wallace, lifelong friend and, more importantly, boss. She couldn’t size him up like a piece of meat. Especially because they worked together. Especially because of what had happened to her in New York.
“Riley,” he began.
“Sawyer,” she countered, and bit her lip in anticipation.
He reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a colorful silk scarf. “Before I forget, Tony found this at The Brewside. Said you left it there a couple of weeks ago and he kept forgetting to give it to you.”
She reached for the bright yellow scarf with lime-green polka dots. One of her favorites.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. “Tony must have given this to you while you were on your date.” She used air quotes for the word date and wiggled her eyebrows.
Sawyer exhaled a long breath.
“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“‘Bayside’s forever bachelor’?” he quoted. “Really?”
She shrugged.
“I thought I told you to keep me out of the Bayside Blogger’s column.”
* * *
Riley stepped into his office and closed the door. She didn’t sit in either of the chairs in front of the ancient oak desk in his office. The desk that had belonged to his great-great-grandfather. Instead, she remained standing in front of him, wearing a sexy little dress that looked like something he’d once seen on a rerun of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Not to mention those boots that showcased her shapely legs.
She was wringing her hands, he noticed. That meant she’d already realized he wasn’t going to like being an item in her gossip column.
“You wrote about me? Seriously?”
Riley scrunched up her nose in a way he found distracting. And...cute. “I’ve written about you before. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to exclude you just because you work at the Bugle.”
He arched a brow. “Because I own the Bugle, you mean?”
“Well, no one’s off-limits. That was the deal we made when I started doing this.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.” Did he ever. When Riley had originally pitched him the idea of a gossip column he’d had no idea what the Bayside Blogger would become. He’d only said yes because she’d been so excited about it.
After she’d returned from New York City, the usually bubbly girl he’d known forever had been different. Somber, quiet, less bubbly. Not for the first time, Sawyer wondered what exactly had happened to her in Manhattan. But she never talked about it and changed the subject if New York was even brought up.
His phone chirped and he saw a text message from his mother. He gestured to his phone. “Do you see this? You have my mom reading your column.”
“I love your mom. Tell her I said hi.”
Sawyer gritted his teeth. “My mom follows the Bayside Blogger. My mom mentioned the article and I told her it wasn’t true. She just asked me via text if I was planning to propose to Holly and when I said no, she asked if I was gay.”
“Fair question,” she said with a wry smile.
He nailed her with a hard stare. Riley remained completely unaffected. They’d known each other too long for intimidation. Hell, they’d known each other their entire lives. Of course, that’s what happened when you grew up in a small coastal town like Bayside, Virginia.
“You know I’m not gay.”
Her gaze ran over him. “Of course you’re not gay. Look at that outfit.”
“Cute.”
“Thanks.” She plopped down in a chair. “Honestly, I don’t know what you’re upset about. I didn’t write anything that bad.”
He leaned toward her. “You said I was on a date.”
“I had multiple sources email and direct message me on Twitter about your little daytime rendezvous.”
Sawyer knew Riley got tips all day long from her many sources. For, as much as they complained, the residents of Bayside couldn’t keep themselves from joining the gossip train. They apparently loved helping the Bayside Blogger report on one another. They emailed her directly or through the Bugle’s website and left Facebook and Twitter messages. Last summer Riley had been able to take a weeklong vacation without the gossip stopping.
He’d claim the whole thing was preposterous, but the numbers didn’t lie. The gossip column was the most viewed area of the online edition of the paper. He couldn’t help but wonder what his ancestors who’d started the newspaper would think of that.
Still, he wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. “You know I wasn’t on a date with Holly.”
She raised her nose in a regal gesture. “I know nothing of the kind.”
“She’s one of our best freelance photographers. We were meeting about an assignment.” Even he could hear the defensiveness in his voice. And why did he feel the need to explain himself to Riley?
“You could’ve met here at the office.”
“I needed caffeine.” And he’d needed to get away for a little bit.
Running a daily newspaper wasn’t the easiest of jobs these days. Not that it ever had been. Balancing editorial with the business side, advertisers and marketing. Not to mention the dwindling circulation numbers.
He really wished he didn’t have to mention that.
“Is the Bugle in trouble?”
Damn, she was the most perceptive person he’d ever met. Probably why she was so good at being the Bayside Blogger.
He noticed the concern on her face. It probably mirrored his own. Still, he didn’t want to worry her or anyone on staff. So far he’d been able to keep all of the financial concerns to himself. “No more than every other paper in the country.”
“Maybe you could raise the price. I’m sure people would pay...”
He shook his head as she trailed off. “You know that circulation doesn’t keep newspapers afloat. Advertisers do.”
A small line formed on her forehead as she considered that. “But you said that advertisers have been fighting to get in.”
“Just in your section.” Which was true. Everyone wanted to appear in the Bayside Blogger’s section since they knew that everyone in town was reading the gossip. Bayside had its fair share of restaurants and local businesses, but a small town offered only so many resources. And without more advertising, they’d be closing up shop by the end of the next summer season.
The truth was, Riley’s question was on target. The Bugle was in trouble. Sawyer had tried to stay on top of it by utilizing their website and digital edition and making sure the design was up-to-date. He’d even downsized the print edition to cut costs at every corner.
But now he had some tough decisions to make, the biggest being layoffs. He was already running with a skeleton crew in the advertising department. He hated to think about shrinking the editorial team. He swiped a hand over his face. Employee layoffs at Christmastime. Could there be anything worse?
“Sawyer, are you okay? What’s going on?”
Riley’s voice pulled him out of his funk even though he knew he was going to have to deal with it soon. In the meantime, he’d explore all options and do everything in his power to not have to fire anyone. At Christmas or any other time. And he’d definitely work hard to keep this from his team. Even if it meant not drawing his own salary.
“Nothing is going on and I’m fine. Stop worrying. On to other business. The upcoming Christmas Kickoff Festival.”
Riley eyed him skeptically for another moment before flipping open her reporter’s notebook. “Day after Thanksgiving, just like always.”
“With a twist,” Sawyer interjected. “Usually, this is a townie thing. But I was at the council meeting the other night. They want to go big, attract people from other towns and areas of Virginia.”
“Impressive.”
“They want it to be a smaller version of New York’s lighting of the Rockefeller Center tree.”
He noticed her pen skip at the mention of New York. “I want you to cover the event. This is right up your alley. Plus, you lived there, so you’d have the experience of knowing what their ceremony is like.”
“I never went to the tree lighting when I lived there,” she said in a soft voice.
Sawyer knew that wasn’t true. Riley had lived in New York for four years. During that time, she’d always been active on social media, and he remembered seeing her Facebook pictures of tree lightings over the years. But, once again, she didn’t want to talk about New York. So, once again, he would let it go. For now.
“Still, I’d like you to head up the festival for the Bugle. Let’s start getting some pre-event coverage in both the print and online editions.”
Now she was scribbling in her notebook. Concentrating. Looking sexy as hell.
Get a grip, Wallace.
“Oh, I wanted to ask you about that recent social media promotion you and Claudia ran. Why were the numbers so low?”
Her gaze flicked up quickly to his. Her eyes narrowed. “The numbers were fine. Normal.”
“Not from the report you sent me. The reach was lower than the last contest.”
She gifted him with an overdramatic sigh. “How many times do I have to explain social media to you?”
The side of his mouth twitched but he held in the smile. One of his favorite things about Riley was how bright she was. Most people didn’t realize that under her coordinated outfits and talk of the latest docudrama airing on Bravo, Riley had a shrewd eye for social media, pop culture and how to use those things in business.
“Humor me,” he told her.
“You were looking at the total reach of the posts on all the platforms. Did you check the organic reach? The numbers were fabulous, especially considering how you cut our social media advertising budget to shreds.”
“I don’t see how that—”
She continued on her rant and Sawyer couldn’t follow it, although, he was impressed as hell. He might not understand a lick of what she was saying, but he really loved watching how passionate she became as she explained it.
“Are you listening to me?”
Her question jerked him away from his thoughts. He decided that talking to Riley about social media wasn’t going to help anything. Especially because he didn’t want to reveal that she was going to have even less money in the budget next year.
“What are you up to this weekend?” he asked.
If his change in topic came as a surprise to her, she didn’t show it. “Same as you,” she said with a bemused smile. He racked his brain and couldn’t think of any shared family gatherings until Thanksgiving. Riley rolled her eyes. “Tomorrow is Elle and Cam’s engagement party at the Dumont estate. There’s no way you could have forgotten that.”
His turn to roll his eyes. “Blocked, perhaps.”
“Sawyer, it’s not that bad. Most people love when the Dumonts throw parties.”
“Which is practically every week.”
The Dumont family had also been in Bayside for generations. They owned Dumont Incorporated, headed up by Jasper Dumont now. Jasper was Cam’s brother and Sawyer was close with both of them. He was happy his friend had popped the question to Elle. Thrilled to celebrate with them. What he didn’t particularly look forward to was dressing in a monkey suit and mingling with most of the town at yet another black-tie party.
He saw the excitement on Riley’s face, though. This kind of event was much more her thing. She was so good at socializing and enjoying large crowds. Not to mention, she looked damn fine in a gown.
“Come on,” she cooed. “There has to be something about tomorrow’s party you can look forward to.”
An image of her in a tight black dress from the last Dumont soiree flitted into his mind. All of that amazing red hair had been piled in curls atop her head. Her shoulders had been bare and she’d worn the sexiest pair of stilettos... His mouth went dry thinking about it.
He almost jerked backward. What in the heck was he doing? He couldn’t think about Riley like that. He could still remember the doll she used to carry around when they were kids.
“Earth to Sawyer,” she said impatiently.
“There’s always the free alcohol,” he covered.
Oblivious to his thoughts, she nodded. “There you go. Now, you just have to get your date Holly on board.”
He gritted his teeth. “I am not dating Holly.”
“I wouldn’t care if you were.” Her eyes narrowed as she considered. “Are you bringing anyone else tomorrow? Like, as a date?”
He shook his head. “Nope. You?” He held his breath.
“No. It’s hard to be Riley Hudson, the Bayside Blogger, and enjoy being on a date. You know that.”
He did. She committed her life to the Bugle, sacrificing much of her social life to write the column that was keeping the paper in the black—barely. He opened his mouth to thank her, but the words caught in his throat. The sun was slanting through the blinds, highlighting her coppery hair, the freckles on her ivory nose, that amazing body.
