Bayside's Most Unexpected Bride. Kerri Carpenter

on her lips once more.

      Riley felt like stars were exploding around her. She hadn’t experienced pure, unadulterated passion like this since...

      Suddenly she pushed away from him. They were both struggling for breath, their chests mirroring each other in a rapid up-and-down rhythm.

      “I can’t,” she said in a very unsteady voice.

      “I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes wide and dark with desire.

      She wasn’t sorry. Not in the least. That was part of the problem. She couldn’t kiss Sawyer. He was her friend, not to mention that he currently handed out her paycheck.

      But it had felt so good, so natural.

      No. She shook her head, trying desperately to clear it. At the same time, she shivered.

      “Ri,” Sawyer said, bending to retrieve the blanket. “You’re going to get sick. Here.” He placed the blanket around her shoulders, adjusting it so that it covered all of her. He lingered, and his fingers brushed over her collarbone, inciting another shiver that had nothing to do with the weather.

      Sawyer must have noticed and his eyes focused on her lips. Before she could protest, he was tugging the blanket toward him, which had the added effect of bringing her right to him. She raised her head. Big mistake—it put his sumptuous mouth in front of her.

      How could she resist?

      They stood like that for a moment. A long, heated moment. She didn’t know who moved first. Maybe it was both of them. She let out a gasp, and then once again their lips met.

      Who knew Sawyer Wallace could kiss like this? If he wasn’t holding her up by the blanket, her knees would give out.

      After what felt like hours, they parted. Gently he kissed the tip of her nose and then her forehead before pulling her in for a long hug.

      “Riley, that was—”

      “Something that absolutely cannot happen again,” she finished sadly.

      He released her and pinned her with questioning eyes. “Ri,” he began. Instead of finishing, he scratched his head. “Are you seeing someone?”

      “No, of course not. You’d know if I were.”

      “Then what?”

      “It’s not you, Sawyer. It’s me. I can’t do that with you.”

      After their dance at Elle and Cam’s engagement party last week, this kiss wasn’t really a surprise. When they’d danced, it had felt like they were the only two people in Bayside. And that had scared the crap out of her.

      She’d spent the week avoiding him, which frankly hadn’t been that hard. He’d met with Dan Melwood. Riley wondered what that was about. Dan had been in Bayside last summer, but as far as she knew he didn’t have any reason to be back so soon.

      “Talk to me,” he said firmly.

      She put space between them. Bided her time by taking a sip of her wine. She owed him some kind of explanation.

      “Okay.” She nodded. “When I lived in New York, there was a guy there. A guy that I dated.”

      “I always wondered,” he said more to himself.

      “We worked together.”

      “Ah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Let me guess. There was a policy against dating in your office?”

      “Actually, no.” She drank a much bigger sip of wine. “I wish there would have been. But I was young and stupid so I probably would have ignored it anyway.” She tightened the blanket around her. “Connor and I hit it off right away. Before I knew it, we were dating.”

      Sawyer’s face was serious. “What happened with him?”

      “He got promoted.” She swallowed hard. “To my supervisor.”

      “Damn.”

      “Exactly,” Riley agreed. “I don’t need to go into all the details.”

      More like, she didn’t want to go into the details, because if she did, Sawyer would know that she was a major idiot. She’d have to tell him how wonderful she’d thought Connor was. How she’d stupidly thought they would get engaged and married one day. How she made him the center of her universe only to have that universe come crashing down around her when she learned that Connor was already engaged to another woman.

      There had been signs, but she’d ignored them. Connor had made a fool out of her and out of her belief in love.

      “Riley,” Sawyer urged.

      She opened her eyes. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them. “He became my boss and the situation became so complicated.”

      “He didn’t fire you, did he?”

      Was it her imagination or was a vein ticking in his neck? It was too dark to tell.

      “No, he didn’t fire me. It was an incredibly uncomfortable couple of months. I tried to find work elsewhere, but nothing panned out.”

      “So you came back home to Bayside,” Sawyer said.

      “Not at first. I wanted to give it some time, see if things got better. But after four years in New York I was ready to return.”

      “I see.”

      “Do you?” she asked. “When I came home, I promised myself that I would never, ever put myself in a situation like that again.”

      “A situation where you date your boss.”

      “A situation where I could possibly humiliate myself. That’s why I can’t kiss you. Or date you. Not now, not ever. Even if I want to.”

      He stepped closer. “Do you? Do you want to kiss me?”

      She held up a hand. “It doesn’t matter what I want, Sawyer. The fact is, nothing can happen between us. You’re my boss.”

      “I’m your friend, too, and I always will be.”

      Yes, he was. Another stark reminder. Kissing him had the potential to damage both their working relationship and friendship. Not to mention the drama that would ensue if anyone found out about them. And Riley just couldn’t—wouldn’t—go through that again.

       Chapter Four

      Ho-ho-ho, Baysiders! Who else is excited for today’s Christmas Kickoff Festival? You know I’ll be mingling in the crowd. Hopefully, Santa won’t put me on the naughty list. But I’ll tell you someone who should be...;)

      Sawyer’s plan for the town’s annual Christmas Kickoff Festival was to do a quick lap to check out the scene, stop at The Brewside for coffee and then get back to the action.

      He’d attended this festival every year of his life except for two. He shook his head, willing the guilt over that lapse in judgment to fade.

      Instead, he took in the center of the town square where a huge Christmas tree had been erected, decorated and awaited the ceremony tonight, when its hundreds of strands of lights would illuminate the square. A cute picket fence surrounded the tree, and an old-fashioned electric train made its way around the base. Sawyer had loved trains when he was a boy and just seeing the one today brought back all kinds of warm childhood memories.

      Beyond the train were oversize presents wrapped in red, green, gold and silver paper. He was happy to see the large bins on the other side of the tree that had been set up to collect toys and coats for local charities, too. He needed to remember to bring the things he’d bought for that. Maybe they could even take up a collection at the Bugle.

      More guilt washed over him. How could he ask his employees for donations to charity when he might have to lay some of them