Page 92 of Resting Grump Face

“You thought I was the one behind the blog?” I ask, with sudden pangs of anger shooting through my belly.

“I didn’t know what to think! My immediate reaction was: no way, she would never. But then, the longer I thought about it, things started to… point your way… more than they already did. I mean, what are the chances we meet at the airport and you just randomly decide to sleep with me?”

“I decided to punish you and there was nothing random about it.”

“Exactly, punish me. And then you kept going on and on about how I am the bad guy who‘deserves exactly what’s coming to him’. Your words, not mine.”

“Well, I can be a little impulsive and tend to exaggerate from time to time.”

“Yes, and then there was that time you threatened to make me disappear when we were at dinner with Roman.”

“Seems like a bit of a stretch, but alright, I get your point. I understand how you could maybe, possibly think that I might have had a motive.”

“And the means,” Earnest comments quietly from behind us.

Ryker chuckles and nods. “Oh, and maybe the most damning of all evidence is the fact that the article I found on your computer had a picture attached that you took.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a picture of me at the TV station in my underwear. I still remember finding your eyes in the crowd that day.”

“Where is that picture?” Paige whispers. “For journalistic reasons,” she adds.

“No way,” I say when things click in my head.

“So you can see why I would suspect you,” Ryker explains.

“I know who did it. I think I know who’s behind the blog.”

“What? How?”

“I wasn’t the only one there that day.”

“Yes, there were lots of people there, but I doubt the cable guy or Jess would do such a thing, despite her somewhat suggestive messages.”

“Wait, she sent you suggestive messages, and you didn’t tell me? Do you want me to be mad at you?”

“This was when you still hated me, besides I deleted the messages and blocked her number because I was already smitten with someone else.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Robyn says, throws her black scarf over her shoulder, and sighs. “But I’m not interested.”

“Barbara. She was there, too. Told me not to tell you because you’d be mad at her for working overtime on the weekend. Plus, she had access to my computer.”

It has to be her, doesn’t it? But why would she do this? She seemed to truly care about him.

Ryker’s gears are working overtime too, trying to make sense of the new information. “But she’s been with me from the very beginning. She’s my best employee and lots of people have access to an empty office. Why would she do all of this?”

“Yeah, well, I know this doesn’t really make sense, unless… maybe her taste in men is as questionable as mine.”

Ryker smiles, gives me a hug and places a kiss on my cheek. “You’re still angry at me, aren’t you?”

“You thought I was an insane stalker. Of course I am still angry at you.”

He swipes the hair out of my face, presses another kiss on my temple and walks over to the dusty old couch on the opposite side of the basement. Then he throws me one of the pillowsthat is lying on top. “Come on. Let’s settle this like adults then. Because I’m mad at you too!”

His pillow hits me on my butt and makes dust fly everywhere.

“Oh, yeah? What the hell did I do?”