Huh. Jack had been weird with him a few days ago, but he’d been straight-up hostile tonight. Whatever mystery problem had drawn him home clearly wasn’t going well. Or maybe that wasn’t the problem. Maybe…
Hell, might as well come out and ask.
“Does he have a problem with me because he knows I’m interested in you?”
She looked him in the eye, and the attraction he saw there had him thinking about that kiss again—the sounds she’d made against him, the way the sparks of color in her eyes had danced.
But there was something else in her gaze too, an inner conflict he could guess at all too well. The work situation still stood between them.
“Maybe part of it is that he knows I’m interested in you,” she said softly, “but I don’t think that’s all of it.” She opened her mouth as if on the verge of saying something else, only to close it again without uttering a sound.
He wanted to reach for her, but he couldn’t until they got past this. Somehow. “He wants me out,” he guessed, “and after tonight, I’m guessing Lee feels the same way.”
Her mouth twisted, but she didn’t deny it.
“I’ve been working on a plan for the fall beers all weekend.” He paused, glancing back at the house. “In between helping Aunt Dottie with this fiasco. But it occurs to me that I haven’t actually signed any papers yet, and two of the owners are against it happening.”
A look of horror crossed her face. She took his hand and turned to face him, her knee knocking into his leg. “Oh, River, I don’t want you to think I’d take your work and then go with someone else. I’m going to get the paperwork sorted out tomorrow. You’re the one who made me realize how great this could be. Restoring Grandpa Beau’s legacy, working with Jack.” She held his gaze, her eyes intent. “Working with you. I started Moon Goddess by myself, and while I hired a lot of great people, I didn’t have anyone to brainstorm with. To collaborate with. I want that with you.”
“But we don’t work together yet,” he repeated.
Her eyes widened with understanding. The conflict from earlier was still there, unresolved, but she leaned toward him. “No, I guess we don’t.”
She took out her phone, and for a second he thought he’d been reading her wrong, but she turned it off without looking at the texts. Tucking it back into her pocket, she looked up at him, her lips parting.
He reached up to wipe the spot of soot off her chin, smiling a little when he saw her skin was tinged pink again, and leaned in to kiss her. Her lips were as soft as he remembered, and the kiss was gentle at the start—as if their lips were reacquainted with each other—but it turned fierce as quickly as it had that last time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer, and he lifted her into his lap, eliciting a little gasp from her that was muffled as she changed the angle of their kiss.
She pulled back to look at him, her eyes bright and intense. She looked on the verge of saying something—like maybe they should get out of Beau’s somewhat public backyard, or suggest that they both take a shower, hopefully together—but then her gaze lowered, and her nose scrunched. For a moment, he thought she was staring at his obvious arousal, but then she reached into his pants pocket and pulled something out.
“Why are my panties in your pocket, River?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The look of horror on River’s face was almost too much for her to take with a straight face, especially when he started to fumble over his answer. “I…they were on the ground… I thought Josie and I had gotten them all, but then I saw these in the yard, and I—”
“So you were being chivalrous?” she whispered with a playful look.
The tension eased from his face. “Yeah.”
“I think it’s kind of sexy that you have my panties.” She slowly tucked them back into his pocket. “You can keep them for now.”
His body tensed, but she was sure it was for a different reason this time. The growing bulge pressing against her thigh was proof enough.
He stared up at her in wonder. “How the hell are you so forgiving after everything that’s happened tonight? Hell, the last few days.”
Her smile softened, settling into contentment. “You have a good heart, River Reeves. From my limited observations of the male species, that’s somewhat of a rarity.” Her grin brightened again. “And it buys you a few passes.”
Warring emotions flickered in his eyes. “I’ll make it up to you, Georgie.”
Her hand fanned against his cheek as she studied his warm brown eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she might lose herself in them.
“Um…am I interrupting something?” a man asked from a few feet away, his surprise obvious.
River’s arms tightened around her, the sudden tension in him coming in his voice. “What are you doing here, Finn?”
Finn? As in Finn Hamilton, the owner of Big Catch?
Just when Georgie was sure this night couldn’t get any worse, it kept on coming. It might not have been so bad if she hadn’t called Finn for a reference on Friday, and now…
Good Lord. What did he think of her?
She scrambled off River’s lap so fast she almost fell onto the ground. River grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet as he stood.
“You didn’t answer my question.” The anger in River’s voice caught Georgie by surprise. They’d encountered their fair share of messes over the past seventy-two hours, and he’d never once raised his voice to anyone. But River felt betrayed by Finn, so she couldn’t say she blamed him.
“Maybe I should go,” she murmured, wondering where she’d left her purse. Somewhere in the kitchen. Assuming it had survived the fire. Although why was she so concerned about her purse? All of her worldly belongings in Asheville were either in the house, the back of River’s car, or smashed on the street.
“No,” River said, putting out an arm to stop her. “Finn was just leaving.”
“Come on, man. After I heard about the fire, I raced over to check on things,” Finn said, running a hand over his short hair in frustration. His hair was somewhere between brown and blond and looked like it might be curly if he let it get long enough, and he had ocean-colored eyes—blue and green—fringed with lashes darker than his hair. The fact that she wasn’t attracted to him at all was only further proof of how hung up she was on River.
“How did you even find out?” River asked in a cold tone.
“The neighbors,” Finn said sheepishly. “I could see the smoke, plus Gertrude from down the block is going door to door warning everyone that the devil cat is loose after a fire, and, well…there are a lot of cats in this neighborhood, but only one Jezebel. I figured they had to be talking about Beau’s house.” He paused, looking at them with eyes that seemed to see everything. “I was about to ask if everyone is okay, but I’d say it looks like everyone’s doing better than fine.”
“We were until a few minutes ago,” River muttered.
Finn’s gaze shifted to Georgie, and she felt like she was being examined under a microscope. He took a step forward and extended his hand. “Finn Hamilton, River’s friend.” There was no missing the insinuation that she was the intruder, the odd woman out. He certainly didn’t lack for confidence—while he was right in a way, this was still her house. One-fourth hers, anyway. “You must be Georgie Buchanan, the new owner of Buchanan Brewery. I recognize you from your photos online.”