He lifted a hand to her cheek, a pained smile spreading across his face. “Georgie, I never once thought you would take advantage of me, but there is some truth to the rest of what Finn said. I do want to make it work because of Beau. There’s no denying I have an attachment to the place.”
“And so do I. It doesn’t hold the memories for me, but I see it and think of all the time I missed with my grandfather. He trusted me to bring it back to life, and I don’t want to disappoint him.” She paused. “And I don’t want to disappoint you. We’ll make this work. Together. But Finn’s right.” Her voice broke. “Once you’re my employee, we can’t have a romantic relationship. Finn already thinks the worst of me, and my brothers…”
“I know,” he said, the disappointment on his face weakening her resolve.
Part of her knew this was a huge mistake. Once she opened this door, it would be hard to close it again, even if River really did shun long-term relationships. Still, her heart wanted this, and she was tired of letting her brain take charge all the time. In her heart of hearts, she knew that if she didn’t give herself this night with River, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
She playfully lifted an eyebrow. “But as I reminded you earlier, you’re not officially an employee at Buchanan Brewery. Which means we have tonight…”
Before she realized what he was doing, River swept her into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly she wondered how she was still standing.
Chapter Twenty-Four
River couldn’t get Georgie back to his loft quickly enough.
One night. He could work with one night. It was better than nothing, and although he wouldn’t say so to her, his heart hoped they could still figure things out. They’d let everything come together with the brewery, allow the dust to settle, as it were, and then maybe things would be different. Then maybe they could try in earnest.
But good God, he wanted her. It was painful, the wanting.
He opened the trunk to put the rest of her things in with the boxes, and her mouth quirked into a little smile when she saw her neatly folded clothes in the cardboard boxes.
“No wonder you were out here for so long.”
He felt his ears heat. “Well, I know you’re going to wash them anyway, but I figured it would soften the blow of seeing your suitcases in the back seat.”
She leaned over to look and flinched a little. “Ouch. They didn’t stand a chance.”
Neither do you, said an inner voice that sounded suspiciously like Finn.
Damn it. Why had he needed to show up out of the blue to stir up shit? Finn could say he was concerned until his voice went raw, and maybe it was true, but there was more to it. He couldn’t accept that his actions had reactions. Finn hated it when anyone was mad at him, whether they had a legitimate reason or not—and so he’d turned things back on River, making some big pep talk about the mistakes River was making. The risks he was taking. Turning himself into the big hero who’d save him, like he had before.
And now he was thinking about Finn when Georgie—sexy, smart, beautiful Georgie—was about to come home with him.
“Ready?” he asked, closing the trunk.
“Yes.” That one word had hidden layers, and the sound of it stirred him as much as her touch. Her brow furrowed. “You know I’m thirty-three, right?”
She said it so seriously, he almost laughed. He had known. He’d done the math after seeing her bio on the Moon Goddess website. And while he didn’t care in the least, he’d wondered if she would.
“Oh, are we exchanging birthdays?” he asked with a grin. “My thirtieth birthday’s in a month, if you’re planning on enforcing the whole awkward cake tradition.”
She smiled back. “Mine was last month. I’ll admit I’m relieved that you didn’t just turn twenty-nine. I know it doesn’t matter, but—”
“But it sort of matters.”
She shrugged self-consciously and then glanced back at the house, very obviously trying to change the subject. “It just occurred to me. Was that your computer in there? I think it probably has water damage.”
“Shit,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “It’s Maisie’s. I think it was an extra from the shelter, but even so. Yet another reason why tonight was a bad idea.”
Which reminded him. Maisie was still at the apartment, and he needed her not to be.
“Let me just text her before we get going,” he said, opening the passenger door for her. She got in, and he pulled out his phone.
Thanks so much for watching Hops. Now, scram. I’m bringing Georgie back to the loft. Also, my aunt kind of, sort of started a fire that probably damaged the computer. I’m really sorry, but I am 100% buying you a newer, nicer one. Oh, and Jezebel is missing. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.
He paused a second before adding, And buy you lunch. Okay, signing off.
He circled around to the driver’s side and slipped behind the wheel. Bringing his phone up so Georgie could see it, he turned it off.
“Fair is fair,” he said, tucking it into the console beneath the radio. “Like I said, I did a bunch of brainstorming over the weekend, but I think we should table that too, as much as I’m dying to tell you everything.”
She did the mouth quirk thing again. “And I agree, as much as I’m dying to hear it. A clear delineation between work and…not work.”
“From the bags, I take it you went back to Boston this weekend?” He’d intended to ask her earlier, and then everything had gone up in flames. Literally.
“Yeah,” she said as he pulled away from the curb. “I forgot to change my original ticket, which is completely unlike me, but someone’s been distracting me.” She shot him a look that was somewhere between accusatory and playful, which he took to mean that while it had been a good distraction, she also didn’t like the hiccup in her thinking. “I figured I should grab the stuff I’d need right away and make arrangements for the rest.”
“You know,” he said, “I think Josie would tell you this is a sign a shopping trip is in order.”
She laughed. “I suspect she would say that. So she’s staying with Dottie tonight? I saw you guys talking in front of the house.”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a turn, “Josie is another of what you might call my aunt’s adoptees. Aunt Dottie met her when she was panhandling downtown. They got to talking, and within a half hour, Aunt Dottie had offered her a job and a temporary place to stay.”
Georgie gasped. Her voice laced with horror, she said, “She was homeless? Jack fired her. Is she going to be okay?”
“Georgie,” he said, “Jack was right to fire her. And I wouldn’t say she was homeless so much as drifting, looking for a place to call home and people to call a family. I think maybe she reminded Aunt Dottie of my mother.” A little twist of pain made itself known in his abdomen. Why had he said that? He never talked about his mother willingly, and yet he’d mentioned her to Georgie twice now. He swallowed. “You don’t need to worry. My aunt would never let anything happen to her. She’ll find something else, probably something better suited to her.”