Her stubborn expression slipped, and a stricken look took its place. Almost as if she was on the verge of crying, and Maisie hardly ever cried. Even after she lost her parents. Shit, maybe he’d been too harsh.
He softened his tone and said, “Look, I’m sorry about the computer, and if you’re up for it, we can go computer shopping at lunch tomorrow, and I’ll tell you the whole sordid story. But I need to be alone with Georgie tonight. I’m asking you to understand.”
“River,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm, “I do understand. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re clearly in this, but is she?”
He smiled, looking down at Hops because he didn’t want Maisie to see his eyes. He felt the vulnerability there. The doubt. “I guess I aim to find out.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Georgie washed her hands for long enough that she likely would have been clean enough to perform surgery, yet she still wasn’t ready to leave the bathroom. Not while River was dealing with his friend.
Other than Dottie, it seemed like everyone in his life hated her. Or at least the important people. First Finn, now Maisie. Except she supposed Maisie had shown her disapproval first. Georgie couldn’t help thinking Maisie disliked her because she herself was in love with River. But even so…
Josie would have taken it for a bad sign, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something to that. It didn’t help matters any to know that at least two of her three siblings would have a coronary if they knew what she was up to.
Georgie sat down on the toilet lid, surprised when tears stung her eyes. She wasn’t much of a crier—her father had made sure of that—but damned if this didn’t sting. The connection she felt with River was so much stronger, so much more alive than anything she’d experienced with another man. Her body flushed just thinking about the electricity in his touch. Had she ever blushed more than in the last few days? But with so many people against them…
One night. Just one night. You owe it to yourself.
She was a logical person, though, most of the time, and she knew it would be so much harder to resist him if they slept together. Once she walked through that door, could she really walk back out?
Would she want to?
But Georgie Buchanan had a resolve of steel when the situation required it. She knew she could resist him. Was the same true for him?
She got up and opened the bathroom door, deciding that while the discussion between River and Maisie was very much between them, it would be cowardly for her to keep hanging out in the bathroom. Steeling her back, she headed down the hall to the living room, prepared for Maisie’s icy glare, but all she found was River holding Hops in the middle of the room, staring at the closed front door.
He turned to look at her, his eyes troubled, and guilt quickly slid into her head. The last thing she wanted to do was come between him and his friends, even though she had a pretty strong suspicion he and Maisie were not on the same page. It wasn’t her place to say so.
“River…”
He set the puppy down and walked toward her. “Georgie. If you changed your mind, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. After Maisie and Finn, I can’t say I would blame you.”
“They’re your friends. They’re worried about you.”
A wry grin twisted his mouth. “They like to butt themselves into my business.”
“Because they care about you.” Her heart tightened, and she found herself saying, “I wish I had friends like yours.”
He stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Are you drunk? Did Lurch’s Pee Brew take an hour to kick in?”
She smiled up at him, lifting her hands to rest on his shoulders, and flutters filled her stomach. “My friends in high school weren’t the lifelong type, you know? And my college friends too. Let’s just say that I became so focused on Moon Goddess, I let a lot of my friendships die. The few I have aren’t that close.”
Why was she telling him this? She was making herself sound like a driven asshole, but then again, maybe it was good he knew the truth. Maybe it would help him realize they really could only press pause on reality for so long. He had commitment issues, apparently, and she was too committed to work. A nonstarter.
“I didn’t make Moon Goddess what it was without personal sacrifice,” she continued. “Buchanan Brewery will likely be the same way.”
He studied her for a moment. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me. That after tonight you’re going to be so driven you won’t have time to see me?” His eyes twinkled a little. “I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of each other—in a professional capacity—but I understand the rules, Georgie, and I respect them. What happens tonight won’t have anything to do with our working relationship. We’re both grown-ups. We can set boundaries.”
“I’m a fair boss, but sometimes I’m—”
He kissed her lightly. “No work talk.”
“But I just want—”
He kissed her again, letting it linger this time, sending shivers all the way to her toes. “We’ll compartmentalize. Tomorrow you’ll be the boss and I’ll be the employee, but tonight…” He kissed her again, slowly slipping his arm around her back and pulling her closer so her body was flush with his. This kiss wasn’t as fiery as the one behind the house, but it was full of seduction and promise. “Tonight, it’s just the two of us, River and Georgie, two people who find each other irresistible.”
The puppy yipped at Georgie’s foot, tugging on her shoelace.
She laughed. “You mean the three of us.”
River made a face as she glanced down at the interloper.
“Do you need to take him out?” she asked.
“No, Maisie did before we got home. Let me put him in his kennel with a chew stick and his sandal, and he’ll be sufficiently entertained.”
“Okay,” she said, bending down to pick up the fluffball. “Good thing he’s so cute.”
She glanced at him and caught him looking at the two of them as if he wanted to memorize the image.
He took the puppy from her and headed into the kitchen. Georgie suddenly felt awkward. Should she wait for him here? She still needed a shower. Would it be best to take one now? Or maybe wait and ask him to join her?
Her past relationships had been different, more perfunctory. Men who had required little from her yet failed to hold her interest. Men her father and brother would have approved of—if they could be bothered to meet any of them.
Was that why she was so attracted to River? Because he was everything her father and Lee would object to? Was this an act of rebellion?
But even as she thought it, she knew it wasn’t true.
He returned and frowned when he glanced at her face. “Having second thoughts?”
Was she? Her head was starting to protest again, but her heart—and her body—needed this. She needed to know that there could be heat and passion. That she could feel.
She slowly shook her head.
“It just occurred to me that you never ate,” he said. “Are you hungry? Maisie got—”
It was her turn to quiet him, closing the distance between them and placing the tip of her finger on his lips.