Or maybe her brothers convinced her to get rid of you, a voice in his head countered.
Recognizing their dismissal, Tom and Aunt Dottie got up and left, River’s aunt pausing to squeeze his shoulder on the way out.
River had almost forgotten Jack was still there, remotely, when he said, “Make sure to tell him about what we discussed, Georgie.”
The way he said it, still with a bit of attitude, meant it wasn’t good news, but it clearly wasn’t you’re fired kind of news either.
“I will,” she said, a little pique in her voice. “Goodbye, Jack.” And she clicked the call off without giving him the chance to say anything else.
“Georgie…” River said, but truth be told, he wasn’t really sure where he was going with that. And he didn’t have the opportunity to find out. She slid a document toward him from across the desk.
“Here’s your official offer, River, like we discussed.” She licked her lips in a way that brought his attention to her lower lip—and made him remember sucking on it. And God, this was so much harder than he’d told himself it would be. “You can have a few hours to look it over, if you’d like, or have a lawyer, or even Finn, review it, but I’d appreciate it if you could give me your official answer sooner rather than later. I know we still have to discuss the new beers, but we’ll want to get started immediately on the Buchanan ones we’re keeping.”
There were so many things he’d like to say, but most of all, he wanted to take her hand. To reassure himself he hadn’t been dreaming everything. Instead, he took the document.
It was more than he’d made at Big Catch. Which meant she was definitely paying him from her savings. It was wrong, and he opened his mouth to say so when he realized there was a second paper behind the first. He flipped to it and frowned.
The heading read: Addition to the Employee Manual. And beneath it, it said: Fraternization is strictly prohibited between employees of Buchanan Brewery.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The look on River’s face sent a bolt of pain through her gut. It seemed like the ultimate insult to present it to him like this—not that she’d wanted to present it at all—but she’d woken to a group text between her siblings, Jack included, with Lee insisting she present the addendum he’d already prepared.
She’d nearly told him to go to hell. He hadn’t expressed the slightest interest in helping her run the business, and it wasn’t his money on the line. How dare he—they, because Jack had obviously played a part in this—think she would be anything less than professional. Hadn’t she been willing to give up River for that very reason?
And yet, it was a moot point anyway, wasn’t it? She and River had made a deal, an arrangement. They’d given themselves one night—last night—and now it was over. Georgie had known it would be hard to go about her business as though nothing had happened, but in the cold light of day, she realized how naïve she’d been. Or, more accurately, she’d discovered how amazing sex with River had been. Tasting heaven would make it difficult to go back to the way it had been before…because she knew that her life would now be before River and after.
She’d still thought about chucking the addendum. It had been on her mind all morning, pricking her like a bramble bush. She could say no. That’s all it would take. But something had held her back. At first she’d thought it was the part of her, the small part she hated, that still craved her father’s and brother’s approval, but now that she was with River, she realized what it really was.
One look on his face when he’d walked into her office had made it clear he’d be more than willing to pick up where they left off very early in the morning. And she wanted that. She wanted him almost enough to say the hell with their ridiculous deal and reach for him.
And that was why she slid that damned piece of paper toward him. Because her hesitation didn’t have anything to do with her family. Not anymore.
She knew she could lose herself in River if she allowed it to happen, and she’d never given any man control over her heart. Now wasn’t the time to start. She’d seen what had happened to her mother. She’d had a promising career as an art history professor, but she’d never gotten beyond the associate professor stage. Her interests, her drive, her ambition—they’d always taken a back seat to Georgie’s father. His whims had controlled everyone in the family, and the wisdom of retrospection told her they’d all but crushed her mother. Georgie had vowed to never let the same thing happen to her—to never let a man become her be-all and end-all—and she’d never been tempted before. It had never been an issue. But she’d only known River for a matter of days, and she was already thinking about him far too much. It scared her. Last night was fine…more than fine…but she stood behind her original decision—it couldn’t happen again. Which meant no River in her bed, or her in his, as the case may be.
“I know…” Her voice was rough, so she paused and cleared her throat before starting again. “I know we’ve already agreed to this, but my brothers insisted that all the employees sign it.”
His gaze was on the paper for several seconds, and for one brief moment she was terrified he’d get up and walk out of the room, leaving Buchanan Brewery. Leaving her. Not that she could blame him given the way her family was treating him.
Given the way she was treating him.
Finally, he released a short laugh and tilted his head, still not meeting her gaze. “That’s good. For a moment there, I was about to take it personally.”
“I didn’t write this up, River,” she said just a little too quickly.
That was what prompted River to raise his eyes to hers, a sad smile lifting the corners of his mouth. There was a novel’s worth of messages in his gaze. Empathy. Regret. Sadness. Respect. “I know. It’s okay, Georgie. You’re right. This is what we agreed to.”
So why did this feel so wrong? So sullied. Like making him sign that paper cheapened what had been hands down the best night of her life, with the kindest, most thoughtful…the sexiest man she’d ever known.
A lump filled her throat and she glanced down at Beau’s desk…her desk now. She was in charge, which meant she had to make the hard decisions and stand by them.
“I don’t need to have anyone look this over,” he said, searching her desk. “The offer is more than generous. Do you have a pen?”
His willingness to sign the offer letter, which he clearly hadn’t read from start to finish, put her in a panic.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “There’s a noncompete clause my brothers insisted on. You really should seek legal advice.” That had been Lee’s doing as well. Last night, he had emailed her, Jack, and Adalia a draft of River’s contract, drawn up by none other than the lovely Victoria. It was hard not to think it was some form of retaliation, or at least response, for ignoring her father’s request for a business proposal. Jack had responded promptly, wholeheartedly agreeing with the noncompete clause. Georgie had upped the offer significantly over what Lee had proposed, and she’d planned to strike out the noncompete language, but Jack had called her at seven thirty this morning, insisting she leave it in.