Page 24 of Any Luck at All

Which was the exact same thing she’d said when he’d told her about liking the girl who sat behind him in English junior year.

“Shut up,” he said, somewhat serious. “Dustin’s going to hear you, and I’ll never live it down. You know that man thinks we’re destined for each other.” And he refused to accept the fact that they were like brother and sister. Dustin was firmly of themen and women can’t be friendscamp.

“Well?” she said. “Am I right?”

Abandoning the toy, the little puffball puppy raced back over and started nibbling at River’s shoelaces. It was adorable, so he let it happen.

“You’re giving him bad habits,” she tsked. “Plus, you still haven’t answered me.”

“Okay,” he said, meeting her gaze. “Yes, Georgie, Beau’s granddaughter, and I spent a lot of time together last night. I felt like we had a real connection. I’ve never experienced anything like that before, not so quickly.”

A strange look passed through Maisie’s eyes, but she waved him on. “Continue.”

“Well, I’m not sure I should accept the job. If I do, there’s no chance anything will happen between Georgie and me. She’s way too professional to consider it. Which is the problem, I guess. I’m not sure what to do. It’s the job of a lifetime, but she might be the girl of a lifetime too.”

Maisie paused for a second, as if considering. “And did you get the impression she feels the same way about you?”

He remembered the way she’d looked at him as he leaned in to kiss her, the sparkle in her eyes. “Yeah, she’s interested,” he said, “but she also seemed adamant about hiring me. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

“River,” she said, “I say this as your best friend of an astronomical number of years…take the job. You’ll regret it if you don’t. What’ll it feel like if they bring someone else in to transform the brewery? It’ll never be right. It’ll never be the way you would have made it. Don’t blow that for a maybe romance. This is too important.”

It felt like his heart dropped in his chest, although he wasn’t really sure what he’d expected her to say. Maybe he’d come here because he’d known she’d say this. It was true. He couldn’t turn down the offer, if the offer still existed after the breakfast meeting with Georgie’s siblings.

“Thanks,” he said, nodding. “I guess I needed to hear that.”

“You can tell me all about it at movie night later.”

He nodded again, although he’d almost forgotten. So much had happened in the last few days. So much was still happening.

She gestured down to the puffball still gnawing away at his shoelace. “Now, how would you like to foster a puppy? I daresay you’ve been chosen.”

Chapter Nine

Georgie was nervous. A lot hinged on this breakfast. Lee was pissed and Adalia was being standoffish. She didn’t need their permissionortheir blessing to keep the brewery—the will had said they could only sell if all four of them decided to do so by the noon deadline—but she still wanted their approval. She also wanted their help, although she knew that was beyond a long shot.

She was the first to admit she’d drunk too much beer before making her official decision—in fact, she’d had to get an Uber back to her hotel—but in the light of day, she stood by it. She was sure she and Jack could make a go of this, especially with River making the beer.

River.

While she was utterly sure about keeping the business, she was having second thoughts about offering him a job. Not that she didn’t think he was capable. Her gut told her he was the linchpin to making Buchanan Brewery successful—no,morethan successful—great. She’d learned to listen to her gut. It was what had made her previous business, Moon Goddess, such a success. But in this instance her gut and her heart were at war. The spark she’d felt with River was instantaneous and strong, but she couldn’t let that matter. Every man who’d wandered into Georgie’s life had proven to be unreliable and temporary, her father included, but a solid business offered security and fulfillment. It created the kind of satisfaction that lasted. Part of her suspected that River was different, but she couldn’t make a hasty decision based on one night of attraction that had involved a possessed cat and multiple samples of beer…and one almost kiss.

She hadn’t imagined that, right? They’d almost kissed.

In hindsight, it was a good thing they hadn’t. It would have complicated everything. Hiring River Reeves meant there could never be anything romantic between them.

Why did that thought cause her heart to ache so much?

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her hotel room, she appraised her appearance. She was wearing a gray dress with flats, but she’d left her hair down in loose blond waves rather than securing it in her usual bun. Asheville had a more casual vibe, she told herself. Even her dress was probably too fancy, but she knew deep down that wasn’t why she’d chosen to wear her hair down. River had mentioned that he liked it loose around her face.

You’re playing with fire.

Was it wrong that she felt gratified by a handsome man appreciating her appearance?

It is if he’s your employee.

With a heavy sigh, Georgie grabbed her purse and headed out the door to the stairwell. She was on the fourth floor, but she was too antsy to wait for the elevator, not to mention she needed to expend some nervous energy.

Once she was outside the building, she put on her expensive sunglasses to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight, then started walking toward the hip organic restaurant the hotel concierge had recommended. In hindsight, she realized it would drive the meat-and-potatoes Lee crazy, but it was likely to win her some points with Adalia.

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