Page 49 of Any Luck at All

“Oh, you really can’t make this stuff up,” she said. And wasn’t that the truth.

Maisie sobered. “I take it you brought Georgie back here after that fiasco as a mood lifter.”

She raised her eyebrows up and down, but something felt forced about it, like maybe she was still worried about him.

“Not like you’re thinking,” he said, stacking his plate on top of hers. “We really were working most of the afternoon, but there’s just something there, you know? I’ve never felt this kind of connection with a woman before.”

She looked away, and for a second she was quiet, almost like she was trying to think of a polite way to say he’d totally blown his biggest career opportunity. He was steeling himself for it, but when she turned back, she said, “Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel important.”

“Oh, you know what I mean,” he said, nudging her shoulder playfully. “I obviously think the world of you, but you’re basically family. It’s different.”

She was quiet again for a beat, and then she said, “Are you sure you’re not doing this to sabotage yourself?”

Ah, there it was.

He took a moment to consider it, becausehehad sabotaged himself before. More than once. But the way he felt with Georgie—it was the opposite of self-destructive. She was one of the most extraordinary people he’d ever met, and yet she didn’t make him feel like less of a person for it, or like he had to change to impress her. And even if they could only be friends, he would feel damn privileged to have a friend like her.

Even if he’d spend every minute near her desperately and painfully wanting her.

“No, Maisie,” he said at last, “this is real.” He paused, then added, “I think you’ll like her.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” she said in a huff, catching him off guard. Her eyes glimmered with something like pique.

“Why’s that?” he asked. Surely she hadn’t gotten a bad impression from less than thirty seconds of conversation. If this was about the kiss…well, that was his bad. He genuinely had forgotten Maisie was supposed to come over.

She shrugged. “Mostly I’m worried you’ll get hurt. What if she fires you over this?” She paused, thinking. “Besides, doesn’t it bug you that these people are going to take credit for your work? I mean, from what you said, none of them knows the first thing about beer. Sure, Georgie knows business, but that’s not one-size-fits-all. They couldn’t do this without you.”

He gave her a look. “Didn’t you just get done saying she might fire me? Becauseshekissedme?”

She made a choked sound. “Shekissedyou?”

“Let me guess, does that somehow make it worse?” He was beginning to get a little annoyed. Sure, the situation wasn’t ideal—and the fact that Georgie had just left like that made it a whole lot less ideal—but he could use a little support.

“Well, let’s just say you might have a good case for sexual harassment.”

“Seriously? Maybe we should table this discussion. I can tell we’re not going to see things the same way.” And wasn’t that a twist. They were usually on the same page—and when they weren’t, it was almost always River who was in the wrong. “The Buchanans own that brewery—they deserve to call the shots and hire someone who knows how to make beer. I want them to succeed, and I want to be a part of their success. From what you were saying earlier, I thought you had my back. That you realized how important this is for me.”

“I do,” she said, reaching out and giving his shoulder a squeeze. Warmth leaked back into her eyes. “And I’m happy for you. On both counts. I just don’t want to see things go south. Sorry, River. Bad day. One of the puppies yacked all over the place, and Dustin kept ducking out of the office because he thought someone was filming a movie over the way. He was sure he’d seen Zendaya. Turned out to be some kids filming themselves skating, but he spent half the day blogging about it. I’m just tired. Why don’t we watch the movie?”

“Yeah, good idea,” he said, although the thought of the CG cats made him want to shiver.

They got some more pizza, settled into the couch with Hops tucked between them and started the movie, just like they’d watched a hundred other movies through the years. But their conversation didn’t sit well. What did Maisie have against Georgie and her family? She was usually the most accepting person he knew. It didn’t seem like her, although he understood what she’d said about having a bad day. That could put anyone in a mood.

About ten minutes in, the horror of what he was watching stole over every other thought and emotion. Hops seemed to agree, because he gave a whimper and stole off to curl up on his sandal. A few minutes later, River looked at Maisie in disbelief.

“Did you know it would be like this?” he asked.

She gave him a look that was a little too serious to be, well, serious. “I think they were robbed at the Oscars.”

He threw a pillow at her. “You chose this to punish me.”

“No,” she said, laughing, “I chose it because it’s hilarious. This must be the most unintentionally hilarious movie of all time. Fifty years from now, you’ll be telling people where you were when you sawCats.”

“You do realize that by forcing me to watch this, you also have to watch it.”

“Oh, it’s worth it,” she said.

And maybe it was, because they spent the next agonizing hour and a half laughing and joking as if nothing had happened between them.

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