Page 83 of Any Luck at All

“Because all the reasons we’re supposed to stay away from each other don’t feel so important anymore. When I’m around you, I can’t seem to remember them. I came here because when I’m with you, I feel like everything’s going to be okay, not in the sense that you’re going to fix it, but because you’re there with me.”

Something bloomed inside of him, a warmth like he’d felt earlier at Beau’s grave. The sense of coming home. But he didn’t pull her into his lap like he wanted to, because he had to know for sure. His heart needed it.

“Georgie, if you change your mind about us, I need you to mean it. It can’t just be for tonight, or because your sister is in trouble.”

She spanned the short distance between them and kissed him. It was soft and exploratory at first, almost as if she were asking a question, but the passion between them—banked for days—ignited in an instant. He shifted the angle to take the kiss deeper, their tongues twining, teeth knocking together as they tried to get closer, to take it even deeper. Almost as if they wanted to consume each other. She started to tug on the bottom of his shirt, but he didn’t want this to happen here in the living room. Not tonight. He wanted her in his bed.

So he pulled away and, in response to her soft complaint, lifted her off her feet and carried her into his room.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Georgie had a hard time concentrating at work in the morning. She’d only slept a few hours after receiving Adalia’s call, and despite having talked to her sister after she was released (she’d agreed to come straight to Asheville on the flight River had arranged), she was a mess of worry. Didn’t help that she couldn’t stop mooning over River. Dottie noticed something was off right away, and she barged into Georgie’s office midmorning with a sage stick, determined to drive the bad energy away because she sensed some really great energy radiating from Georgie.

Was it obvious to everyone that Georgie had experienced the best sex of her life only hours earlier?

It was hard seeing River in the office, where the current employee manual insisted they could not engage in any fraternization, when all she wanted to do was kiss him. He showed up in her doorway around noon, leaning his shoulder into the doorframe.

“I think we should take a field trip for lunch,” he said with a sexy smile.

Her stomach fluttered at the thought of eating lunch with him, but they’d agreed to keep their relationship on the down-low for the moment. She needed to find a way to tell her siblings, and she figured she’d start with Adalia first. But she hadn’t told her yet—it was a conversation best had in person, and her sister had just been released from jail, after all.

“This is work-related,” River said with a glimmer in his eyes. “I thought we’d drop by Eye of the Tiger Brewery so you could try their porters. They make some of the best in Asheville. We might consider adding one to the winter line.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling at him, relieved that she wouldn’t have to turn him down. “Testing some out would be the responsible thing to do.”

“How soon will you be able to leave?”

She glanced at her computer, then back at River…

It felt so good to be able to let her eyes linger, to know she had a right to look at him, even if she couldn’t make it obvious until their relationship went public.

“I can go now,” she said.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

They were the same words he’d said to her that first night in his apartment, before their shower. Which made her think about showering with him, their bodies slick against each other. He’d promised to learn every inch of her, and he had. He’d insisted on swiping the cloth over her from head to toe, slowly enough to drive her mad, and then…

She was at the office, where she should absolutely not be thinking about any of this. She felt her face grow hot. The grin on his face told her he’d done it on purpose, and she scowled at him a little as she gathered her things.

They left together, acting like it was no big deal, but as soon as River pulled his car into a parking space at Eye of the Tiger, he leaned over and kissed her.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for hours,” he murmured against her lips.

“I guess good things come to those who wait,” she said, and kissed him again, letting it linger a little before she pulled away. “Are we really here to taste porters?”

“No reason we can’t mix business and pleasure.”

“I like the way you think,” she said, looking into his eyes. She liked what she saw there too. They were alight with pleasure, with happiness, something that had largely been missing the last couple of weeks, and she felt no small amount of wonder that he was happy because ofher.

Once inside, they ordered a flight along with some appetizers. They discussed what they liked and didn’t like about each of the beers, and what qualities they should reach for with their own version, River taking notes on his phone. She glanced at his screen, smiling at what she saw:Georgie plus chocolate=happy, in beer and in general; Georgie plus bitterness=only if balanced; Georgie plus coffee=not too heavy.

“I’m okay with coffee in the morning,” she said in an undertone. “Plenty of coffee. Maybe you should add that to your list.”

“Maybe I will,” he said, looking up at her. “I like to make my boss woman happy. Now, about that porter…”

She was still such a beer novice, but he took her feedback and advice so seriously, as if it were as important as his own. She loved that, loved how excited he got over the whole process. It made work feelfun, which it never really had before, she realized. Fulfilling and rewarding, yes, but never fun.

At the end of their lunch, a big burly man with a beard came out of the back to greet them, heading straight for River. He pumped his hand almost aggressively and thanked him for coming in. He was the owner, it turned out, and River introduced Georgie as one of the new owners of Buchanan Brewery.

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