Page 3 of Bad Luck Club

Adalia gave Lee a pointed stare, then said, “Thanks, Marci.”

Moments after Marci walked off, Adalia grinned. “She was flirting with you, you know.”

Lee blinked. “What?”

“The whole cheese spiel? Flirting.”

He frowned. “Aboutcheese?”

“Are you always so literal? Why not with cheese?” She cocked her head and studied him. “Are you interested?”

“In thewaitress?”

“You think you’re too good for her?” Adalia asked with plenty of attitude.

Did he? A month ago, probably. Now, he wasn’t interested in a relationship at all, no matter what the woman’s socio-economic status. He could blame it on the fact that he’d discovered Victoria had been sleeping with his father, but the truth was he was more hurt by his father’s actions than hers.

“No,” he said, rubbing between his eyes. “I just don’t think I’m in a position to start a relationship.”

“That’s fair,” Adalia said, resting her forearm on the table. “And that’s part of the reason we’re here.”

“To get me a girlfriend?” he asked, grinning despite his bad mood.

“To find you a place at Buchanan that makes you happy.”

He highly doubted that would ever happen, but he decided to keep that to himself. After all, he had no other prospects. He was a pariah in the real estate community—he’d made several cold calls to old acquaintances about possible job opportunities, and they’d all laughed him off the phone. None of his emails or job applications had been answered or acknowledged in any way. His career was dead, so he might as well earn his keep with their newest family business. The brewery had been in the red when the siblings inherited it in June, but Georgie had turned it around, and now she, Adalia, and Jack were drawing small salaries. Georgie had insisted on paying him as well, but he wasn’t a freeloader. He had to earn those small checks. “Maybe I should join the janitorial staff.”

Adalia rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. Georgie and I have an idea I’d like to propose.”

“If you’re going to suggest I learn how to brew beers with River, I don’t think that’s such a great idea. While we’re not currently at each other’s throats, we’re not exactly friends.”

She laughed. “Somehow I don’t think brewing beer is for you. We have something else in mind. Something more in your wheelhouse.” She paused and folded her hands on the table. “This morning, Phil told Georgie he plans to retire in another month.”

Lee shook his head. “Who’s Phil?”

“The lead salesperson.”

Lee stared at her for two full seconds before he realized what she was implying. “Wait. You want me to take his job? Selling beer?”

“Well, yeah,” she said with a slight shrug. “You were a salesperson before.”

“I sold million-dollar properties, Addy. Notbeer.”

She pursed her lips together. “Selling is selling, Lee.”

“I have a damn MBA from Columbia University,” he argued, starting to get pissed. Maybe he was being dumb again, but somehow it felt better to work on the production line or serve beer than to take this kind of sales job. Taking it was like admitting that his career really was finished.

“Addy?” a sweet voice called out.

His sister turned to face the woman approaching them, her face instantly lifting into a warm smile. “Blue. What a surprise.”

The woman stopped next to their table. She was beautiful in an almost ethereal way, with long, dark, curly hair and bright blue eyes. Eyes that suggested she held secrets and had lived many lives, yet she concealed it with a mask of politeness and serenity.

He nearly scoffed at himself. He wasn’t a romantic, so why did she inspire such fanciful thoughts?

She looked familiar, yet he couldn’t place her, and if he’d seen her before, he would have remembered.

She was unforgettable.

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