“Let’s see if you’re still saying that in an hour.”
“Did I hear a feisty little redhead out here?” a voice booms from the kitchen and I roll my eyes as Mia laughs.
“See, everyone missed you.”
“No,” I call back, shaking my head. “You heard a woman who’s gonna kick your ass if you call me little and feisty ever again.”
Shaun pokes his head out from the kitchen and flashes me a wide grin. “Feisty as ever I see.”
“Don’t make me get my pepper spray,” I warn him, a smile teasing my lips and he backs up into the kitchen, his hands up.
“Careful, boys! She’s filled with hellfire, today.”
Mia laughs and Roger shakes his head as I pull the level down on the machine before slipping my card back in its holder.
“And don’t you forget it!” I yell back before turning to Mia. “Who’s on tonight?”
“Just you and me, bestie.” She slips her arm through mine and I smile.
“Perfect. It shouldn’t be too bad. It is only Monday, after all.”
Mia jerks away from me, covering her ears with her hands and singing to herself.
“Don’t you dare jinx us, lady.”
She slips through the door and I giggle as I grab my apron off the rack, slipping it around my waist and tying it neatly in the back. Once I have my ticket book and a couple pens, I meet Mia behind the counter.
“You’ve got this half,” Mia says, motioning to one side of the diner. “And someone just sat down at table thirteen.”
“Okay.” I grab a menu and a roll of silverware off the counter and as I turn toward the dining room, Mia puts her hand on my arm.
“Also, if you need anything tonight, just let me know. I've got your back, girl.”
I smile as she releases my arm. “Thanks, Mia.”
“Don't mention it,” she calls over her shoulder, balancing a tray of drinks out in front of her.
Mia started working here at the diner shortly before I did three years ago and thankfully, she wasn’t put off by my standoffish behavior or resting bitch face. I’ve never been good at making friends since we moved around so much when I was younger but she just took control and essentially made me be her friend. When she introduced me to her two best friends from middle school, they essentially adopted me into the group. We’re not super close but I’m glad that if I don’t have Theo here with me, I still have them to lean on – even if they don’t understand what I’m going through right now.
Shaking my head, I suck in a breath and brush away any lingering sad thoughts and slip into work mode easily enough. Thank God, too, because if I fall apart tonight, I don’t know how I’ll ever put myself back together. With the menu and silverware in hand, I walk over to table thirteen and flash a wide smile as I lay the menu and silverware in front of the man sitting there.
“Good afternoon, Darlin’. My name is Tate and I’ll be your server this evening. Can I get you started with something to drink?” I ask in my “customer service” voice, which is sweet as sugar and annoying as hell. It helps me get better tips though and I’m not in a position to give those up. My mind drifts to the check I got yesterday and the envelope of cash in my bag. I guess that’s not really true anymore.
The man in front of me glances up and I have to physically stop myself from gasping and taking a step back. He’s so damn handsome in this rugged sort of way that makes me think of log cabins and sex by fire light and his whiskey eyes inspect me from head to toe before his brow furrows.
“Coffee. Black,” he snaps before dismissing me with a vague hand gesture and any attraction I felt toward the arrogant bastard dies a quick death. He turns back to the menu without another word and my fingers twitch to rip it out of his hand and teach him a thing or two about common decency.
Prick.
When he glances up again, I expect him to offer me a smile or some sort of apology for his incredible douchiness but he simply arches a brow as if to ask why I’m still standing here, breathing his air. Oh, this guy’s a real piece of fucking work.
“You want anything to eat?” I ask, keeping my voice perfectly sweet because I’m afraid if I break, I’ll just end up clocking him. And that would be bad for both of us. Even though I know about ten different ways I could kill this guy before he even realized what was happening, I’ve never once had a problem with self-control. I’ve always been able to keep a handle on my emotions… until now. Although, with the week I’ve had, I suppose that makes sense.
“I’ll let you know,” he mutters before turning back to the menu and I feel a growl building in the back of my throat. With a curt nod, I spin on my toes and walk away from his table, my hands balled into fists. One thing I have never tolerated well is a rude customer and this guy just took the fucking cake for worst patron of all time. Mia is leaning against the counter and when I storm past her to the coffee machine, she follows me, squealing.
“Oh my god,” she whisper screams, fanning herself. “That man is hotter than the inside of a car on a summer day and he could not keep his eyes off of you as you walked away from him. He was like glued to your ass.”
She smacks my butt and I laugh despite my irritation.
“Actually, he was pretty rude to me.”
Her face falls but only for a second before a slow smile stretches across her face and she claps her hands. “Uh-oh.”
Roger pokes his head out of the door to the hallway. “Did I just hear someone say “uh-oh”?” he asks and I shake my head.
“Nope.”
“Damn it, Tate. It’s your first day back. You can’t be mean to customers.”
“It’s about to go down,” Shaun says in a deep voice through the pass through and I grin at him before turning back to Roger and laying my hand over my heart.
“Roger, I’m as nice to the customers as they are to me. It’s called human decency.”
“It was so nice when I had a whole week without any complaints that my waitress was a bitch.”
I shrug, grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee before holding it out to him. “I suppose you could take his coffee to him.”
He shakes his head and shoos me away. “Keep it in check.”
Mia claps and posts up at the counter so she can watch it all go down as the guys in the kitchen gather around the pass through.
“Y’all are something else. I’m simply going to take his order.”
“Hell. Fire,” Shaun whispers and I laugh as he winks at me.
“You egg me on and yet you never get in trouble, Shaun.”
He nods. “Uh, yeah, cause it’s entertaining as hell and I don’t get in trouble because I’m back here. Now, go be sweet to the customer, Tate.”
Curling my lip, I turn back to table thirteen and meet golden eyes. A ghost of a smile teases his lips and I square my shoulders before pasting a smile on my own face. As I walk back into the dining room, I feel Mia following behind me and my smile quickly becomes real. There was no way she was staying at the counter. With my head held high and a black coffee in my hand, I walk back over to his table and notice him watching me out of the corner of his eye as he scans the menu. It’s subtle enough that if I were anyone else, I’m not sure I would have noticed.