Astrid loved working at the bar on the weekends. Especially on Saturdays when it was packed with people. There were the regulars who were here every weekend, college kids out to have a loud but fun time and even families looking for something to eat. The music was always thumping and the alcohol flowing.
But her very favorite part of the evening was watching how animated Parker became as he served his customers. Between waiting tables, she would watch him as he shot the bull with the regulars, flirted with the women, or checked on an order.
Occasionally when she looked over at him, he was watching her. She could always tease a smile out of him when she blew a kiss or, if she was feeling frisky, wiggled her butt at him. Parker also made an art form out of brushing against her when she had to walk behind the bar for something.
She knew that he flirted with every one of the female persuasion. He had also made it clear that they were just friends. But she couldn’t think of even one other friend she had that rested his hand on her stomach when he stood against her back. Or one that leaned in so close to whisper something funny about one of their customers in her ear. If this was just friendship, she had been doing it wrong.
She was deep in thought, walking to pick up the drinks for table four when she felt a hand grab her ass for the third time tonight.
“What has you scowling, sweetheart?” Parker asked when Astrid reached the bar.
“It’s nothing,” she said, checking her tray.
“Come around here,” he said. He motioned for one of the other servers to deliver the tray of drinks he had just poured. He ignored Astrid’s arguments about pulling her weight and dragged her around the end of the bar. When she was standing with her back to the room caged in by Parker, he asked her again.
“It’s really nothing. The guy at table two is just handsy. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” She watched Parker’s head snap up, looking at who was at table two. “He did have a pretty good line about offering to reciprocate when I brought him his ‘sex on my face,’” she offered with a laugh hoping to take some of the fire out of Parker’s gaze.
“Which one of those guys ordered that pussy drink?” he asked with a snarl. “What did he ask for this time?”
“A leg spreader,” she whispered. What was it about him getting so angry when someone got too familiar with her that made her whole body heat up? If he got any sexier, she might just pass out from hormone overload. She was pretty positive that was a real thing.
“Okay, I’ll take care of this. Go see to your other tables,” he said, motioning for Andrea. Without another word, he pulled out several glasses. He mixed the drinks before placing them on a tray.
“Are you going to take care of the douchebags at table two?” Andrea asked, walking behind the bar. “They need to be taught some manners.”
Taking the tray, Parker walked over to the table and pulled out the extra chair. He set the drinks down in front of the three men. He leveled his glare at the man who had been manhandling her all night. Astrid stopped at the closest table to listen.
“Let me explain how I run my bar,” he snarled at the men. “You lay a hand on one of my waitresses, I break it. You mention my woman’s body even one more time, I’ll drag you into the back alley and beat you to death. Do you understand?”
Two of the men at least had the intelligence to look contrite. The idiot who had been harassing her, however, decided Parker was someone to be trifled with.
“Fuck you,” the man said. “I don’t see a ring on that finger. If she didn’t want to be hit on, she shouldn’t be working in a bar.”
Even from several tables over, Astrid could see the muscle in Parker’s jaw clench as he stared at the man. Without warning, he grabbed the man by the back of his neck. He pulled him forward until they were face to face. She couldn’t hear what was said, but when Parker turned the man loose, he looked over at her with fear in his eyes and mumbled an apology.
“Now, gentlemen, I hope you enjoy your ‘adios motherfuckers’ before doing what the drink suggests. I also expect you to leave your server a generous tip when you settle your bill.” Parker stood up and slid the chair back into the table with a scowl.
The men wasted no time finishing their drinks before depositing a large wad of cash on their table. Without looking over at the bar where Parker was watching them as he served the newest customer, they slunk out the door.
“What did you say to them?” Astrid asked, walking to the register with the cash. Closing out the tab, she pocketed the remainder. He just shrugged with a wicked smile from across the bar. “Are you not going to tell me?”
“You don’t need to know,” he answered.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll just have to drag it out of you. Let me think,” she said, tapping on her temple. “How will I torture Parker to get him to talk?”
“I think you might have met your match with this one,” Andrea said, laughing as she walked up to the bar. “I think the question is how much more torture he can withstand before giving in?” Somehow, Astrid thought Andrea was talking about something else now. Something she had no business thinking about.
“Sweetie, table two has new people at it for you.”
“Thanks, Andrea. To be continued, Parker.” With a flick of her hair, she turned from the bar. She heard Andrea laugh and took a glance back over her shoulder. Parker was staring at her intently with a look she couldn’t interpret. She might just get this flirting thing down yet.
But then what? Would it be bad to have a summer fling with a bartender? God, she wished Karlie or Sam were around this summer. Her best friends would know what to do. But Karlie had gone home to visit for a month and Sam was wandering through Europe with Dean.
As if conjuring a ghost out of thin air, Astrid turned toward the door in time to see Max enter. Max had met Karlie while serving as a campus policeman at their school last year. They had been together since the fall when he got reassigned to SWAT.
Her circle of friends now included not just Max and Karlie but also Sam, her new husband, Dean, and Max’s sister, Chiara. She guessed Parker was now a part of that group too.
“Max, where’ve you been?” Parker called, setting a glass of the beer on tap in front of him. Max leaned over, slapping one of those man handshakes on Parker. “How’s it going, man?” Astrid slid up to the bar next to Max, getting a bear hug out of him.
