Darren chuckled. “My backside can take a little pinching.” He shook his head. “Who does that sort of crap anyway?”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Welcome to my world. I get hit on in one way or another almost every night. Maybe this is the universe giving equal-opportunity vibes.” He narrowed his eyes at her. She’d never told him that before. Lilly was a beautiful woman, and Darren could see her getting hit on, but it wasn’t right… for anyone. But he supposed it was a hazard of the job. It just hadn’t happened to him in a while.
The three men got up from the table and headed for the exit, and he found himself following the blond god with his eyes.
“Jesus…,” Lilly whispered, following his gaze.
“Yeah, I know….” He looked like a television doctor on a soap opera. Darren swallowed, and for a split second, he allowed his imagination to take off on a flight of fancy. Then he came back down to earth and hurried over to clear away the dirty dishes. He got the signed check folder and put it in his apron pocket before taking the dishes to the kitchen. He handed the folder to Lilly to put in the register and seated a couple at the table, going through the greeting process all over again.
Thankfully, The Pub closed at eleven. It was Mendocino, after all, and if you wanted to drink yourself into oblivion, you could go into Fort Bragg for that. Darren made sure all the tables were clean. Paddy had done his job, and the wood chips that covered the ground were free of any food. After turning off the heaters, Darren locked the gate and shut off the lights, heading inside and closing the door.
“You did really well tonight,” Lilly said, talking to Angie as she handed her a tip sheet. “And you….” Lilly had this mischievous smile. “You should get your behind pinched more often. Those three guys, they left you a hundred-dollar tip.”
That had happened on occasion, but only when he took care of a larger party. Not three guys. Darren smiled as she handed him his credit card tip sheet for the evening. He was so tired he could barely see the numbers. Darren thanked her, and after making sure he wasn’t needed, got his coat and left through the front door.
The wind was still blowing, carrying the mist along with it. He kept his head down and his feet going along the street until he finally made the turn up onto his front walk. Darren went inside, thankful he had managed to eat a little between tables and locked the door. He trudged right to the bathroom, wherehe got undressed, showered, and then, as soon as he dried off, collapsed into bed after setting the alarm on his phone. No matter how late it was, he had to be up to go to his first job.
The alarmblared in his ear, and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Light shone in the windows, but no sun. As usual, it was cloudy, and the town was encased under the marine layer. He got out of bed, checked the time, and dashed to the bathroom, where he shaved and got dressed, then stopped in the kitchen for his customary two cups of coffee before heading off to his day job, which thankfully, was only just down the street from his night job.
He went in the side door off the parking lot and into the backroom area of the only grocery store in town. He put on his apron, shoe covers, and white hat before entering the butcher shop. It was his job to keep the case filled and package the meat for sale. As usual, there was plenty for him to do, and he got right to it. “Morning.”
“The fish needs to be set out,” Henry said as he passed by. He was the butcher and part-owner of the store.
“On it.” He got the trays from the cooler and carefully set out the fillets and other seafood on ice to keep it as fresh as possible. Then he moved on to the other meats, making sure everything was up to Henry’s standards before shifting to packaging the ground meats and the chops, then filling the display. Once that was done, he went in back and helped Henry with cutting up the sides of beef and pork. Henry usually did the larger pieces, so Darren got started prepping the chickens and getting them packaged and into the refrigerators for replenishing.
“Darren,” Linda said from over the butcher counter. “There is a man up front asking for you.”
“Me?” he asked.
She nodded. “He said he was sent over from The Pub and that he was told to ask for Darren.”
He turned back to Henry. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
Henry grunted and went back to what he was doing. He had long ago learned that particular grunt meant “go ahead.” Others meant “don’t you dare,” or “get the hell out of my way.” There was also one for “dumbass,” and that was one he hoped he never heard again.
Darren took off his plastic gloves and hung up his apron before going out to the front of the store. “Who wanted to see me?” he asked Linda, and she pointed.
“He did.”
Darren turned and almost gasped as blond god from last night stepped closer. “I’m Chet. I asked at The Pub, and they said that you worked here during the day. So, I came over to say that I’m sorry for how my buddy behaved last night.”
“What did he do?” Linda asked. She was a huge eavesdropper and notorious gossip. If you wanted to know anything, all you needed to do was ask Linda, and she could find out.
“Linda,” Darren scolded, and she went back to what she should be doing. “It’s okay. He had had too much to drink.” And it hadn’t been Chet’s fault. “Still, it was nice of you to find me and say so. Thank you. Where are your friends?”
“They all went back to San Francisco and will be on a plane tonight heading for the east coast.” He seemed relieved. “They were friends from college, and while it was nice to see them, it brought home that some of them haven’t grown past college. If you know what I mean.”
Darren did, so he nodded. “I need to get back to work or else my boss will get upset.” There was a lot of do, and he wasn’t being paid to stand around talking.
“As an apology, could I take you to dinner tonight? I could meet you after you’re done with work.” Damn, he made the offer really tempting. It had been a long time since he had dinner with a guy like this.
“I’d like to, but I have to work.”
“At The Pub?” he asked.
Darren shook his head. “At the Harbor View in Fort Bragg.” It was the one job where he had to use the car. He hated that he had to take it, but the tips there were really good. “Maybe another night.” He tried to think of when he had a night when he wasn’t working. “Thursday?” he asked. He only worked here that day, and while he had Sundays and Mondays off here at the store, he worked Sunday nights at Harbor View and Monday nights at The Pub. He never really had an entire day off.
“All right. Thursday it is. I’ll pick you up here at the store.” He smiled that million-watt smile, and Darren found himself nodding, his belly twisting in the kind of excitement he hadn’t felt in a long time.
