“Yup.”
Shit.
CHAPTER ONE
JUST THE TIP
RHYS
One Year Later
“Why’re you back here?” Iasked Harlow as I dodged behind her to grab a beer bottle from the cooler.
She looked over her shoulder at me as she filled a pint glass. “You and Chuck were getting your asses handed to you.”
She wasn’t wrong.
That didn’t stop me from pointing out, “You’re not an employee anymore.”
When she’d initially taken the job at Rye, it was because she needed the cash since her internship at a news station was free labor. Even once she’d been upgraded to a paid position as a news desk assistant, she’d stayed on with me because I needed the help. After I’d gone on a damn hiring blitz, I’d assumed I had backup for my backups and could let her off the hook.
I was wrong.
“I’m an unpaid intern,” she said as she handed over the beer and added it to a running tab.
“You already took that ride.”
“And I’m great at it, so shut up and accept my help.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “No one tells me to shut up.”
“I’m shocked,” she deadpanned.
“I can fire you from this unpaid internship.”
“But you won’t,” she shot back with a toss of her red hair.
I looked past her to where her husband sat on a stool. “She always this snarky when she’s trying to be helpful?”
“Nah.” Kase stared at Harlow with a lovesick smile. “She’s usually worse, but she’s taking pity on you.”
With friends like these…
I shook my head at both of them but didn’t have a chance to say more before a customer in the corner nudged his empty glass forward in a silent request. Harlow and Chuck were right there with me, darting back and forth down the long bar to take care of the crush of patrons, stock server trays, and pretend to pay attention to the chatty customers who thought a busy Friday night was the perfect time to shoot the shit.
I had no damn clue how long it took before we made enough of a dent that we had a second to breathe. I stepped back and surveyed my kingdom of bullshit, seeing everything had slowed. The only thing out of place was a tray at the server’s corner. “Who’s that for?”
Chuck grabbed the printout from the tray. “Daisy.”
I looked out across the crowd but didn’t see her. Of my recent hires, she was the best of them. That wasn’t saying much, but she was actually damn good. She had experience, was nice to the customers, and could handle the rush. Even at our busiest, she barely seemed ruffled.
It would fucking suck if she’d walked out.
I grabbed the abandoned tray and rounded the bar to deliver it to the table of fetuses. At least that was what the four baby-faced kids looked like.
Holding the tray aloft, I stared them down. “Lemme see IDs.”
“We showed them outside,” one said even as the other three quickly pulled out their wallets.
