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Not only does it promise decent tips that’ll help me eliminate my debt with Jade sooner, but it also keeps me from overthinking. There’s no time to dwell on how badly I squashed my chances of proving myself to Grandma Rose with the constant refills, orders, and checks.
Grandma Rose was not impressed with my no-show status last night. She didn’t even give me credit for finding someone to cover in my absence. Though, in her defense, by the time Freya got down to the diner, it was two hours past my shift. Grandma Rose has hardly spoken two words to me since.
The only saving grace is that I recruited Jade Bradley to work full time. Garrett’s sister has experience waiting tables. After shadowing her for a couple hours of during the breakfast rush, I made the executive decision to set her loose. I probably should’ve run it by Grandma Rose, but there wasn’t time with the line forming out the door.
“She’s good,” my sister Kinley says with a nod toward Jade as I double check the order for table six. Two eggs over easy, hashbrowns with extra cheese, wheat toast. A blueberry stack with a side of bacon, extra crispy. Kinley’s hardly ever at the diner anymore since her fiancé, Rowan, bought the local steakhouse. But even when she’s around, she hides in the office. I’m pretty sure she’s allergic to waiting tables. She’s better at bossing people around. “Where’d you find her?”
Best not to answer that question honestly. “She’s Garrett’s sister.”
“I forgot he had a sister.”
“Me too.” I focus on organizing the order on my tray so I don’t have to look my sister in the eye. She and Willow have both been more than vocal about what they think is happening between the police chief and me. No matter how many times I tell themnothing, they don’t seem to believe me. “She just got to town and was looking for a job.”
“Where did you say you ran into her?”
I grab a syrup decanter and add it to the tray. “Didn’t say. Gotta run. Table six is hungry.”
I manage to avoid Kinley until I catch her sneaking out the back door a couple hours later. Sure, just as the lunch rush is really kicking off. I try to brush off the twinge of anger, but there’s also a healthy dose of jealousy and that’s harder to shake. It isn’t just that Kinley is ditching us every chance she gets, but she’s happy and in love. Somehow, it’s becoming harder to be the lastsingleGray sister than it is to be the flighty and irresponsible one.
With effort, I pull my focus back to the job at hand. The line is starting to queue back out the door again. Shit.Please don’t let Grandma Rose come out of the kitchen now. I wipe down a recently vacated table a little faster, bending over to reach the far edge.
And that’s when I hear a crude male voice behind me.
“This town really does have everything,” one guy in a red flannel says to his buddies. “Good boozeandgreat asses.”
It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, that I have to serve a table of jerks with the maturity of twelve-year-olds. I force a smile into place, hoping that I can charm them into a solid tip. Of course, if they take things too far, I might trip and drop a plate of piping hot eggs or mashed potatoes in someone’s lap—I’m flexible. “Need a table, boys?”
“Only if it’s yours,” says another in a beer-stained t-shirt, a distinct whiff of alcohol on his heavy breath. I suspect they’ve been kicked out of the brewery until they sober up. The Ashburn brothers don’t tolerate drunks. I imagine they’ll have their hands full this weekend.Garrett too.
As if the thought of him summons the man himself, Garrett Bradley struts into the diner in plain clothes. The man is impossibly sexy in his uniform, but this Alaskan woodsman look is causing unfamiliar sensations to my body in the naughtiest places. Damn the man in those jeans. He stops in front of the door, surveying the full restaurant. After he spots his sister attending to a corner booth filled with the three Stark brothers and their sister Trinity, he’ll no doubt take a spot at the counter as he’s done for weeks. Less chance of me dropping things in his lap up there.
I return my attention to my obnoxious table before we can lock eyes, unsurprised to find at least two of the four men unapologetically staring right down the cut of my sweater. I straighten, discreetly obstructing their view. “What can I get you boys to drink?”
“Got a straw?” There’s a definite slur to Red Flannel’s words.
“I’ll bring them with your drinks.”
“All I need is a straw and a cool drink of you, honey.”
I feel Garrett’s presence before I see him. I credit his stealth to the packed diner, but my pebbling nipples don’t seem to care about that. I order them tocool it, mostly to prevent the rowdy group from getting a show. The sweater fabric is thin enough so it can breathe, a mandatory requirement when I know I’ll hit twenty-thousand steps before I wipe the last table down.Stupid burns.I needed the long sleeves to hide the still vivid marks from Grandma Rose. Now I’m wishing I’d doubled up on my sports bras and chosen a T-shirt instead.
“I know you boys aren’t from around here,” Garrett says, his tone every bit as condescending as I’m sure he means it to be. I can feel my tip dwindling by the second, damn him.
“You her boyfriend?” Beer Stain says with a shitty smirk.
“What I am is your problem if you don’t treat the people of my town with respect.” I didn’t think it was possible for Garrett to sound like both a smug jerk and sexy protector all in the same sentence. It’s messing with my head, making it harder to do my job. Making it harder to focus on waiting tables as a fantasy of him pushing me up against a wall and having his wicked way with me dances through my overactive imagination.
“Yourtown?” Red Flannel pipes up.
Garrett flashes them his badge, which is enough to shut them up. But not enough to stop their creepy side glances at me. Usually having big boobs promises good tips. I use them to my advantage, which is how I paid for the first semester’s tuition. But in moments like this, I’d give just about anything tonothave them. I can practically feel the police chief bristle at my side at their blatant rudeness. He drops a hand to my shoulder. One that feels distinctly possessive. “Mytown.”
“Boys, I’ll be back with a round of waters while you decide what you want to drink.” I grab Garrett by the arm and shove, holding onto the irritation I feel at being treated like property. I shove down the part of me that secretly enjoyed his warm, rough fingers igniting my skin through my sweater. “Outside,now,” I hiss under my breath.
Thankfully Garrett doesn’t make a scene and allows me to usher him through a crowded dining room toward the kitchen and office. He knows the way to the back door. It’s not the first time we’ve had to have it out behind the diner.
“You two okay?” Willow, my oldest sister, asks, eyebrows drawn in concern as Garrett slips out the back door. I didn’t expect to see much of her with her play’s grand opening only a couple weekends away. I don’t question it, or the apron she’s tied around her waist.
“Table six needs a round of waters. If you spill the tray on them, I’ll give you half my tips.”
