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His shift in conversation caught me off guard but helped get my thoughts back in line.
“You’d be surprised. Some of them are nursing a hangover with more alcohol.” I shrugged and turned to clean up the cutting board.
From there, Nico walked me through the rest of the opening steps. They were all pretty standard. Fill the well with ice. Turn on all the TVs to either sports or news. Make sure everything is stocked and the taps were good to go. Check the glassware for smudges or lipstick marks. And then wait.
Thankfully, there were just enough people to keep us both busy. Nico took lead on all the tables, letting me absorb the menu and processes but behind the bar, he let me make most of the drinks. It was mostly beer but there were a few Manhattans and some glasses of wine.
Finally, I saw three o’clock roll around along with the night shift. Nico made quick introductions, we cleared out, and he steered me to a booth at the back of the restaurant. “I just want to go over a few things today. See if you have any questions. Also, I need you to this out.” He handed me a sheet of paper with various questions. A lot of it was on the legal end. Like what to do and when to cut someone off. How to properly ID people, and all that jazz. Shit that every bartender needed to know from day one.
Which meant this was a breeze for me. I started scribbling in the answers, knowing his eyes were on me the whole time.
“Stop looking at me like that.” I glared at him over the papers.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re purposely trying to distract me.”
“I wasn’t doing it on purpose.”
I put the pen down and covered one hand with the other, covering part of the paper. “Bullshit.”
“What on earth could be my motive?”
“Quit the shit, Nico.”
His face got serious. “I—I’m sorry.”
I dropped my shoulders, realizing I was sounding like a bitch. “Look, this isn’t exactly easy for me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
I expected him to come back at me with some smart-ass response but instead, he sighed, agreeing with me. “It isn’t for me either. Seriously, the moment I saw you here, I knew I had to be hallucinating. I mean, there was no way in hell that you could be here. But the closer I got to you, the more it was apparent. And it took me right back to that night. Which, I admit, hasn’t exactly left my mind. And I know, it’s been six months. But there was something about it. That sex…” He trailed off.
My heart was racing, and my cheeks were burning. “It hasn’t really left my mind either.”
“So, it feels kismet that you’re here. And not just in the same town, but working at the same restaurant, behind the same bar. Shit like that doesn’t happen.”
“No, but it doesn’t mean there’s automatically a relationship here.”
Nico’s face went stiff. “Um, no, no. It definitely does not.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. You have a girlfriend, I imagine.”
“Nope. Not even a date in the near future.”
“Oh.”He’s wide open, Della.I cleared my thought, pushing the thought away. “Well, right now, I just need to focus on not fucking up my new job so that I don’t have to go crawling back to Kentucky.”
“First, you’re not going to fuck up your job. And you sure as shit never have to go back there. There are a million different places you could go. And you can just stay here, too.” His voice softened, suggesting he wanted me to stay. “But you’re right. There doesn’t—and shouldn’t—be anything here except two coworkers.”
“Right.” I took a deep breath. “Well, thank you. I should get going.”
“Me too.”
We both abruptly stood from the booth, awkwardly nearly colliding.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
