Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

Life was hard sometimes. It threw curveballs and knocked you on your ass. But nights like this, when it was just me and my girl, grilling, relaxing, and creating a little mayhem after dinner, made every shitty day worth the effort.

Chapter 3

Rose

“You don’t pay me to shake my ass,” I called to my boss, Matt, as I lifted a tub of dirty glasses onto the counter. “You pay me to tend bar.”

“I’m just saying, if you wore something…”

“Careful what you say,” I warned, pointing at him. “Sexual harassment will get you sued.” I grinned as the patrons of the bar ooohed. “Besides, you tell me to wear anything but this comfortable shirt and jeans, my brothers will serve you your own nuts on a platter.”

“Now, why would you say something like that?” he grimaced, pausing what he was doing so he could drop his hands to cover his junk.

“You know it’s true,” I said as I poured a couple of beers for some regulars I could see walking in the door.

“Yeah,” Matt said as he walked closer with his arms full of tequila and whiskey. “Your brothers already gave me the speech.”

I laughed. “It pissed me off the first time they did it,” I confessed. “But I couldn’t stop them, so…” I shrugged.

“Barkeeeeeeeep!” my brother Tommy yelled from the front door.

“Speak of the devil,” I muttered.

“You can wear whatever you goddamn want,” Matt said quickly as Tommy strode toward us, his arm slung over Heather’s shoulders.

“Good to know,” I said out the side of my mouth.

“Did I ever tell you that I love the fact that you have to pour my drinks when you’re working?” Tommy asked as he and Heather slid onto a couple bar stools.

“About a hundred times,” I muttered back. “What do you want?”

“Damn,” Tommy replied, wrinkling his nose. He looked at Matt. “You really need better service.”

“Don’t look at me,” Matt said, raising his hands out in front of him. “I just sign the checks, you know she runs the place.”

“And I’m damn good at it, too!” I said loudly, making everyone on the bar stools cheer.

“Beer. You know what I like,” Tommy replied. “What do you want, baby?”

“Vodka cran, please,” Heather said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the bar top.

“Ew,” I said, quickly. “Don’t do that.”

Grabbing a wet rag, I wiped it over the bar top. “There, now you won’t stick to it, at least.”

“Thanks,” she said, leaning forward again and propping her chin on her hands. “Go heavy on the vodka, I had a shit day at work.”

“Oh, yeah?” I said, handing Tommy his beer and starting on Heather’s drink. “What happened?”

“My boss is an asshole.”

“Her boss is an asshole.”

“Jinx,” Tommy said, saluting Heather with his beer.

“I’ve had plenty of those,” I replied, handing Heather her drink.

“Who?” Tommy said darkly.

“No one around here,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“It’s fine,” Heather said. “Someday, I’ll be the boss and I’ll eat douchebags like him for lunch.”

“Hell, yeah, you will,” Tommy said, kissing the side of her head.

“I don’t know how you do it,” I replied as I moved down the counter to pour a beer for someone who was waving at me. “I couldn’t sit at a desk all day. I’d go nuts.”

“Same, little sister,” Tommy said.

“I like the work,” Heather grumbled. “It’s the people I work with that suck.”

My brother and Heather wandered toward the pool tables as we got busier, and the night flew by, like it always did. I loved my job, even when I had to deal with drunk idiots and shitty tippers. I knew it wasn’t for everyone. Hell, my parents had been on me for years to go to college and get a higher paying job—but I just couldn’t make myself do it. There was something about the energy in a bar that called to me. I wasn’t much of a drinker, but I liked making drinks for other people. I liked watching their lives play out one snippet at a time. First dates, groups of friends shooting the shit, old timers watching the TV along the wall with a beer in their hand—all of it. Plus, I was on my feet, and I got to visit with people all night long, but I still had time during the day to do whatever I wanted. It was a win-win as far as I was concerned.

By the time last call was announced, I’d already cleaned up behind the bar and I only had to wait for a few stragglers to leave before I could. Matt usually locked up and walked me to my car, but I was surprised to see Tommy and Heather waiting for me after I’d grabbed my jacket and purse from the back office.

“What are you guys still doing here? I thought you left.”

“We had a quickie in the parking lot,” Tommy said easily.