The Hot New Bartender in Town (Welcome to Kiss County #3)

Chapter 6

6

TISH

“ T ish!” Bruno barks from the window as I step into the diner. “You’re late again.”

“What?” I check my phone. “No, I’m not. See?” I hold it out as I round the counter. “It’s 10:58! I still have two minutes.”

“If you’re early, you’re on time,” he says as he scratches his beard, which seems ready for a trim. “If you’re on time, you’re late.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s not legally enforceable.”

“Tell that to the fine people at the unemployment office.”

I enter the break room, happily offering him a grin as I pass the kitchen. “Oh, you’d never fire me, Bruno,” I say. “Who else would put up with your shit?”

To that, he has no reply. He simply sneers over his grill with a smile hidden somewhere beneath his beard.

See?

Big softy.

I chuck my handbag into my locker and throw on my apron with thirty seconds left to spare. After clocking in, I grab my order pad and step out onto the diner floor. The breakfast rush is long over, but the lunch rush is surely only minutes away.

That leaves plenty of time for gossip.

“Hey, cutie,” Brenda says, glancing up at me from the register as she goes over receipts. “How did it go last night after we left?”

“I’m in love with the hot new bartender,” I say.

She promptly stops and pivots to face me. “Tell me everything,” she demands.

I take the biggest breath I’ve ever taken in my life. “After you guys left, I went up to him at the bar. You know, to thank him for the drink.”

“That’s just being polite,” she says, hanging on every word with a nod.

“We instantly hit it off,” I continue with the same breath. “There was flirting and banter and smiling and winking until he invited me to go down to his place.”

Her eyes grow wide as saucers. “That fast?”

I hold up a hand. “Usually, I’m not so quick to pounce, but he’s just so pretty!”

“He was pretty.”

“His eyes are blue with little bits of green in them. And his hair is so clean and thick. And those cheekbones!”

I make a feral sound.

“Okay,” Brenda says. “Well, tell me about him. What’s he like?”

“He’s a bartender,” I say.

“Right. But what else? Where’s he from?”

“Pleasant Place.”

She grimaces.

“I know, I know,” I say. “But he’s totally normal, I swear. He just moved down to Small Town for a change of pace.”

“What was his previous pace?” she asks.

I shrug. “Not sure. He mentioned something about disappointing his dad and dropping out of school, but I was too busy falling into the dark pools of his eyes to listen.”

Brenda chuckles. “Sounds like a bit of a bad boy,” she says.

“He has freckles, too,” I add with a loving sigh. “Oh!” I remember the most important thing. “He’s a musician!”

She hops with interest. “Really?”

“He’s so good, too. He played me a song on his guitar and he sang. Oh, my god! He sang! He has the most beautiful voice, Brenda!”

“More beautiful than yours?” she teases.

I slap her shoulder. “Oh, stop. And, no. Of course not,” I add, brushing a bit of non-existent lint off my shoulder.

“Then what happened?” Brenda asks. “Did you guys... you know?”

“Tish!”

We flinch and spin around to look at Bruno. “Yes?” I ask him.

He glares at me from the window. “Stop corrupting Brenda,” he says.

I scoff. “I am not corrupting Brenda. She’s an adult.”

“She’s eighteen.”

“Eighteen?!” I spin around to look at her. “We took you to a bar!”

“You never asked my age!” she says, recoiling slightly. “Neither did they, come to think…”

“Tish,” Bruno says again.

“What?” I ask, swiveling back to him.

“So, did you?”

“Did I what?”

He arches his brow, needing to hear more of my story despite his protests.

“Y—” I pause, reaching out to cover Brenda’s virgin ears. “Yes,” I answer. “We did it. A lot. Last night and this morning.”

Bruno nods. “Nice.”

“Oh, no.” I hum with delight, my palms still pressed against Brenda’s head. “Not just nice . Getting your pussy eaten before breakfast is so much more than nice, my friend.”

Bruno smirks. “Please tell me more.”

I inhale to do just that.

“Tish!”

I choke on it. Releasing Brenda, I spin on my heels, coming face-to-face with?—

“Mom!” I say in surprise. “Hi!”

My mother approaches the counter with a grin. She’s wearing a closed brown jacket and black leather boots — both borrowed from my closet, but I won’t bust her on it. My mother and I constantly borrow clothes from each other without asking.

“Good morning, my beautiful spawn,” she says, bobbing her head at Bruno over my shoulder, her auburn hair resting high in a messy ponytail. “Hello, Bruno, Brenda.”

“Hi, Tanya,” Brenda says, rubbing her crushed earlobes.

Bruno beams. “Hi, Ms. Travis. Having a good morning?”

“Oh, I’m having a wonderful morning,” Mom says. “You?”

“Just got better, actually. What were you saying, Tish?”

“Nothing,” I spit at him. “Don’t you have burgers to cook?”

“You tell me.”

Giving him one last glare, I round the counter to pull my mother away from him. “Mom,” I say. “What, uh... what are you doing here?”

“A mother can’t come by her daughter’s place of work and say hi?” she asks.

“No, of course you can. I’m just?—”

“Actually, there is a specific reason I’m here.” Her back straightens. “I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t come home last night.”

“Oh.” I wince at her stern expression. “Yeah. It, uh... well, the girls and I went to Sparks for karaoke and?—”

Mom cracks up. “Honey, relax,” she says, reaching out to squeeze my arm. “I don’t care. You do you, babe.”

I exhale softly. “I know I should have texted you. I was just... distracted.”

“That’s okay. I trust you! Of course, I’m not one to talk seeing as how I’m currently wearing the same dress I left the house in last night,” she says, briefly opening the brown jacket and flashing her red cocktail dress.

I gasp at the implication. “Mom!”

“I know!” She closes her jacket, though she doesn’t look the least bit shameful about it. “I’m walking dirty across Small Town like some sort of floozy or something, but I don’t care!” She giggles with glee. “Tish, it’s happening!”

“What’s happening?”

“I met a man!”

“A man?” I blink in surprise. “What man?”

“You know that client I met in Big City last week?”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding even though I don’t quite recall, truthfully. Mom is one of the most sought-after interior designers in all of Kiss County. She has a lot of clients.

“Well, after our meeting, one of the head boss guys asked if I wanted to get some coffee with him. I thought, sure. Whatever. He’s cute. Maybe a bit stiff in our meetings, but some fun oughta loosen him up — and I was right! Long story short…” She bounces on her toes. “I’m in love!”

“Love?”

“I know it sounds crazy, kid. I mean, growing up in Kiss County, you hear your fair share of ridiculous one-night love stories, but this...” She sighs, her eyes sparkling through faded day-old mascara. “He’s perfect, Tish. I’ve never met anyone who has made me feel this way before.”

“Okay, well... who is he?”

“His name is Richard and... oh, gosh, where do I even begin?!”

She lets out another laugh. This time, I laugh with her, the sound and feeling contagious. Hell, a part of me wants to jump up and down when I think about Riley, too.

“Tish!” Bruno barks behind us. “You’ve got tables.”

“Sorry,” I say over my shoulder before turning forward. “Mom, I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Okay, okay.” She grabs my hands, giving them a squeeze. “But tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“I invited him over for dinner tonight. I want you to meet him.”

“Already?” I ask.

Mom never brings men around. Unless it’s serious. And it’s never serious.

“In fact, there’s...” She pauses, her eyes full of excitement. “Well, there’s news.”

My stomach twists nervously. “News?”

“Good news!”

“What kind of good news?”

“Tonight,” she says again, leaving me in suspense. “We’ll tell you everything at dinner. Promise me you’ll be there.”

“Okay, sure. Tonight. I’ll be the— fuck!”

Tonight, I have a date with Riley.

“What?” Mom asks, tilting away from my sudden outburst.

“Well, I...” I want to see you again. “I kinda have a date tonight.”

“Reschedule it. Please? You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so important.”

I take a breath, my current view... somewhat strange. My mother has always, one-hundred percent of the time, put me before herself. Growing up, it was always just the two of us. She sacrificed so much, worked so hard to raise me all on her own.

I owe her so much.

I can give her one night.

“Sure,” I say, squeezing her hands back. “I’ll reschedule?—”

Mom throws her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight Mama Bear-like hug. “Thank you, honey,” she says. When she pulls back, she regards me sweetly, her hand coming to touch my cheeks. “Our lives are just beginning, babe,” she says, grinning.

“You think so?”

She kisses my forehead. “I know so.” With one last sunny smile, she steps back and waves over my shoulder. “Bye-bye, everybody!” she says.

“Bye, Mrs. T,” Bruno says from the window.

Mom leaves, our gorgeous shared boots thumping along the diner floor as she goes. The entrance doors open again behind her and the first wave of today’s lunch rush plows inside.

It’s another hour or two before I finally get a moment to pause long enough to fetch my phone out of my locker. My mind is bright with memories of this morning, but unfortunately, my hopes for tonight will just have to wait.

I send Riley a standard text greeting, not expecting him to answer right away, but my phone vibrates in my palm before I even get the chance to set it down.

Hot New Bartender

I was just thinking about you.

I nearly collapse.

Fuck, this is going to suck.

I’ve been thinking about you all morning, too.

So... I have to reschedule tonight. :(

My mother insists I come to dinner tonight. She wants me to meet her new boyfriend.

That’s crazy.

Why?

I was just about to text you to reschedule because my dad wants me to meet his new girlfriend.

Wow. Yeah. That’s Kiss County for you!

So, raincheck? I really want to see you again.

My heart flutters.

Definitely. :)

I want to see you again, too.

:) Damn. What a coincidence.

Just one night. I’ve waited my entire life for a guy like Riley to come to Small Town.

I can make it through one more night.

Not wanting to spur the ire of Bruno, I put my phone back in my locker and return to check on my tables.