Page 13 of Waiting for Sunshine

Wait, why is he back here?

“What are you doing?” I stop myself from pouring the latest drink order to ask him.

“Well, last time I checked this ismybar, and I’m not leaving your rookie ass back here alone all night.” He snaps.

I look around the bar and notice we are starting to get absolutely slammed.Damn, that was fast. Every table on the floor is filling up and there are only a few bar stools left open. I guess he has a point. Two sets of hands are definitely needed behind the bar tonight.

“Get some more glasses from the kitchen and let the guys know to be ready for the rush, I’m calling Heather in.” He commands as he reaches for his phone. He is annoying and hot. That’s probably a red flag on my part.

I go to the back and grab a tray of glasses and give the guys a heads-up about the rush that is about to come through. I head back out to the bar, but when I go to push the door open it hits something and slams back into me, making me drop the tray of glasses on the floor. Glass shatters everywhere. Completely embarrassed, I look up to see that I pushed the door directly into Max.

“Fuck.” His voice is deep and laced with anger as he takes in the mess.

“I am so sorry,” I say. “I didn’t see you there...”

“Are you forming a new annoying habit or something? Go get the broom from the back and pay attention to your surroundings next time.” He bites out through his teeth. I nod my head and tears start to well in my eyes. I hate crying in front of people, so I am more than happy to take a few minutes to regroup while I walk to the back to get the broom. I have had a pretty shitty week, and the fact that I’m making a fool of myself in front of my new boss, again, isn’t helping.

I mean, I did just break likea lotof glasses, but still. After composing myself and grabbing the broom, as I was so kindly told to do, I head back to sweep up my mess. Max grabs my arm and it feels like electricity is shooting through my veins. My head spins around and I narrow my gaze at him.

“Can I help you with something?” I shake my head with attitude, hoping it covers the embarrassment.

“I’ll do this. Go finish those drinks.” His tone is still firm, but asmidgenicer than when he told me to go get the broom.

Hello, whiplash. Have you met Max?

“Okay.” I pull my arm away from him and force a smile. I finish the drinks and walk over to the POS. And wouldn’t you freaking know it, the damn thing freezes. Again.

“Fuck, me,” I mutter under my breath.

“Careful what you wish for,” a deep voice says from right over my shoulder. My eyes are wide when I turn to see Max standing there. “What’s the problem,” he nods to the screen. Like he didn’t just say what Iknowhe just said.

“Uh, thepiece of shitfroze up.” I shake my head trying to find some clarity. I’m not going to tell him that this thing has an agenda against me and that this is the fourth time this has happened,today.

“Jesus. Is nothing safe in your presence?” he huffs, as he leans in to fix it. “There. You’ve got to type in the code from each ticket. It’s not the same number every time,” he explains before rushing to the other end of the bar.

When things finally start to slow down a little, and Max and I only have a couple of customers at the bar, he comes over to where I am standing at the terminal looking over my shoulder. His chest is almost touching my back and I swear I can feel the heat from his presence.

“Thank you,” I say, still entering items from my current ticket. “For helping me figure this thing out.” I look over my shoulder and his gaze immediately locks with mine.

“No problem. Ruby did the same thing for the first two weeks. She was too scared to ask me what was wrong.” He chuckles. I laugh and turn back around.

“Well, two days isn’t as bad as two weeks, I suppose.” I finish entering my ticket and close out the screen. I make my way to where my customer just left the bar, taking his dirty glass and tip money from the bar top.

“I, uh.. I’m sorry for snapping at you about the glasses.” His brow is furrowed and his jaw tight. A grumpy apology, that’s a new one.

“Oh, it’s fine. I would have been pissed if I were you too.” I wave my hand dismissively, trying not to sound as defeated as I feel.

“I’ve realized that you may be having a shitty week, and I’m sure you don’t need an asshole boss to add to the list of things going wrong.” He looks at me from the corner of his eye.

“Me? Having a bad week? Noooo. My boyfriend cheating cause I wasn’t a good enough girlfriend and galleries not hiring me because I’m not a good enough artist, make for the best - week - ever.” I say with sarcasm dripping in every word. I huff out a sad laugh and look back at Max, but he doesnotseem amused.

“Don’t ever think for a second you weren’t good enough for some guy. He sounds like an asshole if you ask me.” He’s standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, looking as serious and pissed off as usual, then he nods to the crowd of people and begins to move behind the bar again. “We have customers.” He walks ahead to someone who just took a seat at the end of the bar near the jukebox, as Heather brings up a drink ticket from a couple who just sat down at a booth. I can’t help but stand here wondering why he seemed so mad about what I said.

The rest of the night was confusing at best. The frustration in his voice when he would speak to me at times was a complete contrast to the heat I felt every time he would brush against me, or how he seemed concerned about why I was having a bad week.

There is no denying I think this man is sexy as sin, never mind the fact I’m trying to swear off men completely. At one point our bodies literally slammed into each other and I thought for sure it would be my second andlastnight working here. But he just growled and moved me out of the way and we were back to business as usual.

Then the comment he made to me,“Careful what you wish for.”I mean what the hell is that about?I am so exhausted all I can think about is a hot shower and crawling into bed. And maybe a certain boss that makes my whole body tingle. But I’m trying to ignore that one.

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