Tomorrow was my first day at Cliffborough General Hospital. My dream job. I’d done twelve years of training and work while on active duty for the Army so that one day I could work in a hospital without crippling student debt.
I’d seen death and worked in conditions I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but I’d made it. I was here now.
This was the new start I’d been working toward for years, and it seemed it now included the guy I’d once had a crush on.
Tanner
“Hey, Matt, can you check the coolers and make sure they’re restocked?”
“Already done, boss.”
I opened the door of the large cooler in the back room, and sure enough, it had enough drinks to get us through a busy Friday night.
“Thanks, man,” I said, bumping his fist.
“Before you ask, there are extra boxes of snacks under the bar. The kitchen had a delivery today and it’s all ready for when the chef comes in. Oh, and Molly left a note to say she deep-cleaned the restrooms and gave the floors an extra scrub this morning. She also threatened to send us into the next life if we ever touch her cleaning supplies again.”
I chuckled. “She wouldn’t feel the same way if she’d come in at six this morning to dried-up vomit in the middle of the bar.”
He scrunched up his face and started filling the napkin boxes while I checked the staff schedule for the next week.
“Hey, boss, forgive me for saying this, but you’ve been a little off lately. What’s gotten you all mixed up?”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re triple-checking everything, but you forgot you gave Sam the night off the other day, and I’ve never seen the shelves so clean.”
It was early afternoon and the bar was practically empty, so it was easy to see if a new customer came in. At this time, we mostly had business people who used the bar to schmooze other business people, and it was profitable enough to justify opening so early. The heavy door opened to reveal none other than the answer to Matt’s question.
“You’re imagining things,” I said, my eyes locking on Jax’s as he approached the bar.
“Nah. You’ve been cleaning and tidying this place like even the cocktail picks bring you joy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you go chop some oranges and limes in the kitchen? The Hooking Up ladies are coming in tonight.”
Matt disappeared into the kitchen as Jax took a seat on the stool in front of me.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the bar. “A guy walks into my bar in the middle of the day. What does he want?”
His lips curled into an easy smile. “He’s curious.”
“Well, you know what they say about curiosity…”
“It killed the cat?”
My gaze zeroed in on his lips before I straightened and picked up an already clean glass and a cloth to keep my hands busy. “Ask the right questions, and you might get the right answers.”
He smiled. “Hooking Up ladies?”
That was disappointingly not the question I thought I would hear. “It’s a crochet club. They meet in the library around the corner and then come in for cocktail hour. They can be quite rowdy. Well, as rowdy as seventy-year-olds can be.”
Jax rested his elbows on the bar and stared at me with intent.
“So, Tanner from Tanner’s Bar, it seems I’ve missed a lot while I was gone.”
I smiled. “Twelve years is a long time.”
“I thought you’d end up an accountant, like your dad.”
