Mark leaned against the bar, grinning like he’d just won the lottery. “You’ve been mooning over this guy for weeks and all you did was take his order?”
“I’m working. He’s a customer. What was I supposed to do?”
“Flirt?” Priya suggested. “That’s generally how these things work.”
“I don’t know how to flirt!”
“Just flash him a tit,” Mark offered. “That t-shirt should come down pretty easy. One whiff of nippleand—”
“Mark!”
“He’s not wrong, boss.” Jacks picked the side of chaos, appearing from the back with a tray of clean pint glasses that he started stacking behind the bar. He glanced toward Chase’s booth. “Holy shit, he’s hot. I love blond hair, all messy and rough and ready to be yanked. That’s your dude, the body-checker?”
How in all the gay hells did Jacks know about the sidewalk slamming incident? He was a nice enough guy but was far too new to be in my inner circle. Clearly, Mark’s mouth had been flapping again.
“He’s not—” I started, shooting Mark a side-eyed glare, then stopped because lying was pointless. “Yes. That’s him.”
“Damn.” Jacks let out a low whistle. “Good taste, boss. He looks like a lawyer or something.”
“Heisa lawyer.”
“How do you know that?” Priya asked.
“He told me. Just now. When I took his order.”
“So youdidtalk to him.” Mark’s grin was insufferable.
“Of course I talked to him. That’s how service works. I took his order like a professional.”
“Remind me why you didn’t flirt,” Priya chided.
“Because I’m working. And so is he, apparently.” I gestured toward the booth where Chase was alreadyback to studying his papers. “He brought work with him.”
“On a Friday night?” Priya made a face. “That’s sad.”
“That’s dedication,” I countered, then wondered why I was defending him. “I mean, it’s also sad, but dedicated.”
“You should go back over there,” Mark said.
“Why?”
“To flirt since you failed to show him the goods the first time.”
“I’m not—”
“You’re absolutely going to flirt,” Priya said. “With or without the tittie flopping.”
Mark snorted. Jacks nearly choked.
“You!” I pointed at Jacks because he was the one annoying person I could order around. “Go clean something. In the kitchen. Far away from me.”
“Just be yourself,” Jacks offered as he stepped toward the kitchen. “Chicks—I mean, dudes—I mean, people love that.”
“Thank you, Jacks. Very helpful.”
“I try, boss. Go get you some D!”
The bell from the kitchen rang—Rod’s signal that food was up.
