The exact date that crowds started to come varied from season to season. The bar had no way of knowing which weekend would begin the holiday rush, so every year I took to going around to all the hotels every Friday leading up to summer to find out when they started to sell out.

"Hey Dad!" I came in the back entrance and ducked into the office, only to find it empty. After punching in, I headed out front to find him.

"Ella!" I stopped one of our waitresses as I passed her in the hall. "Have you seen my dad?"

She nodded. "He's out front. I think he's hiring someone for summer."

"Thanks." That was odd. My dad was never really ahead of the game when it came to hiring. In fact, I was usually the one who did most of the hiring.

I met my trusty nighttime wingman, Ryan, behind the bar. He was about ten years older than me and had worked at Coral Brews for as long as I could remember. He was the only one I trusted to get through the intense summer rushes and keep up with the copious amount of alcohol our customers usually consumed.

"Hey, is my dad out here somewhere?" I asked him.

Ryan nodded and jerked his head toward the tables. "Out there. New hire, apparently."

"That's good."

Ryan stared at me cautiously. "Don't tell me we're going to get hit this weekend?"

I shook my head. "It'll be a bit busier than usual," I told him. "And same next week. But our first official crazy night will most likely be the Friday after next."

"Well, good for the new guy then," Ryan commented. "Gives him a bit of time to get the hang of things."

"So it's someone completely new?" I asked. "Not a returner?"

"I haven't seen him," Ryan admitted. My dad and the new guy were on the other side of the bar, hidden in the dim lighting. "But if he was a returner, your dad wouldn't have to spend so much time talking to him."

The door leading to the back kitchen swung open and Ella and Janice, the two waitresses came out. They both had grins on their faces and were suppressing laughter.

"What's up with you two?" I gave them a hard look. They were both good at their jobs, but their giddiness made me suspicious.

"Ana, Ana," Janice said, her voice racing with excitement. "Have you met the guy your dad's talking to right now?"

I shook my head. "No, I just got in. Why?"

The pair erupted into giggles again. "You'll see, you'll see."

I glanced at Ryan with an eyebrow raised, but he just shrugged.

"Ana." My dad appeared at the bar, and the two waitresses disappeared in the back, probably to gossip some more. "Come round. I want you to meet the new hire."

I nodded and went around the bar to meet my dad. "You're so proactive this year," I told him. "Extra staff already."

"Well, we do have the sign in the window," my dad said. "And he came and found me."

We approached the corner table, and as we came up, the new hire stood up.

Ah. Now I understood why Ella and Janice were so overcome with giggles.

He was hot. Like, really hot. Tall but not too tall, dark hair, green eyes, clearly not a stranger to the gym, and, fuck, a tattoo sleeve. That was my own personal weakness when it came to guys.

All of those thoughts crossed my mind in a split second, and I only had another split second to get myself together and act professionally. It took all of my willpower to not give him an obvious once-over with my eyes.

"This is my daughter, Ana," my dad said. "Ana, this is Alex, he'll be working with us this summer."

I held out my hand and he shook it. Yep, definitely not a stranger to the gym.

"Ana, go ahead and get him a t-shirt and give him a tour of the place."

"Yeah, sure thing." I motioned for him to follow me, heading toward the back. "So what made you come to Delphine for the summer?" I asked. Getting staff from out of town was unusual.

"Is it that obvious I'm not from here?" he asked.

I glanced at him, hoping I hadn't offended, but he only looked mildly curious. "You've never lived in a small town before, have you?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"I know everyone here," I said. "And if you were from here, we would have gone to high school together."

He nodded. "Ah, I see."

"So..." I trailed off, egging him on to answer my question.

"Oh right. Honestly, there's no big reason why I ended up here." His face had grown rather tight even though he kept his voice casual. "I just needed a change of scenery, came across the town, decided to stay. I like the ocean, so it works for me."

A very vague answer. But I didn't push. It wasn't any of my business. "Well, if you like the ocean, you're definitely in the right place." I headed into the back storage room. "This should fit." I threw a t-shirt at him. "Bathrooms are to your left; you can change there. Then just follow this hallway down, through the kitchen and the swinging door. That's the bar, and I'll meet you there."

"Thanks, Ana."

I watched him walk down the hall, and part of me wished that he had just pulled off his shirt right there in the storage room. "Fuck, Ana, keep it in your pants," I muttered to myself. I headed back to the bar, swinging the door open to find Ryan doing inventory and making sure everything was stocked for the night.

He eyed me as I walked in. "So, now we know why the waitresses were so flustered."

"What do you mean?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm not into guys doesn't mean I can't tell when one is objectively attractive."

"Fine," I relented. "He is. But that doesn't mean everyone can lose their heads. We want this to be a safe environment. For everyone."

Ryan held up his hands. "Hey, you're not going to find me hitting on him. It's those two you're going to have to keep an eye on." He nodded toward Ella and Janice, who were wiping down tables.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to them."

"Talk to who?" Alex appeared behind them, changed into his somehow perfectly fitting Coral Brews Bar t-shirt.

I exchanged a glance with Ryan, and he turned away to hide a smile. "Right now, you," I told Alex. "This is Ryan, he works with me here at the bar."

Ryan shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, man."

"And I'll show you the rest of the place." I checked the clock. We had 15 minutes before opening. "Starting with where you'll clock in every day." I led him to the back. "Don't worry about clocking in right now," I told him. "We'll put you in manually so you get all of your pay. But make sure to punch out at the end of your shift."

Alex nodded but stayed quiet. I was beginning to think he wouldn't be much of a talker.

"This is the back kitchen," I continued. "And that's Daryl and Conner, they make all the food."

The two chefs gave a nod but were too busy with prep to come and talk.

"If anyone asks you about menu items, go back and check with one of them," I instructed. "Don't guess."

"No, I can't imagine guessing would work out in my favor," Alex commented. "But your dad said I wouldn't be working much with food. At least not yet."

"No, but guests love to ask the first person they see if they have a question," I warned him. "So just know who to go to for what."

He nodded again.

"Dirty dishes go here." I showed him the dish room, where Cammie stood looking at her phone. It's not like she had anything to do at the moment anyway. "Since you'll be clearing tables, you'll get to know Cammie pretty well.

Cammie looked up at the sound of her name.

"Cammie, this is Alex," I said. "New staff, he'll be helping out for the summer."

Cammie nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"And then out here is where it gets crazy." I took Alex out into the bar. "Like I said, you'll mostly be clearing tables and helping Ella and Janice, our waitresses, bring out food."

Ella and Janice had finished cleaning and were together at a high table, waiting for me to introduce Alex to them.

"Ella and Janice are our waitresses, and they're very good at it," I praised. "Girls, this is Alex."

They both smiled at him.

I turned to Alex. "Listen to them. They have a system, and it's a system that works. You're here to help make that system run smoothly. Makes sense?"

Alex nodded. "Absolutely."

"Alright, I'll leave you three to it." I gave the waitresses a hard stare. "I want everything to go well tonight, understand?"

They both nodded. "Hey, we got this, Ana," Ella said.

"I hope so." I checked the clock again. "Ten minutes until we open. Come find me if you need anything, alright?" I gave the girls another death stare. When Janice gave a small eye roll, I figured they got the message. No drooling over the new guy.

"So, how does he seem?" Ryan asked when I returned to the bar.

"Quiet." I shrugged and wrapped my apron around my waist. "But that doesn't really mean anything. We'll see how he does tonight, go from there."

The hotel records were right. It wasn't a crazy night, but it certainly wasn't slow. And much of the new clientele were young, college-age kids. Delphine had somehow become the place in Connecticut where rising seniors came to celebrate their final year, and recent graduates came to celebrate making it through their final year.

It was a good warm-up for me and Ryan, though, getting back into our rhythm. Fortunately, we had little problem keeping up with the demand. Unfortunately, since we were busy, it was more difficult for me to keep an eye on Alex to see how he was doing.

That being said, neither waitress came up to me to complain about him. I never saw an empty, dirty table for more than a few minutes, and no one dropped any plates of food. So all signs pointed to success.

One o'clock finally came and I ushered the final few people out and locked the door behind them. I turned around to look for Alex, but he was already coming from the back carrying a bucket of sanitizer. I glanced at Ryan who shrugged but looked impressed. Apparently, Alex learned quickly.

"Alright, here's your punch card." The rest of the staff had already left, and it was just me, Alex, and my dad, finishing up Alex's hiring paperwork.

Alex took the card but then stared at the machine. "Er, I've never actually used one of these before," he admitted.

"Oh, right, sorry," I said. I bit back a laugh at the momentary look of panic on his face. "It's super old, I know. But we've had it forever and it still works, and if it's not broke why spend money to fix it." I took his card and slid it into the machine slot. "Just line up that line in between the lines on the card," I demonstrated, "and then..." The machine punched the time down. I handed Alex back his card. "And then when you clock in tomorrow, just line it up so it goes in the box underneath."

"What about for the start of today?"

"Ah, right, I forgot." I took the card back from him again and pulled out a pen. "I can just write it in." I wrote in the time Alex started his shift and put my initials next to it. "You're all set." I held the card back out to him.

He grabbed it, briefly brushing his fingers against mine. I pulled my hand away quickly.

"Thanks," he said. He put the card back in the holder. "So that's it?"

"That's it." I jerked my head for him to follow. "We're done, Dad," I said as I poked my head into the office. "See you tomorrow."

"Good night, sweetheart," he said. "Night, Alex. Good job today." My dad got up and handed him a couple more shirts. "Here, make sure to keep them clean. Everyone gets three to start with."

"Thank you, sir."

Alex followed me out into the cool night air. "I'm guessing there's perks to being the boss's daughter?" he asked.

I laughed. "A few," I replied. "But a few drawbacks. Family business and all that."

Alex nodded but stayed quiet again. He looked distant.

"Well, this is me." I stopped at my car. "And yeah, nice work today. It's going to get crazy in a couple of weeks, but you should be good to go by the time that happens."

"Thanks, Ana," he said. "Have a good night, see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Alex."

I watched him walk off. Damn, the back of him was just as attractive as the front.

A/N: And now y'all have met Alex, because of course no romance story is complete without the romantic lead. I'm wondering where you guys thing this will go, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!