"Ugh, Emilia, I don't want to go tonight." I was lying face down on our couch, having returned home briefly in between lunch and dinner service. And while lunch didn't have an out-of-the-ordinary size crowd, I had seen the cars coming into town all this afternoon, and I knew what the hotel reservations looked like. We were going to get slammed.

Emilia picked up my legs so she could sit down. "Well, on the bright side, you're going to start making a shit ton of tips," she said, trying to be optimistic. "And speaking of, I'm guessing this is the start of sexy bra season?"

Despite my current state of emotions, I couldn't help but smile at that. I flipped over on my back so I could look at her. "Hey, if it works for Hooters then it can work for me," I protested. "And if a bunch of college boys can be manipulated into tipping more just because I'm wearing a push-up bra instead of a regular one, then that's on them. Not me."

"Hey, I wasn't judging," Emilia said. "Just wondering. And wondering if you gave any thought as to what Alex would think when he sees you."

I aimed a kick at her head but she dodged my foot. "Doesn't matter what he thinks," I said. "He's not going to be tipping me."

Had I given any thought to what he would think? Maybe.

Emilia laughed. "Fair enough." She pushed my legs off her lap. "Well, you should get going, yeah? Make sure everything is ready for the grand rush."

I groaned but sat up. "Yeah, I should go. I have to help my dad with some paperwork before we open, anyway."

"Good luck."

Not long after, I sat in the office helping to finish payroll on time. My dad was in the kitchen, helping the cooks fix something that had broken when the phone rang.

"Thank you for calling Coral Brews, this is Ana."

"Hi, Ana, it's Ryan."

"Oh, hey Ryan," I said. I typed a few numbers into my spreadsheet. "What's up?"

"Ana, I'm really sorry."

My fingers froze above the keyboard and I leaned on my elbows against the desk. "What are you talking about?"

"You know how I went to visit my cousin yesterday on my day off? And that's why I couldn't be there during lunch today?"

"Yeah?" I dreaded what was coming next.

"I was driving back and my car just broke down on me. I swear, I called a tow truck like, an hour ago but they're still not here. I don't know when I'll be able to come in, but I don't think I'm going to make it tonight."

I closed my eyes. Damn. That made everything worse.

"I'm really sorry," he repeated. "I know we're probably going to get slammed."

"No, don't worry about it," I told him with a sigh. "We'll manage. We always do. And just stay safe, okay?"

"I really owe you."

"Just get here if you can, and if you can't don't worry about it. It's not your fault."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ana."

"See you tomorrow. Bye Ryan."

I hung up the phone and sat back in my chair. This would be fun.

"Hey, Janice!" I called out to the waitress as she passed by the office door.

"Yeah?"

"Is Alex here yet?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I saw him just a minute ago."

"Can you tell him to come in here, please?" I asked. "Ryan just called out and we're probably going to be busy tonight, so I'll need him to help me. You should be good out on the floor without him, yeah?"

Janice nodded. "Yeah, since Albert just came back, we should be good. I'll get Alex now."

"Thanks."

I punched in a few more numbers, a bit more forcefully than I was before, as I waited for him to come in.

"You wanted to see me?"

I turned around at the sound of Alex's voice to see him leaning against the office doorway. "Yeah," I said. "Ryan's out tonight, so I'm going to need you to help me behind the bar." I got up from my chair. "I know I walked you through the basics on your first day, but a reminder never hurts."

He followed me behind the bar and I pulled out a drink menu. "I'll take care of all the cocktails," I told him. "Since most of them are unique to us." I flipped the menu over. "And since it will probably be mostly college-age kids, they'll, in general, be ordering cocktails, shots, and beer. If you can take care of the shots and beer, we should be good to go."

He nodded. "I'll take a moment to look over where everything is," he said. "But we should be good to go."

"Thanks, Alex," I said. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem.

I felt a bit better as I returned to payroll, and a small part of me couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement over working with him all night. And since he was young and hot, too, that would mean the girls would tip better, too.

I looked down at my chest. Right. I had forgotten about my bra change. I wonder if he had noticed.

"Alright, everyone," I called out as I walked out of the office and behind the bar. "We all know how these nights go." Everyone glanced toward the window, where a crowd was already growing, waiting to come inside. "So just do what you know to do and we'll be good."

I turned to Alex as everyone got ready to start. "You good?"

"Me?" He smirked. "Please."

Well, someone was confident. "Alright then. Let's see if you can keep up with me."

"Maybe it'll be you trying to keep up with me."

The nerve on this guy. I shook my head. "Uh-huh."

"Oh, by the way."

"Yeah?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Did you do something different? You look different."

That definitely brought a wry smile to my face. "See if you can figure it out."

Ella opened the doors and the crowds started to file in.

Part of me hated to admit it, but I would have drowned if it hadn't been for the fact that Alex was there and could handle all of the orders except for the fancy cocktails. That allowed me to focus on making those drinks, and I didn't have to worry about him messing up the simpler items. Despite our earlier banter, neither of us was keeping up with the other. We simply just worked well together.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" I asked him when we had a brief lull in orders.

"Why, you saying I'm good at it?" he teased.

"I'm saying you don't seem like this is your first shift," I countered.

He shrugged. "I mean, you don't exactly have me doing anything that difficult. And I know my way around alcohol. Not to mention, given that I've had more than one fake I.D., I'm pretty good at spotting them."

"Good." I was serious about that. "The last thing we need is to get caught serving alcohol to snotty underaged college kids."

He snorted. "I'm guessing they show up fairly often?"

"Unfortunately."

Since we were both handling hard liquor, our hands brushed each other more than once. Alex seemed to not really notice, but I certainly did.

"Hey, sweetheart!"

Great. Sweetheart. My favorite.

I turned around to face the new customer and was met with the sight of a very obvious frat boy eyeballing me from the other side of the counter. And no, I don't stereotype. He was literally wearing a shirt that said Sigma Chi on it.

I leaned over on the counter. "And what can I get for you?" I asked. My voice rose about two octaves.

He seemed to be enjoying the view of me bending over on the counter, but I knew I was the one who would get the actual victory out of this. I would get a big tip out of him.

"I think I'll get one of these Coral Sunsets," he said, finally tearing his eyes away from me and onto the menu. "They sound as good as you look."

I plastered on my fakest smile. "I.D.?"

"Oh come on, you're really going to card me?" He threw a charming smile my way.

I just stared at him. To me, he looked like a baby. But anyone 22 and under looked like a baby to me.

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" He sighed and pulled out his card. "Here you go."

I examined it. Yep, 21 and definitely not fake. I handed it back to him. "One Coral Sunset, coming up."

Coral Sunsets were actually one of my favorites. It wasn't unlike a Tequila Sunrise, but we used rum instead of tequila, and an orange passionfruit juice mix instead of just straight orange juice. I threw a cherry on top and slid the glass across the counter to him. "There you go," I told him.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he said. He pulled out a couple of bills and put them down on the counter. "All the extra is for you," he said. "And there's something special in there as well." He winked and slid back into the crowd.

I grabbed the bills and turned around to examine what I got. It was then I saw Alex looking at me, and he seemed to be trying to hold back a laugh.

"Problem?" I asked innocently.

"What did Alpha Delta Alpha give you?" he asked as he filled a pint glass with beer.

"A $20 bill for a $10 drink," I said. "Oh, and apparently his number and the room that he's staying at tonight," I added as I examined the cocktail napkin he had slid into the fold of the bill. "Also, I'm pretty sure he was Sigma Chi. I don't think Alpha Delta Alpha exists."

Ella came over with a table's drink order, so I started making the cocktails as Alex and I continued to talk. "Alright, fine. You don't have a problem with Sigma Chi looking at you like that?" Alex asked.

I shrugged and started shaking a gin and tonic. "Hey, as long as they don't touch, I don't really give a damn," I told him. "They're the ones who are stupid enough to be manipulated by boobs."

Alex shook his head. "No judgment here," he told me. "Just curiosity."

Finally, finally, finally, we made it to the end of the night. I gave the last call at 12:30, and we had everyone out of the bar by around 1:15. As Ella locked the door behind the last customer, I simultaneously wanted to cheer and fall asleep on top of the counter.

"So, tips are nice with this job," Alex said as he started cleaning. "But I have to ask, what do we do with all of these?" He pulled out a handful of cocktail napkins from his pocket, and as I looked closer, they had phone numbers on them.

I laughed. "Well, what I do, is this." I took out my own collection from my pocket, counted them, and then crumpled them up and threw them in the trash. "I like to know how many people think they have a shot with me," I told him. "But I'm certainly not going to call anyone. But you can do whatever you want. Just, if you do decide to call someone, don't tell me about it. I don't want to know."

"Yeah, I'm good." He chucked the napkins in the bin next to mine. "That is a complication I don't need right now."

That was an odd way of putting things. I mean, I didn't want to sleep with anyone here because they were gross and inexperienced and it would be an altogether unpleasant experience. But it didn't really have anything to do with making my life more or less complicated.

The mystery of what was going on in Alex's mind continued.

We finished cleaning on time and I relished in the cool ocean air as we stepped outside. "Well, thanks for stepping in," I told him as we walked to our cars. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Well, your gratitude is more than enough," he said. "It's nice to hear that you need me."

I just shook my head and gave a short laugh at that. "Yeah, yeah." We reached my car and paused for a moment. "But don't get used to it. Ryan will be back tomorrow."

"Right, well, good night, Ana."

"Night, Alex."

I was opening the driver's door when I heard him call back at me from down the street.

"Oh, and Ana?"

I looked up.

"I did figure out what's different about you. And I think you should keep it up. You look stellar."

I was thankful for the darkness and Alex's distance that hid the bright red that my cheeks turned. I sat down in my car and pulled the door shut behind me, shaking my head. The nerve on him.

But then I looked down at my chest and the cleavage that showed with my V-neck shirt. They did look fucking stellar.