Page 47 of Lying Hearts
I smile and put one hand on my hip. “You can come back here. You’re an employee now, you know.”
He laughs. “Great, what do I make?”
“Me happy.” I toss a damp towel at his face.
He grins and catches it. “I guess that’s all the payment I’ll need.”
“Oh, you’re so smooth. You know that? But well played. Now get wiping.”
He laughs, looking more and more comfortable. Strolling over to the booths, he begins there, bending over. “Like this?”
I’m already staring at his ass. “Just like that. What kind of music do you like?” I skip over to the iPod, happier than I’ve been since my loan got approved.
Brendan straightens, deep in thought as he tosses the towel from hand to hand. “Got any classic rock?”
“Do I have classic rock?!” I push a couple buttons and Janis Joplin begins the slow crooning of her masterpiece, Piece of My Heart. My hips sway and I close my eyes, dancing in place, caught up in it. I love to dance. I spin around and as soon as I realize what I’m doing, I crack my eyes to see if he’s looking at me like I’m nuts. But he’s dancing, too. Humming along as he works his way from booth to booth. He looks happy. It’s something to see. Boogying my way to the register, I pick up the twenties and start counting; twenty, forty, sixty, eighty…
He calls out over the music, walking to gather dirty napkins off a table in the center of the room. “How was tonight? Get busy after I left?”
One hundred, One hundred twenty… “Nah. We stayed slow all night. The busiest was when you were here. And stupid me – I loaded up the register hoping we’d need the change, but alas!”
He brings the trash to a trashcan behind the bar. I look over, watch him toss it in. He winks at me and goes back to wipe. I can’t get over this. I lost my count. Okay. Twenty, forty, sixty, eighty…
“What are you doing to get the word out?”
“Umm… that’s a great question.” That’s all I want to say. Not a fun topic. Where was I? Twenty, forty, sixty…
“So how about a great answer?”
Eighty… I glance to him and see that he’s serious. He really wants to know. “You’re not just making conversation are you?”