Firecracker: A contemporary romance Read online

  Finally Sorcha’s smile dimmed, and she moved away to look after other customers.

  Damn. The young redhead just didn’t interest him. There was no figuring out why; chemistry was there or it wasn’t. And even though he’d already determined that he needed to get laid, it wouldn’t be with her.

  He looked around the bar. Maybe there was someone else here he could hook up with tonight. A group of four women sat at one of the booths, all of them attractive, apparently having a good time.

  Actually that would be a shitty thing to do in front of Sorcha. He wasn’t interested in her and didn’t want to lead her on in any way, but picking up another chick and leaving with her in front of Sorcha was kind of asshole-ish.

  Then again, maybe that was the best way to show her once and for all they weren’t going to be together.

  He sighed. Maybe it was time to stop hanging out at Shenanigans.

  Except Arden was working here now, and he was definitely going to make sure she was okay. He couldn’t be here every day, obviously. It just sucked that Sorcha made him feel uncomfortable when he really liked this place. He and Jamie liked coming here to watch baseball, football, or hockey, depending on the season, kicking back on the couches over by the fireplace, munching on chicken wings and Irish nachos.

  He finished his food, pulled out his wallet, and left the money on the bar including a decent tip, then waved good night at the guys he’d been talking to. He headed out into the summer evening for the walk home. Another benefit of Shenanigans—within walking distance, so no worries about drinking and driving.

  Back in the apartment building, he tried to pretend he didn’t care whether Arden was behind her closed apartment door or not. He sniffed the air. Even though he’d just eaten, something smelled fantastic.

  Ignoring it, he went in and closed his door. He had shit to do—laundry he hadn’t put away since last week, dishes he hadn’t unloaded from the dishwasher, and garbage that needed taking out. That would keep him busy until bedtime.

  “You know that saying…you never get a second chance to make a first impression?”

  Arden nodded at Sorcha, nerves buzzing in her stomach at her first shift of her new job. She resisted the urge to twist her fingers together and tried to appear relaxed and attentive.

  “That’s so true in the restaurant business. Luckily, we have a lot of regulars, but still, we get new customers all the time and we want them to come back. If something happens in their first visit, they won’t. No matter how good the food is, no matter how big the beer menu is, if the service is crappy, it ruins the whole experience.”

  Arden listened intently. She was going to rock this job.

  Sorcha spent time with her showing her their standard table settings, explaining how the tables were divided into sections, and where silverware, glasses, menus, and cleaning supplies were located. She showed her the computer program they used. She let Arden shadow her as she waited tables so she could get used to greeting and seating guests. Sorcha walked her through the order-taking process, showing her how orders were called when ready and how to deliver them to tables, and told her how often she should approach diners during the meal and what to say.

  “You don’t want to be interrupting them constantly. So also take cues from what’s happening…if they’re in a deep conversation, that’s not a good moment to stop and ask how things are. For tables like that, I do what I call a ‘slow pass’…I walk by their table slowly so they can see I’m looking at the table, not them. I can pick up an empty plate, or fill their water glasses, and they’ll know I’m aware of them and available if they need something, without interrupting.”

  Arden took it all in, mentally filing away the information.

  “Between table visits, you can keep busy by wrapping silverware or drying glasses, refilling service stands, wiping tables, picking up crap from the floor…that kind of stuff.”

  So when things were quiet, she prepped linens, silverware, and glassware, filled condiments, and restocked napkins. Sorcha also had her clean tables and run plates to the kitchen, which she did without complaining.

  As things got busier, Arden tried to help more by picking up orders to serve. She arrived at a booth with two meals and smiled at them. She’d been smiling since she arrived there, and her face was starting to hurt, but she knew the importance of a pleasant expression. “The turkey club?”

  Both men looked at her blankly.

  She blinked. “Um…turkey club and shepherd’s pie?”

  “Nope. Not ours, honey.”

  “Oh. I’m so sorry.” She flashed her smile even bigger, and returned to the kitchen to check the order. Had the kitchen screwed up?

  “What’s wrong?” Sorcha asked.

  “Um, they didn’t order this.”

  “Table twelve,” Sorcha snapped. “You got the wrong table.”

  “I thought that was table twelve.” She swallowed a sigh of frustration.

  “Great. Just remember…your screw-ups affect my tips.”

  Arden swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry. I apologized.”

  “Get table twelve their meals, now.”

  She hurried to the right table. She needed to go over the seating again and make sure she’d memorized everything.

  As she carried a tray of plates back to the kitchen, a man at table two near the bar flagged her down. “Excuse me. What’s that martini called that has a cocktail onion?”

  She gaped at him. She had no clue. “Um. A martini?”

  He frowned. “No, it’s got a different name. Anyway, we’ll each have one of those.”

  She hesitated. “Okay, sure.”

  Probably better to take their order, even though she had no idea what they wanted, than to tell them she wasn’t waiting tables yet. She paused at the bar and waved to Liam.

  He moved toward her with a smile. “Yeah, love?”

  “Table, um, two wants two martinis with pickled onions.”

  His eyebrows rose.

  “What’s that called? A martini with a pickled onion.”

  “That’s a Gibson.”

  “Oh.” She blew out a breath. “Damn.”

  “Yeah, we’ll spend some time on the menus, don’t worry, love. Is Sorcha cracking the whip?”

  “Oh, no, no.” The last thing she was going to do was complain to the boss about her trainer. Especially when she was the boss’s sister. “She’s great. Teaching me a lot.”

  “I’ll get the drinks to them. You take those dishes to the kitchen.”

  She nodded and picked up the tray again. The kitchen was sweltering chaos because things were so busy tonight with people off celebrating the Fourth. Her entire body was hot, sweat trickled between her breasts, and her feet hurt, and she hated screwing up.

  Maybe taking this job had been a mistake.

  Chapter Seven

  Arden slowly opened the door of Tyler’s apartment the next morning. She poked her head in and called softly, “Hello?”

  Silence greeted her.

  Tyler had finished work at eight, so she expected he was sleeping. She didn’t want to disturb him as she used his bathroom. She carried a bundle of towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream and a razor, a loofah sponge dangling from one of her fingers.

  She could easily use Mila or Jamie’s apartment, but Tyler was right, this was closer. She edged into the apartment and paused to look around. Curiosity about where Tyler lived danced in her belly.

  She tiptoed into his living room. The apartment layout was similar, but instead of an island separating his kitchen from the living room, he had a small dining table. She took in the details of the renovations that had been done…similar shiny hardwood floors to her apartment, the walls painted a nice taupe color with deep, white baseboards and casings around doors and windows. The fireplace was beautiful, the brick painted white with a heavy oak mantel, his kitchen stunning with black cabinets and white counters.

  For a bachelor apartment, it was pretty clean and tidy. A
bowl of fruit rested on the counter along with a newspaper and what appeared to be some mail. A squarish taupe sectional sat in the corner of the living room facing the fireplace, which was topped with a big screen TV. The square table in front of it held an empty bowl with crumbs of what appeared to be potato chips, the remote control, some magazines and—she had to smile—a hammer.

  She turned to a long low bookcase that was stuffed with all kinds of things…electronics, video games, and books, of course. She took in the titles—lots of science fiction and fantasy and…holy shit. She peered closer. A bunch of books by one of her favorite authors, Lora Leigh. It was the shape-shifter series she herself hadn’t read, although she’d read many of the author’s other books. But all Lora Leigh books were super sexy. She smiled. That was interesting.

  A little guilt poked her at how she was snooping around. She glanced over her shoulder as if expecting to see Tyler watching her. But hey, she wasn’t opening cupboards and drawers or anything. She didn’t look at the mail to see if his bills were past due or if his bank statements showed a negative balance. She was just observing.

  She headed to the bathroom, pausing for a peek into the second bedroom across from it. The room held a black desk and leather chair, a small couch that probably folded down to a bed, a bike, and a bunch of exercise equipment.

  Stop, Arden. Shaking her head, she turned to the bathroom.

  And sighed with pleasure.

  Was this what her bathroom would look like when finished?

  A big soaker tub occupied a lot of space, but there was still room for a separate glassed-in shower stall, a toilet, and a double sink vanity. The floor was gray and white hexagon-shaped tile, the vanity a charcoal gray, the walls a lighter gray, and the tiles in the shower a mix of various shades of gray and white.

  She eyed the tub with longing. Her intent had been to jump in and out of the shower and get out of Tyler’s place. But her feet and lower back were still aching from her shift at Shenanigans last night, and the idea of soaking in steaming hot water was so enticing…she couldn’t resist. Biting her lip, she set down her things on the marble counter and started filling the tub. She hesitated, then locked the bathroom door. Tyler was sleeping, but just in case…she didn’t want a repeat of him walking in on her naked in the bathroom. Nope, that hadn’t been embarrassing at all. Gah.

  She eyed Tyler’s bath products…a masculine sponge hanging in the shower with black bottles of men’s shampoo and body wash. Pretty minimal. Although there were several hair products, a hairbrush and an electric shaver/beard trimmer sitting on the vanity. If she snooped, would she find prescriptions drugs? Guyliner?

  She laughed at herself as she stripped off her clothes, then squirted a generous amount of her Bombshell body wash beneath the faucet to create some bubbles. Heaven.

  Soon, she was submerged in steamy, soapy water up to her chin. This tub was amazing. She sighed, closing her eyes and wiggling her toes. Long baths were a guilty pleasure of hers that she hadn’t indulged in for too long. She’d been busy packing, traveling, and now living in an apartment with no tub or shower.

  Tyler was going to regret offering his bathroom to her, because she was going to be in here every chance she got.

  Well, not if he was home. Probably. Maybe.

  She wished she’d brought her e-reader (which she tucked into a Ziploc bag when she had a bath), but she hadn’t planned on this. Damn. She could have borrowed one of Tyler’s Lora Leigh books…but she wasn’t going to get out of the tub and trek naked through his apartment to get one. So she relaxed and let her mind wander, reliving her long shift yesterday and the various humiliations she’d endured.

  For a moment, she let herself indulge in a little pity party for one. When she’d trudged home late last night with burning feet, sore legs, and an aching back, feeling like an idiot, she’d questioned her sanity. Maybe she should have waited and looked for a nice office job where she could sit and answer phones or something.

  She sighed. There was nothing stopping her from looking for a job like that while she worked at Shenanigans. Other than the fact that answering phones all day didn’t sound a hell of a lot better than waiting tables.

  She wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself. Waitressing was hard work, but it was work. To her surprise, she’d left with a share of tips in her purse even though she hadn’t waited on any tables herself. Liam seemed like a good boss, although he was a little slapdash about rules and policies and procedures. It appeared that Sorcha stayed on him about those things, while he kept staff and customers alike charmed and happy.

  After her bath, she was going to study the online menu of Shenanigans. She’d had another embarrassing moment when a table had flagged her down and asked which she’d recommend between the pork tacos and the fish tacos. Her response had been brilliant: “Well, the pork tacos are made with pork, so if you like pork, you should definitely have those, but the fish tacos are made with fish so they’re really good if you like, um…fish.”

  They’d all stared at her while her cheeks flamed.

  Now she closed her eyes, held her breath, and slid down until the water closed over her head.

  Dammit. She wasn’t going to let shit like that happen again. She at least could have made up some bullshit about fish tacos being lighter, even if she had no idea what was in those dishes.

  She pushed up out of the water and ran her hands over her eyes.

  Liam was going to give her a lesson in beer and cocktails. That should be fun. She was so not a beer girl.

  Didn’t matter. This was her livelihood now, and she was going to kick ass at it if it killed her.

  She reached for her can of passion fruit-scented shaving foam and her razor, and took care of defuzzing underarms and legs. She scrubbed up with her sponge, then shampooed and rinsed her hair using the handheld attachment.

  Out of the bath, she combed through her wet hair as the tub drained, then considerately cleaned out the tub. It was nice of Tyler to let her use his place; she didn’t want to leave it in a mess. She wiped down the vanity too, then dressed and gathered up all her things to leave.

  It still seemed weird that they all left their doors unlocked, but they were friends and trusted one another. That was kind of comforting, actually, to know she was living among people who had one another’s back.

  She wouldn’t see much of Jamie and Mila when she was working late shifts, but now she had a schedule for the next week, and there were some days she’d work earlier. She’d been chatting online with her friend Emma, who also worked a nine-to-five type job, though it sounded like Emma too worked long hours. They’d been trying to figure out a time to get together with Arden now back in Chicago, and now that Arden knew her schedule, they could arrange something. She was excited to see her best friend again.

  She opened the bathroom door and poked her head out. The hall was empty, so she stepped out, all her things rolled up in damp towels.

  “Hey.”

  She jumped, nearly throwing her bottles of shampoo and conditioner down the hall. She turned to see Tyler coming out of his bedroom, wearing a pair of athletic shorts sitting sinfully low on his hips, his hair all mussed. “Jesus! You scared me. I thought you were sleeping.”

  He gave her a slow, slumberous smile, his eyelids heavy. “I think you might want to cut back on the caffeine. You’re as jumpy as peas on a hot griddle.”

  She couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. He was right, though. She’d been on edge for a long time, and the stress of picking up and moving across the country hadn’t helped that. “I guess that long bath I just had didn’t help me relax much.”

  “You had a bath?” One eyebrow rose and his eyes took on an interested gleam.

  “Yes. I hope that was okay.”

  “Yeah, that was okay. I told you, you can use my bathroom any time.”

  “That tub is amazing. I love it.”

  “Hmmm.”

  She blinked.

  “Well, good. I need coffee
. You need coffee?” He moved toward her down the hall.

  “You just told me to cut back on caffeine.”

  He brushed past her with a smile. “How many cups of coffee have you had today?”

  “None.”

  “Then you’re good. Come on.”

  “I should go…” She had wet hair dripping down the back of her T-shirt and no makeup on.

  “Have a cup of coffee.”

  “Did I wake you up?” She followed him slowly to his kitchen, watching the muscles in his back, the shorts so low she could almost see the shadow of his butt cleft. She swallowed. They really had to stop meeting like this…

  “Nope.” He grabbed a package of Tassimo cartridges and checked the machine for water. “Just woke up. I only needed a nap, since things were quiet last night.”

  “Oh. That’s good.”

  “It was good. Busy day yesterday.”

  “Did you rescue any cats from trees?”

  He laughed as he started the coffee maker. “Is that what you think I do?”

  “It’s the stereotype, I know. Have you ever rescued a cat?”

  “No. We don’t do that.”

  “What? You just leave them up there?”

  He turned and leaned against the counter, an amused expression on his face. “Have you ever seen a skeleton of a cat in a tree?”

  She frowned at him, then burst out laughing. “Good point.”

  “I did rescue a dog, though.”

  Her eyes widened. “You rescued a dog from a fire?”

  “No.” He grimaced. “He ran under a parked car and got stuck in the engine compartment.”

  “Oh. Really?”

  “Really. We had to lift the car and get underneath.”

  “He’s okay?”

  “He’s fine. Back with his family. Crazy mutt.” He shook his head, but smiled.

  “You like dogs?”

  “Love ’em.”

  “Would Jamie let you have one?”

  “Probably. We don’t have much of a yard though, with parking behind the building. I think I’d rather wait until I can buy my own house someday.” He rolled his eyes. “Which could be in fifty years, and I’ll be too old to look after a dog.”