“What’s wrong with the shrimp?”
Her question surprised me and I stammered. “Uh, nothing. Nothing, miss. It’s excellent. We’ve been selling quite a lot of it today.”
“Your expression implies otherwise.”
There was no appropriate way to explain what had just transpired at this very table, so I said, “No, miss. It’s quite good, and it’s one of my favorites. It’s just been a very busy day for shrimp.”
She handed over her menu. “I suppose it is.” Her amber eyes sparkled, and she raised an eyebrow. I felt a little pull of arousal in my stomach at her expression.
Is she flirting with me? She was definitely older than me, though not by a lot. There’s nothing hotter than an experienced woman who knows what she wants.
Jesus, I really need to get laid.
I went back to deliver her order to Sebastian personally, knowing if he saw one more order of breaded shrimp for table six, he’d start throwing things. I still got an eye roll and some muttering, but it was better than him sabotaging her meal intentionally.
Her food was prepared and served quickly, and I cleared away her empty plate after she finished. “Would you like anything else, miss?”
“No, but I do need to make a phone call and do some work. Will it be a problem if I sit here for a while? I don’t want to take up a table if you’re busy.”
“No, miss. Take your time. Our rush is over and it’s a slow day anyway. My name is Benny, just let me know if you need anything else.”
She gave me the smallest hint of a smile. She sat angled at her table, one ankle crossed over the other sensually and making her legs look even longer. She almost seemed to purr as she said, “Thank you, Benny.”
Why was it that hearing my name from her lips, seeing the expression on her face, was so satisfying? I couldn’t help but smile back, and I felt my cheeks burn just a little with the way she was looking at me. I feel like a kid who just got a sticker or something. Grow up.
The woman spent the next hour at the table, sipping on water and talking quietly on the phone. At times, she looked focused and engaged with her conversation, but at other times, there was a hint of exhaustion in her eyes. I kept an eye on her water glass and replaced it when it got low, even though she’d already paid her check. Eventually she left while I was in the back, and I came back to collect the envelope.
She threw me for a loop when she left me exactly ten percent for the tip.
It wasn’t that I expected a lot for tips, but I tended to make a fair amount. They made up almost all my income, and I was proud of the fact that most of my customers walked away happy with their experience. Especially the older women who all thought I was cute.
But the woman in black with the amber eyes left a tip of exactly ten percent, down to the pocket change she fished out of her purse. And something about that pissed me off. Most people rounded up and added a few dollars, or rounded their check out to an even amount.
Maxine scoffed while she watched me shove the cash in my apron. “Dang. Snobby-mc-snob-face in the black heels didn’t even leave you a decent tip, even after sitting there for over an hour after she finished her lunch. What a bitch.”
“Seriously,” I muttered. “I lost money on that table. If she ever comes in again, seat her somewhere else? Just tell her that table is reserved and put her in Everett’s corner right by the bathroom doors.” But even as I spoke, something about my words felt flat and fake to me. Mostly, I was disappointed that I somehow hadn’t earned enough approval from her to warrant more than a measly two dollars and fifty-three cents.
I kept thinking back to the beautiful woman with the shiny black hair and the amber eyes. The way she’d looked up at me, pleased at my service, was stuck in my head. But then why was she so skimpy on the tip?
And why did I care so much?
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. I’d learned to get over it. Accept and move on. Don’t dwell on it and don’t take it personally.
But the woman stuck in my head, and I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And it wasn’t just the clench in my gut or the slight blood rush in my pants. She was beautiful… but more than that, she was compelling. I thought I’d pleased her, and I was mostly disappointed in myself that I clearly hadn’t.
There are some people you just can’t please.
I forced myself out of my car and into the bar. I’ll earn it all back tonight. I have to.
The chaos of the bar consumed me, and everything else faded away. Burnt French fries. Spilled beer. Men breaking out in hoots and hollers, clapping and cheering. Girls laughing. So many fucking shots and birthdays.
The table in the back was packed with girls all dressed up like they’d just come from a party. Their makeup was slightly smeared from their excessive drinking and dancing, and they looked around wide-eyed and smiling every time I came by. I made sure to take extra good care of them.
One of the girls in the group was a little more shy than the rest. I asked for her drink order, but she shook her head and blushed. “I’m the DD tonight.”
She looked a little embarrassed, and pretty far out of her comfort zone. She seemed like the quiet bookworm type. Her blonde hair was pulled into a low ponytail, and she wore thin wire-frame glasses that magnified her light blue eyes. Her conservative jeans and blouse did nothing to hide her round, full breasts and thick thighs.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you the under-21 friend who they invited because they didn’t want to pay for an uber?”
She sighed and nodded, embarrassed that I’d called her out.
“Well, let’s get them drunk and happy, and I’ll give you all the mocktails and house chips you can handle, okay cutie?”
She laughed, her eyes sparkling. I gave her shoulder a little squeeze before I went to put in their drinks.
I made up my lost tip pretty quickly, because drunk girls can’t do math. By the end of the night, I had a few hundred bucks and three phone numbers. The birthday girls were all smashed, but the underage sweet blonde who I’d been flirting with all night was stone cold sober, and the napkin with her number was burning a hole in my pocket. I watched them pile into an SUV outside, their convenient free driver annoyed with their steadily declining behavior.
After cleaning up and closing the bar, I stole a few eggs for breakfast tomorrow, wrapping them in a paper towel and setting them in the cooler in the back of my car next to a leftover sandwich, a baguette, and an apple I’d snatched from the café. Extracting the napkin in my pocket, I texted the blonde from the birthday party tonight. The name Katie was written on the top with a little heart dotting the “i.”
Benny: Hey cutie. Get home safe?
Katie: Sure did! Just dropped off the last two party animals, and I’m on my way home.
Benny: You’re a good friend, Katie.
Katie: I try.
Benny: You want some company?
Three little dots disappeared and reappeared, but finally, an address came through.
When I got to her apartment twenty minutes later, I could see her pacing through the living room window. She looked nervous. But when she opened the door, she had a big smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks.
I smiled as I walked into her place, gently placing my hands on her waist. “Long day’s work isn’t so bad when you get a smile like that at the end of it.”
She giggled and bit her lip, her hands awkwardly resting on my chest. I didn’t want to go caveman on her, but I was dying to get my hands under her clothes.
My fingers snuck under the edge of her shirt. “You want to watch a movie or something?”
She smirked. “It’s one in the morning. I want to go to bed.”
I raised an eyebrow hopefully. She laughed again and held my shirt with her hands as she took a step backwards, bringing me farther into the apartment. I followed willingly.
She was shy but eager, a combination I found endearing. She blushed and dipped her face when I took her top off, but moaned so beautifully when I kissed her neck and her breasts. I fumbled with her bra and couldn’t get the damn thing off, and she snickered as she removed it, my awkwardness dissipating some of the tension. We ended up on our sides, her arms around my head as I sucked and licked her pretty breasts, running my fingertips up and down her curves.
When I kissed her right above the button on her jeans, her breath turned shallow. “You okay?”
She nodded and bit her lip.
“You want me to take these off?”
She nodded, but her eyes were darting around a little, and she looked uncomfortable.
“You sure? Because we can just lie here and fool around some more.”
She swallowed and said, “Yeah, that’s… That would be good.”
I refused to let my disappointment show. Instead, I nibbled and kissed my way back up her tummy and chest, and listened to her breathy little moans as I played with her pebbled nipples.
Eventually things wound down, and we chatted about nothing. When her eyelids began to droop, I turned off the light and she snuggled against me.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“You kidding me? I’m the one who got titties tonight.”
She giggled again. It was a cute sound and it made me want to squeeze her. “I just… I haven’t…”
In the dark, with a stranger, it was easier to be honest. “You’re a virgin?”
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