back.”
A woman of her word, Lisa used the next lull to cut up limes. He figured he’d hit the bonus round when she started washing glasses. “You’re good for business,” she said, glancing over at him with a sly smile.
“Okay, I’ll bite. How so?”
“You asked earlier how we keep up. We get slammed sometimes at the end of the month and the middle...you know, around payday. Nothing Cassie and I can’t handle. But tonight, everyone’s ordering extra. They’re trying to keep you humping, see how long it takes for you to blow a fuse. And then there’s a few who just want to annoy the crap out of you.”
“Gee, let me guess who.” Gordon, who hadn’t liked him from the first, gave him a small nod. John held back his grin, even though he’d take that gesture for the compliment it was.
Lisa followed his gaze. “He knows you’re doing this for Cassie. That’s major points right there.”
A giant bear of a man with an impressive beard and endless tats had come from the pool tables and slammed an empty pitcher on the bar hard. “No wonder service is so shitty. You two standing here gabbing like old ladies. What the hell do I have to do to get a refill around here?”
John had been ready to suck it up and apologize, when Lisa said, “Try shutting up for starters.”
Customers at the tables laughed. So did the big guy.
“Damn it, Spider.” Lisa grabbed the pitcher and inspected it. “You could’ve broken this.”
“Where’s Cassie?” Spider asked, frowning at John. “She’s prettier than you.” With beefy hands, he gripped the edge of the bar, arms wide, his round belly pressed against the wood while he studied John’s face. “Though not by much.”
That got another round of laughter.
“Funny. I didn’t know it was open-mic night.”
John heard the storage closet door open, and turned to see Cassie peeking out. “Everything’s fine,” he said.
“What was that loud noise?” She saw Spider and rolled her eyes. “Was that you causing trouble?”
“Cassie.”
At John’s stern tone, she sighed and closed the door.
“Before you get in his face,” Lisa said, drawing the man’s angry glare away from John, “you should know he’s doing this for Cassie. She’s back there studying for an exam. Your buddy was supposed to be working this shift.”
“Where is he?”
“Who knows?” She set the filled pitcher in front of him. “He won’t answer Cassie’s calls.”
Spider’s brows furrowed and his irritation with Tommy seemed legit. He went back to sizing up John, the mischievous gleam entering his eyes hard to miss. “Our girl is more than a bartender. She knows her stuff,” Spider said. “Dude, you got some big shoes to fill.”
John snorted a laugh. “You going anywhere with this?”
“See you, boys.” Lisa picked up her tray, and as she slipped to the other side of the bar, she whispered to John, “His bark’s worse than his bite.”
Spider picked up the pitcher and drank from it as if it were a mug. He wiped the foam off his beard with the back of his arm. “Where’s the cheapest gas in town? You got five seconds.”
John folded his arms across his chest. “The Pilot on Craig.”
Rearing his head back, Spider eyed him with suspicion for a moment, then said, “No shit?”
“Nah. That’s what I heard Cassie tell someone the other day. For all I know they could’ve doubled the price by now.”
Several customers thought that was pretty funny. So did Spider. “You’re all right, pretty boy, you’re all right,” he said, nodding, and then took his pitcher with him back to his pool game.
A guy sitting at Gordon’s table yelled, “Hey, barkeep...”
John looked over, saw everyone’s grins and waited for the smart-ass question he figured was coming.
“The Cheyenne exit is closed for construction. What’s the quickest detour to get downtown?”
“I know this one.” While he answered, he took up where Lisa had left off, washing glasses and mugs, and letting them dry on the rack.
For the next hour, different customers shot out random questions. He replied truthfully to the ones he knew, responded to the absurd queries with the silly answers they deserved. It was all in fun and made the time fly. Lisa had clued him in on the betting pool the regulars had started the minute he’d taken over for Cassie. Evidently him lasting twenty minutes was the long-shot wager.
Since he’d disappointed them, they’d started a new pool. Now they were betting on how long it would take him to break down and call Cassie for