in years. My gaze drops to his lips and something inside me ignites. Colton has this way of smiling with only one side of his mouth that absolutely destroys my concentration.
“You’re not going to be serving many customers while you’re standing here bothering me, so maybe you should get back to your side of the bar,” I say.
“What? Are my disarming good looks distracting you?”
He winks and saunters away, leaving me a little weak in the knees. I blow out a breath and steady myself against the bar.
I want to hate him, but there’s something about him that turns me completely upside down. He’s the exact opposite of the kind of guy I need in my life, but there’s no way to get around the fact that we work together four or five nights a week.
He’s hot, but he’s dangerous. I, of all people, should know better than to start something with a guy like him.
My father comes in from the back office and works his way behind the bar, mercifully giving me something else to think about. He puts his hand on my arm, his eyes widening at the size of the crowd already gathered in his bar.
“Did you expect it to be this busy tonight?” he asks.
“I was hoping, but didn’t dream it would be this big,” I say. I don’t stop taking orders and working. From the looks of it, we’ve almost gotten control of this crowd. At least until everyone gets thirsty again.
“What time does the band go on?” he asks, glancing at the gold watch he’s worn ever since I can remember.
“Nine,” I say.
“That’s still half an hour away.”
He smiles like a kid in a candy store, making him look about twenty years younger in an instant. Pride shines in his eyes, and it sends a warm sense of satisfaction through me.
We did it, I want to tell him. We turned this place around.
A couple years ago, my dad was worried the whole place was going to go belly-up. He’d taken out a second mortgage on the house just to keep this place running, but we’d been scared, even if we didn’t like to say it out loud. When my cousin Knox had come home, that had changed everything.
He’d loaned us enough money to get back on our feet, agreed to work here at the bar for next to nothing, and helped me start brainstorming ways to promote new business. The way things were looking now, we might actually be able to pay him back soon.
I glance over at Knox working the middle section of the bar, and he winks. I remind myself to tell him again how much I appreciate everything he’s done for Daddy and me over the past couple years.
But now is not the time. After the night is over, I’ll pour us a couple shots and celebrate a job well done, but right now, the name of the game is churn and burn. Get drinks in hands and make sure everyone’s having a good time. Business has been growing steadily for a while now, but this is the biggest night yet. From the looks of it, half the town of Fairhope is heading this way, and I want to make sure when they leave, all they can talk about is what a great time they had at Rob’s tonight.
Someone pushes through the crowd and taps a hand on the bar to get my attention. I’m about to tell him to wait his turn when I look up and see that it’s Mason Trent. I smile and lean forward, trying to get closer so I can hear him over the noise.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“Just wanted to let you know we’re all set up on the stage and we’re just going to take a quick break out back to get our heads on straight.” He looks around, a smile in his eyes. “Can you believe this? I never dreamed we’d have this kind of crowd. I hope we’re ready for this.”
“You are. You guys rock.” I smile and pull back to fill a few fresh cups with ice and water. “Here. Take these to the guys.”
“Thanks,” he says. “We’ll be back in a few. Let Colton know we’re almost ready.”
I lift my chin in acknowledgement and go back to pouring drinks. We have margaritas and Bud Light on special tonight, and I’m starting to worry we’re going to run out before we close at two in the morning. It’s getting wild in here.