Page 1 of Play For Keeps

ONE

SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY

Everly

I’m kicking myself for taking this shift tonight. We’re short-staffed, and the restaurant has been slammed since I started at 5 p.m. Between dealing with customers who have had way too much to drink and trying to keep a very demanding corporate group happy, I haven’t had a second to breathe.

Only two more hours, I tell myself as I weave through the tables to deliver a gin and tonic. Click, click. I cringe at the distinct sound of someone snapping to get my attention. Don’t people know that is the cardinal sin of eating at a restaurant? Turning to see who is beckoning me, I trip over a toddler who has suddenly appeared at my feet and spill the drink down the front of my shirt.

This is why I never work Saturday nights. But when Faith, a co-worker at Catch 21, called and practically begged me to cover her shift so she could go to a concert with a guy she just started seeing, I couldn’t say no.

Hurrying to the back room to change out of my wet shirt, I pass Violet, who is on her way back to the dining room with a tray of appies balanced on her hand.

“Wild out there tonight, huh?” she says, stopping to blow a loose strand of bleached blonde hair out of her eyes. Violet is four years younger than me, but when I started at Catch 21 after moving to Reed Point four months ago, the two of us quickly became friends.

“Yeah,” I sigh, motioning to my soaked shirt. “I’m just changing real quick. Can you cover for me?”

“You bet. I’ve got you,” she says as I move quickly down the hall. Once in the back room, I close the door behind me and make a beeline for my locker, where I thankfully keep a clean shirt on hand for situations like this. Peeling the top from my body, I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

As I’m tucking the fresh button-down into my skirt, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I dig it out, hoping it’s not a message from my neighbor Franny, who is watching my daughter Birdie for the night.

Birdie and I met Franny the day we moved into our small, two-bedroom apartment. There was a knock at the door, and I opened it to find an older woman with a warm smile and a pouf of violet hair standing there. She held a plate of sprinkled cupcakes and a glittery cat ear headband—the ultimate housewarming gift for a 7-year-old. That was it for Birdie, she loved Franny immediately. I did too. We just seemed to click. Since then, she has become like family. Sometimes I don’t know what I would do without her—like tonight, for instance. When I called at the last minute to ask if she would stay with Birdie, she was at our doorstep five minutes later armed with craft supplies and a board game. It’s definitely not the first time Franny has stepped in to save me. Sometimes I worry that we are taking up too much of her time, but Franny insists that with her own two kids now grown up and out of the house, she loves being able to hang out with Birdie.

Thankfully, the two of them must be just fine tonight, because the text isn’t from Franny, it’s from Willa, my best friend back home. I slam my locker door shut and then swipe to read the message.

Willa: Hey Ev… Can you talk?

Something about it feels ominous, and I get a nervous feeling in my chest. But it will have to wait. I’ve left Violet to cover me for too long as it is, so I type out a short reply telling Willa that I’ll get back to her when my shift ends and then hurry back to the dining room.

When I think about everyone I left behind in Brookmont, Willa is who I miss the most. Four months ago, I packed up Birdie’s and my belongings and loaded them into my car. I tucked my sleepy daughter into the back seat beside the boxes of our things and made the two-hour drive to Reed Point while she slept. Getting to this small town was the easy part. The hard part has been settling into a new home—one that is nearly 5,000 square feet smaller than the gated mansion we left behind. I still feel pangs of guilt about uprooting Birdie from the life she knew, but if I didn’t think it was best for her, I never would have done it. Thankfully she has been quick to make new friends and doesn’t seem to mind our cozy little home. And although some days she complains that she misses her dad, she’s excited to live closer to her grandparents. When my parents suggested I move to Reed Point for a while to be closer to them, I was hesitant at first; I’d need to find somewhere to live because they wouldn’t have room for us in their tiny, old house. Turns out, finding our apartment was a lot easier than I expected and I took that as a sign; it felt like fate. My parents have been worried about me for a long time so they’re over the moon to have me and Birdie close by.

Still trying to push down the anxiety that Willa’s text sparked, I swing open one of the dining room doors—and walk directly into the hard wall of a man’s chest.

“Whoa,” the hard body says, his hands coming to my shoulders to steady me. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

I press a hand to my racing heart. “I’m okay, thanks. I’m pretty sure that was my fault. I should have been looking where I was going.”

I look up to see a roughly six-foot frame towering over me. Wow. This guy is ridiculously handsome. He has thick espresso-brown hair that is short on the sides and slightly longer on top, a chiselled jaw and a neatly trimmed beard that is sexy as hell. The mystery man is tall with an athletic build, a broad chest, and muscled arms. I pause when I notice the stormy intensity of his gaze, and the way his green eyes trail down towards my lips. I recognize the appreciation in his eyes, and for a split second, I allow the tiny flutter in my chest. But then I remember that I’ve sworn off men. Forever.

“I guess the same could be said for me. I’m sorry again,” he says in a smooth, low voice, releasing the light grip he has on my shoulders. I blink hard for a second. “Have a good night.” Then he’s walking past me towards the restrooms, leaving me with my pulse still racing and my feet rooted to the floor.

I wince in embarrassment. I’m not usually this much of a disaster, but this clearly isn’t my night. I take a deep breath and head back to my section, trying to ignore the strange flurry of butterflies in my stomach. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything like this.

Get back to work, Ev.

Remember why you need this job.

Five minutes later, I’m standing at the bar, waiting on drinks from Owen, one of the two bartenders on shift tonight. Violet sidles up next to me and asks Owen for a Diet Coke refill.

“Did you see table seven, Ev?” Vi asks, nudging me gently with her shoulder. She looks across the crowded dining room and my gaze follows hers, landing on a table where three guys are having dinner and drinks. I shrug, giving her a quizzical look.

“Okay, you obviously have no idea who he is.” She raises a brow at me as she adds a lime wedge to the glass that Owen has deposited on her tray.

“Is there a reason I should know who he is?” I ask, admittedly a little curious.

“He’s practically royalty in this town. His name is Liam Bennett. Big time attorney. His parents own the Seaside Hotel chain. And his brother is Miles Bennett, like the freaking Miles Bennett. The whole family is loaded.”

I obviously know who Miles Bennett is. I see his face plastered across magazine covers every time I go to the grocery store. I’ve even watched a couple of his movies. But as for the rest of the Bennetts—Reed Point royalty or not, I’ve never heard of them.

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