What the hell was with Ford and his winking? At me. He’d had that carefree teasing ease when he was younger, but I hadn’t seen much of it since he’d come back. I guess it wasn’t gone forever. I turned and headed for the bar where Darlene was fanning herself. “I’m telling you, this is better than porn and my teen dramas all rolled into one.”

I slapped her on the shoulder as I headed for the bar sink to wash my hands. “I can’t deal with your snark before I’ve had my coffee.”

“Well, get over here and have some of this delicious latte that hunk of a man just brought you.”

I ignored the latter part of Darlene’s sentence and went straight for the coffee and muffin. “What’d he bring you?”

Darlene grinned. “The man knows me well. He got my favorite, a maple bacon bar. Gotta have my daily protein.”

I let out a half-snort, half-laugh. “That thing is ninety-nine percent sugar.”

“Hush, you. Calories don’t count before noon.”

I raised my coffee cup to her. “Amen to that.”

The morning prep flew by with the three of us working. Still, I was a bumbling mess, dropping silverware and napkins, tripping over invisible dips in the floor. When I dropped a glass, sending it shattering into a million little pieces, Ford seemed to have had enough.

“All right, Trouble. You and I are taking the afternoon off.”

“W-what?” I couldn’t help the stutter in my words. “We can’t. We have to work.” Not to mention the fact that alone time with Ford in my current state was a horrible idea.

Ford stepped over the glass and lifted me effortlessly onto the bar top. I huffed. “I’m wearing Converse, it’s not like I’m going to cut myself.”

“Better safe than sorry. Stay here.”

I scowled at his retreating back as he turned to grab the broom and dustpan. “I’m going to get this cleaned up. You are going to go upstairs to put on whatever you wear hiking, and then we are getting out of here for the day.”

My scowl deepened. “Are we now?” The nerve of this man.

“We are.”

I jumped off the bar top as Ford finished sweeping. “Well, boss man, I don’t leave my employees to handle a lunch rush on their own.”

“We can totally handle it on our own,” Darlene called from the other side of the bar. Such a little traitor.

“Yup, we’ve got it covered,” Hank echoed from the kitchen.

“See?” Ford arched a brow. “You’ve got good people who can handle whatever tourist hordes come their way, and the new trainee will be here in an hour. Now, get changed, and let’s go. We’ll pick up lunch on the way.”