I headed straight over to the bar, leaning against it, praying as the customers walked in that that they would choose a table which wasn’t mine so I wouldn’t have to start working yet. Luckily for me, no one sat in my section until just after ten-thirty. I just hung out at the bar with Jason and bitched about being sick and tired, while he laughed at me and rolled his eyes.

So far, I only had one table. It was occupied by three middle-aged men who didn’t seem to be interested in me in the slightest and were watching the empty stage eagerly.

The door opened and I heard a lot of commotion. I flicked my eyes to the door, seeing about twelve guys all walking in, laughing, and pushing each other around teasingly. Raising one eyebrow, I looked at Jason in question. He usually knew if there was to be a big party like this booked in.

He shrugged. “Stag night, apparently,” he answered my unspoken question.

Stag night? Oh, no! Not my section! Please, not my section!

I watched them walk in, looking through the photos of the waitresses on the board by the door. They got to choose a waitress if they wanted to, and the photos showed which sections to sit in if you liked the look of a particular girl.

Please, please, please not me!

I held my breath as they sauntered across the room, bypassing Charlotte’s and Andie’s tables. I watched with wide eyes as they checked table numbers as they walked past.

Please, no!

Lucie walked up to them and flashed her killer smile, making them stop and talk to her. She pointed to Kaitlin and then waved at Kaitlin’s section. I felt like doing a little happy dance – until the guy at the front shook his head and said something to Lucie. Her eyes flicked to me and I groaned. They wanted me. The guy turned around and looked at me before nodding. I plastered on a fake smile. The only upside to this was, with it being a stag-do I would get a lot of dances tonight, and the money would definitely come in handy. Lucie smiled and nodded, showing them over to table three.

I looked back at Jason and sighed in defeat. He shrugged in response. “Sorry. Maybe they like blondes?” he suggested.

“Awesome,” I grunted, grabbing the tray of drinks from the bar and going to deliver them to the three older guys in my section. After bringing their drinks, I put on my brightest smile and headed to the stag party. They were all sitting, talking animatedly and looking around excitedly, obviously waiting for the show to start. I leant on the back of one of the chairs, sticking my hip out sexily as I balanced the tray on one hand.

“Well, hi there, boys. Who’s the lucky guy getting married?” I asked, scanning them quickly. I put them all in their mid-twenties. A couple of them were raking their eyes down my body already, and I knew those were the ones I needed to stay away from. Those would be the ones who get a little touchy-feely after a few drinks.

A guy with brown hair and a black shirt put his hand up, grinning. “That would be me.”

I smiled seductively. “Name?”

“Tyson.”

I bit my lip and nodded, trying to look sexy, even though I felt anything but at that moment. “Well then, Tyson, I hope you have a great night. I’m Emma, and I’ll be your waitress. We also have some dancers who walk around. Dances are fifty pounds cash to the girl before it starts. The show starts in about ten minutes,” I reeled off my spiel, nodding toward the stage.

“Perfect,” one guy purred. He was one of the touchy ones I had sussed out earlier. His eyes were watching me like they were glued to me, clearly mentally undressing me as I stood there.

I shifted uncomfortably. “The menus are on the table. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes to take your orders.” I turned and went to walk off just as I felt someone slap my bum. Gritting my teeth, I carried on walking; I didn’t have the energy or the patience to explain the rules to them right now. Hopefully they’d behave. If not, then I would have to ask one of the bouncers to come, have a polite word, and explain the rules to them.

AFTER HALF AN HOUR, I had already done two dances and they were only just finishing their first drinks. This was going to be a long night. I already felt dead on my feet. Obviously, the germs and bags under my eyes didn’t put some people off.

As I was scribbling down their next drink order, an arm wrapped around my waist and a hand clamped over my mouth, effortlessly lifting me off my feet. I yelped against the hand and tried to struggle free. I couldn’t move. I flicked my eyes to the guys at the table, but they were staring over my shoulder with wide eyes and their mouths hanging open. Panicked, I jerked my elbow into my attacker’s stomach, making him grunt and release me. As soon as I was free, I jumped away and turned to see who it was. Carson was clutching at his stomach, laughing.

The first thing that entered my head was he looked beautiful; his smile was dazzling as he chuckled, rubbing his stomach where I’d elbowed him. My chest tightened as happiness consumed me. All thoughts of him and the girl from the paper were completely gone because, for tonight, he was here with me.

The second thought which entered my head was that he had just frightened the shit out of me on purpose.

I slapped his arm with my order pad, which just made him laugh harder. “That wasn’t funny, dickhead. That scared me!” I cried angrily, making my throat hurt even more. He smirked at me so I slapped his arm again with my pad, pushing on his chest. “You idiot! Seriously, you could’ve given me a heart attack!”

He grabbed my wrist as I went to hit him again. “Hey, I could get you fired for hitting a customer,” he teased cockily.