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Four

"Bella, this is Rosie."

The pretty blonde lifts her head from the drinks fridge and waves.

"And over there is Pauly and behind him, Jasper."

Ben points to the tall, dark-haired barman I'd been eye fucking earlier the day before. He greets me with a smile and a wink as he continues to work, serving a gaggle of swooning teens who are practically falling over the bar to get to him.

And that's about all the introduction I get to Mint and its inner workings before we're slammed by customers. Rose is helpful, pointing out the basics to me as we go: how to work the till, where the lemon wedges are, how to refill the ice. As well as the usual crowd, the eighteenth from the restaurant next door spills into the pub, bringing young, drunk, obnoxious teenagers with it. Add to that a bunch of sloppy, screaming hens, and it makes for a busy night.

I meet Rose properly when she catches a bottle of vodka I almost smash only an hour into my shift. After that we get along like a house on fire. She's a smart ass who doesn't take shit from anyone, especially Jasper, who it turns out is her twin brother.

Yep. They're related.

Which makes Jasper officially out of bounds. I may have only known her a few hours, but Rose is not the kind of person I want to screw with, not to mention that fact that sleeping with another staff member is probably not the best way to keep a job.

"Three Coronas, three pineapple Cruisers, and a Red Bull and vodka. That's sixty-eight fifty."

"What? How much?"

"Sixty-eight fifty!" I yell over the crowded bar.

"But I only have fifty bucks," the kid pouts, flipping his greasy hair out of his eyes.

"Well, you better find some more money."

"Can't you take back the Cruisers?"

Resting my hands on the bar, I glare at him. "I've already opened the bottles."

"That's fuckin' stupid."

I fight the rising urge to call him fucking stupid. "Tell you what; let's make it fifty, and I'll pretend you haven't been talking to my tits for the last fifteen minutes."

He blushes; embarrassed at being caught. And with a dramatic hurumph, takes the drinks and throws the fifty at me.

"Wanker," I spit, shoving the money in the till. As soon as the till closes I feel bad. Not only was I a bitch to the customer, but I gave away fifteen dollars. Great start, Bella.

"Don't stress," yells Rose. "There's always some dickhead trying to pull that shit. Next time let Paul or Jasper serve his broke ass," she says, leaning on the bar tap, waiting for some guy to order a drink.

"Come on," she barks at him. "This isn't a peep show, mate. Order a drink or fuck off."

I stifle a laugh as the pageant queen in front of me finally decides what she wants to drink.

"I'll have a Cosmopolitan," she says, her sparkly crown sitting lopsided on her head. With a bright pink sash over her chest, I'm guessing she's part of the hen's party.

"A what? A cosmopolitan?"

Jasper laughs beside me, filling a jug of beer, muscled and inked arms flexing as he pulls the tap towards him.

"Unless it's bottled, we don't sell that fruity shit."

I grin sweetly at the woman at the bar. "Sweetheart, we've got beer, we've got cider, we've got pre-mixes, or - oh! - we've got beer. On no, wait, we have water."

She huffs, and rolling her eyes points to the beer fridge behind me. "A red Breezer then. And a water."

I plonk the red drink down in front of her, and scoop up a glass of ice and put it down next to it.

"That's not water," she says, looking at the glass of ice. No please, no thank you, just a sour look on her face as she taps her hideously long nails on the countertop.

"Well give it a minute or two and it will be!" I snap, slamming her change onto the bar with more force than necessary.

Jasper and Rose both laugh loudly. "You gotta hire this chick, Ben!" yells Rose over her shoulder. "She's a fucking crack up."

The rest of the night flows smoothly, in fact, the next time I look up, it's almost midnight. My arms and hands are sticky with beer, and I'm pretty sure I smell like a brewery, but I'm enjoying it. Jasper is a huge flirt, and not just with me. It doesn't escape my notice that the women seem to stand up his end, fluttering their lashes and propping their tits on the bar as he passes. And he loves the attention, he bats his lashes right back and gives them that cute little smile of his.

Rose and I work the other end together and get along really well. She's got that beach babe look down pat; minimal makeup, sun-bleached blonde hair, tanned skin. To be honest, I think she intimidates guys more than attracts them. They strut up to the bar like they own the place, but the moment her bright blue eyes turn their gaze on them, they turn into bumbling, stuttering idiots.

"Hey there."

I look up, trying to hide a smile as Edward leans on the bar in front of me.

"You again?"

"Yep." He grins, and his mate next to him watches on, looking perplexed.

"What can I get you?" I ask, gesturing to the taps. As cute as he is semi-naked, he's almost just as cute fully clothed. The light grey t-shirt he's wearing makes his eyes look closer to blue than grey, and his skin glows golden against the colour.

"Since when do you work here?"

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I shrug a little. "Since tonight. I hope."

Edward's about to reply, when Rose comes over, nudging me aside so she can get to the post-mix tap.

"I see you've met Bella."

His eyes widen, and I stifle a laugh as he realises I gave him the wrong name. He rests his forehead on the bar with a groan. "Ohhhh, you didn't!"

I shrug. "I thought you said you'd leave me alone."

"You told me your name was Becca!"

"You gave him the old fake-name line?" his mate asks, laughing at a chagrined Edward.

I rest my arm against the beer tap. "So do you want a drink, or are you going to stand there all night looking pretty?"

Lifting his head from the bar, Edward smiles. "You think I'm pretty?"

Shit.

"Do you want a drink or not?"

"A pot of heavy, please."

"Ooh," croons Edward's friend as I pour the drink. "Oh, Ed. The girl can pour a beer. I think it might be in love."

Edward doesn't answer; he just puts his hand over his heart and smiles at me. Momentarily stunned, beer spills over the rim of his glass and tumbles over my fingers. Cursing, I wipe my wet hand on the towel hanging from my pants. Thankfully, if Edward notices he doesn't say anything.

"What about your girlfriend here?" I ask, gesturing to his friend.

His mate flutters his blonde lashes at me and tucks his hands under his chin; shaggy brown hair and green eyes gazing back at me. "I'll have what he's having."

Shaggy hair introduces himself as Riley before paying and leaving Edward at the bar with an incredibly obvious wink and a thumbs up.

Edward rolls his eyes, but turns back to me nonetheless. "You're new here, hey?"

"Is it that easy to see?"

He shrugs. "Well, you're kind pale for a local, and I've lived here forever and definitely would have noticed you around."

"I bet," I reply with a raise of my eyebrows.

Leaving him with a smile and a drink, I push on. But once I know he's there, it's like I'm constantly distracted by him. I watch him move around, never straying too far from the bar, talking to the other locals and fending off tipsy bridesmaids. He stands with a big group of guys who all kind of look the same; lots of baseball caps and t-shirts, thongs and bronzed skin.

I look down at my own freckled, pale skin and beach-frizzed hair. I can see what Edward meant about sticking out like a sore thumb. I mean, I've been here all of two seconds and I can already spot the tourists amongst the locals. 'Blow-ins' they call them. Apparently they roll in like a tidal wave; happy snappers and pasty-white city folk, clogging up the streets and beaches, keeping the lifesavers busy.

Edward refuses to let Rosie serve him, instead, waiting until I'm free. He makes me smile with his unabashed flirting. He's forward, but instead of being sleazy, it's kind of flattering. At home the boys thought flirting was buying a girl a can of rum and taking her out behind the pub for a pash. Edward even gives me a little wink and a wave before he leaves.

He's trouble and he knows it.

"See you round, Bella," he yells across the rapidly emptying bar.

I wave back, feeling a blush creep up my chest as Jasper snorts behind me.

After Paul and Jasper have chased out the stragglers, we lock up and begin cleaning. I'm knackered, my feet are aching and I smell like beer, yet for the first time in my life I'm not quite ready to leave the job.

"So what's with you and Edward?" asks Rose, wiping the beer taps over.

"What?" I say, maybe a little too defensively. "Nothing. He's just obnoxious."

Rose laughs. "Yeah, I know that. I've known Edward since we were in nippers together."

"Nipples?" asks Jasper as he walks past. "Did you just say nipples?"

"I didn't say nipples, Rosie said nipples."

"Nippers!" yells Rosie. "I said Nippers!" "

Jasper shrugs, lifting a slab of Carlton off the floor. "I thought you said nipples."

Rosie snorts. "You would. I was telling Bella about your mate Edward."

"Waaard. Wardo. Ed-waaard. Yeah, what about him?"

"I was trying to tell her to keep her distance."

"Why? It's obvious they want to bang each other, so why not?"

I'm a little embarrassed that both Rose and Jasper noticed what I thought was harmless flirting. I make a mental note to keep a lid on it next time. If there is one.

Rose slaps Jasper on the shoulder. "Because, dingbat. He's not boyfriend material."

Jasper rubs his arm. "Who said anything about a boyfriend? I'm just talking about getting a root."

"You're disgusting."

"Actually..." Both Rose and Jasper stop cleaning up, and look at me. "I just got out of a...thing...with a guy. So I'm not really looking for a boyfriend anyway."

"See?" says Jasper, slapping Rose on the arm.

"A thing?" says Rose, her cloth hanging mid-air as she waits for me to elaborate.

Bending into the ice trough, I pull the plug, letting the melted ice flow down the sink. "It was..." My hands wrap round my throat lightly as I make a choking noise. "Suffocating. That's all I'll say. But I just want to have some fun, you know? I mean, not in a slutty way - Jasper don't even look at me like that. Just in a no strings attached, no boundaries, no rules kind of way."

Rosie nods. "I get it. Sew your wild seeds or whatever. I get it, girl. Good on you."

Jasper sidles over, leaning on the bar beside me as I stack the clean glasses. "I like you, Bella. You're a top chick. So I'm going to finish what Rosie started. Edward's cool. My best friend. But...man, how do I put this? He likes girls, he's just not about to fall in love with one, you know?"

I frown, wondering momentarily how some harmless flirting turned into this. "No."

Jasper hums, rolling a glass around in his hand as he tries to figure out what to say. "The day Edward Masen finds a girl that's more important to him than the waves, is the day I eat my hat."

"So he's a player?"

Jasper grins. "Nah, Edward doesn't have enough game to be a player. Edward is just...Edward. He doesn't have time for girls."

I nod, getting it, but not really getting it at all.

"Me, on the other hand," he continues, smirking at me. "I've got all the time in the world for the fairer sex. In fact, if you ever..."

"Jasper!" yells Ben, tossing a dishtowel at him. "No molesting the new staff."

I drop the wet towel in my hands. "You mean I got the job?"

"You're good behind the bar, you don't take shit, and well...you're Jessie's niece. I can't say no, can I?"

I jump up and down so much I bump into the bar, knock over a bottle of whiskey and break a glass.

- 18 is the age in which teenagers in Australia can; vote, drink and drive. Most kids have big parties to celebrate this fact.

- Hens - Bachelorette

- Cruisers/Breezers - pre-mixed Vodka/Rum based drinks, usually high in sugar, brightly coloured and considered "girly". And yes, drinks really do cost that much in Australia.

- Nippers - a nickname given for children, or in this case, the name given to children aged 5-13 years who are part of a surf life saving club. Children are taught to swim in the ocean, body board, spot a rip and other basic sea skills.

Tiff and Meg are my beta-ass-kickers. Ink and Thimbles are the sultanas in my oatmeal cookies.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, i'm slowly getting to the replies.

See you on Monday xx Wink