Up to the Challenge (An Anchor Island Novel)

by Osburn, Terri

  Turning to Frank, Lucas asked, “Did she only cut the branches on her side?”

  “Maybe.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, the pouter avoided eye contact.

  “Mr. Ledbetter, I need the truth.”

  “Fine. Yeah, she only did her side.”

  “Then there’s no suit.” Lucas slipped through the door, pulling and locking the screen behind him. Turning back to the pair, he added, “Case dismissed!” and shut the inside door.

  Sid charged into Hava Java coffee shop on a mission. According to Will, and drunk old ladies in red hats, she possessed the weapons needed to seduce Lucas Dempsey. Now someone just had to show her how to use them. Will had been free with the advice to this point, so she seemed the natural place to turn.

  After Lucas had left her standing on the beach, angry, aroused, and covered in sand, Sid raced home for a quick shower so she could stop at the coffee shop before reporting to the restaurant. Best to go in with a plan in place. Especially now that the game had changed.

  What she hadn’t counted on was catching Beth at the coffee shop as well. Since Curly had been Lucas’s fiancée, she’d clearly been in his bed. Something Sid didn’t like to think about. The words sloppy seconds came to mind, but were instantly rejected since she’d wanted Lucas long before Beth ever met him.

  Every woman had her own way of rationalizing what she didn’t like to deal with.

  Sid had to make a decision. She could duck out before Curly saw her and talk to Will another time, which would mean facing Lucas without a plan, not something she wanted to do. Or she could somehow let Will know they needed to talk alone and together shoo Miss Annoyingly-Happy-In-Love on her way.

  She chose shooing. Beth finished placing her order, then moved to the end of the counter, noticing Sid as she did so. “Morning, Sid. You look more awake than usual.”

  “A cold dip in the ocean will do that to you. Is that Dozer out there?” Sid asked, pointing out the front window. As Beth turned to look, Sid mouthed “We need to talk” to Will. Then she nodded toward Beth and mouthed “without her.”

  “Um …” Will murmured, sliding a brown cup under the metal nozzle on the espresso machine. “Sid, you mind if I make Beth’s drink before taking your order? I think she’s in a hurry.”

  “What?” Beth said, turning back to the counter. “I don’t see Dozer out there. And who says I’m in a hurry?”

  “Sorry,” Sid said, lifting a CD off the counter and reading the cover intently. “Must have been another dog.”

  “You have to open the store in ten minutes,” Will said, passing the cup to Beth. “Don’t want to be late.”

  Beth glanced up to the clock over Will’s shoulder. “I have half an hour.”

  “Clock is slow,” Will said without hesitation. Sid had to give her credit for the impressive display of deception.

  “It is?” Beth looked at the clock again. “Well crap. I’d better go.” She dropped a hand on Sid’s arm. “Tom is coming home from the hospital today and he’s insisted Patty take him by the restaurant on the way in. I tried to tell Lucas this morning, but he wasn’t at the house. Have you seen him?”

  Sid had deception skills of her own. “Nope.”

  “Weird,” Beth said. “He must have been out running. Anyway, I’ve got to go. Thanks for the heads-up on the clock, Will.”

  As Beth disappeared through the door, Will turned on Sid. “Why’d you make me lie to her like that?”

  “I didn’t tell you to lie. You did that all on your own. You got a break coming?”

  Will yelled to a tall, long-haired kid wiping down tables, “I’m taking a break! I’ll clean up the patio in a few minutes.” To Sid she said, “You want your coffee before we sit down?”

  “I already had my morning jolt today. Think I’ll skip it.”

  Will’s brows shot up. “Do tell.” They moved to an empty table near the windows. “Did you say you took a dip in the ocean?”

  “Not on purpose. Lucas showed up on the beach this morning.”

  “Where you run? Did he know you’d be there?”

  Sid snatched a napkin from the dispenser and began tearing off little pieces. “I don’t know. Seemed like it. He wanted to race or something. I think he was tired of losing all of those challenges.”

  “What challenges? And do you always shred things like that?” Will asked, gesturing toward the growing mound of white paper.

  “Bad habit.” Sid slid the pile aside. “Anyway, we were racing and I was winning and he swept me off the ground. I don’t think he meant for it to happen, but we both hit the beach and the next thing I knew, he was moving in for a kiss.”

  “Ha!” Will exclaimed. “You move fast.”

  “Calm your ass down. I wasn’t moving at all. I froze and then the wave hit and I nearly drowned.”

  “Damn. So what happened next?”

  Sid went back to tearing the napkin. “I laughed.”

  “You what?”

  “I don’t know what happened. I was under him and then I was coughing up salt water and then I was laughing. It’s as if my brain got overloaded or something.”

  “Hmmm …” Will tapped a nail on the table. “That’s probably not the reaction he expected.”

  “None of it was what I expected. But then he tried to play it off like he wasn’t going to kiss me and I pushed and called him prissy and he snapped.”

  Will straightened. “He snapped?”

  “Yeah. Picked me up and kissed the shit out of me.”

  Will cringed. “Not the most romantic description I’ve ever heard. So this is good, right? This is what we talked about.”

  “Except Lucas turned all noble and pushed me away. Said something about me not being the casual sex type.” Sid ground her teeth. “It’s not like I’m walking around with a veil or something. What’s he mean, not the casual type?”

  No answer came. Sid met Will’s eyes and the woman shrugged. “He’s got a point.”

  “What do you mean he’s got a point?” Sid slapped a hand on the table, sending tiny pieces of napkin flying in the air. “I’m just as casual as the next chick.”

  “You’re cleaning that up,” Will said, unaffected by Sid’s outburst. “I’ve been on this island nearly a year and never even seen you go out on a date. When was the last time you had a boyfriend?”

  Sid didn’t like this line of questioning. “A while. What’s that have to do with anything?”

  “How many boyfriends have you had?” The woman would not let up.

  Behind her hand, Sid mumbled, “Two.” Will held her hand behind her ear as if to say speak up and Sid clarified. “Two, okay? And the last one was five years ago. So I’m not good at the dating thing. That makes this the perfect situation. I don’t want to date Lucas, I want to fuck his brains out for a few weeks.”

  Will shook her head. “You do have a way with words. But you’ve wanted this guy for more than a decade. You think a few weeks will be enough?”

  Damn it. This had been Will’s idea. “You’re the one who said I should rock his world and get him out of my system.”

  “True,” she admitted. “That might have been bad advice.”

  “I’m telling you, I can do casual. I’m not ready to settle down. I like my space. My independence. I’ve got plans, and they do not include having a man underfoot all the time.”

  Will gathered the scattered paper. “You’re sure? If this turns into something, you won’t have any problem watching him drive away?”

  Sid pictured the scene. The silver BMW fading up Highway 12. Her chest tightened.

  “I can handle it.”

  Will didn’t look convinced, but she caved. “Okay then. How can I help?”

  Sid had never worn a shirt this tight in her life. And she did not want to know why Will kept a change of clothes and all basic necessities packed in her VW van. The bartender came by her moniker honestly, being as willowy as the tree that bore her name. And she was a B cup at best, which meant her shirt str
etched across Sid’s double Ds was like wearing a neon sign over her head.

  Look, everyone, I have giant knockers flashing in bright letters.

  At least the plain tee was olive green instead of orange or pink. Will might wear an arm full of bangles but she liked to pair them with army boots, which sounded strange but somehow worked on the lanky brunette.

  The shorts were another matter all together. Will had cut the things so short, the white material of the pockets stuck out below the tattered denim. Sid wore bathing suits that didn’t show this much of her ass.

  According to Will, the best way to barrel through a man’s morals was to make him too horny to hitch a ride on the high road. Which made it sound a lot like Sid was taking the low road, but if that low road led to sex with Lucas, she’d follow it to the end.

  With part A of the plan in place, that being the new wardrobe, the time had come to initiate part B, which sounded way harder than a change of clothes. Pretend nothing had happened.

  With a deep breath and a final tug on the T-shirt, Sid waltzed through the doors of Dempsey’s Bar & Grill attempting to look cool and unaffected. No kiss on the beach. No scaling Lucas like a drowning woman desperate for higher ground. And definitely no argument about who was or was not going to have sex.

  The mission—to drive Lucas crazy with indifference.

  “Sweet Cheez-Its, Mary, and Charlie, what are you wearing?” Georgette stared at Sid, wide eyed. “Did your dryer shrink all your clothes or something?”

  Sid’s confidence waned. Maybe this was too much. But there was no going back now.

  She held her head high. “I’m behind on laundry.” Right. That didn’t sound pathetic at all.

  “Sure you are,” Georgette said. “Is this getup for Manny’s benefit? He was over at the house watching baseball with Milo last night and must have asked about you three times.”

  Shit. Sid forgot about Manny. Another transplant from Florida, Manuel Sullivan worked at Anchor Adventures, Randy’s watersports business, along with Georgette’s husband, Milo. In contrast to the olive skin and dark hair of his Cuban mother, Manny possessed the bright blue eyes and endless charm of his Irish father.

  Every young and not-so-young female on the island sighed as he walked past, and Sid could appreciate the pretty face, but the kid did nothing for her otherwise. Technically, he wasn’t a kid, being only three years younger than Sid’s twenty-eight, but Manny looked barely old enough to shave, which gave him the appearance of a naughty schoolboy most of the time.

  Every Wednesday, Manny picked up lunch for the Adventure crew, and spent each brief visit trying to catch Sid’s attention. Will hadn’t mentioned making Lucas jealous, but when she thought about it, going into battle required being flexible. Adaptable. Maybe Manny could work in her favor.

  Before Sid could correct Georgette on her assumption, Lucas appeared from the kitchen buttoning the cuff on his tailored shirt, which emphasized his broad shoulders perfectly. He glanced in her direction as he rounded the end of the bar. A second later, he walked into an empty bar stool.

  “Damn it,” he barked, righting the stool before he and it hit the floor.

  “Something wrong there, skipper?” Sid asked. The immediate sign part A of the plan was working bolstered her confidence.

  “No.” Lucas slid the stool against the bar. “That’s … You …” He made befuddled look sexy and Sid’s blood began to hum. Like the purr of a powerful engine.

  “I what?” Sid asked, hands on her hips, flashing what she hoped was an innocent face.

  Lucas shook his head slowly. “Nothing.”

  Sid smiled. A half smile, half grimace was Lucas’s response. As he moved about, righting already straight chairs around the tables, his eyes returned to her over and over.

  “Oh, I see,” Georgette said. Sid jumped, having forgotten the other waitress was there.

  “You see what?”

  “I don’t blame you, girlfriend.” The woman hugged her serving tray to her chest. “If I didn’t have Milo …” She gave Lucas an appreciative once-over. Sid managed not to punch her in the throat, but just barely.

  “But you do have Milo, so back off.”

  Georgette didn’t look worried. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. There isn’t a woman on this island who could compete with that body of yours. Just be careful.” She pointed toward Lucas. “A girl could lose more than her inhibitions with a man like him. I understand the temptation to play with his kind of fire, but don’t let yourself get too close. That singe can leave a permanent mark.”

  While Sid tried to decipher Georgette’s cryptic message, the restaurant doors swung open. Tom Dempsey stopped just inside the entrance.

  Looking Sid up and down, he said, “Patty, I’m going to need one of those heart pills.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Lucas saw his mom and dad enter the restaurant, then noticed his dad’s face when he caught sight of Sid. Nothing like testing the old ticker right out of the gate. She was definitely testing Lucas’s. Based on his body’s reaction to the new getup, all systems were up and running.

  “Hey there, Dad. How are you feeling?” He knew they’d be home today, but didn’t know they’d make a stop at the restaurant. Tom moved with slow deliberation, his left arm held tight against his side. His pale face carried a pinched expression.

  “I feel like shit,” Tom said, clearly shooting for honesty. Lucas couldn’t blame him, considering what he’d been through.

  “He insisted we stop here on the way to the house,” Patty said, leading Tom to the bar and guiding him onto a stool. “The doctor said no stress and limited physical exertion for at least the rest of the week.” Turning to Sid, she said, “More outfits like that and we’ll have to install a defibrillator.”

  Sid crossed her arms as if trying to hide, but that only made matters worse. “I didn’t—”

  “We’ve been competing to see who can earn the most tips,” Lucas said, coming to Sid’s rescue. “She’s been kicking my ass.” After hugging his mother, he moved behind the bar. “You need some water, Dad?”

  “I’d rather have a beer, but doubt your mother will allow it,” Tom grumbled. “Make it an iced tea.”

  “Unsweet,” Patty said.

  “Coming right up.” Lucas snagged a glass from behind the bar, filled it with ice, then topped it off from a pitcher to his right. “I bet the nurses were happy to see you go.”

  “Ha!” Patty said. “He’d charmed every last one of them. Even Bruce. But your father wasn’t too keen on Nurse Bruce giving him a sponge bath.”

  Tom grumbled again. “That was not going to happen.”

  Patty laughed, then turned to Sid, who stood a few feet behind the older couple. “I hear you and Lucas have been lighting things up around here,” she said.

  Sid sputtered and Lucas rode to the rescue again. “We’re getting along just fine. Sid has a way with the customers you wouldn’t expect from someone used to bait, tackle, and tool boxes.” He smiled when her expression turned to defiance. That was his girl.

  “I have to make up for Lucas’s lack of service skills.” She shot him an evil glare. “Just yesterday he offended an innocent group of little old ladies.”

  “Those women were drunk and disturbing the other customers. They’d have been dancing on the tables if they could have gotten their walkers up there.”

  Sid plopped onto the stool next to Tom. “Only Miss Frannie had a walker. And they were just having a good time.” She rested her arms on the bar. “I liked them.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he said, sliding a glass of sweet tea to his mother. Sid would be one of those old ladies someday. Drinking, swearing, and challenging everyone around her. Part of him thought she’d look cute with glasses on the end of her nose, shaking her geriatric moneymaker.

  “You two sound like an old married couple,” Tom said, chuckling into his tea. After taking a drink, he addressed Lucas. “What do you think of the place?”


  Lucas blinked, unprepared for the question. “What do you mean? The restaurant?”

  “Yeah,” Tom said, leaning forward, then flinching back. “Damn stitches.”

  “You need to be home lying down,” Patty scolded.

  Tom bristled. “I’ve been cooped up in that hospital for a week. I’ll climb back into a bed when I’m ready.” Lucas had never heard his dad snap like that, and fully expected his mom to snap back. Instead, she rubbed his arm and held her tongue.

  Strange.

  “Yes, the restaurant,” Tom said, picking up the conversation again. “You’ve been gone long enough to see it with fresh eyes. What do you think of it?”

  Lucas looked around, taking in the neon signs and empty tables. Upon agreeing to run the place, he’d thought of the job as filling drinks and keeping the staff going. He hadn’t even considered analyzing the actual business.

  With a shrug, he said, “I think it runs like a well-oiled machine. The staff is capable. Customers haven’t complained about the food or service since I’ve been here.”

  “The drinks have come out a little slow,” Sid said, shooting him a challenging look, daring him to fire back.

  “That’s something I have to give you credit for, Dad,” he said, keeping his eyes on Sid an extra second before turning to his father. “I can see now why you had the heart attack. A long day in court is nothing to working behind this bar. I think you need help.”

  “You volunteering again?” A corner of Tom’s mouth curled up, but something in his eyes said he wasn’t kidding.

  Lucas broke eye contact, grabbed a rag, and started wiping down the bar. “Not this time. You’d better get home before the crowd rolls in and you try to weasel your way back here. I’d hate to see Mom drag you out by your ear.”

  “He’s right,” Patty said. “If you don’t want to lie down we’ll set you up on the porch. I’m sure once the locals find out you’re home, they’ll be coming around to console and commiserate.”

  Sid hopped off her stool. “Let me help you to the car.”

  Tom moved slowly to his feet, then wrapped an arm around Sid’s shoulders, dwarfing the tiny woman beneath his six foot five frame. Lucas thought she might buckle under the weight, but Sid moved with little effort beside his weakened father. A man he’d thought of as a superhero once upon a time.