Up to the Challenge ai-2 Read online

  A woman next to Maggie, who looked to be pushing the century mark if she hadn’t hit it already, said, “I’d better put on my glasses.”

  Lucas knew not to argue in front of customers, no matter what. So he did as ordered and tried not to feel like a side of beef on display as he crossed the room. Sid had it coming for this one. Distance shmistance. He’d get her back.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Sid figured if the old ladies could enjoy the show, so could she. Tray pressed against her chest, she watched the play of Lucas’s firm ass beneath his Dockers until the derriere disappeared around the bar. How did he manage to look that good in such sissified pants?

  “You’ve got a hot one there, honey child,” said the woman she’d overheard called Maggie. “I bet he’s a killer in the sack.”

  Sid’s turn to blush. “He’s not my boyfriend.” She unclenched the tray and cleared three empty plates off the table. “We just work together.”

  “Couldn’t prove it by the way he’s been watching you.”

  “What?” Sid nearly dropped the plates on the floor.

  “That boy has been undressing you with his eyes ever since we sat down at this table. And I’d wager since long before that.”

  Sid grabbed a chair from the next table over, which was thankfully empty, and sat down next to Maggie. “He has?” She glanced over her shoulder toward the bar. Lucas had his head down and was filling a glass. “How can you tell?”

  Maggie chuckled and leaned back in her chair. With sharp eyes, the older woman sized Sid up from head to toe, making her squirm. “Flo,” Maggie said, keeping her eyes on Sid. “This little thing doesn’t know her own power.”

  “With that centerfold body?” Flo said. “I don’t believe it.”

  Centerfold? Sid? Maybe it was time to cut these ladies off.

  Flo leaned so close, Sid could smell the whiskey on her breath. “Every woman has the power, but you’ve got more than most. You could have any man in this room with one crook of a finger.”

  “Bullshit,” Sid said, bolting from the chair and adding three empty glasses to her tray. “You ladies have had way too much to drink.”

  Maggie nudged the ancient woman next to her. “Tell her, Frannie.”

  The octogenarian looked nearly asleep, but perked up at the sound of her name. “What?”

  Maggie raised her voice. “What do you think of this one?” she asked, motioning toward Sid.

  Frannie put on the glasses she’d removed once Lucas’s derriere had gone out of range, and squinted through lenses that made her eyeballs look three times their size. Now Sid knew what those chicks on magazine covers felt like. Who would volunteer for this kind of scrutiny?

  “Little short, but those tits are perfect. Curves in all the right places.” Frannie nodded in what Sid assumed to be some kind of approval. “Hef’d like her. She’s got enough vavavoom to light up Atlantic City.”

  This woman was on something way stronger than alcohol.

  “See there?” Maggie said, looking pleased with herself. “Frannie worked for Hugh back in the sixties. If she says you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”

  She might have something, but not what Maggie was insinuating.

  “Look, ladies, I appreciate the effort. But that man,” she motioned toward the bar, “has known me since I was fourteen years old, and until five days ago, barely acknowledged my existence. Whatever I’ve got, he’s not buying it.”

  “Darling,” Maggie drawled. “That boy is buying, investing, and dreaming about what he could do with the inventory. You just have to let him know the store is open for business.”

  Sid gnawed her bottom lip, and looked back to Lucas again. What if these ladies were right? What if she could have him, even for a few weeks?

  Snagging the last two empty glasses from the table, Sid avoided Maggie’s direct gaze. “I’ll think about it.”

  And she thought about nothing else until the moment she joined Will at Opal’s for their Tuesday night treat, a standing appointment instituted when Beth had moved to the island. Curly had wanted the three of them to get to know each other, something about her not having had a lot of female friends, but tonight was a duo since Beth was working at Dempsey’s.

  “What’s up with you?” Will asked, sliding Sid’s favorite cupcake and a sweet tea across the table.

  “Nothing,” Sid lied, dropping onto the metal seat. “Why?”

  “Because you have that look you get.”

  “What look?” She kept her head down, hoping Will would drop the interrogation.

  “The one you get when you’re debating something.” Will unfolded a napkin and draped it over her lap. “You had that same look the night Beth suggested we have these little meet-ups, and again when you wanted that new sanding thingy but couldn’t decide if it was worth the money.”

  “The orbital sander.”

  “Yeah, that thing,” Will said. “Spill it.”

  This is why Sid had never minded her own lack of female companionship. Damn nosy wenches. She debated how much to tell. For a bartender who doubled as a barista and worked at nearly every business on the island, Will didn’t gossip much. And she seemed comfortable in her own skin. Maybe talking to another woman, one less than sixty years her senior, would help.

  “Do you think I’m hot?”

  “Whoa,” Will said. “Didn’t see that coming. I know I haven’t dated much since I got here but I don’t—”

  “Knock it off. You know that’s not what I mean.”

  “Right,” Will chuckled, then cut into her usual, rhubarb pie. “You’re probably the hottest chick on this island, but you know that.”

  “Not really.”

  Will froze, fork in midair. “You own a mirror, right?”

  Sid shifted in her chair and pulled the wrapper away from her cupcake. “Curly asked me that same thing once. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

  “A lot. What do you see in the mirror?”

  “I don’t know,” Sid shrugged. “Brown eyes. Round face. Normal nose. Brown hair. What am I supposed to see?”

  Will set down her fork. “You remember that night at O’Hagan’s? What did you see that night?”

  “I was smokin’ that night,” Sid said, sliding a fork through the cupcake. “But that was the dress and makeup and whatever Curly had done to my hair. A bunch of artificial stuff.”

  “Are those boobs artificial?” Will asked.

  Sid tilted her head and raised one brow. That didn’t deserve an answer.

  “I’m just saying. It’s what was under the dress and makeup that had all those guys drooling and emptying their wallets to buy your drinks.”

  She had felt pretty good that night. Maybe there was something to what the old ladies said. “Remember when you came into Dempsey’s the other day? When you met Joe’s brother for the first time?”

  “You mean when it was obvious you have a thing for him? Sure.”

  Her fork slipped. “How could you tell?”

  Will swirled her straw. “For one thing, he called you sweet cheeks and you didn’t slug him.” Leaning her elbows on the table, she pushed her pie to the middle. “But mostly it was on your face. You were trying to look all bad ass, like usual, but when you thought he’d been flirting with me, I saw the hurt in your eyes.” She shook her head. “That’s how I knew.”

  Silence fell over the table as Sid moved a bite of the cupcake around her plate. Even Opal’s chocolate buttercream couldn’t coax her past this feeling. Confusion mixed with fear mixed with hope.

  “It started in high school,” she said, keeping her eyes on the dessert. “Dad died when I was fourteen and Randy brought me here. He didn’t own the businesses yet, but knew this would be a safe place to raise a teenager. Safer than Miami.”

  “So that’s where you’re from? Miami?”

  “Yeah.” Thinking of Miami brought memories and images, good times and bad. She didn’t want to think about those right now. “Anyway, I saw Lucas the
first day of my freshman year. He was a sophomore and smart and gorgeous. Even then he had that hint of polish. Like he belonged in a display case, not buried in a heap of sand where no one could appreciate him.”

  Sid looked up to see Will nodding. “I can see that. He is pretty.” She smiled with understanding. “Go on.”

  “Of course I never had the guts to talk to him. These boobs everyone keeps yapping about hadn’t shown up at that point. But when they did, junior year, shit got crazy.”

  “What do you mean?” Will asked, leaning forward again.

  “I wasn’t invisible anymore, and at first I liked the attention. But one guy coaxed me out to the football field during a dance. I was so stupid.” Sid shook her head at the memory, then crossed her arms until she was practically hugging herself. “I thought he just wanted to talk and hang out, but he wanted more. We were too far away for anyone to hear me yell, but I kept fighting.”

  Cold washed over her and her heart rate sped up. Stupid reaction to have more than ten years later. This is why Sid never talked about that night.

  Will reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “Did he …?”

  “No,” Sid said, shaking her head. “Lucas showed up. He never threw a punch, but he didn’t have to. The kid acted like it was no big deal and headed back to the gym. I was so embarrassed, I ran to my truck and drove home like a maniac.”

  “Had Lucas followed you two? How did he know you were out there?”

  Sid shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t stick around to ask. He’d looked really concerned, like he cared, and tried to offer me a ride home.” She looked up and met Will’s eyes. “But I ran.”

  “Honey,” Will said. “Did you ever tell anyone?”

  “Nah.” She forced herself to take a bite. The sugary confection helped to block the taste of humiliation on her tongue.

  They ate in silence, Sid figuring she’d said enough, and Will presumably processing what she’d just heard. Once she’d finished her pie, Will pushed the plate aside and sat back with her lemonade.

  “He was your knight in shining armor. He slayed the dragon, which still counts, even if your dragon was a seventeen-year-old jackass.”

  Sid snorted, picturing Lucas on a white steed, lance in hand, and another of her romance covers came to mind.

  “We need to do something about this,” Will said, propping one foot beneath her and leaning on the table. “We have to let him know how you feel.”

  “No,” Sid said, any sense of the power to which Maggie had referred long gone. “That is not going to happen.”

  “Oh, come on. This is your shot.”

  “You’ve seen the type of girl Lucas likes. Do you see a single similarity between me and Curly?”

  Will pursed her lips to one side. “Well, you’re both beautiful. But personality-wise, not so much.”

  “Exactly.” Sid scooped up her last bite of cupcake. “He likes dainty and sweet. The girl next door.”

  “And you’re more the boy next door trapped in a porn star’s body.”

  Sid threw her napkin at Will. “Har har har. Besides, he’s only here for five more weeks.”

  “So?” Will asked. “Give him a reason not to leave.”

  Another snort. Sid had never seen a man more determined than Lucas Dempsey to get off Anchor Island. There was nothing she or anyone could do that would make him stay.

  “Then have a fling. Maybe he’s not all that and a box of bonbons.” Will threw the napkin back. “Try him out. Take him for a test-drive. Make the man see Jesus, then leave him wanting more while you get him out of your system.”

  The idea had merit. Not that Sid had ever made a man see Jesus. In her limited experience, she was pretty sure sex with her had never been a religious experience for anyone. Forgettable, yes. Spirit moving, no.

  “I don’t know.”

  “And you won’t know until you try.” Will lowered her leg and collected the dishes. “You turn on the charm and that man doesn’t stand a chance. Remember, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” With a wicked grin she added, “You might as well be under him when he goes.”

  Less than a week. That’s how long it took Sid Navarro to drive him up a wall. When not insulting him or making him look like a talentless chump, she was setting him on fire with a body that could fuel a man’s fantasies for decades. Half the time he wanted to throttle her, and the other he longed to drag her into the back room and have wild sex on the office desk.

  The woman was a menace. Challenging him at every turn. Turning him on without any effort whatsoever. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he liked it. Another indication he’d gone completely freaking whacko.

  “Look up, son, before you hurt yourself,” came a voice from Lucas’s left. His eyes shot up in time to see the tree less than a foot in front of him.

  That damn woman.

  He glanced over and spotted Artie sitting on a bench next to a mountain of a man. Lucas sighed and moved around to the front of the bench.

  “Thanks for that,” he said, gesturing toward the tree. “I was distracted.”

  “I’d say you were. What’s got your tail in a twist?” Artie asked. Before Lucas could answer, the old lawyer added, “You remember Randy Navarro?”

  “Sure.” Lucas extended a hand and took the opportunity to avoid Artie’s first question. “How’s it going?”

  Randy took the offered hand with an easier grip than expected for a guy with arms the size of Lucas’s thighs. “It’s good,” he said with a genuine smile. “I hear you’re working with my sister?”

  So much for avoiding the subject. “Yeah. She’s helping out while Dad recovers.”

  “That heart attack stuff is no joke,” Randy said. “Our dad had the same thing, but didn’t make it. I was relieved when I heard Tom had pulled through.”

  Sid had never mentioned her dad died of a heart attack. “We were relieved too. He’s coming home tomorrow, but recovery will take another five weeks or so. You run a gym, right?”

  “I do,” Randy said with a nod. “Island Fitness. You looking for a place to work out?”

  “I’ve been keeping up my running, but missing the free weights I have at home,” Lucas said. “You offer any kind of temporary membership?”

  “We could work something out. Where are you running?”

  Strange question on an island so small. Lucas shrugged. “Around the village is about the only option, isn’t it?”

  Randy shook his head. “Sid runs along the beach next to Highway 12. You should run up there with her.”

  “Sid runs?” He was learning all kinds of things about his little coworker today.

  “Every morning like clockwork.” Randy pointed east. “Show up at mile marker ten at seven fifteen in the morning and you’ll catch her. No sense in running alone if you don’t have to.”

  Running with Sid gave Lucas an idea. Maybe it was time for another one of their challenges. Only this time, he’d be the one to come out on top.

  CHAPTER TEN

  At seven the next morning, Sid stood on the sand next to Highway 12, performing her usual warm-up stretches. Thankfully, tourists who typically visited the island didn’t start their sunbathing this early, which meant a clear beach for ten miles.

  She could do five miles up and back before the first umbrella pierced the sand.

  Sid was pulling her left heel up to her ass when someone jogged by her, throwing sand against her knees. The runner turned around a few feet away and yelled, “Come on, short shit. Try to keep up.”

  Oh, it was on.

  She dug her feet into the sand until she’d caught up to Lucas. He was setting a slow pace that would take her twice as long to make her ten miles.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked between huffs.

  “I’d think that’s obvious. I’m running.”

  Smart ass. She chose to remain silent. They ran for another ten yards before he spoke again.

  “You ready for our next challenge?”


  She dodged a piece of driftwood, then glanced his way. “What challenge?”

  He turned around and started jogging backwards. “We could go for a distance race, but this strip is too short for that.”

  The full strip would be twenty miles up and back. What kind of marathons did this freak run?

  “I’m here to exercise,” she said, annoyed that he’d invaded her private time, and forgetting any talk from the night before of making him see his maker. “Shut up and run or find another beach.”

  Sid pulled away, leaving him jogging backward behind her. Seconds later he was beside her again. They continued on in silence another fifty yards. She couldn’t help but notice Lucas was barely breathing heavy. Jerk.

  She picked up the pace. He did the same. Another fifty yards and she kicked it up a notch. He stayed even, but to her satisfaction was huffing more than before. They held steady another fifty yards before he started to pull ahead.

  Not about to be beat, Sid caught up, then took the lead again. He devoured the ground between them, pushing her harder. They were both in a steady sprint when Sid found another gear and started pulling away. He didn’t catch up immediately this time and she felt a wave of triumph.

  Until she felt strong arms wrap around her middle and yank her off the ground. In her surprise, Sid kicked out, tangling their legs and she could feel them both going down. Lucas spun her around and the next thing she knew, her back hit the ground. Hard.

  Half a second later, Lucas landed half on top of her, but managed to send most of his weight to the side, assumedly to keep from crushing her beneath him.

  Will’s words echoed in her brain.

  Might as well be underneath him when he goes.

  What the hell had just happened? Sid would have leapt off the sand except the ground had knocked the wind out of her, making it difficult to breathe, let alone move. And then there was the issue of the large, virile, sexy man on top of her. Lifting her lids for the first time since coming to an abrupt stop, Sid looked up into searching hazel eyes, half covered by a wet lock of dark hair dangling over his brow.