“I’m Lucas Dempsey. Who are you?”
“Oh, hey bro. Randy told me about you.” Sid leaned to her left to see Manny extend his hand. “Manuel Sullivan. I work for Sid’s brother.”
Lucas took the offered hand, but his body remained tense, continuing to block Sid from the rest of the room. “You here to pick up the food?”
“That and to see Sid.”
Over the tough guy act, Sid stepped around Lucas. “I thought you two forgot I was here.” She threw a harassed look over her shoulder and stepped closer to Manny. Time to show Lucas she had other options. “You still need your oil changed? We could do it after work today.”
“Can’t unless you’ve got a garage,” Manny said. “Hurricane Ingrid took a turn our way. They think she’ll turn back out, but the rain should be here this afternoon and probably won’t stop until the weekend.” Moving into her space, he added, “We could do something else instead.” His eyes dropped several inches below her chin, evoking a growl from Lucas.
Turned out pretty boy had an alpha side after all. Though she should have learned that lesson on the beach. Now to keep the ruse going without encouraging Manny.
“She can’t,” Lucas said, taking the next move out of her hands.
Manny moved his gaze from Sid to Lucas. “That’s up to Sid.”
“Sid is busy tonight.”
“I am?”
“You are.” Lucas shot her a look that clearly said Do not argue. She considered it, then opted to quit while she was ahead.
“Right.” Sid turned back to Manny. “Sorry, I forgot. Lucas and I have this …” she hesitated, “thing.”
The three stood awkwardly for several seconds, Lucas trying to bore a hole through Manny’s chest with his eyes, Manny looking less than convinced about Sid’s explanation, and Sid not sure what to do next. Manny was a good guy. She didn’t want to hurt him.
“Would you excuse us for a minute?” she said to Manny, then without giving him a chance to answer, turned to Lucas. “I need to see you in the kitchen.”
“I’m good. Just bring him the food.”
“Dempsey,” Sid barked, tiring of the macho act. “Kitchen. Now.”
Once certain Lucas was following, Sid charged back to the office. “You want to catch me up here?”
“On what?” Lucas asked, fumbling through the mail as if nothing weird had happened. As if he hadn’t just announced they had a date.
“We have plans?”
“Oh, that.” He dropped the mail back on the blotter. “I just said that to get rid of lover boy out there.”
Instant dislike of the other guy. Good sign.
“What if I didn’t want to get rid of him? And don’t call Manny that. He’s not so bad.”
Lucas crossed his arms. “You seeing that kid?”
“He’s not a kid.”
“He looks barely old enough to shave.”
“For your information, Manny is only four years younger than you are.”
One brow shot up. “You haven’t answered my question. Is he your boyfriend?”
No sense in lying. “No, he’s not. And you should know I’m not the kind of girl who would offer sex to you if I was seeing someone else. But what do you care anyway? If I remember correctly, you don’t want me.”
His arms dropped and he moved closer. “I never said I didn’t want you.”
“You said no.” A girl didn’t forget throwing herself at a man, only to watch him walk away.
“That’s not the same thing.”
So much for men being simple creatures. “What was all that growling out there?”
“I didn’t like what he said to you.” The arms crossed again.
“The part about doing something else tonight?” That had taken her by surprise. Manny had never come on that strong before. The damn outfit was working on everyone but its intended target.
Lucas paced the four feet to the door and back. Running a hand through his hair, he said, “No. The part in Spanish.”
“You speak Spanish?” she asked, mystified.
“My first job out of law school was immigration work.”
Sid had to admit, she was curious. “What did Manny say?”
“You don’t know?” His eyes went wide.
Sid shrugged. “It’s been fourteen years. Randy rarely speaks it and I’ve forgotten the little I knew as a kid. So tell me what he said.”
Lucas mumbled, “He said you’re fine.”
“I’m fine?” Sid tried to imagine how that could be offensive. “That’s it?”
“It’s not what he said, it’s how he said it.” Another hand through the hair. “I need to get back out there. No one’s behind the bar.”
“Wait a minute.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm. “What are we doing tonight?”
“We’re not doing anything.”
“Oh, yes we are. I told Manny we were doing something, and you’re not going to make a liar out of me.”
“He’ll never know.”
She tapped her chin. “Needs to be something we can do in the rain if the storm is moving in.”
“Rain or shine, we don’t have plans.” He looked ready to throttle her, but Sid pushed forward.
“Don’t even think about standing me up.”
Lucas threw his hands in the air and looked up as if seeking divine intervention. “What did I do to deserve this woman?”
“I don’t know,” Sid answered for whomever Lucas sought in the ceiling. “But it must have been damn good. Since you’re skittish, I better pick you up.”
“You are not picking me up.” Lucas pushed up his sleeves.
“You can drive then. Don’t get so hostile. I’m at the end of Tuttle’s Lane.” Sid moved past Lucas, then stopped at the door. “Be there at seven and don’t be late.”
Sid headed for the dining room without giving Lucas the chance to refuse. From the office his voice boomed, “Fine. But you better be ready.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
All right. Tell me what the heck’s going on.” Beth stomped to the counter, curls bouncing and eyes snapping. Will had never seen her usually even-tempered friend this worked up.
“Aren’t you supposed to be running the store?” Will asked, looking to the clock to see if she’d lost track of the afternoon.
“Don’t start with the clock crap again. I’ve been off all day thanks to that little stunt you pulled.” Beth threw a stirrer at Will. “Why did you get rid of me this morning? And don’t tell me that’s not what happened.”
Will knew when to come clean. She called out, “Brad, I’m going out to lower the umbrellas before the rain starts.” Stepping out from behind the counter, she said to Beth, “Come on. I’ll explain outside.”
The air had turned cool with the impending hurricane. Will rubbed her arms, turning to face Beth. “Sid wanted to talk about something, but didn’t feel comfortable doing so with you around.”
“Why? What did I do?”
“You slept with Lucas.” Not the best approach, but Will didn’t like being the go-between in this. “Now Sid is trying to sleep with him, and she thinks talking about that with you would be weird.”
Beth blinked. “I think I need to sit down.”
Will pulled out a chair at the nearest table and motioned for Beth to do the same. “For the record, I told her she shouldn’t keep you out of this.”
“Does Lucas know?” Beth asked.
“That you slept with him? Um … I’d think so.”
“Stop that. You know what I mean.”
Will answered honestly. “I don’t know. I mean, I know she offered him sex and he turned her down.”
“Whoa.” Beth held up a hand. “You’re going to have to start this from the beginning.”