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He grabbed the cat around the middle. She was so small his fingers overlapped under the belly. He pulled but she held tight. “Can you get this thing off?”

Sid turned around. “Shit.” Before she could intervene, the demon spawn let go of his leg and wrapped around his hand.

“Motherfucker, this thing is possessed.”

“Such language, Counselor.”

He could see Sid was suppressing a laugh and shot her an evil look. “I should have known any pet of yours would have claws and not be afraid to use them.”

“Keep it up and you can get her off all by yourself. But I’ll warn you, she’ll shred that fancy jacket before you know what hit you.”

Sid lifted the feline by the scruff of her neck, supporting her with a hand beneath her bottom, and the kitten let go. Lucas’s hand was covered in scratches, two of them bleeding.

“You need a ‘beware of cat’ sign on the door.” He rinsed his hand in the sink as Sid cooed to the lioness-in-training. “Aren’t you worried she’ll latch onto your face?”

“We have an understanding.” Sid nuzzled the kitten’s tummy in a completely un-Sid-like way. “It’s funny, actually. Someone dropped her at Joe’s and Curly was afraid Dozer would eat her.” Sid spoke to the fur ball in a baby talk voice. “You’d have ripped that slobbery mutt to pieces, huh? That’s my girl.”

Lucas turned off the water and stood with his dripping hands over the sink, staring in disbelief. “Who are you and what have you done with Sid?”

She flipped him the bird.

“Ah, there you are.” After drying his hands on a towel hanging over the sink, Lucas noticed the cuts were still bleeding. Feeding the menace to Dozer sounded like a damn good idea. “I’m going to need a Band-Aid. Has that thing had its shots?”

“She’s like seven weeks old or something. Of course she hasn’t had her shots.” Sid pulled a box of bandages from the drawer behind her and threw them his way. “Doctor yourself up, then we’ll go. And don’t be such a whiner.”

“You’re going to have to help me.”

Sid turned, eyebrows up. “Excuse me? Do I look like a nurse?”

“No,” he said, “but you’d look really hot in the uniform.” She blushed, as he knew she would. A compliment was the only way to shut the woman up. “I’m buying you dinner; the least you can do is put a Band-Aid on me.”

“You’re buying me dinner?” Sid asked, opening the small white box.

“I made you lie by insinuating we had a date, so now I’m fulfilling my obligation by taking you out to dinner.” Best to set the boundaries up front. “Quick meal at the marina, on me, then we’re done.”

Sid ripped the bandage open. “No.”

“No, what? Are you refusing to go out with me?” About time Sid came to her senses.

“No on the ‘then we’re done’ part.” Raising the Band-Aid, she stopped. “We should put something on that first. Hold on.” A tube came from the same drawer where the bandages had been. “Hold still.”

Sid held his hand steady, calloused fingers pressed gently against his palm. In the same way he imagined she’d change a spark plug, she squeezed antibacterial cream onto the tiny wound, then placed the Band-Aid over it, making sure the ends were secure.

“There.” When she looked up, he felt her breath against his chin. Chocolate eyes went wide, then her lids lowered, long dark lashes resting softly against her cheek. She wore not a speck of makeup and he found the lack of affectation attractive. Sid didn’t need anything artificial to look beautiful.

She just was.

Sid licked her lips and Lucas cleared his throat. “We’d better get going.”

Maybe the rain had picked up. He could use the cold shower.

They’d arrived at the restaurant by the time Sid’s heart rate returned to normal. Which wasn’t that long since her house was about a minute from the marina. Though with Lucas at the wheel it was more like two minutes. The man drove like he couldn’t reach the gas pedal. Frannie the Red Hatter could have outrun him. On her walker.

By the end of the main course, they’d exhausted such scintillating topics as the weather, Joe’s business, the necessary evil of tourists, and the passable taste of the wine. Sid sucked at small talk, but she was doing her best. Lucas didn’t look miserable, which she took as a good sign.

When the waiter breezed past, Lucas waved him down.

“What are you doing?” Sid asked.

“Asking for the check. Why?”

Sid huffed. “We haven’t had dessert yet.”

Lucas looked pained. “You’ve had half a basket of rolls, a baked potato, the largest steak they serve, and eaten my broccoli as well as your own.”

“You said you didn’t want it.” Wasn’t as if she’d swiped it from his fork.

“I didn’t want it. But how could you have room for dessert?”

What kind of a question was that? “There’s always room for dessert. Especially here.”

The waiter had finished taking the order from a couple three tables down and now stood over Sid and Lucas. “Can I get you folks anything else?”

“I guess so,” Lucas said. “We’ll need to see a dessert menu.”

“Forget the menu, Goober. Bring one To Die For and one cheesecake.”

“Coming right up.”

Lucas leaned over the table and whispered, “Did you just call him Goober?”

Another waiter passed their table carrying a large plate of scallops. The scent made Sid’s mouth water. She’d have to talk Lucas into another date so she could order those. Her budget didn’t allow dinner at the marina anytime she wanted.

“Of course. Why?”

He whispered louder. “A bit insulting, don’t you think?”

Sid propped her elbows on the table. “That’s his name. We went to high school together. Don’t you remember him?”

Lucas jerked back, his gaze shooting toward where the waiter had disappeared into the kitchen. A second later his eyes opened wide. “That’s Goober McGruber?”

“The one and only. How could you forget that red hair?” Sid straightened her napkin. “Though I guess there’s less of it now.”

“Huh.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t anyone get off this island?”

Sid prickled. “There’s nothing wrong with this island. If you spent more time here you’d know that.”

Lucas snorted. “I grew up here, Sid. There’s nothing on this island.”

He had no idea how close he was to getting a bruised shin. “Then what are we sitting in? Where have we been working every day for the last week? And where did you get the best Key lime pie of your life?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“And what about your family? And my family, small as it may be. We have lives here, and friends, and it’s pretty shitty of you to dismiss us all as nothing.”

Goober returned with their desserts, but looked apologetic for interrupting what was clearly a heated discussion.

“The cheesecake goes to asshole over there,” Sid said, too frustrated with Lucas’s attitude to curb her speech. Curly would have scolded her for that one.

Lucas slid his empty plate to the edge of the table to make room for the new course, but remained silent. Sid did the same, allowing Goober to set down the new plate and pick up the empty ones.

“Will there be anything else? Coffee?”

“This is good, thanks.” Lucas smiled at Goober, then once he walked away, stared at Sid.

After several seconds, she cracked. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

She looked for mocking in his hazel eyes but only found contrition. “Good.”

“Let me rephrase.”