“What did you do to her?” Lucas moved closer, holding a squealing kitten against his chest. “She looks … That outfit …” Turning to Beth, he demanded, “Where’s the rest of it?”
“You don’t like it?” Sid asked, her face falling as she tugged at the top of the dress. Which did absolutely nothing to cover the more than ample cleavage. Lucas’s mouth watered.
“I didn’t say that.” He backtracked, trying to get a grip on the sudden intense desire to drag the blanket off the back of the couch and cover her up. Which warred with the Neanderthal reflex to throw her over his shoulder and head for the bedroom. “You look great. Really great.”
“My work here is done,” Beth said, looking much too pleased with herself. “You kids have fun. I better get back to Dempsey’s before Joe has a cow.”
Lucas would be having a talk with Beth before he left Anchor Island. She was never to dress Sid in this fashion again. Especially not when he wasn’t there to let every other man know exactly to whom she belonged.
“That reminds me,” Sid said, taking Drillbit from his grip. “I need to feed her before we go.”
As Sid sashayed into the kitchen, Lucas took several deep breaths. He did not own this woman. In a couple weeks, he’d be gone and she would be entitled to dress like a pole-dancing pirate for anyone she wanted. Just as he would be entitled to drive back to the island and kick that anyone’s ass.
“Okay, I’m good,” Sid said, snagging her keys off the end table. Her smile hit like a bolt of lightning. “You’re rocking that pirate look pretty good yourself, by the way.”
Sid made a mental note to suggest Lucas go without shaving more often. The dusting of whiskers suited his high seas adventure look perfectly. She never remembered Joe looking so delicious in this outfit. The pirate standing in her living room looked good enough to eat.
Since Joe was slightly broader in the shoulders than his brother, the normally loosely fitting shirt billowed even more on Lucas. She recognized the black pants as his own. Joe’s wardrobe would never include a pair this fancy, but the knee-high boots added a hint of sexy that made her forget why they were heading out the door instead of down the hall to her bedroom.
“If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we’ll never get out of here,” he said, then crossed the distance between them and slid his hands up to cup her face. “Not that I’d have a problem with that. I hate the thought of any other man seeing you dressed like this.”
Before she could respond, he took her mouth in a way he never had before. This wasn’t just a kiss but a claiming. A man staking out his territory in a manner that brooked no argument. And Sid had never experienced anything so arousing.
“We don’t really have to go.” The words were breathed more than said as she dropped her head back and enjoyed the sensations of Lucas’s tongue sliding along her skin. When he reached the top of her breasts, she thought her entire body might go up in flames.
“Aren’t you supposed to help Opal with her dessert table?” Lucas asked, between the tender bites he was dropping along her shoulder.
Damn it. She’d forgotten about that. “We don’t have to stay long though, right?”
His attention returned to her face, his hazel eyes a deep, mossy green as he ran a thumb along her bottom lip. “An hour tops. I don’t think I can take more than that.”
“Deal,” she said, taking his mouth for another scorching kiss. Pulling back, she took his hand and reached for the door. “Let’s go then. We’re killing time.”
Rows of tents formed a frame around the city park, which was little more than a wide open area bordered by towering oaks, whose branches brushed the ground as if bowing to the guests. Young pirates flitted through the crowd, stopping now and then to parry and thrust their wooden swords in battle with an enemy.
The older buccaneers, some dressed more elaborately than others, carried giant drumsticks and tankards of what had to be nonalcoholic ale, as no adult beverages were permitted in the park. Johnny Roger and his Mutineers provided traditional tunes for the swashbucklers looking to twirl around the dance floor.
Business at Opal’s dessert table had been steady for half an hour, making it difficult for Sid to keep tabs on Lucas. Kinzie, Opal’s granddaughter and apprentice of sorts, worked the end opposite Sid, looking adorable in a long black skirt, red corset cincher, and puffy white blouse. A hint on the plump side, the pastry-chef-in-training fit the role of pirate wench turned ship cook perfectly.
Sid had always thought of Kinzie, with her ready smile and pleasant disposition, as her polar opposite. Sunny. Happy. Friendly. All things Sid was not. Which made it odd that they got along so well.
“We might have to hire you to wear that outfit and work at the store, Sid,” Kinzie said, laughter in her voice. “Grandma’s cakes are good, but you’re the hot cake bringing in the customers tonight.”
Opal handed a large cupcake to a blushing teenage male, who nearly dropped his booty due to not taking his eyes off Sid. “We could just put you out front on the porch and we’d sell out every day.”
Her two tablemates giggled, and though Sid knew they were only teasing, she couldn’t help but feel conspicuous. She’d tugged at her neckline, which rested way too many inches below her neck, to no avail. Lifting the top only raised the bottom, and the fishnets Curly had insisted she wear didn’t exactly provide much coverage either. She feared her own booty was in danger of flashing the entire crowd. Or at least anyone standing behind her.
“I didn’t realize the dress would be so small when Curly put it on me.” Another tug up. “I feel like an idiot.”
“Oh, we were only teasing,” Opal said, giving her a reassuring pat on the arm. “You look beautiful and we’re just jealous. Don’t mind us.”
But she did mind all the male eyes that kept sliding over her body as if she were wearing nothing at all. “I think I need to go home and change. Do either of you see Lucas?” Sid craned her neck to look through the crowd.
“You mean your pirate protector who has been standing twenty feet to our right shooting mental daggers at every man who’s smiled your way?” Kinzie took two dollars from a kid who looked no more than ten, and handed over a slice of apple pie. “Two hands, little man. No replacements if you drop that.”
Sid glanced to her right to find Lucas standing with his feet apart, arms crossed, and brows together. He looked ready to tear someone apart.
“Has he been there the whole time?” she asked. A ribbon of heat snaked through her system, but instead of the shot of lust she was used to, this one went straight for the heart.
Oh, that wasn’t good.
“The whole time,” Opal said. “Like an angry Adonis. Too bad men don’t dress this way anymore.” The older woman sighed, drawing Sid’s attention. Did she just call Lucas an Adonis?
Sid glanced Lucas’s way again. Opal did have a point, but it was the look in his eyes more than the outfit that was doing funny things to Sid’s sense of balance. Her world was tilting and she had no idea how to get her bearings.
But it was too late. Sid was definitely attached.
“No wonder there are so many desserts floating around this crowd,” Manny said, stepping up to the booth. “The sweetest piece in the room is hiding behind this table.”
The sweetest piece? He better not be talking about her.
“Hi, Manny,” Kinzie all but purred. Her face was an odd shade of pink and she seemed to be bouncing on her tiptoes. “I made some meringues for you.” A box of fluffy white concoctions appeared from under the table.
“Hey,” he said, pulling the box across the table. “Is this my grandmother’s recipe?”
“It is,” Kinzie beamed.
So that’s how things were.
Sid pondered the possible couple. Kinzie and Manny were the same age but that’s where the similarities ended. Then again, she and Lucas were about as different as a tuna and a marlin so who was she to judge?
“How much do I owe you for these?” Manny asked, reaching for his wallet.
“Since you gave me the recipe, we’ll call it even. I’m sure they’re not as good as your grandmother’s, but I hope they’re close.”
