Read Up to the Challenge (An Anchor Island Novel) for Free Online

year.” Willow took a drink, then glanced over her shoulder again. She seemed oddly nervous about something. Before he could ask, she said, “Sid’s coming back.”
    Maybe there was something up between the two women. Sid was throwing so much animosity his way, he couldn’t tell if some of the current irritation might be aimed at the tall brunette or not.
    “You brewing the damn beers back there?” Sid asked. “What the hell?”
    “Relax. I just have to pop the tops off the Millers and you’re good to go.” Lucas snagged two bottles from the next beer cooler down, then caught a look between the ladies on his way back.
    “Dude,” Willow was saying, “you should have told me.”
    “Tell you what?” Sid replied, piling the drinks on her tray. Lucas took his time with the bottle caps, pretending he wasn’t listening. “I bet I could outearn him in tips so he’s holding up my orders on purpose.” Raising her voice, she added, “You’d suck as a PI, Dempsey. Get your ass down here and give me those beers.”
    “You two have a bet going?” Will asked.
    Lucas put the beers on the tray. “Her idea. Fifty bucks she could earn more than I can.”
    “A hundred.”
    “Right, a hundred.” Lucas shot Will his best smile. “At this rate she’ll be lucky if she makes the fifty.”
    The look Sid sent his way should have put him on life support. “Shift’s not over yet, fancy pants.”
    “We’ll see,” he said.
    “I know how you can win,” Will said.
    Sid and Lucas gave her their full attention. Sid asked first. “You talking to me or him?”
    Will snorted. “As if I’d help him.” He raised a brow and she added, “You’re cute and all, but she’s my friend.”
    “I didn’t realize the banshee had any friends.”
    “You’re lucky there’s a bar between us.” Sid dropped an order pad into her apron pocket and leaned toward Will. “So how?”
    “Easy,” Will shrugged. “Take off your shirt.”
    “Take off my what?” Sid blinked, certain she’d heard wrong.
    “I’ll second that suggestion,” Lucas said, his solid brows wiggling over dancing green eyes.
    “Shut up, preppy.”
    “You’re wearing a tank underneath there, right?” Will said. “I can see the white at the bottom.”
    Sid tugged at the hem of her tee. “I always wear a tank. So?”
    Will rolled her eyes. “So take off that T-shirt that’s two sizes too big and I guarantee your tips will triple.”
    “You’re crazy. I’m not stripping just to win a bet.”
    “No one’s suggesting you go topless.” Will backed off her stool. “That night you got dressed up at O’Hagan’s got me more tips in one night than I normally make in a weekend. Might as well use those curves to help yourself.
    “There are curves under there?” Lucas tossed a bar rag over his shoulder. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
    Something took flight in Sid’s gut and an unfamiliar heat shot up from her toes. She couldn’t fight the blush so she reached for something familiar to cover. Anger.
    “What happened to this being a family restaurant, huh? A few hours ago you were worried this shirt would offend someone. Now you want me to take it off.”
    “Hey,” he said, throwing up his hands, “if you’re ashamed of whatever you keep under those manly clothes, just keep the shirt on.”
    Lucas shoved a chilled glass under the beer tap but the sideways look he gave her said he knew exactly what he was doing. Damn him.
    “Fine.” She turned on Will. “But if this doesn’t work, I’m coming after you.”
    “It’ll work. Just don’t break any noses when guys start hitting on you.” Will turned to Lucas. “Thanks for the drink, Charming. I’d apologize for the killing you’re about to receive, but I have a feeling you’ll thank me later.”
    With a wink she was gone, leaving Sid to wonder what the hell that meant.
    “You’ve got customers waiting.” Lucas poured Will’s soda down the sink and dropped the glass in the strainer.