"They know we were working," Mitch said gruffly, like he wasn't about to stand for any questioning.
"Right, just make sure to sell it and don't blush," Rico instructed him. He kept a straight face, but he couldn't keep the mischievous gleam out of his eyes.
Even as he stared him down, Mitch had to smile. "You're crazy. I don't blush."
"Right. Too manly to blush. OK then, but try not to turn beet red if you don't want everyone to guess what we've been up to," Rico told him.
Mitch squinted at him. "Are you trying to protect my reputation?"
"I'm just a gentleman like that," Rico said. He was pretty sure Mitch wouldn't want anyone to know. Rico had already blabbed to Sam though, but he was discreet.
It hurt to know that he had to stay Mitch's dirty little secret, but if gossip started to spread, Rico was afraid there would be no repeat performance of what they shared today. He couldn't risk that. But what he should have been worrying about was how important Mitch was becoming to him.
They had only just climbed into Mitch's car when Rico got a text. "Sam says to bring food. The catch was meager. He says we can just grab a roasted chicken from Monty's Grocery."
"What about some barbecue from that place by the river," Mitch suggested. "That's a better way to say thank you, and it's on the way."
"It's not on the way exactly, but we can swing by. No one will object to barbeque," Rico said. "I'm updating Sam on the plan."
They arrived at the fishing spot to a heroes' welcome. "You saved us," Wyatt said as he took the bags with barbeque from them so he and Sam could serve them up.
"They just weren't biting today," Mr. Jasper said and Rico introduced the old guy to Mitch.
The other person Mitch didn't know was Lara's sister, Stella. Rico was meeting her for the first time too, and he didn't like what he saw. Lara looked like she was built out of straight guy fantasies, and her sister was made in the same mold.
Stella was a blond, not a redhead though. Natural? Probably not. She smiled constantly and hardly ever took her eyes off Mitch.
"The kids are having a good time even if they didn't catch many fish," Rico said as he stood with Lara and watched Riley, DJ, and Gloria pointing at something in the water.
"Sure, but the main thing was to get that girl out of my house before I strangled her." Lara nodded toward her sister. Stella was eyeing Mitch while he got an update from Sammy on all her fishing adventures.
"Didn't your sister just get here?" Rico said.
"She was giving me redecorating advice. 'You can update this. You can freshen up that. Aren't you tired of all this same, old stuff?' She was ready to send all my stuff to the thrift store, and I was ready to kill her," Lara hissed.
As lunch was served, they all sat down on some blankets to eat. Somehow Stella maneuvered herself right next to Mitch. She licked her finger and simpered. "I got so messy."
"I'm going to kill Mitch for getting barbeque," Rico said through his clenched teeth. Unfortunately he wasn't sitting close enough to be heard. "And for some other reason too."
"Take it easy," Sam told him as he watched him fume.
"Could you take it easy if some floozy was throwing herself at Wyatt?" Rico asked.
"Probably," Sam said evenly and glanced over at his fiancé. Wyatt was with the kids encouraging them to get as messy as possible where they ate sitting on some rocks by the riverbank.
"Right," Rico said. "That's because you would know that she was just wasting her time. But I don't know that. Mitch might go for her."
"He didn't go for me, but you think he'd go for my sister," Lara said from right behind him. "I'm insulted."
"You didn't go after him like she's doing," Rico pointed out. "Did you see her licking her fingers? Ugh."
"She is not subtle," Lara said with a sigh. "Poor Mitch has a target painted on his back."
"He doesn't look like he's suffering," Rico said. Mitch wasn't flirting back, but he wasn't scowling at her like she deserved either.
"He's looking over here like he wants you to rescue him," Sam pointed out.
"He is more than capable of rescuing himself if he wants to," Rico said. He wasn't about to swoop in and interfere. It was up to Mitch to discourage her, not him.
