Page 65 of Flirting With Fire
“It’s not your mom,” he said, his smile growing even wider. “Come on over, Dex.”
Dex? Dex!
“You have to be kidding,” I said and turned to see Dex’s shit-eating grin as he stepped up to the plate. “You’re supposed to be manning the booth.”
“Lindy dragged me over. Destiny got one of her girls to take my place at the booth. I told your mom I wanted a try, and she agreed.”
I groaned, hanging my head. My mom and my kinda-maybe-boyfriend in cahoots. Then I glanced at Brannigan.And my chief. This was so unfair.
“You ready, Dex?” Brannigan asked.
Was I ever. I remembered Dex at school. He couldn’t throw a ball to save his life. The first ball went wide. I smiled now. The second ball was closer, but no cigar. I breathed easier until I saw Mom whisper something in his ear. Was she giving him tips?
“Come on, Dex. Get him!”
Wait, that was Skip White. The traitorous…
“You’ll be doing kitchen duty for a month,” I yelled at Skip, just as Dex took aim with a confident smile, and that sucker landed slap bang in the middle.
His smirk followed me into the water.
Chapter Eighteen
Dex
Dunking Meyer had been so worth it. While I didn’t care for the way a couple of the guys—and most of the women—were ogling him in his soaking wet, white T-shirt plastered to his fine body, I’d enjoyed the show. But now I was back to being the Big Butte Salsa King. Not literally. However, Meyer had been referring to me that way in the past week. I was still pondering how to make him pay.
Manning the booth under the red canopy tent put me in the spotlight again. Sure, I’d gone to the fiesta in the past, but I’d always blended. Standing behind the display table covered by Lindy’s festive cloth with red and green dancing chile peppers at least provided a smidgeon of protection.
While I waited for Meyer to drop by after he changed, or had a spare moment, I counted how many of each size and heat level I had left of salsas. I also re-verified who still had preorders to pick up and added more tortilla chips to the bowl for sampling. We’d never made enough of Meyer’s chile pepper lemonade to sell. Instead, we were giving away what we did have in tiny cups. The free samples had taken the place of me having to pitch the salsa like a carnival barker.
Once I’d started approaching the great salsa escapade with open eyes, my ranch manager instincts had taken over. I was actually enjoying the whole process. It wasn’t too far from ordering a sufficient number of hay bales, calculating when to switch to alfalfa, which cows needed their hooves cleaned next, and so on.
I was so lost in my careful assessment of remaining jars versus units sold, I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of Rosie’s voice.
“Well, well. This booth has certainly been popular today, and with good reason,” said Rosie. “Your family salsa has always been one of my favorites of the food choices here at the fiesta.”
She grabbed a chip and scooped up a big portion of the three-alarm fire variety. She’d been by a few times already. It was a good thing I’d brought plenty of sample jars.
“Thank you. I wasn’t sure I’d make it this year since Kayla wasn’t going to be visiting.”
“That’s right!”Crunch, crunch, crunch. “How is your lovely sister doing? Is she still with that same gentleman…” She snapped the fingers of the hand that wasn’t salsa dipping. “Todd?”
“Yes, ma’am. She is.” I fought valiantly to keep from staring as the contents of all three sample bowls dwindled at a rapid rate. “This was the only time she and her boyfriend could take their vacation, and they’d already planned a resort getaway.”
“Hmmph.” She licked her fingers. “I guess we’re not good enough for her fancy city boyfriend.”
“Oh, I don’t think that?—”
“But at least she has someone.” She glanced around before leaning in. “What about you, Dex? I’m sure the only reason I haven’t seen you dating anyone is because of how busy you’ve been at the ranch. Or is there someone special you’ve been hiding from everyone?” She straightened as if the question hadmerely been rhetorical. “Because a wife can be a big help, especially when there’s a big ranch to run.” She held up a finger like she’d been struck with an idea. “You know, my daughter?—”
“Oh hey, Destiny!” I called out, thankful that the purveyor of cosmic cookies had chosen that moment to pass by. “I really want to thank you for getting Monica to watch the booth for me.”
She sidled over, and I pretended not to notice Rosie’s sour expression.
“Oh, not at all, Dex.” She smiled and turned to Rosie. “Enjoying the fiesta?”
Rosie recovered from her attempt to plead her daughter’s matrimonial case and gave Destiny a wide smile. “I am! It’s much bigger this year. All the old favorites, plus several new vendors.”
