Free Lean on Me by Helenkay Dimon Page A

head as lust, but the real answer was he hated seeing people dragged into the role of victim, especially women.
    He rephrased his concerns in a way Spence might understand. “I think it wouldn’t kill people to be a little less hostile. She could use some support.”
    “And you know this how?”
    “Isn’t it obvious?” Mitch saw it in the way she pretended she didn’t hear the comments and refrained from fighting back. In the way her shoulders slumped when the whispers got too loud to ignore.
    “Asks the guy who was busy tonguing her in the parking lot at Schmidt’s.”
    So much for trying to explain in nonsexual terms. That’s what a guy got when he tried to wade into this emotional bullshit. “Can we change the subject?”
    “Fine, I actually wanted to talk with you about something other than your sorry excuse for a sex life. Travis mentioned a trespasser and some items on the lot.” Spence slid the mouse on the pad.
    The scratching noise worked on Mitch’s raw nerves. He reached over and put the mouse on the other side of the monitor where Spence would have to work at it to reach it.
    “I’ve got the property situation under control,” Mitch said.
    “You going to drag the person in here and hand them a bill?”
    Handling a smart-ass Spence was much easier on a full night’s sleep. Mitch didn’t need a lot but he preferred more than two hours, and thanks to Cassidy’s stunt, that’s all he’d gotten. “You’re more annoying than usual today.”
    “We need to extend the motion sensor lights to the lot. Having them on the building isn’t enough. And cameras. We need them everywhere. We catch the little weasels and file charges. Dad’s right about stuff like this. You have to crack down and be serious about it. If you let it go because it seems minor, the problem increases.”
    “You told your dad about this?”
    “No, I’m repeating a general rule he harped on over the years. I have Travis buying the supplies right now.” Spence had snapped back into owner mode and getting him to downshift would not be easy.
    Mitch cursed his piss-poor timing. “Call Travis back.”
    “Because?”
    “I’m taking care of the problem.” And he’d used a mix of threats and sexual attraction to get started on that project this morning.
    “How?”
    Now there was information Mitch had no intention of sharing. He planned to handle Cassidy on his own, and as often as possible. “Spence, stop. I got this. I’ll look into commercial-grade security systems and have one installed. I’m on it. No need for you to get involved.”
    Spence blew out a long breath. “You used a lot of extra words right there.”
    Mitch stilled. “And?”
    “Admittedly I’m not the smartest guy in the world, probably not even in the room, but I sense there’s something you’re not telling me.”
    Just a few things about criminal activity by a woman Spence already clearly disliked. “You have three master’s degrees.”
    “You’re avoiding my point.”
    “We agreed I’d handle the business problems and let you focus on inventory and planting and all the crap I don’t know anything about.”
    “So, this is a division of labor thing?”
    They’d never had one before and Mitch had no intention of introducing one now. “No. Just trying to be practical and not put all of our resources on this small issue. There’s no reason for more than one of us to work on this. I got it.”
    Spence’s eyes widened. “I’ll be damned.”
    “That’s the general consensus, yes.”
    Spence pointed his finger and kept pointing. “It’s Cassidy.”
    Mitch swallowed a groan. Spence was a lot of things but dumb wasn’t one of them. Unfortunately. He had two master’s degrees and a heap of common sense. The combination made getting anything important by him tough.
    “Travis said it was a woman.” Spence shook his head. “Unbelievable. She just doesn’t stop.”
    Mitch tried to imagine a worse ending to the conversation and couldn’t