The Reluctant Bachelor Read Online Free PDF Page B

we could rent a house around here. Two dozen women sharing one, maybe two bathrooms? Even that’s a little too real for television.”
    Rick grinned. “And a whole lot of fun.”
    Lizzie held up her hands. “Okay. Show me more.”
    * * *
    B Y THE TIME they got in the truck and headed back to the diner for dinner, Elizabeth was dog tired. She doubted she’d be awake long enough to eat, much less call Devon with an update. And she had to admit the idea of filming here had started to wiggle into her already clicking mind. It would be a change, something that could spark ratings for a show that was starting to show its age. Rick might be onto something.
    Instead of going to the diner, however, Rick turned his truck into the driveway of a large Victorian house with a wraparound porch and pulled around back near the lakefront. Elizabeth looked at the manicured landscape outside and frowned. “We’re having dinner here?”
    Rick wiggled his eyebrows. “First we’re going to catch it. Then we’ll eat here.”
    Elizabeth groaned. “You’re taking me fishing? Haven’t you tortured me enough for one day?”
    “Think of it as part of your Michigan experience.” He got out of the truck and retrieved fishing poles and a tackle box from behind the front seat. “And you haven’t really lived until you’ve eaten something you’ve caught.”
    Elizabeth rolled her eyes. This was not what she had signed up for. Still, she was hungry and she’d agreed to do what was necessary to get Rick for the show. “Fine. But I’m not cleaning any icky fish. You get that job.”
    “Sure, Lizzie.”
    “Elizabeth,” she muttered under her breath as she followed him to the dinghy tied to the dock on the lake.
    Rick held out one hand and helped her step into the boat. She spread her arms to catch her balance before taking a seat on the narrow wooden bench. Rick untied the boat from the dock and stepped inside, pushing off. He took a seat, then pulled the chain for the motor. They putted out to the center of the lake while Elizabeth watched the sun lower in the west behind a wall of magnificent trees. She closed her eyes.
    “This place is getting to you.”
    She opened her eyes. “I’m tired.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” Rick steered them out farther and cut the engine. He handed her a pole. “Have you ever fished before?”
    “When I was a kid, my mom took me to the Santa Monica pier. Some guy let me hold his pole while he ran to get a hot dog.” She shrugged. “All I did was stand there.”
    “So you’re an expert.”
    He opened the tackle box and removed a small plastic container. It was full of black dirt and wriggling worms. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I’m not putting one of those on my hook.”
    “Relax. I’ll bait it for you.”
    He removed one long worm and wound it around her hook while Elizabeth squelched a squeal. She wasn’t naive. She understood the circle-of-life thing. Instead of allowing Rick to think she was squeamish, she accepted the pole. “Now what?”
    “Cast it out toward the middle of the lake.”
    She looked at him and raised one eyebrow. “Cast is something I hire for a show.”
    “Ha-ha. Watch me.” He swung the rod back slightly, then flicked it forward, sending his line out in a perfect arc that Elizabeth doubted she could repeat.
    In fact, she couldn’t repeat it. After three failed attempts, Rick cast the line for her. She sighed. “What’s next?”
    “We wait.” He wound the reel in a bit and lifted his face to the sky, his eyes closed.
    Elizabeth watched him. He had a boyish charm that the audience had loved. He was also funny and sensitive. Why he was still single after all this time was a mystery to her. He was the type of guy who should be a husband and father. “What happened after you came home last time?”
    Rick opened one eye and groaned. “Do we have to talk about that?”
    “I’m surprised that some woman didn’t snap you up the moment you arrived home,