If the Stick Turns Pink... by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online

and they were back on old, familiar footing. She was right. They could do this and nothing would change between them.

Chapter Four
    S he had known since the eighth grade that Bailey had the reputation of being a great kisser. At a slumber party a poll had been taken, and Bailey had won the honor of best kisser, hands down.
    Melanie hadn’t been able to vote that night so long ago at the slumber party because she’d never kissed Bailey…at least not in the way the girls were talking about kissing.
    Now she could vote, and she would definitely vote for Bailey as the best kisser she’d ever kissed. His lips had been soft but firm and sizzling with heat that had flooded through her from head to toe.
    The kiss had been in her thoughts the moment she’d opened her eyes that morning and was still in her head as she drove to Bailey’s with a carload of some of her personal items.
    It was another gorgeous late-spring day filled with warmth that promised the imminent arrival of summer. She drove with the window down, enjoying the scent of the fields and pastures she passed along the way.
    As she thought of the week ahead, her heart stepped up its rhythm a bit. Friday was the last day of the school year and Saturday she would marry Bailey.
    Marry Bailey. It wasn’t the actual marrying Bailey that caused her heart to flutter. It was what would come after the wedding ceremony. She and Bailey would have sex. And since the whole point of the marriage as far as she was concerned was to get pregnant, then it was possible they’d have sex more than once.
    If his kiss had been any indication, having sex with Bailey would be magnificent…as a woman’s first time should be.
    As she turned up the lane and Bailey’s place came into view, she consciously shoved thoughts of kissing and sex out of her mind.
    She’d always loved Bailey’s place. The white ranch was nestled amid towering ancient oak trees that cooled the long front porch in the summer. The porch positively begged for a swing, but Bailey refused to consider it, telling her that swings were for old married couples, not a bachelor.
    She pulled up in front of the house, but not before she saw Bailey coming to greet her from the barn.She shut off her engine and got out of the car, noting that even though it was before noon, Bailey already looked exhausted.
    â€œHey,” he greeted her.
    â€œHey, yourself,” she replied. “You look beat.”
    He raked a hand through his hair and released a deep sigh. “I got an early-morning call from the sheriff. He busted a puppy mill and needs a place to bring about twenty malnourished, dehydrated, flea-and-worm-infested dogs. I’ve spent most of the morning checking my medical supplies and feed to be certain I can handle them. Now I need to get the cages ready.”
    â€œNeed some help?” She gestured to her car. “I can unload this stuff later.”
    He offered her his first smile. “That would be terrific.”
    â€œWho was operating a puppy mill?” she asked as they walked toward the barn.
    â€œI don’t know the man. He lives in the old Ellsbury place off K Highway.” They reached the door, and he opened it to allow her entry.
    â€œ Barn” was too simple a word for the state-of-the-art animal hospital Bailey had created in the structure. Heated in the winter, air-conditioned in the summer, the clinic sported an examining room, an up-to-date operating room and a room just for bathing a variety of critters.
    He led her through the front area and to the back of the barn, where cages lined the walls and there wasa large enclosed pen for running and playing. “I need to spread some fresh straw in the pen,” he said, then pointed to the cages. “They all need to be wiped down with antibacterial soap and water. There’s a pail all ready there. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.”
    She smiled. “No