If the Stick Turns Pink... Read Free

possessed her to come up with such a crazy idea, he wondered as he headed into the barn to do a checkup of the animals in his care.
    He and Mellie were not winners when it came to the romances in their lives, but they were absolute champions when it came to their friendship with each other. Bailey would never do anything to risk that friendship. And nothing could ruin things like a marriage.
    Twenty minutes ago he would have told anyone that Melanie Watters was the most grounded woman he’d ever known. She was bright, logical and had both feet firmly planted on the ground. But that hadbeen before she’d voiced her crazy idea about marriage and pregnancy.
    Maybe the approach of her thirtieth birthday at the end of the year had picked her feet up off the ground and put craziness in her head, he thought as he left the barn.
    He entered the house by the back door and walked into the large, airy kitchen he rarely used. As a confirmed bachelor, most of Bailey’s meals were either zapped in the microwave or eaten at the local diner.
    The only really good home-cooked meals he ever got were when either his mother or Melanie took pity on him and cooked for him.
    At the moment the last thing he wanted was dinner. All he wanted was a nice warm shower and to kick back with a cold beer.
    He hadn’t been kidding when he’d told Melanie it had been a miserable day. Not only had he been confronted by several well-meaning mothers of potential contestants, he’d had to put down a beloved old dog who’d belonged to friends of his.
    He walked into his bedroom and kicked off his shoes, then walked into the bathroom and stripped off his still-damp jean shorts. He tossed them in the direction of the hamper, pulled a towel from the linen closet, then yanked open the shower door and yelped in surprise.
    The dark-haired, naked woman standing in his shower smiled. “Hey, Bailey, I thought maybe you’d like me to scrub your back.”
    â€œJeez, SueEllen, what the heck are you doing?” Bailey wasn’t sure whether to cover himself with the towel in his hand or cover her. He finally managed to sling the towel around his hips and grab another from the closet and throw it to SueEllen Trexlor.
    SueEllen took the towel, but instead of wrapping it around herself, held it out from her. “I just thought I’d show you some of the talent I can’t show you during the pageant,” she said.
    Bailey groaned and quickly turned his back on her. “Would you get out of my shower and get dressed. What on earth would your mama say?”
    â€œMy mama wants me to be Miss Dairy Cow.”
    Bailey groaned again and left the bathroom. He grabbed a pair of jeans from a drawer and went into the living room, where he quickly pulled them on.
    A moment later SueEllen appeared in the bedroom doorway. To his relief she had pulled on the sundress she’d apparently arrived in, although the top several buttons were undone to expose her ample chest.
    â€œI’ve always had a thing for you, Bailey,” she said, her voice a seductive purr as she advanced toward him.
    Had every woman in Foxrun gone stark, raving mad? Bailey wondered if there was something alien in the air, a weird position of the moon, as he backed away from her.
    â€œI’m flattered, SueEllen, but you need to get on home now,” he said. “This isn’t right.”
    â€œAnd what’s wrong with it? I’m an adult and you’re an adult. We’re both free and single.”
    â€œBut I’m not,” Bailey protested.
    SueEllen stopped in her tracks. “You aren’t what?”
    The conversation with Mellie was still ringing in his ears, and he grasped at it desperately. “I’m not single…I mean, I just got engaged to Melanie Watters.”
    SueEllen frowned in obvious dismay and reached for the buttons of her dress. “Why didn’t you say something sooner, Bailey? You know I would never steal