Kristen Blooming Read Online Free Page B

velvety smooth, tantalizing her with feelings she’d never experienced before. Kristen was sure that Deputy Hammel couldn’t say the same. After all, just because she didn’t have personal experience with men didn’t mean Kristen couldn’t spot a player.
    How could he not be?
    With those twinkling eyes and that hard body, the deputy undoubtedly had women throwing themselves at him everywhere he went. That thought irritated her slightly, and Kristen swore she would not become one of his adoring acolytes. After all, she might not agree with her mother about saving oneself for the pleasures of the marriage bed, but Kristen wasn’t going to start sleeping with just any man.
    She did believe in commitment.
    Commitment and respect, the two qualities a man had to demonstrate himself capable of before Kristen gave herself to him. She was certain that man was out there, and she would find him when the time was right. First, though, she had her own future to conquer.
    That future would begin tomorrow when she reported to the county’s human resources office and got the paperwork started so she could begin her job next week. Kristen was looking forward to working.
    More than that, she was looking forward to having the money to buy a car. A car meant freedom. It also meant she’d be able to reach the college when she enrolled. Kristen would need to save up some money first.
    That was what she should be focusing on. Kristen didn’t have time for crushes, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming about the deputy when she finally drifted asleep. He was also why she woke up sweating with her heart pounding and an ache in an unmentionable part of her body.
    Confused and embarrassed by the things she’d let the deputy do in her dreams, Kristen tried in vain to push them away, but the need only followed her through her shower. She probably could have taken care of it herself, but she didn’t do that kind of thing. It was dirty, and the very idea had her blushing as she scrubbed all the harder at her limbs, pointedly avoiding other parts of her body, but what really needed to be cleaned was her mind.
    Singing gospel hymns beneath her breath in an attempt to purify her thoughts, Kristen got dressed for her first day of work, choosing her best Sunday outfit in the hopes of creating a perfect first impression. She wasn’t certain she succeeded when Gwen stumbled into the kitchen not five minutes later in an outfit that showed a good deal of leg and a large amount of bosom.
    “Good God.” Gwen stumbled to a halt to wrinkle her nose at Kristen and give her the once-over. “You’re not going to work dressed like that, are you?”
    “What’s wrong with this outfit?” Kristen frowned, glancing down at her floral print dress and wondering how it could possibly be worse than what Gwen was wearing. “It’s my best dress.”
    “You look like a grandmom!” Gwen shot back. “Take it off.”
    “What?”
    “I’ll get you something better to wear,” Gwen assured her as she disappeared back out of the kitchen, leaving Kristen far from comforted. She jerked forward, racing out into the hall after her cousin.
    “I don’t think ⎯ ”
    “Don’t think,” Gwen cut her off without slowing down a step. “That’s a good thing because all you’re thinking about is what your mama would say, and she’s old. You’re not, unless you failed to notice.”
    Gwen paused to shoot Kristen a pointed look before shoving her bedroom door back open and wading into the clutter as she cut a path through the mounds of clothes and assorted undergarments that littered the floor. Kristen stared in wide-eyed horror at the mess as Gwen kicked a pair of shoes with impossibly long and pointed heels out of her way.
    “Now, let’s see what we can find.”
    Gwen ripped open the folding doors to her closet and burrowed into the pile of clothes that damn near fell out on top of her. In short order, things began to fly back out over her shoulder as Gwen muttered