Read Online Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) by J.A. Marlow - Free Book Online

don't have much."
    "Strange he hasn't called you all week to let
you know more details."
    "He's busy with new baby newts."
    Tish laughed. "Did you say newts?"
    "Yep. He breeds them. Really rare ones. Trying
to bring them back from extinction." Rachel pulled out a dress of
green and blue with a silky layered skirt.
    "That one has potential," Tish said, reaching
out to touch the material.
    The front door chimed.
    Rachel stared at her open bedroom door in
horror. "I was supposed to go there, not him come here. This area
is restricted."
    "You know, that never made sense to me," Tish
said. "You are in your off-time. You should be able to have a
social life, including having friends over, if you want
to."
    "Get some people to refurbish the nearby
apartment block and we'll be able to. These apartments are too
close to the maintenance storage rooms." Rachel lay both dresses on
the bed. She glanced back at the door. "I hope it isn't a system
emergency!"
    "Right, too many valuable parts that could be
stolen. Such as by pirates." Tish climbed off the bed. "Relax. I
don't sense the station upset. I'll go see who it is while you try
on the dresses. Put on the green and blue dress first."
    Rachel pulled off her shirt and shimmied out
of her pants. The dress might be okay, but it still didn't feel
right. She plunged back into the closet in a desperate search to
find something appropriate to wear on a date with a man she barely
knew, going somewhere she didn't know, to talk about who-knew
what.
    Oh great, now she was trying to panic
herself.
    She pulled out a dress-bag from the very back
of the closet, trying to remember what it might be. Maybe a
glorious dress she'd forgotten she'd bought in the distant
past.
    As she came out of the closet Tish appeared at
the bedroom door with an odd expression on her face. Rachel dropped
the dress bag on the bed and grabbed her robe. "What is it? Is it
an emergency?"
    "I don't know. It might be." Tish stopped,
grimacing. "You've been invaded."
    "Invaded?"
    "Never fear, your club is here!" Velda
announced, appearing behind Tish with a dark long bag held over her
arm.
    Rachel cinched up her robe as Tish moved out
of the way to keep from getting run over by Eddie and Daisy joining
the crowd into the bedroom.
    The three ladies stood at one side of her bed,
regarding the dresses displayed there shaking their heads
sadly.
    Eddie said, "These won't do."
    "I'm still deciding," Rachel said, smoothing
out the dress bag and trying to find how to open it. "This area is
restricted, you know."
    "Oh, we know," Velda said, hanging up the
black dress-bag from a doorjamb. "We stopped Arthur on the way
here. As if we could be a security threat."
    "Except when it comes to getting killer deals
at rummage sales," Daisy said with a smug smile. "Just wait until
you see what we found."
    Rachel's heart sunk as Eddie added, "Daisy is
the queen of deals!"
    "And, it appears you needed our help anyway,"
Daisy said, picking up both dresses and returning them to the
closet.
    "I don't need all this help," Rachel said as
she was pushed away from the closet. "I doubt he's taking me
anywhere formal."
    "Good guess. We looked up your date," Velda
said, unzipping the bag. "Quite the reputation he has."
    "Sam was impressed," Daisy said. "Turns out
the two have worked together before."
    "Your husband is interested in newts?" Rachel
asked.
    "No, the Ring Five Formal Gardens, silly. The
garden has lizards, too," Daisy said, pushing her to the bed and
making her sit down. "He has a very good reputation on board the
station. Very helpful and caring."
    "Now, time for the big reveal," Velda said
from the doorway where the dress bag hung. "Be ready for the dress
of your dreams."
    Rachel remained frozen to the spot, waiting
for the dress to come out and attack her with whatever venom it
might have, with the pain of the attack to be soothed by the happy
smiles of her friends. The dress was sure to be something like
Velda's classy but loud getups, or