Alphas of Red Moon Ranch(3)

Alice’s face fell. “And that’s fun for you?”

Holly shrugged. “Why not?”

“Oh, honey. Your ex is using you for free babysitting. For his new little snot-nosed kids. Kids that he should’ve had with you. That’s not right.”

“They’re not snot-nosed. They’re sweethearts. Jordan…I mean, she’s incredibly smart…she reminds me of her at her age. She definitely didn’t get it from Chris, or her mom—”

“I know she’s your coworker, but you’re being nice. Lacey doesn’t have brains, she has tits.”

“But a very nice pair,” Holly said, gesturing dramatically.

“You think she had work done?” Alice asked.

Holly shrugged. “She’s twenty-eight. She doesn’t need work. She probably wakes up with a full face of makeup and perfect cat eyes. And her hair looks windswept sexy, not rat’s nest.”

Alice scrunched her nose and put her hands under her breasts. “You think I should get work done? I don’t need anything serious, just like, a bike pump or something.”

Holly covered her mouth with her hand and she and Alice laughed until tears stung their eyes.

“That’s mean, so mean,” Holly said, drying the corner of her eye. “Firstly, you’re beautiful. Secondly, Lacey is really a nice girl once you break down all that…”

“Plastic?” Alice shook her head. “She’s a home wrecker. That’s it. She was sleeping with Chris before the ink on your divorce papers dried. And before that, I bet.”

“You don’t know that,” Holly said, her good humor suddenly souring.

“You know what I do know?” Alice said, tapping on her phone screen. “It takes two to get remarried. Take the leap, Holly.”





Chapter 3


Holly didn’t make it home until two in the morning, which was five hours past her regular bedtime. Her keys clu-clunked off the foyer table and she couldn’t be bothered to reach down and pick them up. She kicked off her shoes as she poured herself a tall glass of water and forced herself to drink all of it. The room was still spinning, but at least she could ward off a Herculean headache in the morning.

Coming home on nights like these, her place felt empty. Always felt empty with only one person in it. Didn’t help that it was completely devoid of character. It’d been a standard, run-of-the-mill shell of an apartment when she rented it (Chris kept the house, of course), and she’d just left it that way. Kept promising herself she’d put pictures up on the walls, but pictures of what? She hadn’t decorated her own place since college, and even then she’d let her roommate do most of the work. So, for the past three years, the apartment had stayed barren. She could show it to a new renter tomorrow and wouldn’t have to make a single change.

Well. Maybe she’d pick up a bit. She had to sidestep a couple books on the floor on her way to the bedroom (they seemed to accumulate, like flowers growing through concrete) and set the glass down beside her bed before shrugging out of her clothes. She reached for the phone plug and charged her phone. It lit up, bleeping, with a notification: One new message from MeetYourMate.

Oh. She’d nearly forgotten that, but now…

No. It was silly. Ridiculous. A bad idea. She clicked her screen dark and flopped down on her bed, staring up at her mauve ceiling. The fan circled above her. She’d all but torn off her clothes (smelled like a bar) and now, lying in her panties, the cool breeze from the fan should have chilled her.

Instead, she was buzzing. With alcohol and intrigue.

Oh, why not—

Holly reached over and tugged her cellphone back over, opening up the MeetYourMate app. Her mailbox flagged one unread message. She clicked it and read:

To: Apples4Days

From: Bitesalot35

Subject: My mate

You’ve got me curious. I’d like to see more. Message me if you want to talk.

Jacob

Holly clicked on his icon and his picture popped up. Oh. Talk about rugged sex appeal. Sun-tanned skin, curly black hair, and those arm muscles. It was the smile that really blew her away, though. Crooked, charming, dangerous. Melt-in-your-mouth with a kick, like washing down Pop Rocks with Coca-Cola. Holly swallowed. Hard.

She opened the reply box and before she knew it, she’d already typed out a response and hit send. It read, simply:

To: Bitesalot35

From: Apples4Days

Subject: YOUR mate?

Hi yourself. You’d like to KNOW more or SEE more? Two distinctly different things.

Respectfully,

Dr. Holly Wright

Respectfully. She scrunched up her nose when she reread her message. She had to get out of teacher mode. But it’d been so long since she’d had to try her hand at “sexy,” she barely knew how to start—