Alphas of Red Moon Ranch(37)

That she believed. Holly nodded and he drew his hand over her shoulder, giving a squeeze. “You want a drink?” he asked.

“Sure.” Holly followed him to the bar and took her place at a stool. There, she settled in and, when the bartender asked her what she wanted, she ordered a glass of white wine. While waiting, her eyes surveyed the bar. Next to her, a young couple seemed to be attached at the face, making out passionately with their arms wrapped around each other. Holly blushed, though she couldn’t hide the small grin. Animals, she thought, amused.

As if on cue, they pulled apart from each other. When the woman opened her eyes, Holly caught a faint golden shimmer dance within them.

Animals, she thought suddenly. I’m surrounded by animals. And not metaphorical beasts, real animals.

When the bartender returned with her drink (and a fresh beer), she turned to Jacob. “Is everyone here…like you?” she asked quietly.

“You mean a shifter?” Jacob glanced around. “Not everyone. There’re some humans. Like you.”

Holly said nothing; she just took a sip of her wine.

“You wanna ride the bull?” he asked suddenly.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

“The bull.” He was grinning like a little boy now; all the tension from whatever had been bothering him earlier seemed to dissipate. He pointed to a beat-up mechanical hunk of scrap metal that looked like it had seen a ride too many. “C’mon. You wanna ride the bull.”

She didn’t, not really, but he looked so enthusiastic about it she had to laugh and nodded quickly, following him. “Okay.”

The mechanical bull was a torn-up, rickety-looking old thing with a leather seat and frayed handles. The metal spring beneath it looked rusted and Holly half feared it would collapse under her weight. Jacob, however, set his hand on her waist and helped her climb the beast. “There you go,” he said once she settled in. “Now, hold on to this with one hand”—he patted on the horn of the saddle—“and lift your right arm out like this.” He waved his arm back to demonstrate.

“So, basically, pretend I’m John Wayne,” she said.

“Whatever gets you going,” he told her, and then pressed the start button.

Holly squeaked, completely unprepared for the lurch forward. And then she fell into a fit of laughter as the thing began bucking underneath her. She heard whoops and shouts of encouragement from the crowd as she squeezed her thighs around the mechanical bull and held on with everything she had. Oh dear God, don’t let today be the day I die on a mechanical bull, she prayed.

But as she met the quick jerks and pulls of the bull, she found herself laughing uncontrollably. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so…ridiculous and free. As the bull twisted around, she saw Jacob leaning against the rail, grinning ear to ear. “Thatta girl!” he hollered at her.

Miranda seemed to appear beside him out of nowhere. She slipped her hand to his arm and murmured something Holly couldn’t hear. Even Jacob had to tilt his head to listen to her, and his eyes left Holly for just a second. The way Miranda leaned in to whisper into his ear, the way her fingers lingered on his arm, it all screamed intimacy.

Suddenly, unbidden, Holly was reminded of Chris and the woman who’d swept him away, right out from under Holly’s nose. She’d been a coworker, too.

Before Holly knew it, she was on her back. The mechanical bull was still bucking, but she’d fallen to the plush mat below and she blinked up at the ceiling in surprise.

Jacob interrupted her vision as he bent over her. He grinned, wide, and said, “You okay, princess?”

No, she wanted to say. Her heart felt like it had been dipped into cold water. No, no, no, no, no. Instead, she let him help her up off the ground, and then her hand moved to her mouth.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she said. She rushed past him and dove outside, pushing through the double doors, not stopping even when she heard him call out her name in her wake.

Once outside, Holly stepped around the wraparound porch to the empty back, avoiding the smokers and drinkers, and gripped the wooden railing. She bowed her head, taking one ragged breath after the other. Her chest felt compressed so tightly, she was seeing dots. I can’t let this get the better of me, she thought. I just can’t.

“Holly.”

Holly yelped, her hand moving to her chest when she heard his voice. She whipped around and saw Jacob standing beside her, looking worried.

“Jacob…God…you scared me. You can’t…sneak up on me like that.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” His voice was heavy and his eyes were filled with concern as he looked her over. “Are you?”