Page 21 of Love and Loathing

Jessie swallowed hard. What if he asked her out? Agh!

“Well, your compatibility is only sixty-four percent. That’s not very promising.” Caroline kept scrolling. “Wow, you’ve got quite a few. Aha!”

“Aha! What?” Jessie was almost afraid to ask. She ate another chocolate to stave off nerves.

“You have exactly one match in the nineties,” Caroline said, her hazel eyes sparkling. “Ninety-eight percent, in fact.”

Jessie scrunched her face up as if expecting a blow. “Who?”

Caroline turned the phone to her once more. “Alexander Young.”

Okay, now sheknewthis app didn’t work. She shook her head.

“Yes.”

* * *

Despite her nerves now that she knew she’d been paired with a good chunk of guys from town, she had to admit that the twin’s party ended up being a blast. They held it at Cotton-Eyed Mo’s. Mo was the owner and a hoot himself. He ran the bar and had a handlebar mustache. Jessie had never been here before, and now she realized she’d been missing out. It was marvelous. It had exposed wood beams overhead, mirrors on the far wall, and a disco ball. It even had a food you could order upstairs, where there were apparently pool tables. She’d yet to go up there.

Allie had managed to get Swayzie’s fiancé—Lucky Preston, the rodeo champion—on the bull ride, to everyone’s great joy. And everyone had danced under the disco ball on the lacquered wood floors, spinning and laughing and partying like no one’s business. Jessie couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun. And not one of her “matches” said anything about the app. She’d danced with the Slades, whose moves were so crazy and fun they’d even had Diana laughing and dancing.

Jessie, Caroline, Allie, and several other ladies gathered at the bar for water and joked about making up excuses to come dancing more often. So far, they’d come up withit’s Tuesday,I woke up on the right side of the bed, andnational donut day. Jessie hadn’t even known that was a thing, but she was looking it up as soon as she got home and marking it on her calendar. Donut day, fan-freaking-tastic!

“Cotton-Eye Joe” came on, and the Slade twins let out loud whoops from the dance floor, getting in line to start the line dance. Cecilia, Maggie May, and Diana all got in on it. Diana pushed her glasses up her nose as they executed a turn.

They were making jokes about the Slades’ moves when Caroline turned to her and whispered in her ear. “Charlie and Alex just came in.”

Jessie’s gaze flew to the door as Caroline crossed the club. Charlie met her halfway, but Alex stayed back. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his biceps showing just how built the man actually was, and he had a baseball cap on. Jessie’s jaw almost dropped. She hadn’t known he’d owned jeans; until now, she’d only seen him in suits—at the wedding, the meeting with Charlie, and at church. His gaze found hers, like a homing beacon. How did he always know where she was? He must be dialed in to his people-I-hate-o-meter.

“Who’s that?” Allie asked, her tone too teasing for Jessie liking.

“No one.” She spun on her stool away from him, barely catching Caroline and Charlie moving to the dance floor, hand in hand, as a slow dance came on. She swigged her water, or more like gulped it. Jessie could sense Allie about to pry; instead, Allie marched off. Jessie was tempted to see what she was doing, but she couldn’t turn her stool back around. She’d look at Alex again. She just knew she would.

She had to get out of here. She swiped her glass of water from the counter and hurried for the stairs. She supposed now was a good time to see those pool tables. She’d just made the top of the stairs when footsteps sounded behind her.

She spun, and there was Alex. She took a step back as he reached the top step, but it wasn’t enough, and he came directly into her personal space. She stumbled backward, nearly falling back, until he caught her arms and balanced her.

He smirked. He did that a lot around her. “Whoa there. Careful.”

He smelled so good, like mint soap, and his hands on her arms—so big and strong—sent chills up her spine.

“You okay?” he asked, and he pulled her to the side.

Her ice water shook in her hand. She sucked in a breath and pulled out of his unnerving grasp. She hated this man. And he hated her. She shouldn’t be getting butterflies in her stomach at his nearness. “I’m fine.”

Moment of silence. “Caroline said you were here with your other sisters?”

“Yeah, Diana, Maggie May, and Cecilia.”

His eyes sparkled. “Caroline and Jessie?”

The hand she held she held her water with shook as her nerves ratcheted up.

He looked at her water. “Planning on dousing me again?” His smile grew wider.

She slammed the glass on a nearby table. No! She wasn’t playing this game with him where he baited her into an argument. “What are you doin’ here?”

His smile fell, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Caroline invited Charlie and Charlie invited me. You have a problem with that?”

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