by V. A. Dold
“You have got to be kidding me. What am I supposed to do with an obsessed man?”
“Marry him and live happily ever after?” Kensie suggested.
Jojo jumped to her feet and threw up her hands. “No. Nope. No way.” She grabbed the wine bottle to refill her glass, but it was empty. “Hold on, I’ve got another in the kitchen.”
“Do you really think drinking more is a good idea?” Kensie asked using her most motherly tone.
“Think about what you just told me and the fact that I promised,” she emphasized the word, “that I’d apply to her program as a test subject. Yes, more wine is required.”
“With the way you feel about dating a man for more than a few weeks, I think you should tell Krystal you’ve changed your mind.”
Jojo filled her glass and set the bottle on the table. “You know there’s one absolute rule I live by and have never broken.”
Kensie sighed. “You never break a promise.”
Jojo groaned. “Exactly.” She took a sip of wine before setting her glass aside and grabbing her ice cream in one hand and her laptop in the other. “I’m sure as hell not doing this alone. Sit back and make yourself comfortable because you’re going to help me with the application.”
Before she could chicken out, Jojo entered her name and address. Suddenly it hit her… she could be matched with an extra-terrestrial! Good lord, what if Krystal actually found a match for her? Her hands shook so badly she had to stop typing to steady them.
No. No way. The idea of her soulmate being on another planet was ludicrous. Heck, the idea of her having a soulmate at all was laughable. There was no way she had an ET soulmate, and she wanted that job. Taking a cleansing breath, she forged on. The next section was all the minute details. Date of birth, check. Occupation, well, she guessed it was personal assistant now. Hobbies? Jojo tapped her nails on the edge of the keyboard. She couldn’t put cowboys in the blank.
“I can see that you’re determined to follow through with this, so I guess I have no choice but to make sure you don’t completely screw up your life. What’s the first question?”
“I’m stuck on hobbies. Do I have any?” Jojo asked in all seriousness.
“Yeah, cowboys, but you can’t say that.”
“I already figured that out. What else? I have to have at least one hobby, for God sake.”
“Well…” Kensie scrunched up her face, a sure sign she was thinking hard. “You like to ride horses, and of course, dancing. Oh! You enjoy baking. You’re always underfoot when someone is baking.”
Jojo snorted as she entered horseback riding and dancing. “I’m underfoot because I want to lick the beaters and get my hands on the cookies fresh from the oven.”
“That’s true. What’s the next question?”
Jojo scanned the form. “This is more about gathering information. On the other dating sites I’ve seen, they have more of a questionnaire. You know, things like what are you looking for in a man and what special qualities you have to attract that perfect man.” She scrolled to the bottom and onto page two. “A lot of questions. She even wants to know family history, work history, and a criminal record, if any. Wow! There’s even a background check authorization.”
Kensie nodded. “I can see that. She’s pairing up complete strangers. If she puts a wife murderer with an unsuspecting woman… Well, you see what I mean.”
Jojo’s head shot up. “You don’t think the ETs are murderers, do you?”
“Honey, they don’t even eat meat because it has a face. Do you really think they would kill someone?”
She scooped up some ice cream and considered that for a minute. “I don’t want a dangerous criminal, but I also don’t want a wimp.”
Kensie fanned her face dramatically. “I’ve seen pictures of some of the guys, and they are anything but wimps.”
Jojo saved and exited out of the form. Then she went back to the home page of the site. She turned her laptop so her sister could see the screen. “These guys are extra-terrestrials?”
Kensie waved her hand at the screen. “Yeah, that’s them. Krystal took aura photos of them too. I’d never seen an aura photo before, they’re really cool. Her special camera captures beautiful colors all around your body. And to think we all have these colors around us all the time.”
Jojo switched back to the application and scowled at her laptop. “Krystal told me about the auras. She even described mine.”
“Cool, I’ll have to ask her what mine looks like. She can talk to spirit guides, too. That’s how she matches people up.”
Jojo continued to type. “I think she mentioned that, but honestly, everything she said was a blur after she mentioned ETs.”
“That’s understandable. Anyway, she can talk to spirit guides. How do you think she knew to match up Carol and Joe?”
That caught her attention. “I didn’t know she matched them up. I just thought they met here on the ranch, and things took their natural course.”
“Pff, not hardly. Carol and Joe fought their attraction in the beginning. Krystal and the spirit guides helped them along.”
Jojo frowned. “You keep mentioning these guides. What are they, exactly?”
“We all have spirit guides or what people call a guardian angel. You know those little ideas you get out of nowhere?”
“Yeah,” Jojo asked skeptically.
Kensie winked at her. “Spirit guides whispering in your mind. Those ideas aren’t yours at all.” She grinned and popped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
Jojo scowled again, she didn’t believe a word of that malarkey. Woo woo, spiritual stuff was all make-believe and wishful thinking. Jojo went back to typing. One page done and one to go. “Whatever. Krystal can try to match me to one of her extra-terrestrials, but it isn’t going to work. I came to the conclusion long ago that there isn’t a man out there for me. I’m doomed to grow old with a house full of cats.”
Grinning, Kensie reached for her glass. “I can’t believe you’re going to do this. And you won’t grow old with cats. You hate cats.”
She shrugged and kept typing. “It was an easy yes when Krystal offered me the job in exchange for being her test subject.”
Kensie waved her spoon at Jojo. “If you want to be an administrative assistant, be mine.” She paused to take another spoonful. “I won’t even make you claim a man to get the job.”
“We’ve already tried working together. That didn’t end well. No, I made a promise, and I have to keep it.” Jojo clicked the next button for page two and started reading the questions. “This part seems to be all about what I want in the future. Take this question, for instance. How many children would you like to have? In the background section of the first page, she asked if I already had children, and now she wants to know if I plan to have more. That’s an easy no. I have no intention of raising a child alone, and as I stated before, my soulmate doesn’t exist. And this cowgirl would never settle for second best.”
“If you’re going to do this, let’s get it done. I told Lucas I wouldn’t be gone long.”
Jojo rolled her eyes. “The two of you make me gag.”
“Pff, you’re just jealous.”
Jojo paused with her finger just short of the number keys when Kensie touched her arm.
“Hang on a minute. I have one question for you, and I want you to answer honestly. If you met a man who loved you with his entire being and you loved him the way I love Lucas, would you want to have children?”
Jojo pulled her finger back and frowned. “The question isn’t worded like that. Krystal didn’t include any qualifications, she just asked if I want kids.”
Kensie grabbed her phone. “Maybe we should mention that to her. Hold on.”
“Hello?”
“Hi, Krystal. I’m helping Jojo fill out your admission form, and we have a question.”
“Oh, okay. What did you want to know?”
“On the second page, you ask
the applicant if they want children. Jojo isn’t sure how to answer. She said it would depend on who the father was. She’s convinced her soulmate doesn’t exist and wants to answer no. But if she found that one in a million man, she’d want children. See what I mean?”
“Yes, I do. Thanks for pointing that out. If you feel that any other questions need to be adjusted, let me know, I’ll have Quin make all of the changes. For now, answer it as if she found the love of her life. I wouldn’t introduce her to anything less.”
Kensie chuckled. “I never thought you would. I’ll let Jojo know. Thanks, Krystal.”
Jojo reached for the number keys again. “So, what did she say?”
Kensie tossed her phone onto the couch cushion. “Assume you’ve married your perfect man. How many kids would you want?”
She took a moment to imagine being a mother, something she’d never thought about before. “Two, I suppose.”
Kensie waved at the laptop. “Then enter that.”
She filled in the blank and read the next question, then suddenly sat back like the keys burned her fingers.
Kensie sat forward and craned her neck, trying to see the computer screen. “What’s wrong?”
“No way. There’s no way I’m going to live on another planet.”
“What! Krystal wants the humans to leave Earth?”
“Maybe. She asks if I’d be willing to move to another planet.” Jojo crossed her arms. “I’m not leaving. No way, no how.”
“Calm down. I’m sure Krystal wouldn’t force you to leave. What does the question actually say? Read it to me.”
“If you are successfully matched to a non-terrestrial, would you be willing to relocate to their planet?”
Kensie sighed. “Did you listen to yourself? Krystal is asking if you would be willing to relocate. She isn’t saying you have to agree to it.”
Jojo nibbled her bottom lip. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Write no, and move onto the next question.”
“That was the last question. The rest of the application seems to be a non-disclosure agreement.”
Kensie held her empty glass out for a refill. “Excellent. You’re done. Now we can have a little sister time.”
“Well... almost.” Her finger hovered over the large blue button printed with the words SUBMIT APPLICATION. She couldn’t breathe, and her heart raced in her chest.
“Jojo,” Kensie said gently, “you don’t have to do this.”
“I made a promise, and I have to keep it. Besides, it’s not like anything will come of my application.” Saying that aloud caused a sense of confidence to wash over her. She was safe, and the application was simply that, a form she filled out to gain the job she wanted. She pressed the submit button and sat back.
Kensie grinned with a teasing gleam in her eye. “Any matches yet?”
Jojo cringed dramatically, though she was smiling a little. “Of course not. Krystal wasted her time when she asked me to test her program. She would have been better off using a woman who wants Romeo to show up at her door.”
Kensie brows rose. “Thou doth protest too much. You already admitted that if Mr. Perfect showed up, you’d be interested in having his babies.”
Jojo was about to relieve her sister of her misconceptions when her laptop shouted in an annoying imitation of a valley girl, “Hello... Like, you have a message. Like, read it? Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it.” She leapt for her computer, determined to make it stop.
Kensie scowled at the offending electronic. “When are you going to change that?”
Jojo smashed the enter key to open her message center. “I’ve tried. Lucas and Quin did something to it when they installed the notification.”
“So, ask him to change it back.”
“I did, he said that I earned at least a month of misery for supergluing his boots to the floor…” Jojo’s voice failed her as she read the notification.
“What? What’s wrong?” Kensie asked, concern lacing her tone.
Unable to speak, Jojo turned her laptop so Kensie could see the screen. Fireworks were exploding behind five heart-stopping words. Congratulations! You have a match.
“He doesn’t have scales or horns or anything, does he?”
When she was unable to speak, her sister reached for the computer.
“There’s a link to his photo. Let’s have a look at Mr. Perfect.”
When Kensie stopped speaking, Jojo glanced at her face. Oh God, it had to be really bad for her unshakable sister to gape at the screen. “What… what’s wrong with him?”
“How closely did you look at the picture of the three guys on the home screen?”
Jojo rolled her eyes. “Close enough to know it was photoshopped.”
Kensie slowly shook her head. “It wasn’t photoshopped. The middle guy is your match.”
Jojo started laughing. “Thank God. For a second there, I thought it was real. This is obviously part of Krystal’s test of the system.”
“Hello… Like, you have a message. Like, read it? Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it.”
Kensie smacked the enter key. Blissful silence. Then her sister made a strangling sound she’d never heard before.
“What’s wrong?” Jojo panicked and scrambled for her phone. “I’m calling Lucas.”
Kensie cleared her throat and stopped Jojo from placing the call. “I’m fine. I just wasn’t prepared for the shock of seeing a message from another planet.”
SERIES
A.D.A.M. Series
Book 1 First KISS
Book 2 Krystal
Le Beau Series
Book 1 CADE
Book 2 SIMON
Book 3 SIMON & ROSE
Book 4 STEFAN
Book 5 THOMAS
Book 6 CADE & ANNA
Book 7 LUCAS
Book 8 RICHIE
Book 9 SETH
Book 10 MARCUS
League of Guardians Series
Book 1 Dangerous Destiny
Book 2 Etienne
Book 3 Fangs & Felons
FIRST KISS
What do you do when your past comes creeping back?
Now that Carol Duffy has washed her cheating ex-fiancé out of her hair, she is facing the next chapter in her life. Now if she could just get her dog back.
Moving from the only home she’s ever known is terrifying enough. It’s a good thing she didn’t know how deadly it would be or she would never have gotten into her car.
Widower, Joe Christian has spent the last ten years raising his children as best he could and managing the Rocking Double L Ranch. Relationships and romance are off his menu.
It’s just another day on the Le Beau ranch with a heady combination of romance that will not be denied.
Krystal’s Intuitive Soulmate Service.
Where Krystal and your spirit guide will match you with your soulmate.
KRYSTAL
Krystal Le Beau’s true mate just showed up at the ranch on professional business. Sheriff business, to be exact. Not only is he a bossy cop, he’s also a cat. As a wolf shifter, what’s she supposed to do with a feline mate? Don’t even get her started on how her mother will react.
At Luperca’s suggestion, Doug Dansby came to Earth to find his lost companion. The one female who matches his soul and will complete him. It has taken five long years of living on a strange planet and acclimating to the culture, but he has finally found her. And no one, not even her mother, will take her away from him.
As if mating issues aren’t enough, Luperca wants Krystal to use her abilities to see auras and speak with spirit guides to find soulmates for the other men of the Sirius and Pleiades star systems. It’s a daunting task, but with a lot of help, she’ll figure out how to make it work. Now she needs a way for the off-world visitors to come and go from Earth, as well as someone to test her system before she offers it to the world.
Krystal’s biggest secret is ab
out to become public knowledge. She’s a psychic matchmaker of the most unusual kind. She is matching off-world men to Earth women. That’s right, extraterrestrials are coming to claim Earth women. Ugh, that sounds like the title of a bad B movie.
CADE
Plus-sized Anna James is finally free of her good for nothing, cheating husband. She’s in no hurry to trust another man anytime soon. Well, except for the hottie who stars nightly as the romantic hero in her dreams. It’s a darn shame he isn’t real.
Cade Le Beau is a billionaire with a furry secret. But even billions can’t buy happiness. He blew his chance to meet the woman of his dreams six months ago. Dreaming is a fine way to pass the time, but he wants the flesh and blood female.
When a second opportunity presents itself, it comes with baggage. Anna’s past has come for a visit, and she’s been taken. Racing against the clock, Cade has forty-eight hours to deal with the threat and claim what’s his.
SIMON
Desperate to find his mate, Simon Le Beau joined the Marines. No matter how badly he wanted his destined female, she wasn’t going to walk up and knock on his door. Maybe a bit of travel while serving his country would bring him a little luck in love.
Four years later, he returns home from deployment, stuck in wolf form. Little did he know, his mate would, in fact, show up at his family’s plantation. If only he had opposable thumbs.
Rose O’Leary is a beautiful, voluptuous woman. Raised in foster homes, she fears abandonment and avoids men. Relationships bring nothing but pain.
As if they didn’t have enough problems, a secret organization is out to destroy the Le Beau family. What better way to cripple the royal family than to steal their females? And the one they hired wants Rose for himself.
Mark Anderson’s Story
Simon Le Beau desperately wants two things: to help his fellow service veterans and have a baby with his beloved mate, Rose. He has no idea how to start a charity, but his friend, Mark, is just the man to help him figure it out.
