She focused on her mission to find the guy who had deserted his family, running far away. Part of her understood his escape. She’d done much the same thing, although her maternal family wasn’t looking for her.
Across the room, Warrick entered the ballroom with his wife, Bianca, on his arm. Ruby smiled. They also spent lots of time staring goofily into each other’s eyes. Only she and Vilma were still single. Ruby liked it that way. Didn’t she? Well, if the perfect guy came along, she’d give love a chance. Probably. Maybe. She didn’t hold out hope for any relationship for herself, at least nothing long term. She didn’t trust easily. It was a problem when dating.
Warrick spotted her and waved, as did Bianca. They were dressed as angry mob townsfolk complete with pitchforks and fake torches. It was amusing, since he was a dragon shifter and she was another alien from Alienn, Arkansas. Likely either species could have been chased by angry townsfolk, given the right circumstances.
Her eyes landed on the man who entered the Black and Orange Ball behind Warrick and Bianca. He was dressed like a lumberjack, complete with an impressive axe that looked as though it had been designed to lop off heads instead of branches. He stopped in the doorway and looked around as if searching for someone. He was big, blond and attractive.Veryattractive. The simple brown tunic wasn’t formfitting, but it didn’t leave his muscles to the imagination. The short sleeves exposed nicely contoured arms dusted with golden hair, while dark green pants flowed over sturdy thighs to disappear into the tops of tall black boots. Her lips parted of their own accord.
He looked in her direction and Ruby turned away. She didn’t need to get caught slack-jawed and staring at some pretty boy. She had a job to do. She forcefully stayed turned away, looking in the opposite direction because she didn’t trust herself not to gape. Time to do another sweep of the place.
Her quarry had a tattoo on his right ring finger. It was five capital letters, MCVIV. She didn’t know what it meant, nor did she care. As soon as she found him she would make a date to deliver the package with the message, get his response and collect the remainder of her triple fee. Financially, she’d be set for quite a while.
Ruby glanced over her shoulder in the direction of where the gorgeous guy had been, but he was no longer there. Good. She didn’t need to stare at him anyway. Another cursory search of the ballroom showed the gorgeous blond guy near the refreshment table talking to two older women who looked like they had taken quite an interest in him.
Was he some sort of gigolo or something? She shook her head at how easily he seemed to divert her from her work. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t interested anyway. She scanned the ballroom again, purposefully avoiding the vicinity of the refreshment table.
Then it occurred to her she’d have to find a way to walk past the blond woodsman to see his right hand and search for the lettered tattoo, just to rule him out. Her heart skipped a beat at the mere idea.
Ruby groaned and told herself again that she wasn’t interested.
I’m not interested, she lied.
Chapter Two
Max Vander—as he currently called himself—strode into the Black and Orange Ball in this strange but very fascinating town. Dressed as something called a medieval huntsman, carrying a battle-axe he’d borrowed from a new friend, Max hoped to make his outing a quick one so he could return home. The loft-like place he’d rented was smaller in square footage than even the canine kennels of his childhood home, but the ceilings were generous, the place was clean and, best of all, it suited his lifestyle reboot.
The human descriptor of being “in the doghouse” wasn’t exactly his circumstance, although it likely summed up his new life. Then again, living in a doghouse was still far and away better than merely surviving in a gulag.
He had only been in Nocturne Falls for a couple of weeks after spending nearly three months in Alienn, Arkansas, licking his wounds from what he referred to asthe incidentback home on Alpha-Prime. Moving to a planet two galaxies away had been a marvelous idea, as it allowed him a hideaway to recover, regroup and refresh.
The Earth colony turned out to be the perfect place to start his life over.
Max scanned the large, wildly decorated ballroom for his new boss Bubba Thorne so he could check in, get seen and then leave as soon as possible. Folks in ornate costumes several degrees more elaborate than those worn daily in town filled the room, dancing or chatting.
Halloween decorations spilled forth absolutely everywhere. Too bad he wasn’t in the mood for a big fun party. They reminded him of his former life, the one he’d relished, the one he’d loved—the one he’d lost, never to be recovered.
Parties were on a long personal list of things he never wanted to experience again. Not since, well,the incidentthat had reshaped his life in ways he hadn’t anticipated. Carefree partying, for example. How many parties had he been to, helped organize and enjoyed immensely beforethe incident? Too many to count.
Once gregarious and outgoing, he’d cultivated the desire to keep to himself and stay away from all people. Humans called it being a hermit. Max didn’t think there was an Alpha-Prime term to match it. Maybe outer rim dweller was close. It described folks who left polite society to live without rules or near any others.
However, hiding away on Alpha-Prime like a human hermit had been the only way he could get through each and every depressing day. Relocating to Earth was better, but hadn’t improved his mood to the cheerful level it had been before, in what he now thought of as his carefree days.
The move was precipitated by a chance meeting with an old friend. Riker Phoenix didn’t seem to hold any ill will because of what had happened. More, The Calderian even seemed happy to see him. The non-judgmental attitude was a soothing balm to his battered soul after being treated like he was an outer rim dweller come to live with polite folk. During their evening together, Riker talked quite a lot about his recent visit to the Alpha colony on Earth.
Humans didn’t know extraterrestrials existed. It seemed like the perfect environment for an Alpha in desperate need of a new life. No one on Earth would know him or about his difficult past. No one would judge him or have preconceived notions. The possibilities sounded perfect. The very next day, he started making arrangements to head for the colony in Alienn, Arkansas. His parents hadn’t bothered to hide their joy. That had been the final twist of the knife in the crushingly depressing circumstance his life had become.
Once on Earth, living below stairs at the Big Bang Truck Stop, Max saw the advertisement in the local Alienn newspaper looking for alien “psychics” to move to the unique community in Nocturne Falls, Georgia.
Max jumped at the chance for total anonymity. Alienn, Arkansas was great, but a popular destination for Alphas looking for a rustic getaway. Many people he used to know quite well visited the Earth colony. He didn’t ever want to see anyone from his past, especially not any members of his family. Then there was the fact he needed a job. Since long-term positions for Alphas like him weren’t exactly thick on the ground in Alienn, the opportunity to use his telepathy to pose as a psychic for human visitors to the quirky Georgia town seemed custom made for someone looking for a non-challenging career change.
He knew how to run meetings, as he’d been on several charity and professional boards on Alpha-Prime. He knew how to seat people at an event, large or small, to keep the peace and ensure everyone had a good time, even if frenemies attended the same affairs. He knew where to get the best food and beverages and had hosted many gatherings at his parents’ home.
Unfortunately, good party host and purveyor of high-end food and drink didn’t translate to basic skills for any of the jobs available on the colony planet.
The Nocturne Falls gig was truly his best option.
His application to relocate to Georgia was accepted with gratifying speed despite his honesty aboutthe incidentand his limited Earth job skills. Max was an official employee of Bubba’s Psychic Readings. Business was booming, so much so that Bubba and his wife operated two locations. Max worked in the main storefront.
