Well? This place isn’t too bad. Jessie smiled as she walked into Glen Valley’s dance hall. The bar was busy serving the locals, and there was a sign near the front door saying it was buy one, get one half price on Hund Light beer tonight. The music was pop, country, country rock, and anything else that provided the right sort of beat for line dancing. I’m glad I decided to cowgirl my ass up, because otherwise I would have stood out like a sore thumb in here. Nearly everyone wore stetson hats, denim, and heeled boots. It’s a regular hoe-down in here. Jessie giggled to herself and smirked at the looks she received on her way over to the bar side. Her version of dressing like a cowgirl was probably on the riskier side, but that was her style. She wore a black long sleeved shirt with the top few buttons undone and the rest tied into a bow beneath her bust to expose her midriff. Her shorts were dark denim blue, her black leather belt was plain, and her fishnet tights beneath them were, in her opinion, ‘fun’. Her cowgirl boots were black with pink roses stitched into the sides, and matched her stetson. Jessie bought the hat and boots together in one of the quaint boutiques she browsed that morning. Her curly blonde and pink hair framed her face beneath the hat, and she was delighted to see her left boot had an inside sleeve for a card, money and ID to slip into. A good job, as none of my handbags or clutch purses match this esthetic. 

Jessie tapped the bar side with two fingers and nodded to the bartender to get her attention. Then she waited until it was her turn, her right forearm leaning on the counter as she scanned the dance hall. So this town in the middle of nowhere go gaga for line dancing huh? Subconsciously, she started to sway her shoulders and hips to the feisty beat and smiled at everyone having fun on the dance floor. I wonder if Emma knows how to line dance? Did her new sugar daddy teach her how to boogie like a local? 

“Hello stranger.” Jessie smiled and returned her green eyes to look at the bar tender. She spotted a name tag attached to the black t-shirt she wore, and it said Ruby. “Welcome to Glen Valley, and the dance hall on the busiest night of the week.” Ruby laughed and her smile was infectious. “What can I get you?”

“Gossip, and a beer.” Jessie winked and reached down into her left boot to pull out both her ID, and enough cash for a drink. 

“Well, I know I can help with one of those.” Ruby chuckled, sensing this woman was all sorts of mischievous. “Hund light is on offer tonight. You’ll get the second one half price?”

“Then I’ll take two beers, and twice the gossip, please.” Jessie offered the bills to Ruby. 

“Well, first, here’s your beer, miss.” 

“Jessie.” She clicked her tongue to her teeth and finger gunned Ruby, leaning hard into the cowgirl theme of the night. “Thank you.” She turned to brace both her forearms on the bar side, her bottom sticking out ever so, and she tapped the heel of her right boot to the beat. “Now for the gossip, my good woman. Are you a local?” 

“I am.” Ruby glanced around, and knew the dance hall full of werewolves was likely listening in to this conversation with the outsider. Those close enough to listen in, that is. Frankie was further up the bar. He was carrying a polite conversation with Ben Walker and Joanna. They finally felt comfortable enough to have a night out with the pack without being shunned, and Frankie was enjoying Ben’s company and talk of fishing. “I’m a resident now, anyway.”

“Oh? So not a Glen Valley lifer?”

“No. I moved here a couple of months back. You?” 

“A couple of days.” Jessie chuckled and toasted Ruby with one of her beers. She took a sip and licked her lips. She nodded at the bottle. This isn’t half bad, and I’m not normally a beer drinker. Fresh and light. Nice. “I met a very interesting guy today.” Absolutely hot as fuck. “He’s tall, African American, has dark brown eyes, long thin dreadlocks, and he’s a snappy dresser?” He also gave me total Dom-Daddy energy that made me want to drop to my knees, open my mouth, and let him use me on command. “And I’m hoping you might know him? I think his name was Dorian something.” But I’ll call him Daddy, Master, or Sir. Whatever the fuck he wants, as long as he’s inside me at the time. 

“Oh.” Ruby twisted the cloth in her hands and darted her eyes briefly from the fiery green stare of the human before her, to the furthest seat on the bar side. There in his usual seat and close to the side exit fire escape door, was Dorian Defoe. There was a void of three seats to his right due to his dire wolf pheromones. The man himself turned his head at the sound of his name and lifted his glass to sip his whisky. Dorian raised a brow at Ruby, catching her gaze, and waiting to see what Frankie’s mate would say about him. 

“A hah.” Jessie pointed at Ruby’s face, regaining her attention. “You know who I’m talking about. Fantastic.” Jessie drummed her fingers on the bar side counter and her grin was borderline unhinged. “Give me the deets.” Ruby couldn’t resist the chuckle that bubbled in her throat. That’s exactly how Nella would have asked her for information. “Is he married?”

“No.” 

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t think so.” 

“Is he gay?”

“Huh?”

“I can work with Bi, of course, but I’d rather not bark up the wrong tree, and a man that fine could pull whoever and whatever he wants, you know?”

“Erm…” Ruby’s cheeks were pink and she glanced down the bar. Frankie gave her a sympathetic look, knowing how uncomfortable she was with this line of questioning. Especially as she could hear the various snickering of her packmates who also heard this conversation. Dorian turned more in his seat to also look down the bar at the mouthy blonde, but he didn’t lean over enough to draw Jessie’s attention. Not yet. “I don’t know about that, but erm, I don’t think he has a partner…?” She heard more sniggering, and Ruby almost turned her head to growl at Matthew Stevens. He worked here, and his parents were friends of Frankie’s and Ruby’s, so she’d kick his ass later. 

“Excellent.” Jessie mentally cackled to herself pushed off the bar to stand with a bounce on her heels. “I don’t suppose you know him well enough to give me any tips?”

“Tips…to do what?”

“Bang him, of course.” 

Dorian’s eyes widened, several patrons along the bar nearly spat out their drinks, and poor Ben Walker cupped his mouth to hide that he had spat out some of his drink. 

“B…bang?” Ruby blushed so badly, knowing this conversation wasn’t private, she was sure she’d start sweating from the heat soon. 

“Yeah.” Jessie had no shame and no filter. “Mount and ride like a wild stallion.” Ruby’s mouth opened. “Take the bull by the horns and play his body like I’m a buckaroo champion.” Her hands came up to mime holding onto a pair of horns. “Practice for the horizontal tango world championships, and be under the covers for so long, search and rescue teams will have to come looking for-”

“JESSICA GARLAND!”