Page 1 of Bride for the Space Cowboy

Chapter One

NADINE

“Come in,” I say when I hear the knock on my door.

I live in a tiny apartment. Really tiny. It’s all I could afford after I finally scraped up the nerve to leave my abusive boyfriend. He’s rich, and he lives in the green zone. I don’t care that he won’t help me. This one-room apartment is a breath of fresh air compared to my life with him.

Maybe I have a shitty job and live in a cramped apartment, but I’ve never felt more free in my life. There’s just that forever anxiety prickling down my spine that he’s going to come back.

I open the door, and a sense of panic claws around my throat. I stare at him. “What are you doing here, Chad?”

My ex, who, objectively speaking, is handsome, narrows his eyes. “I thought you would come to your senses a little sooner,” he says, brushing past me as he strides into my apartment.

He looks around the room with a sneer. It might be small, but it’s cute. I have my own phone for the first time since I met him. Life on Earth may be a hot hellscape, but we still have technology. That’s something.

I have a shelf on the wall where I keep my clothes. I’m standing in front of it beside the door. He moves so fast that I’m not prepared. He shoves me against the shelf, and the squaremetal edge digs in a line against my back. My breath is knocked out of my lungs for a moment.

I keep my wits and kick him in the balls as hard as I can. “Get out of here!”

Chad’s groaning on the floor. I step around him, my pulse thundering through my body as panic and fear give me an unexpected surge of strength. I swing the door open and shove him out onto the dusty ground.

I grab my purse, relieved I already have my phone tucked into it. Racing through the door, I step around him and walk quickly away. I don’t even feel the slightest twinge of guilt.

I’m so tired of Chad and his family. At this point, I’ll hide from them if I have to. As I walk down the sidewalk with the sand blowing around me, my eyes land on a little flyer sharing an announcement about an opportunity for women to move to a new planet. I don’t hesitate and start walking to the address listed. I have less than nothing to lose.

When I see the line gathered outside the office building, I pause and glance around. Aside from showing up for work and trying not to bake in the boiling-hot sun, there aren’t many crowds on Earth. Not these days.

I hesitate before I see the sign.Princess Jane invites you to Aphroditea. Let’s face it, life is hell on earth these days if you’re a woman. Come join us on a new planet. We need women. Bonus: women are revered on our planet. Hop in line, and you can learn all about it.

I have zero reasons not to take this chance. I stand in the line, fidgeting with my purse strap and wondering if anyone will care that I have a black eye.

Murmurs spread among the waiting women, wondering if this Princess Jane is some kind of joke. Although, if you read our news online and in the old magazines that we occasionally find, there’s tons of news about royalty on Earth.

It’s not all sturm and drang here. We have a lively world on our internet, which somehow runs despite the scarce power. What little power there is generates from the green zone.

Eventually, I make it inside the building. I’m interviewed by the alleged Princess Jane herself. She even has a name tag that says so.

Jane runs through an explanation, sharing that Aphroditea has had humans living there for centuries. Apparently, cowboys from back in the day from both the United States and France traveled there. They even have creatures similar to horses. “I know it sounds wild,” she adds with a smile. “They have mated with humans for centuries, like many other planets.”

“Except Earth,” I offer dryly. “Because we’re dumbasses, and we’ve been busy destroying our own planet.”

Jane rolls her eyes as she nods.

“So why do they need women there?” I ask.

“They host an annual festival to honor women. Two years ago, a storm struck the area during the festival, and many women died.”

“Are the men human?”

“There are some human men there, but those that have descended from the space cowboys?—”

“Are they really space cowboys?” I prompt with a sly grin. I like Jane enough to feel comfortable cracking a joke.

Jane flushes as she smiles. “Yes, they are. They are human-like but not entirely human,” she explains. “Since they’ve mated with humans for years, we are very similar. Their skin is more bronze, and some of them have tails, but not all of them. I’ll be honest, though, the tails are sexy,” she says with an enthusiastic nod.

Jane seems familiar to me, but I can’t place why. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her before. When she’s finished explaining thiswhole, honestly, wild situation, I say, “You seem familiar to me. Do I know you?”

She shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’ve only been away from Earth for a little while. About a month ago, I saw the online ad for a princess. I was tipsy when I was reading it and applied.” She pauses, her eyes going wide. “Now, I’m actually a princess there.”

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