Swipe Right for Love

By DJ Bryce

Katja is lost. After finally dumping her douche of an ex, she thought she had things figured out. A job as a nanny, which offered room, board and stability. But, when she loses that, Katja realizes she's left with nothing.

When she comes across a mating app, Katja hopes she's found a way to dust herself off and start anew. She's not looking for love, just companionship and a place to call home.

Bane lost his mate five years ago and has since lived his life for his daughter, Sloane. Now that she'd getting older, he's realized that Sloane needs more than he can offer, so he allows his friends to talk him into joining the mating app that changed their lives. The only stipulation, is that the women he meets have to pass his tests before they can meet his daughter, and need to know they have no hope of winning his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany Lopez
• Release date: Mar 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463828182

DJ Bryce

Author DJ Bryce loves her men tall, dark, and Alpha. She can often be found relaxing with a cup of coffee, a handful of RedVines, and a good book, with her two dogs snoozing happily at her feet.She's a lover of The Walking Dead, Romantic Comedies, and writing sexy shifters.DJ Bryce is a pen name for USA Today Bestselling author, Bethany Lopez.

Book preview

One

Katja

I slowed down to a jog and took the time to enjoy my surroundings.

It was a beautiful spring day on the Florida coast. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and I was absolutely miserable.

I kicked up the pace, focused on what was in front of me and tried to drown out the negativity in my head.

It was seeing my ex that put me in this mood.

The pretty boy asshole I’d dated all through high school and college. The man who loved to put me down, tell me how fat I was, and taunt me with food. Eventually I’d grown up, gained a little self-confidence, and kicked his ass to the curb, but unfortunately years of verbal abuse tended to stick with you.

I guess I could thank him for my new, lean and toned body. After all, it was because of him that my workout obsession began.

Now, it seemed like working out was the only thing I had going for me.

I’d recently lost my nanny job when my charge’s father got a work transfer and they’d moved away. My roommate got engaged to her longtime boyfriend and was moving in with him at the end of the week. And, now… my ex was back in town.

The hits just kept coming.

It had been these series of unfortunate events that instigated my doing something completely out of character...

After I’d seen my ex last week when I was going to pick up takeout, I’d come across an ad for a dating app that I’d never heard about before. Being in a vulnerable state, I’d decided to check it out.

I’d made a profile and started talking to a couple guys online. It wasn’t that I was looking for love, or even a date, it was more like I was looking for a change… a drastic change, and I was willing to try anything in order to get my life on an upward swing.

The Paranormal Mating App was actually an app for paranormal beings who were looking for mates.

Now, I know, when you hear mate, you think of fate, predestined love, and things of that nature, but this app was actually for people looking for a myriad of things. I’d met one guy who wanted to find his mate to get his mom off his back. Another was looking for someone to help him with his farm because he was falling behind. While another was looking for someone to grow old with because he was tired of being alone.

Sure, there were still some looking for love and happily ever after, but if I saw that in a profile, I kept going.

The other cool thing was that you weren’t expected to say yes and boom, you had your mate. They actually had the option to hold a trial period, which gave you and your prospective mate the chance to get to know each other before you made a lifelong commitment.

Make no mistake, that part of mating was still the same… the lifetime commitment. Once you agreed to mate with the other person, and had the claiming ceremony, there was no turning back.

The only way you were getting out of it was death, so you’d better be damn sure you picked the right person.

That’s why I had mandatory trial period listed on my profile. No way I wanted to get saddled with an asshole for the rest of my life. I’d already seen what living with one looked like, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty.

I used my last burst of speed when my apartments came into view, then walked down the block and back to cool off.

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes.

Unbidden, the memory of my ex sitting next to a woman at the restaurant assaulted the back of my eyelids.

She was a mirror image of who I used to be. Blonde hair, medium height, and about fifty pounds overweight.

I’d wanted to tell her to run for the hills, to warn her of what he was like, how he’d treat her, the things he’d say… instead, I’d stood there frozen for a good ten seconds, before I turned tail and run like a coward.

By the time I’d gotten home I’d been sweaty, wide-eyed and shaking. Luckily, my roommate hadn’t been home to see me walk in and go straight for the liquor cabinet. I’d taken the bottle of tequila to my room and hadn’t come out until the next day.

I let out a deep breath and stretched my arm across my chest.

I looked around my neighborhood and wondered if I’d miss it. I was only going to be gone a couple weeks, unless the trial went well, of course, then I’d move to Indiana permanently.

I’d never been to the Midwest and was interested to see what it was like. Plus, the man I’d met on the app, Bane, was a single dad. That was a big part of the reason I’d said yes to his trial. I missed the kid I’d been a nanny for, and often thought I was better with kids than with adults. Plus, he’d insisted on a trial period as well, and was not the type who was looking for the love of his life.

All of these were pluses in my book.

The first week it would just be me and Bane. We’d have a trial period with the two of us, making sure we got along and laying out what we both expected for our futures. If we decided we liked each other and wanted to move forward, then, and only then, would I get to meet his daughter, Sloane. The second week would be a trial with the three of us to see if we were all a good fit.

I really liked this about Bane. The fact that he wasn’t introducing every person who answered his ad to his daughter and had added that extra measure to ensure she wasn’t subjected to someone who wasn’t going to stick.

Other than that, I didn’t really know much about him.

He was attractive, unless he used someone else’s photo on his profile, worked for Yonaweti Camping and Fishing, which was a major sporting goods chain, as some sort of travel guide, and he was a shifter.

Wolf to be exact.

I’d never actually spoken with a shifter in person, although I had made out with a witch one night when I was really drunk.

I was excited at the prospect of meeting Bane and Sloane and seeing Indiana, but mostly I was just happy to get far, far away from here.

Two

Bane

"Sloane, baby, are you ready? We’ve got to get going… I’d like to get to Uncle Gray’s before nightfall," I called out.

Ready, Daddy, my little angel replied as she came out of her room juggling three dolls and a baby bed.

I chuckled and went to help her.

You’re taking all of these with you? I asked. You’ll only be gone a week.

They’ll miss me, Daddy, she told me, looking up at me with her big eyes. I gotta kiss them goodnight before bed. I have to take them.

I nodded, because, honestly, she could ask me to pack up her whole bedroom and take it to my brother Grayson’s house, and I would. I’d do anything in the world for her. My mate, Sarah, had died in childbirth, so it had always been just Sloane and me.

She was my everything.

Okay, baby girl, let me get a duffel bag to put your dolls and their bed in, okay, then we’ve gotta go.

Sloane waited patiently while I went to get the bag and placed her dolls lovingly inside of it. Then I grabbed her overnight bag, pillow, favorite blanket, and grocery bag full of toiletries and Sloane’s favorite foods.

My brother, Gray, was a bit of a recluse.

He was a great brother and even better uncle, but he was used to living alone on his land and tended to be a solitary man. His love for Sloane was greater than his need to be alone, and although he hated to come in to town and be around the pack, he enjoyed it when we went to visit him.

When I’d asked him to watch her for a week while I held a trial period to try and find a new mate, he’d happily agreed. Sloane was excited to spend time with her Uncle, she loved going to his farm, but I knew he wouldn’t have things like cereal, fruit snacks, or applesauce, so I was always sure to bring those items from home.

Ready? I asked her once the jeep was loaded.

Sloane nodded and reached out her arms so I could lift her up into the car seat.

As I drove the hour to my brother’s place I thought of what I knew about Katja, the woman who was arriving tomorrow to begin the trial period.

She was a couple years younger than me at twenty-seven. She’d been a nanny and said she loved kids, which was the biggest draw for me.