Alphas of Red Moon Ranch Complete Series Read Online Free

and glanced around, feeling her throat tighten with nerves. What if she’d made a huge mistake? What if he didn’t show? Worse, what if he did show, took one look at her, and turned around and made a dash for his car—?
    “Holly Wright?”
    She whipped around like a startled deer and her breath caught. Oh .
    A tight grey t-shirt stretched across the muscles of his chest and red flannel hung over his broad shoulders. Faded black denim pants ran into well-worn work boots. The cherry on top, however, was the cowboy hat that rested on his head and, when he tipped it back, she could see him fully. His sun-tanned skin was framed with long salt-and-pepper hair that ran like wildfire down his jaw. His face had stayed young, sharp, but he wore his years in his eyes—dark and unending. Eyes that locked on Holly’s and made her insides flip.
    Holly couldn’t help herself—a laugh escaped her and she instantly covered her mouth with her hand. You’ve got to be kidding me . The professor and the rancher—this was a doomed pairing if she ever knew one. There was no way in hell this was going to work out.
    He blinked and—to his enormous credit—kept his composure, giving her a cool smile. “Good ride up?”
    She tried to scoop up the rattled bones of her poise and nodded, easing into a smile. “Yes. Sorry. I’m—” She extended a hand. Professional. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Bites.”
    Now he looked amused. He took her hand—his was large, rough palms—and gave it a squeeze. “Pleasure’s mine, Ms. Apples. Lemme get that.”
    He grabbed her luggage and his hand brushed hers again. She released the handle and flexed her fingers when the electricity of his touch lingered.
    “A gentleman,” she said.
    “I’ve got my moments.” But the skin around his eyes crinkled when he said it and she got the impression that there was a rogue under his gentlemanly exterior. He leaned over and pressed a small kiss to the side of her face. She felt his stubble brush her cheek and it sent shivers through her body, straight to her core. “I’m glad you made it,” he murmured into the shell of her ear. His voice was deep, strong, like a growl.
    She swallowed. Contain yourself, Holly . “Me too,” she said.

Chapter 6
    Jacob drove an old dirt-red pickup truck and Holly gripped her seat as it rattled down the road. The ride was predictably awkward, and while he seemed perfectly content to linger in silence, his fingers drumming against his thigh to the 70s rock pouring from the radio, she couldn’t help but feel like she was doing something wrong. Before she left, Alice had grabbed her shoulders, squeezed, and told her, Don’t forget, you’re the one in charge here. He’s the one who invited you up. You can leave whenever you want. Take the lead; don’t sell yourself short.
    She started running through the questions she’d written down earlier in her head. “So,” she started. “MeetYourMate. What made you chose that site?”
    “A couple reasons,” he said, his eyes glued out the window. “I don’t have time to date. I work all day and I’ve got a large family to take care of. Etna’s also a small town. And it doesn’t have what I’m looking for.”
    “Which is?”
    “A wife. A partner.”
    “They don’t have wife material here?”
    His thumb rubbed into the leather of his steering wheel. “The women here tend to be looking for something a little less…permanent.”
    “Oh,” she said. In her mind, she made a pro and cons list. Title: Man-whore. Pros : experienced, knows what he wants. Cons : careless with intimacy, awkward encounters with ex-lovers while on dates.
    He took his eyes away from the road to turn his attention on her briefly. “What about you?”
    “Me?”
    “You. What makes a beautiful woman like you turn to an online mail-order service?”
    Her cheeks colored. “Um…well. I teach, so my hours are demanding. Doesn’t give me a lot of time to date.”
    Was it too early to bring up her