took a sip and groaned. “I don’t know how you do this. It’s so much better than how I make it.”
He simply smiled, and when he took a seat this time, it was on the couch next to her. He lifted his arm, and she curled into his side, the motions so natural for both of them, Oakley felt like they’d sat together on the couch like this countless times before.
Ranger took another sip of his coffee and said, “Tell me why you came to Three Rivers.”
“Okay,” she said, drawing in a deep breath. “If you must know, it was on this dating app I was using in Florida. That’s where I lived when I trained for the racecar stuff.”
“Mm.”
“Anyway, the dating app had a Top Ten Cities to Fall in Love in Texas list, and Three Rivers was on it.”
“What number?” he asked.
“Two,” she said.
“What was number one?”
“Austin,” she said. “But I dislike Austin, so I packed up and I came north.”
Ranger leaned forward and put his mug on the coffee table in front of him. “You’ve been here a couple of years. Do you still think Three Rivers is one of the best places to fall in love?”
“Oh, it’s so overrated,” she said, her voice snappy but with an edge too. “I’ve been out with dozens of men, and I haven’t found a single one to love.”
“Maybe you haven’t been out with the right one,” he said quietly.
“Obviously.” She needed to keep this conversation light and flirty. Otherwise, she might fall too fast for him, and she knew what happened with fast falls. They hurt people. Hearts got broken and unkind words got exchanged.
After another several seconds of peaceful silence, Ranger groaned as he got to his feet. “You done?” He reached for her coffee cup, and she let him take it though she’d only had a few swallows.
“Let me get you the keys to my truck,” she said, getting up and following him into the kitchen. She pulled out a drawer and handed him a fob. “It’s easy. Push on the gas.” She grinned at him, but the spark in his eyes was borne from something besides playful banter and innocent flirting.
“Well, that’s what I’m hopin’ to do tomorrow night,” he said. “See you then.” He bent down and swept his lips across her forehead, put the truck keys in his pocket, and walked out of her house.
She stood in the kitchen for several long seconds, wondering if she ever had to wash her forehead again. She didn’t see why she should. That part of her body didn’t get very dirty….
It amazed her that she’d gone from a sobbing mess in the bathroom to having the man of her dreams—who’d already rejected her once—ask her to dinner. A squeal started in her stomach, but Oakley silenced it.
“Don’t freak out,” she said to herself. “This is the first step, and it’s going to take a lot to keep and hold the interest of a man like Ranger.” She continued to coach herself as she went down the hallway to her master suite.
“Get it together. You can do this.”
Ranger was a man among men, and Oakley knew she’d need her every wit, her every charm, and her every ounce of patience to win him over.
Oh, and the cutest dress for tomorrow night’s date with the dreamy cowboy she’d been crushing on for months now.
She faced her closet, her determination the strongest it had ever been. “The very cutest dress.”
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About Liz
Liz Isaacson is a USA Today bestselling author and a Top 20 Kindle All-Star Author. She is the author of the #1 bestselling Three Rivers Ranch Romance series, the #1 bestselling Horseshoe Home Ranch Romance series, the Brush Creek Brides series, the USA Today bestselling Steeple Ridge Romance series (Buttars Brothers novels), the Grape Seed Falls Romance series, the #1 bestselling Christmas in Coral Canyon Romance series (Whittaker Brothers and Everett Sisters novels), the Quinn Valley Ranch Romance series, the Last Chance Ranch Romance series, and the #1 bestselling Seven Sons Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series (Walker Brothers novels), the Christmas as Whiskey Mountain Lodge Romance series (Hammond Brothers novels), and the Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers Romance series (Glover Family novels).
She writes inspirational romance, usually set in Texas and Montana, or anywhere else horses and cowboys exist. She lives in Utah, where she writes full-time, walks her two dogs, and eats a lot of peanut butter M&Ms.
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THE MECHANICS OF MISTLETOE
Book One in the Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers series
by Liz Isaacson
Copyright © 2020 by Elana Johnson, writing as Liz Isaacson
Published by AEJ Creative Works
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
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