Christmas at Blue Moon Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page A

though,
he was right behind her when she opened her truck door. He put a hand on her
arm as she started to climb in.
    “Willa? What’s
going on?”
    She threw her
purse into the passenger seat and jerked around to face him. “What’s going on
is that I’ve made two horrible mistakes in the past twenty-four hours. I’m
furious with myself and—”
    “With me,” he
said, interrupting.
    “Yes.” She shook
off his touch. “I should never have put that land up for sale, and I shouldn’t
have let you talk me into this crazy arrangement we’ve got set up now. All that
was bad enough.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her voice. “But to
know that I let myself get drunk enough to…to—” The words stayed stuck in her
throat. How could she have been so careless, so disrespectful of herself?
    Daniel didn’t
have the same scruples. “Sleep with me?”
    Willa clenched
her hands into fists. “Stop that! I don’t want you reading my mind and
finishing my thoughts.”
    Daniel raised
his hand and stepped backward, out of her reach. “Yes, ma’am.” His gaze had
gone cold, and his mouth was a hard, straight line. “I will be following you as
you drive home, however, because I have a contract that allows me access to the
thousand acres of land I’m calling the New Moon Ranch. You should expect to see
me from time to time, since the road to my place goes by the main house of the
Blue Moon. I’ll try not to inconvenience you as I get settled.”
    He pivoted on
his good leg and moved away with that awkward limp, climbed into his
rain-spattered truck and let the engine idle, waiting for Willa to lead the
way.
    Swearing under
her breath, she started her own vehicle and left the parking lot. All through
the hour-long drive home, she was aware of him behind her, his face grim
through the windshield. He wore mirrored sunglasses, but she could imagine the
blue gaze behind them. She’d read the hurt there before anger had replaced it.
    Last night,
she’d urged him to stay and make love with her, accepting him despite his
terrible scars. This morning, she’d rejected every moment they’d spent
together. That made three terrible mistakes she had committed in the
past twenty-four hours. Willa couldn’t believe how badly she’d behaved. No
doubt about it, Daniel Trent brought out the worst in her. Yet another reason
to avoid him.
    With every mile
that passed, the screw of nerves inside her twisted tighter. By the time she
reached the familiar gateway—an iron arch spelling out El Rancho Luna Azul, with a crescent moon on each end—Willa was a wreck. Abruptly, she steered her
truck to the side of the road just inside the entrance and cut the engine. Daniel
stopped behind her, but she reached his window before he could open his door,
so he rolled down the glass.
    “Something else
wrong?” he asked in a cold voice.
    “Stay away from
me,” she told him. “If you need help, I’ll send one of my workmen to do what he
can. But leave me alone.”
    Daniel took off
his sunglasses, and she was surprised to see the laughter in his eyes. “You’re
running scared, aren’t you, Willa? Afraid of what you felt last night?”
    Her cheeks
heated up at the memory. “I don’t sleep around.”
    “I didn’t think
you did. And I don’t intend to pressure you for something you won’t give
freely.” He slipped the shades back onto his face. “But I do intend to make the
New Moon Ranch my home. You’d better figure out how to tolerate my presence.”
    The truck engine
roared, and Daniel gave her a grin. “’Cause come Christmas Day, I’ll be a
permanent fixture in your life. And it’s gonna be a long fifty years if we
can’t even say good morning without getting into an argument!”
    Then, without
warning, he backed into a cloud of dust, turned sharply and headed up the road,
leaving Willa behind.

Chapter Three
    A mile inside
the Blue Moon gate, Daniel came over a rise and saw the Mercado ranch house
sitting off to