Free ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) by Elisa Elliot

have to go back to the drawing board and try again.
    She sat on the front steps, dressed in a simple black pencil skirt and a white blouse, with her lips painted red to match her fingernails. She had made sure to curl her hair, and had even put it up with a white headband to better show off her face.
    Jake had asked if she wanted him there for the initial meeting, but Sasha knew that’d he’d only try to play peacekeeper. She needed to do this on her own; no peacekeeping, no easing the waters, she’d be blunt, and she’d be honest. If he couldn’t handle that, that wasn’t her problem.
    She heard the car’s wheels on gravel before she saw the car. In a few seconds a black Mercedes was rolling up to the front of the house. So the pack they were dealing with was a wealthy one, no wonder Jake felt he could spend freely; he hoped to be getting a return on his investment.
    Finally the car came to a stop and a tall man stepped out. The sun was glaring off of the top of the door, obscuring his face. Carefully, she removed her sunglasses, standing up, brushing off the nonexistent dirt on her skirt and waiting for the man, whose name she still was not aware of, to come and introduce himself to her.
    He shut the door, giving her a clear view of his face, and, she had to admit, it wasn’t a bad sight to see. He had a strong, chiseled face, a strong but neatly trimmed beard, and vivid blue eyes. He wore a simple red shirt and a leather jacket that she thought belonged in some 80s movie, and dark-wash jeans. He wore converse, an odd choice for footwear but it was better than the cowboy boots she had half expected to see.
    He walked up to her, stony faced but eyes giving off a note of welcome. Finally, he came to a stop a few feet in front of her, offering a small smile in way of easing the slight tension that was already filling the air.
    “Hi, I’m Chris. I guess you’re my new mate.”
    Sasha raised an eyebrow; he had a hint of a British accent. Interesting. “Potential mate,” she corrected, extending a hand out for him to shake.
    He smirked, taking it in his own and, instead of shaking it, placing a soft kiss on the back of it.
    “Alright, potential mate then. I was under the impression that you didn’t quite have a choice.”
    She scoffed, “You don’t know me yet, but I don’t take orders very well.”
    Chris nodded, “Well, I don’t give orders lightly, but I like them to be followed.”
    “Well, then I guess these next two weeks are going to rub you the wrong way. Because, last I checked you don’t have the authority of an Alpha, and even if you were my mate, you can only strongly suggest, never force. So, let’s get one thing straight,” she said, poking him in the chest firmly but not enough to hurt, “you can give all the orders you’d like, but I will decide if I think they merit following. Now, shall we get going?”
    Sasha didn’t wait for a response, heading to the car, her heels clicking softly against the paved gravel.
    “Are you at least going to tell me your name?” Chris called out behind her.
    “Sasha,” she said back, “remember it because I’m not going to tell you again.”

-x-x-x-
    The car ride to the bed and breakfast was interesting to say the least. Chris wasn’t a bad driver per se, but he was an erratic one. He tended to take turns too fast and he liked testing the edges of the speed limit much too often.
    “You know, you are allowed to go under the speed limit,” Sasha quipped, manicured nails tapping nervously against the dashboard.
    “Yes, but then where would the fun in that be?” Chris smiled.
    “The fun, would be taking a leisurely, non-nauseating ride.”
    “I’ll say again, no fun in that.”
    Sasha growled low, something that Chris refused to admit sent a bit of a shiver down his spine.
    “How much longer before we get there then?”
    Chris shrugged, attempting to convey nonchalance after Sasha’s somewhat successful attempt at intimidation. “About another