Page 1 of Dax (Big Hot Alphas 1)

Chapter One

Bailey

My hands instantly tighten on the steering wheel and my heart skips a beat when I see the sign on the side of the highway announcing how many miles are left until my exit.

Shit. I thought I was going to be able to not think about him.

But I guess I should have known there’s no avoiding it.

I’ve been driving on the highway for the last three hours, and I only have about ten miles left to get to my parents’ house. It’s the second time I’ve driven up to see them since they moved into their new place.

A few months back, they sold the apartment building they’d owned for decades and bought a beautiful piece of property up on the mountain. They’ve always been such hard workers, and I’m so proud of them for being able to retire early and just focus on enjoying their lives now.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to see them. I can’t wait for the big hug I know I’ll get from my dad and I can’t wait to eat my mom’s amazing home cooking.

No, what’s making me nervous is…

…well, it’s Dax.

He’s my parents’ closest neighbor.

He’s also their new friend.

And he’s the man I have a huge crush on.

All of thisstarted four weeks ago—the first time I visited my parents’ new place. We’d just finished eating dinner and were sitting out on the back patio around the fire pit. It was a beautiful night—the stars were out, and it wasn’t too cold. My mom and I had brought our wine glasses outside with us, and my dad had brought his glass of whiskey.

We were in the middle of talking about the sale of my parents’ old house when I heard someone call out in the distance.

“Bear!” the voice boomed.

My eyes snapped over to my dad. “Um…should we go inside?”

But my dad just chuckled and shook his head. “Bear is our neighbor’s dog.”

Sure enough, a second later, a big scruffy dog burst out from the woods behind my parents’ house. He came right over to the patio and panted happily as he greeted us. I laughed at how ridiculously sweet the big guy was and gave him a good scratch behind his ears when he came up to me.

“Bear!” the voice called out again.

“He’s over here, Dax!” my dad called back.

Heavy footsteps grew louder from the woods. Then a figure emerged, striding from the darkness into the soft glow of the light cast from the house. As he came closer, I found myself drawing in a deep breath.

I’d always thought my dad would be the most burly guy I’d ever know. Butthisman—holy shit. He was the biggest, most built man I’d ever seen in my life. He looked like a freakin’ Greek god.

“Sorry ’bout that,” he said as he approached us. He looked at his dog, who was now getting his head scratched by my mom, and shook his head. “Bear. Come on, man.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” my mom said, smiling as she continued to pet the dog. “We love Bear. Oh, Dax, this is our daughter, Bailey. Bailey, this is our neighbor, Dax.”

Dax’s eyes were already focused on me before my mom even started to introduce us. As my eyes met his, butterflies burst into flight in my stomach.

“Dax is our woodworking neighbor,” my mom explained.

“Oh,” I said, my voice sounding tiny and high.

My parents had mentioned their neighbors over dinner, telling me how an older couple lived on one side of them, and on the other lived a single guy in his late thirties. They’d told me he was a woodworker and that they’d already become friendly with him, but they hadn’t described Dax enough for me to picture him.

“Join us, Dax,” my mom said, gesturing toward an empty patio chair on the other side of me.

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