A Bad Boy for Christmas Read Free Page A

watch.”
    Nash snorted. His other brothers—the ones who were supposed to have his back—tried not to grin. Eli managed a straight face. Caleb didn’t.
    Mia glanced over her shoulder at him, the lines of her face a compelling mix of sharp angles and delicate curves. “Delusion suits you,” she murmured dulcetly. “It explains so much.”
    “Aw, baby sis. Still so nervous ,” Cutter purred back.
    Her eyes narrowed. “You want a tattoo like mine, princess, you just say the word. For you a family discount. I’ll try not to make you cry too much.”
    “There are words at the bottom,” said Eli, possibly by way of trying to divert out-and-out war. Not that anyone could read the words, for they barely peeked above the silky green material of her low-slung dress.
    “Stop looking at your sister’s ass,” Mia commanded.
    Eli immediately turned his gaze to the boat on the slip rail. A dull hint of red crept up his darkly tanned neck. “I wasn’t—I didn’t—Dear God, just tell me when she’s gone.”
    Caleb too was looking resolutely away, his attention firmly fixed on the far wall.
    She had them all, the whole lot of them, tossing in a wild, roiling ocean.
    And she was enjoying it.
    Cutter could play the fool when he wanted to. He had a healthy appreciation for the unexpected and the absurd.
    He also had a reckless streak a mile wide.
    But underneath it all he held an unshakeable commitment to family, and when his younger brothers felt threatened Cutter always stepped up. “Are you done winding us up?” he demanded of her. “Because, lady, I don’t care who you are. You need to go now and don’t bother coming back until you’re ready to play fair. Are we clear?”
    He figured his words for a reasonable call.
    No one came forward and said he was wrong, Mia you’re going to love me included.
    Nash headed towards the redhead, herding her towards the open doorway she’d first appeared in.
    No one protested.
    And when they finally disappeared from view without another word, Cutter picked up the second beer on the counter and downed it whole.

Chapter Two

    M ia Blake knew her way around the men of this world. She dealt with them daily, all sizes and creeds. She could hold her own in a tattoo studio, a streetcar racing scene and, unless comprehensively outsized, in a mixed martial arts ring. She was streetwise and IQ smart and she’d deliberately set herself up as a target in there, drawing their fire away from Nash, and playing them all with ease.
    Right up until the very end when the older one had called her on it.
    “I thought it went very well,” she said, and met Nash’s incredulous glare with equanimity.
    “Define well, Mia.”
    “Well, they didn’t beat you up. They took us seriously—mind you, your face helped with that. They said they’d be in touch …”
    “The oldest one wants to drown you.”
    Mia grinned. “He does, doesn’t he? On the upside, he almost bonded with you .” She headed for their ride, a 1957 metallic-red Chevy Bel Air. Original everything except for the paint and the red interior leather, it was Nash’s latest pride and joy.
    If only it had air conditioning.
    “They think you’re their sister ,” he continued, still dark with her.
    “Pretty sure they don’t. And even if they do, I’ll clear that minor misunderstanding up eventually. I just wanted to give them a taste of how bad it could be. Peeling back to only having to accept you into the family is going to be such a relief. You’ll see.”
    Nash snorted. “That’s your game plan for getting them to accept me?”
    “And it’s a good one.” Confidence was her middle name.
    “Remind me to leave your delicate ass back at the shop next time I go hunting long-lost family. You’re a menace.”
    That was her other middle name. “The plan is solid.”
    “No, the plan is demented. I want them to like you, Mia. You’re my family, and if they’ve a mind to accept me they’re going to have to accept you. You