A Bad Boy for Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page B

back down, smiling at his over-the-shoulder glare.
    “Did you want my grandson gone for any particular reason?” asked Mary, and Mia made a note not to underestimate the Jackson family matriarch.
    “Look, it’s like this. I’m worried about your boy Cutter and Nash meeting up again.” Mia talked with one eye on Cutter as she tracked his path to the bar. It involved him being greeted by two smiling beach babes and being served immediately thereafter by a flirty brunette. “Cutter’s got a temper—no offence meant, just observation. Hell, I have one too. His brothers helped him keep a lid on it earlier but they’re not here.” She turned back towards Frank and Mary. “Nash is a peacemaker, right up until he’s cornered and then he’s not. He’ll fight until he’s the last one standing, and he is always the last one standing. Things being somewhat heated at the moment, I’m all for the two of them not squaring up against each other physically. Can you help with that?”
    “Everything’s in hand,” Frank Jackson said, and Mia almost believed him.
    “Cutter told you how alike they look, right?”
    They nodded.
    “I don’t think you quite appreciate the impact of that. It’s confronting,” she finished, and waited as Cutter walked up and put another drink down in front of her. “So, anything more you want to know about Nash before he gets here? At which point you may as well ask him.”
    “What does he do for a living?” asked Mary.
    “Nash started working on old cars at fourteen, maybe fifteen. He paid a pittance for one and started scrounging for parts, and then fixed it, sold it, and started all over again. These days he owns a garage in Melbourne that specializes in restoring classic cars.”
    “Where does he live?” asked Mary.
    “Above the garage. Kind of like a warehouse apartment, except bigger and rougher round the edges.”
    “Eli,” said Frank.
    “Where?” Mia looked around.
    “He means that Eli did a similar thing with the space above the boatshed,” Cutter told her.
    “Oh. Maybe they’ll become besties.”
    “Where do you live?” asked Cutter.
    “I live in a share house in Brunswick, half a city away from Nash. I’m a tattoo artist by trade. I’ll paint anything, mind, if you give me a canvas. Even boats.” She fluttered her lashes at Cutter. “Dandelions, fairies, rainbows … no?”
    “No,” Cutter said firmly.
    “What about Jonah and the Whale? The Old Man and the Sea? Go big.”
    “No.” This time Frank answered.
    “Cats!” Undoubtedly useful on a fishing vessel. “Everybody loves cats.”
    Frank was beginning to look a little green around the gills. Cutter looked askance. Grandma Mary, on the other hand, had a smile brewing.
    “We should probably keep her away from Bree and the Zoey wife,” Cutter said. “And the paint.”
    “The Zoey wife?”
    “Eli’s wife, Zoey,” said Mary with a warning glance for her men. “She’s a costume designer and I’m sure she’d like to meet you. Breanna is Caleb’s wife. She’s a photographer. I’m sure she’d like to meet you too.”
    “There are wives in this wonderland?” How could she have missed this? She looked at Cutter. “Do you have a wife too?”
    “No wife. No strays. Just women.”
    Why was she so relieved ? “ Good for you.” And then, “There’s no need for me to meet any Jackson wives. Or paint any pictures. I’m here to support Nash. He’s the one you could roll out the welcome mat for, and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with him. Don’t worry about me.”
    Cutter eyeballed her for a long moment before dropping his gaze to the beer he hadn’t yet touched. “Surely if you’re as good as family to him , we need to treat you the same way?”
    “Nah.” Now she felt really uncomfortable. “I’m all set for family. But thanks.”
    “How did you come to be in the foster care system, Mia?” Mary asked gently. “If you don’t mind me asking?”
    Normally she did mind people