Down to Ash (#Dirtysexygeeks Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

know. He's the one that takes care of everyone. For a while, he was a hawk around you. And you were...”
    Whatever she’d thought Victor was when he’d come home couldn't possibly have been close to the reality. He set his fork down and leaned back in the chair. “As he would say, we all have our own shit.”
    “What's yours?”
    “What's yours?” he parroted back.
    She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing at first. Her exhalation was rough as she shook her head. Finally, she whispered, “I want my brother's friend, and he acts like he can't even see me.”
    His amusement at her drunkenness slowly fell away. She saw too damn much. Kept too little to herself. She didn't hide from anything, no matter how destructive. But she wasn't all impulse. Ash picked her moments.
    They were alone and maybe in the exact sort of situation she'd waited on to pounce.
    And worse, so much worse, he could almost taste her yearning. He can't even see me. For too many years to count, he'd struggled not to see her as Ash, but as Porter's little sister instead. He’d struggled not to see the tight low-cut shirts. To not get dragged into a conversation. At one time, to not even reply to her letters. All because Victor knew if he ever gave in, a tidal wave of pent-up emotion would drown them both. Sitting with her like this, even for a moment, was enough for that wave to beat at his skull.
    Victor refused to give. Too much would be lost.
    He reached over and edged her plate closer. “Eat.”
    She laughed. The bitterness in the tone replaced any mirth that had been in it. “Exactly.”
    The hurt expression that followed dug into him. He had to look away—move away—from her, or else he'd do something dumb like give her exactly what she wanted, and in every position.
    He picked up the bottle, took another swig, and rose to put it back in the cabinet.
    The whiskey didn't burn going down that time and that should have worried him. And still the steady intake of booze wouldn't stop him from going home. He'd walk if he had to. Another minute in her space just might be the death of him.
    When he turned around, there she was, her eyes wide. He could see straight through them to her every emotion—frustration, anger and...lust. He’d had too much to drink if he couldn't ignore the last emotion.
    “Ash—”
    “I'm not your sister, Vic.” She threw the words at him like they were a damning accusation.
    She was close enough he could smell her again. The peaches and cream was mixed with strawberries and alcohol. Slowly, the rest of his body became aware of the small amount of space that separated them.
    Didn't take long for him to see her last foray into her bra had stretched the dress tight against her breasts. He could make out the lace, the hard points of her nipples. The room wasn't cold, so that meant she was aroused—aroused by him.
    Fuck. Fuck .
    This shit was going sideways.
    She was smart, cunning and pissed. Also stubborn. Not a good combination for his plan to take care of her and leave—that and only that.
    “Step back,” he said, his voice gruff and sharp.
    Anyone else he'd see as a threat and act accordingly, but this was Ash poking at him. He'd let her in close, assuming she was too drunk to do any damage.
    “You think I don't know.” She sounded surprised. “You might as well pull my pigtails and call me ugly names.”
    “You're not making any sense.” His stomach tightened at just how close to the truth she was skirting. “This right here, right now, is why I treat you the way I do. I'm trying to make sure you're fed and that you don't make an ass out of yourself, and what do you do? You start talking in riddles and accusing me of...what? I'm not even sure. What would Porter think about you acting like this?”
    “You know exactly what I'm talking about. And what am I doing? I'm making you look at me, really look at me. And Porter...” She lifted her chin and glared at Victor. “I love him. I do. That's—This