Resisting the Bad Boy Read Online Free PDF Page A

you?”
    Connor gave him another burly, noncommittal grumble that made Abby swoon just a tiny bit. If she was the type to keep a checklist for the perfect guy, ‘being a protective brother’ would now be a top ten criteria. It was incredibly sexy. And their manly bickering was just plain cute. She smiled, half expecting a poignantly awkward bro hug at some point.
    Unfortunately, she realized much too late to do any good that she wasn’t just smiling, she was staring. At Connor.
    And he was staring right back.
    A slow smile transformed his expression, right before he abruptly asked the inevitable, “So that means the two of you…”
    “—aren’t really dating,” shrugged Brian.
    “ Interesting .”
    Lordy, Abby had heard of a ‘wolfish grin’ before, but no one told her it’d make her panties catch on fire.
    She quickly moved to usher both brothers off her porch. “Well, since that’s all settled, everyone can head on home and I can get back to that shower I never got to take.”
    Great, there was that wolfish grin again. You just had to bring up the shower didn’t you? Connor was practically eating her up with his eyes. And she liked it. Far too much. So she chose to treat his heated stare like an eclipse.
    The moment both cars were out of sight, she rushed through her house to her bathroom, pulling her clothes off as she went.
    Screw the shower, she needed a long, hot bath.
    With some waterproof accessories.
    She was stripped bare and just about done filling up the tub when her cell phone jangled from her bag in the bedroom. Groaning, she hurried out to grab the phone, answering it without checking the caller id. “Hello?”
    “That was a quick shower.”
    Abby almost dropped the phone. Luckily, she managed to hang on to her wits though. “You know, I’m starting to really hate your investigator.”
    Connor chuckled. “Actually, Skylar gave me your cell number before I went to pick up the flowers. She figured I’d need it in the off chance that you’d slam the door in my face.”
    “So it’s true, blood really is thicker than milkshakes,” she grumbled as she stomped over to the tub to shut off the water before it overfilled. “What do you want, Connor?”
    “Now that’s a loaded question.”
    The sigh she aimed at herself bounced off the tiled walls in stereo. She’d walked right into that one.
    There was a brief pause over the phone line and then a very curious, “Are you talking to me from the bathroom?”
    Oh my, Miss Manners would have a conniption. “Yes. But to be clear, I’m not using the bathroom or anything.”
    His quiet laughter was the stuff of bath-time fodder. The deep sound went through her like whiskey as she perched on the tub edge and swished a lazy hand through the water.
    She heard him suck in a soft breath. And every nerve in her body flared to life at the sound.
    “You’re taking a bath.” His voice was a full octave lower, his tone almost reverent.
    Startled, Abby looked around to check the walls for eyes. A pair of piercing blue eyes in particular…a distinctly sexy set that always looked deep in thought. “No. Not yet, anyway.”
    Another pause. “So what’s stopping you?”
    “You.”
    Was it possible to hear someone smile?
    “So because of me, your water’s getting cold?”
    “Exactly. Now if you’d hurry and tell me what you want, I could get back to my bath before it gets any colder.”
    “Maybe what I want is to join you in the tub. What are the chances of that happening?”
    “Slim to none.” Liar .
    He made a disappointed sound but didn’t give up that easily. “I promise I’ll behave. Unless , you’re going to do something in the bath that you’d need privacy for.” He put just enough goading in his tone to tick her off, but not enough for her to hang up on him. “Is that the case?”
    Yes . And the jerk was being deliberately obtuse about it.
    She maintained radio silence.
    “Because if it is, I don’t have to behave. I