The Watson Brothers Read Online Free PDF Page A

pulled out a chair, sat down and lifted her skirt to examine her scraped, bruised knees. They hurt, but Sam was in much worse shape than she so she tried not to complain.
    “Now about this…what the hell?” He’d turned with a scowl on his face, only to pull up with a different type of anger. “You said you weren’t hurt,” he accused.
    “Just a little. Nothing serious.”
    Muttering under his breath, Sam whipped off several paper towels, folded them, and doused them beneath cold water. He came to her and knelt down. “Hold still.”
    Despite his order, she jumped when the icy towel touched her raw scrapes. “Sorry.”
    “Damn.” He dabbed at both knees, removing small bits of dried blood, gravel, and dirt.
    Before Ariel could figure out what he intended, he flipped her skirt up higher. “Sam!”
    When she tried to shove her skirt back down, he caught both her hands in one of his and held them up and against her breasts, almost shoving her out of her chair. “Shush. I want to see if you’re hurt anywhere else.”
    She had to brace her feet apart to keep from toppling over. “This is outrageous!”
    Blue eyes lit like the hottest flame, he glanced up at her. “You sitting on my face was outrageous. This is just concern.”
    Ariel gulped.
    “Now be quiet.”
    Mortified, her mouth snapped shut. She had sat on his face. At the time, she’d been so worried about protecting him she hadn’t paid much attention.
    He found one large bluish bruise on her thigh. “How’d this happen?”
    Ariel peered down at the mark. With both their heads bent, her blond curls brushed up against his silky black hair. “I don’t know. Maybe when I jumped on that guy’s back and we all crashed into the stairs.”
    “Anything else?”
    Since he was on his knees in front of her, more caring than insulting, she showed him her elbow. It was raw and stung every time she flexed her arm. His mouth flattened in displeasure. “I ought to turn you over my knee for that damn stunt. Look at you. You’re a mess.”
    So much for caring.
    “Let me get some ice; then I’ll fetch my first aid kit.”
    “I don’t need you to doctor me.”
    He had his back to her, digging in his freezer. “Tough. My house, my rules, so I’m doing it anyway.” Within minutes, he had ice crushed inside a damp dish towel and he pressed the freezing compress to her thigh. Ariel almost came out of her seat. The cold prickled so badly she tried to shove it away.
    “Leave it,” he ordered, keeping it firmly in place until she subsided. He took her hand and put it over the compress so that she had to hold it. His commanding gaze bore into hers. “I want to see it there when I get back, you understand?”
    “Yes sir.”
    His eyes narrowed. “A show of respect from you at this late date is beyond suspect, so stow it.” Then softly, with exasperation, “I’ll be right back. Sit tight.”
    Ariel leaned out of her seat to watch him trot from the kitchen, into the hall, and up the short flight of stairs to his bathroom. Once he was out of sight, she lifted the ice away and fell back in her chair.
    None of this was what she’d expected. Not that she’d known what to expect, but worry over a few paltry bruises…She heard him returning and quickly replaced the ice pack, wincing at the bitter cold.
    He eyed her when he reentered, his expression stern. “I hope you learned a few things tonight.”
    “Yeah, that you’re surly when you’re hurt and that you don’t like women coming on to you.”
    He moistened a gauze pad with antiseptic and again knelt in front of her. “Wrong. I’m not all that hurt and I love when women come on to me. I just don’t like little girls flirting when they don’t know what they’re getting into.”
    Seething, Ariel said, “If you don’t stop accusing me of being a child, I’m going to—” She screeched when the antiseptic hit her scrapes, burning like a brand. Her legs stiffened and her hands gripped the sides of her