Irresistible (Underneath it All Series: Book One) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Ava Claire

chance that I'd plunge through the termite-infested wood. "Who the fuck are you?"
    I hadn't gotten farther than his bloodshot eyes and I wasn't too enthused about seeing the rest of him, but I wanted him to know I wasn't afraid. Even as a ghost of her former self, my mother could do better. It wasn't that he was ugly, hell, I bet twenty years ago he could walk into a bar and women would have gladly met him in the bathroom for a romp. Now, his balding hair hung in salt and pepper clumps around a pudgy face. Beady blue eyes dropped to my breasts and stayed there. His oversized nose leaned in close like he wanted to sniff me and when he licked his thin lips, a wave of nausea washed over me.
    "I'm Stevie."
    Stevie. I couldn’t stand looking at his face any longer, so my eyes fell to his chest. At least he wasn’t a liar. It was the name affixed to his dirty work shirt.
    He extended both arms like he was going to hug me, but that wasn't the most egregious offense. My gaze shot to needle marks that bruised his skin. He was using, and from the color of some of those marks, he’d used recently.
    "Man, oh man, you look like your mama." He dropped his arms slowly when he realized there was no hug in his future. "Your mama's attitude too, I see," he chuckled. Since he struck out with me, he turned his attention back to my sister. "Nothing like my sweet little Rosie."
    I grabbed his arm before he could touch her again. "First off, her name is Rose. Second, if you put your hand on her again, you'll lose it."
    He put both hands in the air. "Hey, I'm just being friendly!" He pulled his lips away from his teeth. Well, the teeth he had left. "Me and Rosi-Rose," he corrected quickly. "Have become like best friends since I moved in. Practically father and daughter, ain't that right?"
    The screen door swung open a second time, and the woman of the hour shuffled out on the porch behind her man. It had only been a month since we'd last seen each other, but she looked like she'd aged ten years in my absence. It used to be easy for me to see the memory of the woman she was before. The high cheek bones, the big lashes, the glow that lit up her entire face when she spared a smile. She looked worn down and weary now, and it wasn't because she was in a grubby housecoat and from the state of her hair, trying to make dreadlocks happen. She looked like she had given up altogether.
    If Rose wasn't right behind me, trying to be quiet and go unnoticed, I would have snatched back the sleeves of her housecoat to see if she'd added drugs to her list of vices since Stevie came on the scene.
    My mother reached into the pocket on her dingy coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, pounding the crumpled box on the palm of her hand. "Always a pleasure to see my eldest, even if she looks like she still has a foot stuck up her ass."
    Stevie let out a belly laugh that devolved into a coughing fit. "Good one, baby," he wheezed after he caught his breath.
    My mother stuck a cigarette between her chapped lips and snapped at the man. He immediately brandished a lighter and lit the end of her cigarette. She inhaled and exhaled smoke, the fog masking her face.
    "Can you take your sister for a few days? Me and Stevie are working on some things and she'll just be in the way."
    I blinked, sure that I was still so stunned by her bullshit that I was hearing things. "What?"
    "Can you take your sister to the city for a few days or not?" my mother snapped impatiently.
    The way she said it, like my sister was an inconvenience, was what had me baffled. I absolutely would rather Rose be with me and safe than with her. Any damn day of the week. I'd even offered to have her move in with me when I'd moved off campus, but it meant changing schools, and Rose didn't want that.
    I craned my neck toward my sister. There was a cloud hanging over her, despite the sun blaring down on us. It was a heaviness that I'd carry for her in a minute, if I could.
    "Rose is always welcome to stay with