Montana D-Force (Brotherhood Protectors Book 3) by Elle James Page A

mean, I can’t concentrate when you…when I—” She shut her mouth to keep from saying even more inane comments. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed.”
    Bear glanced down at his hand, and then dropped her wrist and stepped back. “Sorry. I’ll have another look around the house, then call it a night as well.”
    “Okay.” Mia dragged her gaze away from his, spun toward the stairs, and ran. Her heart raced with each step taking her father away from the man who made her insides tremble with a need she’d never felt, until him.
    Once in her room, she shut the door and leaned against it, dragging in breath after ragged breath until her pulse returned to normal. She gathered fresh underwear from a drawer, put them back and selected the lace thong she’d bought on impulse one day in the lingerie section of her favorite store. Feeling a little foolish, she selected her usual oversized, faded T-shirt to counter the frilly panties.
    Armed with her nightclothes, she opened the door, peeked out and ran for the bathroom door farther down the hallway. Safely inside, she locked the door and turned toward the shower. On impulse, she turned back and untwisted the button on the doorknob.
    The lust-driven woman inside hoped Bear would find the door unlocked and enter before he realized she was there. The idea was senseless. Bear wasn’t the kind of man who would barge into a room with a closed door. He’d knock before entering. Mia would feel obligated to answer, and nothing would come of her insane attempt to have an “accidental” naked encounter with the hired help. Still, the thought tantalized.
    She stripped out of her jeans and shirt, unhooked her bra and glanced toward the door as she shrugged out of it. Breasts hanging free, she had only to slip out of her panties, and she’d be naked. Who was she trying to kid? The man wasn’t interested, nor was he coming through the door any time soon.
    With a sigh, Mia shed her panties and stepped into the tub. A long cold shower would clear her thoughts, chill her desire and pull her together.
    And it did, no matter how disappointing.
    The shower also gave her time to think about the discussion she’d had with Kylie in the bathroom. Her old friend swore her bruises were from working at the diner. Mia suspected her husband was the one who’d inflicted them on her skin.
    Mia had told her she had choices. She didn’t have to stay in an abusive relationship. “When you’re ready to get out of it, call me,” she’d offered.
    Kylie had stared straight at her and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then she’d run out of the bathroom, her eyes filled with tears.
    The woman needed help.
    With her wet hair brushed straight, and dressed in her thong and the T-shirt that hung down past mid-thigh, Mia abandoned the bathroom. Any fantasies about showering with her bodyguard remained unrealized as she padded barefoot down the hall to her bedroom.
    Inside, with the door closed behind her, Mia took stock of the room she’d grown up in. It appeared to have been arrested in time, bearing the same decorations and paint from when she’d been a teen.
    If she kept the house, she’d update the furniture and bedding to something that would appeal to her guests, if she ever had any. The entire house needed a facelift.
    Slipping her feet between the clean sheets, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. In an attempt to keep her mind off the handsome bodyguard, Mia tried to picture the room and how it would look updated.
    No matter how hard she focused, an image of Bear kept popping into her mind. He stood in her room, his broad shoulders filling the small space with an overabundance of male pheromones eating away at the walls Mia had constructed around her heart.
    She glanced away from the door, but her mind couldn’t erase the image. Mia punched her pillow and visualized sheep, counting them one at a time.
    The phone Bear had moved from the living