Montana D-Force (Brotherhood Protectors Book 3) by Elle James Read Free Book Online

up the borrowed jeans and thought better of starting to clean. First, she needed to change into her own clothes, and maybe freshen her face and hair. Just because she wasn’t interested in a relationship with her bodyguard didn’t mean she had to run around the house in baggy clothes with her hair unkempt.
    Peeking out the door, Mia glanced toward the kitchen. She didn’t hear any hammering or banging. Nor did she see Bear
    Quick, while the coast was clear, she hurried up the stairs and into her bedroom. After she changed into her own jeans and a tank top, she hurried across to the bathroom, brushed her hair, applied a little concealer to the dark circles beneath her eyes and a little blush to her pale face. Feeling a little more presentable, she walked out of the bathroom and into the wall of muscle that was her bodyguard.
    Bear gripped her arms to steady her.
    As soon as Mia had her feet firmly beneath her, Bear released her and backed away, holding up his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to grab you and violate rule number one.”
    “No, it was my fault. I didn’t look before I charged out the door. And I wouldn’t think of it as a rule so much as a guideline.”
    His lips twitched, almost a smile. “I wouldn’t be up here, but I need some supplies. Do you have time to go to the hardware store?”
    She snorted. “Since I haven’t started cleaning or writing, I’d say yes.”
    “We can wait if you need to do something else first,” Bear offered.
    “No, I don’t want to hold you up on fixing that door.” She chuckled. “Let’s just go and quit dancing around the issue. Hopefully, we’ll get used to each other and stop being so awkward.”
    He grinned. “You’re my first personal security client. I don’t want to screw it up.”
    “And you’re my first bodyguard. So we’ll both bumble around until we get it right.” She grabbed her purse from the top of the dresser. “My car or your truck?”
    “My truck. In case you want to load up on other supplies to continue the repairs to this place. I’ve made a cursory inspection. I have a list in my head.”
    Mia followed him out to his truck. “What did you find?”
    “The back porch is sagging, the steps are rotting, and I think you have a hornet’s nest in the eaves at the front of the house.”
    “Oh, really?” Mia winced. “We definitely want to take care of those things right away. I can’t have guests falling through the boards and being stung by angry hornets.”
    Bear walked with her to the passenger side of the truck and opened her door.
    Mia climbed in, entirely too aware of Bear’s burly body as she slipped past him.
    He walked around the truck and slid in next to her. After starting the engine, he shifted into reverse.
    Being inside the cab of the truck brought her close to Bear in a confined space. Her pulse quickened, but not like it did in a panic attack. This feeling was new, a raw excitement she couldn’t deny.
    As they continued down the drive, her gaze returned to Bear again and again, no matter how hard she tried to focus her attention on the road ahead.
    Bear pulled the truck to a stop at the juncture of her driveway and the highway. Without glancing her way, he asked, “How did it happen?”
    His question pulled Mia back to reality with a jerk. “Sorry?”
    He softened his tone. “Thirteen years ago, how did it happen?”
    Mia stared at the highway, her pulse rampaging through her veins, sweat beading on her upper lip.
    “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. But to find out who did it, we’ll need details. You’ll have to talk to someone.”
    Mia stared at the corner where she’d gotten off the bus and waved at her friends as the bus pulled away all those years ago.
    “Forget it. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Bear shifted his foot from the brake to the accelerator.
    “It was a school day like any other,” Mia blurted out. “I got off the bus here, like I had every day for the previous