Montana D-Force (Brotherhood Protectors Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

For the first time in a long time, he felt like he had a purpose. He hoped like hell he didn’t let her down.

3
    M ia lay in the bed Bear had been in earlier that night. The sheets still smelled like him. That faint musk of male and outdoors somehow made her feel safer. Now that she knew he wasn’t just a shadowy figure in the night, bent on raping or killing her, she was glad he would be watching over her, making certain no one crossed the line or tried to hurt her.
    When she’d come back to Eagle Rock, she’d thought she could handle being in the hometown where she’d been brutalized by a coward wearing a mask. Thirteen years had passed. Mia had taken half a dozen self-defense classes; she owned a gun and knew how to use it. But after her home had been broken into, she wasn’t sure she could stay in Eagle Rock, knowing her attacker could still be there, possibly lurking in the shadows, planning his next attack on her or some other unsuspecting female too weak to resist.
    She finally drifted off, exhausted from the stress of the trip, her little bit of housecleaning and being scared half out of her mind by a broken back door, and then being grabbed on the porch by a man in the shadows. In a house full of people who had sworn to help and protect her, Mia was able to sleep dreamlessly, something she hadn’t done since she’d first contemplated returning home.
    Mia woke to sunlight filtering around the curtains drawn over the window. She stretched in the bed and remembered she’d left all of her clothes at her house. All she wore was the T-shirt she’d slept in. At night in the throes of terror, she hadn’t cared what she’d worn. Her only concern had been getting to safety as quickly as possible.
    With daylight shining through the window, she realized she still had to get back to her house and her suitcase before she could dress presentably.
    Her cheeks heated as she thought of the man she’d hired on as a bodyguard. How could she face him that morning in nothing but a T-shirt that barely covered her backside?
    A knock on the door made her start and pull the blanket up to her chin. “Who is it?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat. What if it was Bear wanting in to get his things?
    “It’s me, Sadie. I thought you might like something to wear down to breakfast.”
    At once relieved, Mia let go of the breath she’d been holding, confused by the pang of disappointment that it wasn’t Bear on the other side of the door. Why would she want to see him first thing in the morning when she looked her worst? “Please, come in.” Mia flung back the blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I was just about to get up.”
    Sadie pushed open the door and stepped in carrying a pair of jeans and a belt. “These will probably be too big for you, but I figured something too big was better than nothing at all.”
    “Thank you so much.” Mia took the jeans and jammed her legs into them. “These will work until I can get back to my place.” She slid the belt through the loops and cinched the waist tight enough the jeans wouldn’t slip off her hips.
    Sadie chuckled as she eyed the material bunched around Mia’s ankles. “Sometimes, I forget how much taller I am than you.”
    Mia bent to roll up the pant legs to keep from walking on them. “My mother always said the world would be a boring place if we all were the same shape and size.”
    She pulled on her cowboy boots and straightened with a smile. “I’m grateful for the jeans. I was wondering how I would get from here to my place without being seen in nothing but the T-shirt.”
    “No one would have been the wiser. That T-shirt covers all the right places.” Sadie grinned. “I left a new toothbrush and hairbrush in the bathroom. When you’re ready, I’ll have breakfast on the table for you.”
    “Oh, Sadie, you don’t have to wait on me. I should be waiting on you . You’re the one who’s pregnant.”
    “Don’t be silly. I’m