Page 7 of Protected By the Mountain Man

It’s not my problem or my fault if Graham’s sister doesn’t want to stay with me, or if she’s angry at her brother.

Still, I won’t deny that thinking about the sweet mouth I saw in her pictures twisting in anger lights an unexpected spark in my low belly. It’s one thing to be beautiful, it’s quite another to be a badass.

And if Mariah is anything like the image of her in my mind is shaping up to be, she is atotalbadass.

I just hope I can keep her and her baby safe until Graham can make certain her ex can’t hurt them anymore.

I think again of the beautiful woman in the pictures, wondering how any fool of a man would dare to upset her, much less harm her, and the spark in my belly grows into a flame.

Not just of desire, although there certainly is that.

But of anger of my own. Of fierce protectiveness. Of the certainty that I’ll do everything in my power to keep this woman safe, and not just because her brother asked me or because it’s the right thing to do — which it is.

I’m doing it because I want to.

Because Ineedto.

And, if I’m brave enough to admit it to myself — which I’m not sure I am — to prove to myself that my past failures don’t define me any longer.

The heat in my belly is joined by a painful twinge of fear.

I hope I’m up to the task. I hope I don’t choke when it matters most. Not again.

Mariah

Iknow I should be grateful.

I know I should be thanking my lucky stars that Ryan hasn’t put me in the ground, and that Graham’s got my back, and that he’s convinced a friend who’s former military to protect me and Billy until we’re clear of Ryan for good.

But gratitude is the last thing I feel as I sit in Graham’s idling car and stare down the dirty mechanic shop that we’ll be living over with a total stranger.

Clenching my jaw and balling my fingers into fists, I try to put a name to the storm of emotions swirling inside me.

Dread? Maybe.

Hope? I’m not sure if I dare to hope yet.

Anger? Oh yeah. I’m so full of anger, I wouldn’t be surprised if I transformed into the damn Hulk and destroy my brother’s car from the inside out..

“You want me and Billy to livethere?” I stab a finger at the shop from the passenger seat, wincing anew at the name of the mechanic shop.Lube Job. With a name like that, the owner’s got to be a creep.

I certainly don’t need any more of those in my life.

“Just for a little while,” my brother says as if that makes everything better.

“Allow me to remind you that your nephew is crawling. That he puts everything in his mouth. That a place like that,” I nod again at the shop, “is the veryworstplace for a thirteen-month-old to be.”

“You’re not living in the shop. There’s an apartment above it. Ace assures me that you and Billy will have privacy.”

“Ace?” I snort. “That’s not exactly a name that instills confidence.”

“But Ryan does?” Graham fires back, lips forming a thin line as he spits my ex’s name.

His words find their target, hitting me like a punch in the gut.

I physically flinch.

My brother’s face falls.

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