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

She’d found the aisles full of interesting items. Her father had patiently answered her questions about everything from electrical fuses to gardening shears.
    Her chest tightened as she entered the store, half-expecting to see her father pouring nails into a paper bag.
    “Mia?” a voice said from across the floor.
    Mia glanced up at a familiar face. Thirteen years was a long time, but she recognized Phillip Townsend instantly. Still tall, he’d filled out in the shoulders and arms. Mia remembered him as long and lanky, like a young colt. The bulkier football jocks had picked on him, relentlessly.
    Mia waved. “Hi, Phillip.”
    “Let me know if I can help you,” he said, from behind the counter.
    Mia nodded. Turning to Bear, she noted the narrow-eyed stare he gave Phillip. She touched his arm. “What do we need?”
    “Nails, woodscrews, white exterior paint and lumber,” Bear said. “I’ll get the nails and screws and then meet you at the counter.” Her bodyguard veered off to the left, down an aisle with metal bins filled with nuts, bolts, screws and nails of many shapes and sizes.
    Mia wandered along the other side of the same aisle, staring at the hinges and cabinet doorknobs without seeing them, memories of her father filling her with sadness.
    Phillip appeared beside her. “The hinges are on sale. Two for one.”
    Mia smiled. “Thanks. I’m not sure we need them, yet. We’re here for boards, screws, nails and a can of white exterior paint. My bod—handyman is making repairs to my house.”
    Bear rounded the end of the aisle, carrying two paper bags bulging with nails and screws. “I could use six eight-foot-long two-by-fours, treated pine, and eight ten-foot one-by-six decking boards.”
    Phillip nodded. “Just got a load in yesterday. I’ll notify the guys out back to set them aside.” He hurried back to the counter and lifted an old rotary dial telephone.
    When Mia started to follow Phillip, Bear touched her arm, holding her back. “You know him?”
    “We went to high school together,” Mia said. She glanced at Bear’s face and frowned. “You don’t think he could have been the one, do you?”
    “He’s a guy.” Bear’s lips pressed into a tight line. “As far as I’m concerned, all males in Eagle Rock are suspects until proven innocent.”
    She frowned. “And that’s why I don’t want to file a report. Phillip is one of the nicest guys I know. I doubt he had the strength to toss me around back then. He was nothing but a twig, tall and painfully thin.”
    “You’d be surprised what a thin, wiry man can do when he sets his mind to it.”
    “Yeah, well, Phillip isn’t the one,” Mia said and stalked to the counter.
    Phillip glanced up from the phone and smiled. “The guys are bringing the boards around. Where do you want them to load them?”
    “Into the black pickup,” Bear said.
    “So you’re Mia’s handyman?” Phillip asked.
    Bear nodded and stuck out his hand. “Tate Parker.”
    Phillip reached across the counter and shook Bear’s hand. “Phillip Townsend.”
    So now, Mia knew her bodyguard’s full name. Tate Parker. She studied him from beneath her lashes. Yeah, she could see him as a Tate. But Bear suited him more.
    “I’m glad to see Mia back in town,” Phillip said. “We haven’t seen her in Eagle Rock since…” His smile faded, and his gaze met Mia’s. “Sorry.”
    That pang of loss still hit Mia hard, but she pushed it aside and focused on the man in front of her. “Don’t be. I haven’t been back in the year since my parents’ funeral.” She took both of his hands and smiled. “How are you? I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to anyone last time I was home. Weren’t you engaged? I seem to remember my mother saying something about that.”
    Phillip’s hands tightened in hers, briefly, and then he pulled them away. “I was. Not anymore.”
    “I’m sorry things didn’t work out,” Mia said.
    “Allyson and I were supposed to have gotten