Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies 7)

Then again, she hadn’t actually been awake, had she?

Damn, he needed to do some research on sleepwalking. He took a moment to study her. She looked so sweet and young.

She was trouble. Pure and simple.

6

Ari woke up feeling tired and out of sorts.

She blinked back the sleep in her eyes. What she wouldn’t give for a full night’s sleep, to wake up energized. She grimaced at the dryness in her mouth and grabbed the bottle of water she always placed by her bed. She took a sip. Why did she taste caramel?

Oh. Shit.

She wiped her hand over her face. She guessed she’d sleepwalked last night. That was the fourth time since she’d gotten that first threatening letter. It was always the same. She’d wake up in the morning with the taste of caramel ice cream on her lips, a dry mouth and an icky stomach because she tended to overindulge.

Although this morning, her stomach wasn’t too bad.

She sat up and stretched. With a yawn, she got up and pulled on some work-out clothes. Penance for the ice cream. She decided to skip breakfast, not wanting to risk running into either of her bodyguards.

If she was honest, it was just one of them she didn’t want to see. She’d spotted him a few times going to and from the gym. She guessed all those muscles were the result of hard work and discipline.

It had certainly taken all of her discipline not to follow around after him, taking in her fill of those muscles on display, gleaming with sweat.

Okay. . .focus, Arianna.

Why did he pull at her like no other man ever had? Why did he feature in her dreams every night?

You’re so screwed up.

She was. She was a big mess. And now it seemed she was sleepwalking again. Maybe she should take her medication again. She shook her head. No. She hated those pills. A couple of sleepwalking episodes weren’t enough to make her start taking them again. Things were just stressful at the moment and obviously that had triggered her.

She needed to go for a run. Forget everything else. She walked down the passage quickly, hoping no one saw her. If Estelle caught her, she’d insist on making her breakfast and she really couldn’t stomach food right now.

She walked into the gym, sighing with relief to see it was empty. She turned the music on and hopped on the treadmill.

Time to lose herself.

Bain watched as she pushed herself harder. Placing the dumbbells down, he glanced over at the clock. He’d been in here for close to an hour and she hadn’t stopped once. She showed no signs of slowing down.

When he’d first walked in, he’d thought she was ignoring him on pu

rpose. He’d been annoyed and had been about to give her a piece of his mind. But then he’d seen the look on her face. Similar to last night.

So he’d kept himself clear of her line of sight as he’d started his work out, using the time to study her. Sweat coated her skin. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and hung down her back. She wore work-out clothes that molded to her body and boy, did she have some gorgeous curves, but he could also see how prominent her shoulder bones were.

Was she eating enough? Getting enough rest?

Fuck. He didn’t want to feel this level of concern for her. He was happier when he was thinking of her as cold and rude. He didn’t want to get close to her. . .care for her. . .

He sighed. Shit. He also couldn’t stand by while she ran herself past the point of exhaustion. He made his way cautiously towards her. He didn’t know how long she’d been here before he arrived, but she’d been running for well over an hour now.

Enough.

He just didn’t know how to let her know about his presence without scaring her half to death. As he grew closer, she stumbled. She managed to reach out and push the emergency button on the treadmill, right before her legs gave out. She had a hold of the side of the treadmill as he leaped forward and grabbed her.

She screamed as he touched her. Fuck.

“Easy. It’s just me. It’s Bain.”