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excuse me, I’m going to step out for a while. I have some errands to run.” She put her napkin on her plate and started to turn.
    What the…? “Where are you going?” Josh blurted out. He couldn’t stop himself from asking even if he wanted to.
    She turned to face him, and he had to work hard at keeping his gaze indifferent.
    She shrugged. “Out.”
    Out? What the hell did that mean?
    As she started to leave, Josh darted around the table and clutched her arm. “Where?” he asked, staring down at her, stepping even closer into her personal space.
    “I don’t believe that’s any of your business. But don’t worry, I’m a big girl, Josh.” She pulled her arm free and started for the door.
    “Dad?” Josh whispered, and he knew he had a frantic sound in his voice. He didn’t care. He needed help keeping her here. What if something happened to her? What if she got lost and couldn’t find her way back? What if she got into an accident? Oh, God, he couldn’t stop his mind from spinning with all the bad scenarios.
    Thomas cleared his throat. “Mikaela, perhaps I could join you? You do not know your way around.”
    She turned around and looked at Thomas, refusing to meet Josh’s gaze, which was good because he was panicked as hell. He didn’t want his dad going with her either, but if she insisted on leaving, at least Thomas could watch out for her. Josh had no idea where she intended to go, and if there were going to be any untaken women around, that meant he couldn’t insist on going with her, though he had to fight to remind himself of that.
    “That’s awfully kind of you, but it’s unnecessary. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.”
    Mikaela turned to leave.
    Josh growled.
    He knew he’d catch hell for letting his animal loose, but he didn’t care. He did not want her leaving!
    She stopped, clearly hearing his warning, straightened her back, and strode purposefully out the door without looking back.
    “I’m following her,” Josh said as he tried to leave the dining room. Regardless of the risk he faced running into untaken women, Mikaela was not going outside the property alone.
    Thomas rushed around and stopped him, reminding him that Mikaela was here on business and could come and go as she pleased. She only stayed on the property as a convenience and was not Josh’s personal toy. As he considered defying his father, his brothers moved around him. They knew he couldn’t leave, and he knew he couldn’t take all of them in an effort to escape.
    Defeated, he spent the next several hours pacing the dining room, the den, his bedroom, and any other place his worried feet took him. By now, it was damn near midnight, so everyone else went to bed, but he just couldn’t. Not until he knew she was safely home.
    Home.
    This wasn’t her home, but he wanted it to be. More than anything. He knew he shouldn’t think like that, and he’d been trying his best to keep his thoughts clear of any future with her, but right now, with her gone, he couldn’t help but long for what wasn’t his. When his soles were eating up the grass beside the driveway, he heard her truck finally making its way through the estate. Relief washed through him that she was safe, quickly returning to irritation.
    He watched her park and get out. He wanted to march right up to her and ask her where the hell had she been…or march right up to her, fling her back up against the truck, and kiss her until neither one of them could breathe.
    He could do neither.
    Mikaela’s eyes shot to Josh briefly, but it was long enough for him to notice that the irritation was mutual. She turned away from him and walked into the house. Without a word, he followed her in, staying two steps behind her.
    She smelled like a parade of male and female cologne and reeked of cigarette smoke, which meant she’d been at a bar. He bit his lips so hard to keep from growling at her that his mouth bled. He paused beside her bedroom door while she opened it,