Page 52 of Unbearable

All my reservations surrounding Dotty had been slowing melting away over the last month and were now long fucking gone, replaced by a fierce need to protect her.

To keep her safe.

To find this fucker.

“He’s right, Dotty. You’re not alone.” Colt paused, pointing to the bouquet. “What does the note say?”

“You’re not going to like it,” I said, handing it over.

Colt’s nostrils flared. “You can say that again. I’ll try to trace the flowers and see if we can get any leads. This note is longer than the previous ones, which might mean he’s getting careless,” Colt said.

“Great,” Dotty said.

“You need to have someone with you at all times, Dotty. Just to be safe,” Colt said.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever we need to do.” She sighed and paused for a second before continuing. “Oh shit, Trent and I are supposed to go to Mount Leston next week. Is that okay, or should I be staying in town?” she asked.

“No, going out of town should be fine. As long as someone is always with you. It might be good to get away from where he can track you easily. Especially since he knows you are in Woodstone.”

“I will be with her the entire time,” I said.

“Not theentiretime,” she countered.

“The. Entire. Time,” I bit out.

She muttered something about overprotective men under her breath. Dotty could think whatever she wanted about me, but I wasn’t going to let it bother me when her safety was at risk.

“Trent is right. He hasn’t had the guts to approach you before, but if he’s getting reckless, he might try if you’re alone. You need to be careful.” Colt’s concern was evident. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him say so many words at once.

“I won’t go anywhere alone. If I go to the cabin, I’ll bring someone with me.”

“As long as I’m not at the ranch, I’ll come with you,” I said.

She rolled her eyes at me again. “Fine.”

The next week went by in a blur. We were heading into the slower season at the ranch, and when I wasn’t working, I kept a close eye on Dotty. She always was a homebody, and I was happy to see not much had changed there. She worked during the day, and we spent most evenings working on the cabin.

The new fixtures and vanities had arrived, and we installed them together. The place was shaping up to really be something. Soon, we would start working on restoringthe hardwood flooring, which I had a feeling would really bring the place to life.

Dotty strolled out of the guest room and saw the mess around me. “Uh, what is that?” She pointed to the parts scattered around.

“It’s your new desk.”

Her eyes widened. “My new desk? What do you mean, my new desk?”

“I couldn’t have you working on the bed forever. Plus, I’ve been meaning to get one for the guest room since there’s that big space in the corner.” That wasn’t entirely true. I did want to get something to fill up some empty space in the guest room and hadn’t decided what to put there until now.

“Um, okay. Thank you. That’s, uh… nice of you.” She sat down next to me, grabbing a screwdriver.

“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

“I’m helping. If you bought me a desk, the least I can do is help put it together.” And so she sat beside me and did just that.

“You ready for the wedding?” she asked.

“Yeah, I am. I haven’t seen some of the guys in a while, so it’ll be nice to catch up.” I paused. “They won’t stop talking about meeting you whenever I text them.”

She chuckled. “I’m interested to see what they’re all like. Besides my brothers, I don’t really know what kind of company you kept over the last decade,” she teased.

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