Page 25 of The Inevitable Us

Taylee gives her new footwear a self-satisfied grin and goes to the enclosure with a large dog house. “Oh, Bertha! Come see Mama, baby.” The largest pig I’ve ever seen sticks its snout out of the wooden structure at the sound of her voice. Slowly meandering out the opening, she stops to scratch her back on the door. “Bertha, Mama’s got your food,” Taylee calls. The pig is now jogging forward, excited for its meal.

Taylee grabs a metal bucket with some sort of pellets inside it from the pen’s exterior and calls for the pig. Bertha comes barreling to her, rubbing her snout in Taylee’s hands like a dog. “Now, Bertha, you know we eat over there,” she says, carrying the bucket towards a large metal pan. She sits with the pig while it eats, petting it like a labrador before she heads to the chicken coop to collect eggs.

When she starts to fuss at “Attila the Hen” for hiding her eggs, I close my eyes and slowly count to ten. Clearing my throat, I tell Jay, “You’ll have to excuse me. I need to go check the …umm..”

He gives me an understanding head shake, holding a wicker basket partially full of the eggs.

Walking back to the foreman’s cottage, I mentally tally how quickly I can get my own security firm up and running to support Rosalie.

Chapter fourteen

Sawyer

DespiteTaylee’serraticbehavior,it appears as if her bodyguards have tried to keep the property and The Diva protected. Each camera around the ranch is functioning, but I need to adjust the camera angles for blind spots.

She has six bodyguards rotating twelve-hour shifts, as we did at the Coleman home. Three days off during the week and four very long twelve-hour shifts.

Her entire staff is male— not a good choice. Ethan hires female bodyguards so they can go into women’s restrooms and locker rooms with Tessa and the girls. Taking out a spiral notebook, I start making a list of things to bring up with Jay, including hiring a part-time female.

Once I see Taylee walk inside torefresh her drink, a young woman in worn jeans finishes feeding the animals. With Taylee inside and out of the way, I get on the four-wheeler to inspect the cameras.

Opening the app on my phone, I check each camera angle, adjusting it to my preference, taking sunlight and visibility into account. Three lenses are poorly angled, presumably to hide the camera itself for aesthetics. This isn’t functional. They’re looking out towards a pasture that can be easily used to access the property. Shaking my head at the impracticality, I readjust the angles, revealing more of the camera.

When my shift is over, I return to my office. When I look through the binoculars, I find Rosalie asleep early on the couch. I watch the kittens climb up the sofa one by one and fall asleep on top of her, cuddling with her the way I wish that I was.I am not jealous of one pound of fluff.Rubbing my tired face, I undo my tie, strip down to my undershirt and settle in for the night on the futon. I’ll only have an hour or two tomorrow before I have to leave again, but it’ll be worth it.

I’mawakebeforesheis and back from the coffee shop with a blueberry muffin. I watch as she wakes up, then stretches and wipes the sleep from her eyes.

After feeding the kittens, I watch as she walks into the bathroom, shutting off my view of her.

Once the door opens, she walks toward the living room. Her hair is wet, and she’s wearing a teal-colored towel around her body. Stopping at the sofa, she unknots the towel, exposing her everything.

Seeing her completely naked is even more thrilling than I’d imagined. I wonder if my thumbs will touch when I wrap my hands around her waist. My dick starts to harden when I notice the perky breasts I’ve spent many nights imagining and the triangle of dark hair between her legs. I adjust my crotch, my dick now painfully hard, and watch as she goes upstairs and comes back dressed.

I follow her to the same coffee shop I bought my coffee from, then back to the same administrative building. Maybe a job or an issue with her class schedule? Meeting with a professor?

Looking at my watch, I realize it’s time to go back to the cabin.Fuck.After heading back to the office, I pack up my stuff and I look back at the loft and see the lights still off. I’d hoped to get one more look at Rosalie before leaving.

Driving back to the ranch, I dream about getting to hold Rosalie in my arms again and mentally count down the days until I get back from my trip.

Thewomaninfrontof me is bawling. Mascara is running down her eyes, and I almost believe she’s genuinely upset. “You have to get Manny back! Did you check again for a ransom note?”

The dog in question is a tiny teacup chihuahua with a propensity to piddle on the foyer carpet right after being taken out. Taylee noticed that he was gone two hours ago. Does she start to search the house for the dog like a normal person? No, she goes into a core meltdown.

Searching the camera footage and trying to find the tiny dog amongst the other seven dogs in Taylee’s pack is no easy task, even with my years of experience, due to his size. He’s often hidden behind a Great Dane named Marmaduke and easily mistaken for one of the other tiny dogs scampering around. My job would be profoundly easier if Taylee would stop having the other staff members move the cameras. I almost think she wants blind spots.

It’s been two days of similardisasters.Well, disasters in Taylee’s world. Every time I attempt to sleep or leave the ranch to check on Rosalie, something else happens. A gardener that looks suspicious she wants me to watch carefully, a lost diamond earring that was found on her bedside table. Now apparently, Manny has been kidnapped. Err, dognapped.

I’ve seen the dark-haired maid side-eye the dog on several occasions while she’s on her hands and knees scrubbing the hand-woven carpet. As I scroll through the footage trying to tune out the sound of wailing behind me, I place my money on the maid.

After the entire staff did a physical search of the ranch, the chihuahua was found inside Big Bertha’s house. After watching Taylee chastise a not at all remorseful Manny, I purse my lips and walk back to the cabin.

WhenIfinallymakemy way to the office, I mutter a few frustrated profanities when I find her window dark. I haven’t seen her in days.

I walk to her garage using the second key card for entry that I appropriated when Rosalie moved in. Her car is in her designated spot, the engine cool, so she’s on foot. At this time of night, she can’t be far.

Moving towards the campus, hoping to spot her, I duck my head into a restaurant or two, hoping she’s there to get take out. When I make it to campus, I find cars parked at the culinary building despite the late hour.

The door is locked, so I wait nearby in the shadows. She’s one of the last to walk out behind a small group of students and a gray-haired man wearing polo and slacks. A meeting of some sorts, perhaps? After giving Rosalie a little wave, the man walks away, leaving her alone on a dark college campus without a car. She’swalkinghome? At this time of night? And the man, presumably her instructor or something, isn’t even asking if she’s ok? Fuck no. I start to move towards her immediately, to put a stop to this. At the last moment, I stop, turn around, and double-time it out of there. Looping around the back of the buildings, I decide to wait for her in a dark alleyway one building over.

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