Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“You think it’s the same guy?” she asked warily.
I looked down at her and said, “I think that you don’t make enemies. And it’s rare that you would have one, let alone two. So yes, I think that it’s the same guy.”
She breathed out roughly. “Then if that’s the case, I have no clue who it might be. I don’t talk to anyone but patients and my coworkers and you. The last guy that I saw was a nineteen-year-old. He was mad at me because I wouldn’t give him a work release. But he was Asian. This guy is whiter than a vampire.”
That was true.
He was quite pale.
His jaw seemed to glow in the moonlight as he’d violated our car.
“Must not get out much,” I admitted. “Otherwise, he’d have some color to him.”
I clenched my teeth and dropped my head, rubbing my forehead along the messy hairs escaping her bun.
“I have to get up in an hour,” I grumbled. “And there’s no way that I’m leaving you here alone today after that. That lazy fuck of a sheriff will be hearing from me, but I seriously doubt he does anything.”
She sighed. “How about you drop me off at work early. I have some patient notes I need to chart anyway. Dutch will be there within an hour because she sees patients early on Thursdays. And there’s no reason for you to go back to bed at this point. We’ll just have an early night.”
I grumbled my agreement under my breath, and we both split off to get dressed for the day.
After I was ready, I headed back to the kitchen and made myself a quick lunch, then started on breakfast.
I stalled out when I started to lay the bacon in the frying pan.
“Dory?” I called out. “If I make this, will you throw up?”
She started to laugh from behind me.
I turned to see her sitting at the bar, staring at me with her head in her upraised hands, elbows resting against the counter.
How long she’d been there, I didn’t know.
“I won’t throw up,” she informed me. “I’ve been doing really good since you started making it your life’s mission to fill me with sweets.”
My lips quirked. “Just wanting to fatten you up nicely so that our baby will grow big and strong.”
She smiled. “Bacon is fine right now. If that changes, I’ll head to work early.”
I rolled my eyes. “We need to figure this out with that creep. I sent out a message to Wake. Hopefully he messages me when he wakes up. I think I need to get with a few of his buddies and get them to work on our security system. If my brothers were here, I’d have them trade off following you around. I hate that you can’t go anywhere.”
She shrugged. “I think you’re confusing me with a normal woman. I’m introverted. Going out and doing things wasn’t ever something that I wanted to do. I only went half the time before because you wanted to go. I can’t say I ever really enjoyed hanging out. Being home here is more fun than anything for me.”
It hadn’t been her intention to make me feel like shit, but she did anyway.
“I’m sorry.” I winced, dropping the rest of the bacon into the frying pan. “I should’ve seen that you didn’t enjoy it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and then leaned into the counter. “I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say.”
I walked over to the sink and washed my hands, then leaned my wet hands into the counter as I said, “Then what did you mean?”
“I meant, I would much rather be home, doing nothing. But when I’m with you, I’ll do just about anything, as long as you’re near.”
That made my heart fuckin’ soar.
“Damn,” I said. “You sure do know how to make my heart ache.”
She smirked at me. “You’ve gone out of your way to make these last couple of months great for me. Leaving your family so I would be comfortable here. Keeping them at bay when we both know they want to see you. Don’t think that I didn’t miss that call you had with Shine last night when you thought I was in the shower already. You told him not to come.”
I had.
Because I didn’t want him here when we were just starting to have good times.
Shine was, by far, Dory’s least favorite fan.
Or, at least, he had been before. Shine was a great brother, if overprotective.
I knew that he was only watching out for what he thought I would want.
Yet, he’d still had a hand in making Dory feel unwelcome all these years.
And though I hadn’t done much better myself, I was trying to salvage my relationship. To make her realize that I was going to do better. Be better.