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“Got it. Stay right here and don’t leave until you come back. I’ve got my phone watch, remember, Daddy?” She flashed her wristband at him.
He kissed her cheek. You could never be too careful these days. “Good girl. I’ll be right back.”
He left her and made for Eloise’s office across the hall. Snow was in there. Her silver hair was braided down one shoulder, and she was a knockout in a button-up shirt with tight jeans and cowgirl boots. Attraction flared in his chest, catching Hunter completely off-guard. She was riveting as usual, and he’d had a similar reaction to her the last time they’d been in the same room together—but this was different.
Snow was distressed. Her forehead was crinkled with worry.
“Snow?” Hunter said. “What’s wrong?”
Eloise cleared her throat and stepped out from behind her desk. Chagrin washed over him. Hunter hadn’t even realized the other woman had been in the room. He’d been too fixated on Snow.
“While returning from her date with Judd today, Snow found a letter on the backseat of the car.” She offered a piece of paper to Hunter.
He frowned and scanned over the threatening words warning Snow to leave the show. It was too similar to the ones they’d received at the studio to be mistaken for anything else.
“Do you think it’s one of the rejected bachelors doing this?” Eloise asked.
Hunter rubbed his chin. “It’s hard to say.”
“The notes were happening before Tys or Preston got voted off,” Snow said.
That startled him. Notes, plural? “You’ve had more like this?”
“Only one other,” Snow said. “It was in my suite the night before the show started.”
Eloise muttered under her breath and raised a hand to her forehead, turning away to pace before coming back. “Maybe you were right. We can’t continue,” she said. “We should cancel the season.”
“I think we should let Snow have a say in that decision,” Hunter said, turning to Snow. “How are you feeling? Threatened?”
“A little frazzled,” she said, her eyes fixated on a single spot on the wall before meeting his. “Maybe you could check with the driver to see if he saw who placed this there?”
“I did. He was napping in the front seat during your date,” Eloise said.
Hunter couldn’t say he blamed the driver for taking a break, but was there some other way to keep tabs on the vehicle while he rested? Install a camera? “Was the driver the only other person with you?” Hunter asked.
“Yes. And the videographer. Today it was Hector, but I can’t see him doing anything like this. Besides, he was with Judd and me the whole time.”
Hunter had worked with Hector for several years. He was trustworthy. Eloise rifled through something on her desk and then offered Hunter the others notes they’d received. He sifted through them, categorizing details in his head. Two for the studio, and two directed personally at Snow.
“These could be nothing more than idle threats,” Hunter mused, “but the last thing I want is for you—or anyone else—to get hurt. We can cancel the show and call out the threats on the national news. That might put a stop to this.”
“You can’t cancel,” Snow said, gesturing to him. “You’ve already put so much into this.”
Hunter knew that as well as anyone. The countless dollars spent on plane tickets and wardrobe. Elirs weren’t cheap hotels, so footing the bill to put her and the other bachelors up while they stayed through the duration of the show wasn’t cheap either. And then there were the costs of the dates, the salary of the cameramen and crew. So many people relied on this show for their livelihoods.
“That’s nothing compared to people’s safety,” Hunter said. “From the look of these, whoever sent these is targeting you.”
He would not stand for that. The show needed to be cancelled. Hunter would talk to production. They would take all necessary steps. No amount of magazine subscriptions was worth this.
“I’ve had a great time getting to know the men on the show,” Snow argued. “And I haven’t found my Prince Charming yet.”
Hunter was startled at her pronouncement. “Prince Charming at the cost of what? Your life? Their lives?”
“Nothing has happened yet,” Eloise interjected. “Forget what I said before. I say we keep going. See if we can track things a little better. See if we can track who’s leaving these threatening notes.”
The decision, ultimately, was Snow’s. Hunter stared her down. She stared right back, and her eyes were incredible. Who had violet eyes and silver hair? Awareness trickled through him once more. She was gorgeous. His body responded to her in a way it hadn’t in a long time. The hair was probably dyed and for all he knew, she could be wearing contacts, but still, she was striking.
Even if she wasn’t the loveliest woman he’d seen in a long time, he wasn’t sure how they could continue.
