Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Not since the kidnapping.
But there had been extenuating circumstances. Like her house about to flood. Speaking of . . . she best go clean that up. And maybe deal with her ankle, which was still throbbing.
The cute guy shifted around on the front stoop. Probably wondering if she was going to come back out.
Yeah, she didn’t plan on doing that.
Except . . . why was he here? What did he want? No one ever came to visit her.
Maybe because you never go anywhere to meet anyone.
And that was starting to feel lonely. She wasn’t used to being on her own. Before the kidnapping she’d gone out to work each day. She’d had Laura and Brad.
Now, she had no one.
“He’s probably just selling something. Or maybe he’s the leader of some strange sect who has come to convince me to join.” She watched him reach up and knock on her door.
Should she leave him out there? He had been nice enough to help her.
But he’d seen her nipples.
How could she look someone in the face who’d seen her nipples?
He’d sworn that he only had a brief glimpse, though.
Maybe she should be insulted by how quickly he’d looked away. She knew there wasn’t much there to see. She’d lost a lot of weight in the last few months.
More than she could really afford to lose.
So, yep. There wasn’t a lot there.
“Miss? Are you in there?” There wasn’t any sound on her camera, but she could hear him calling out through the front door. Maybe she should have bought a place with an electronic gate. That was going on her list.
He knocked again, starting to look anxious.
Come on, Autumn. Be brave. The least you can do is see what he wants.
Although, this time she’d take an actual stun gun with her, not a banana.
Grabbing her stun gun from her handbag, she moved to the door. She didn’t think he wanted to hurt her, considering he’d just helped her. But she’d learned to be careful.
Heart racing, she took a moment to just breathe. Last thing she needed was to pass out from an anxiety attack. She hadn’t had one in a few weeks. It was a new record.
Push it down deep, Autumn.
Wait? Where was Freddy? She needed him. He was her emotional stuffy. He went everywhere with her. Oh, she’d set him on the bed when she’d gotten changed.
Limping back to her bedroom, she grabbed Freddy Fox and stuffed him down her bra. Then she shoved her stun gun in the pocket of her sweatpants before making her way to the front door.
“Just open the door, Autumn. He’s not going to hurt you.”
She hoped. But she didn’t know him.
“He could have hurt you when you ran out the front door.”
That was true. She started to feel better.
“And he looks cute and sweet.”
Right. Exactly.
“But looks can be deceiving. People let Mr. Creepy Smile hold their baby and look at what a nightmare he was.” This guy could be a serial killer and no one would know.
Okay, she was back to being nervous.
“But what are the odds of something like that happening twice?”
Pretty slim, she’d think.
“Um, ma’am?” he said through the door.
She winced. Ma’am? Did she look like a ma’am? Would a ma’am have an emotional stuffy? Not that anyone knew about Freddy Fox.
He was her dirty little secret. Well, not that he was actually dirty. He was a clean little foxy.
“Please don’t call me ma’am, it sounds like my grandma. Call me Autumn.”
“Uh, sure, Autumn. Hi.”
“Hi.”
Wow. Could the two of them get more awkward?
“Autumn, I’m not sure if you know this, but I could, uh, kind of hear every word you just said.”
“Oh shit. You heard me call you a serial killer?”
“Um, well. No. You didn’t say that part out loud.”
Good. Lord. She smacked her hand against her forehead. Sometimes, she needed a gag.
“Or I’d settle for a pacifier.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Did I say that part out loud?” she asked in a squeaky voice.
“What part out loud?” he asked.
Whew. He hadn’t heard her. Or maybe he had and was just being polite. Either way, she was going to pretend that he hadn’t heard her.
“Nothing!”
“Listen, if you’re worried about opening the door to me, let me give you some identification.” He slid his driver’s license under the door. That was trusting of him.
“Nice photo,” she told him as she picked it up.
It wasn’t. It was terrible. He looked like he’d just had a fright.
“It’s an awful photo.”
“It really is,” she agreed. “Were you given a fright or hit by lightning or something beforehand?”
“No, I’m just really unphotogenic. Here, this is my work ID.”
He slid another card under the door. Whoa. He really wasn’t photogenic. She held both of them up. His name was Brody McClain. Cute.
“You’re very trusting with your identification.”
“Um, yeah. Don’t tell my boss, huh? He’ll ream me a new one.”