Series: Paige Michaels
Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
He knocked on her door but wasn’t surprised when he got no response. He knocked three more times before pulling out his phone and calling her. No answer. Fuck. He paced in the hallway, running a hand through his hair.
It was remotely possible she wasn’t there. After all, her car was at his house. Had she perhaps gone there first? Maybe she had. She might have believed she could get to his house, retrieve her things, including her car, and taken off before he realized she’d fled work.
Cameron turned around and jogged back out of the apartment building. All he could do was go to his place and find out. He sent her a text as he jogged back to his car.
Where are you? I know you’re mad, but you need to let me explain. Please call me.
Ten minutes later, Cameron breathed a sigh of relief as the garage door went up to reveal Aria’s car was inside. Maybe she had come here after all.
After parking next to her, he barely turned off the engine before jumping out of his SUV and rushing into the house. “Aria?” He ran toward the nursery first. Isn’t that where a sad Little girl would go to lick her wounds?
She wasn’t there. Shit.
“Aria?” he called out, louder this time. He looked in the master bedroom, the bathroom, and every other room in the house before returning to the nursery. Rexy was sitting in the crib where Aria had tucked her favorite stuffie in that morning so he could spend the day in the nursery.
There was no way she’d been here. She wouldn’t have left Rexy, and if she were hiding in the house, she would have snagged the stuffed animal to take with her.
Cameron’s heart hurt even more at the thought of his Little girl upset and devastated somewhere without her stuffie. He grabbed the dino and rushed back out to his SUV to return to her apartment. She had to be there. She must have ignored his knocking.
There were no new messages, but Cameron shot off another to her before starting the car.
I’m on my way back to your apartment. I know you’re there, Giggles. Please open the door for me when I arrive.
Cameron was breathing heavily by the time he got back to her door. He knocked hard, making sure she couldn’t possibly not hear him. No answer. No text either. He called, and it went to voicemail.
Tucking Rexy under his arm, he sent another text.
Aria, Little one, please open the door. Let me explain.
He paced the hallway. Minutes ticked by. He wasn’t sure what to do. No way was he going to leave. He would stand out here all night if he had to. He hated that his Little girl was probably inside, probably crying, definitely devastated.
Eventually, an older woman came around the corner from down the hall. She was carrying a bag of groceries, and she didn’t stop until she reached Cameron. He smiled politely and nodded.
She shifted the sack to one hand, pulled out her keys, and unlocked the door directly across the hall. “Are you waiting for someone?” she asked.
He pointed at Aria’s door. “Yes, Aria. I’m worried she fell asleep or something. She’s not answering the door or the phone.”
The woman’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my. Are you related to her?”
“I’m her boyfriend,” he admitted. He didn’t want to scare this woman, but he didn’t want to lie either.
The woman smiled. “Oh, how sweet. I’m so glad she’s dating a nice man. You look like a nice man.” She glanced down at the stuffie tucked under his arm and smiled wider. She didn’t comment on it though.
Cameron forced another polite smile. “I like to think so. I certainly adore Aria. I’m in love with her.” It was the first time he’d said it out loud to someone other than Aria. He had no idea why he was telling her neighbor, but it just slipped out.
The older woman set her groceries down just inside the door and put a hand over her heart. “Oh, young love. You must be worried about her.”
“Very.” Understatement.
The woman’s eyes widened again. “Oh, I have a key to her place. She left it with me in case she ever got locked out.”
Blessed angels. “Oh, ma’am, that’s wonderful. Could I borrow it for a moment?”
The woman suddenly narrowed her eyes. “How do I know for sure you’re her boyfriend and not some crazy stalker who’s come to kidnap and rape her?”
Cameron winced. “I guess you don’t.” He pulled out his ID and handed it to the woman. “Take a picture of my ID. That way if anything happens to her, you’ll be able to tell the police the last person you saw with her.”
The woman looked skeptical, and she scrutinized the ID very carefully, looking back and forth from Cameron to the small card. “Looks like you.”