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)
She certainly hadn’t been offended. Nor had she set him straight. Instead, she’d seemed to sit on that stool and absorb his observation with curiosity.
Cameron speculated she’d had no idea she was Little until she’d met a few other Littles, probably at Little Cakes. Riley and her friends didn’t exactly hide their age-play lifestyle.
Aria didn’t argue with him. As she turned her attention to the daycare area, he stared at her profile. He could swear he’d seen her someplace before. She looked familiar. He’d been trying to place where he might have seen her ever since she’d perched on his barstool.
He’d done a mental tally of all the places he usually frequented and had come up blank. She didn’t work at CC’s Purrfect Coffee where he often indulged in a latte on Sunday mornings. He would remember that.
He’d tried to picture her at his bank, the dentist office, or the pharmacy, but none of those had panned out in his mind.
Wherever he knew her from, he was confident this was not how she dressed. Scrubs? A uniform for a delivery service? Workout clothes at the gym? A suit?
Cameron’s breath hitched. That was it. This woman wore a pencil skirt, heels, and a bun in her hair. He knew it. And then he stopped breathing when he realized where he knew her from. She worked for the same company as he did. He was certain.
There was no chance she’d recognized him. She would have panicked. He wondered if she was going to be mortified to find out, and he knew he couldn’t keep the truth from her. That would make things worse.
“We should talk,” he murmured near her ear.
She glanced at him again. “About what?”
Was she trembling? He hoped to hell she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He’d done a doubletake the moment she’d stepped into the bar, and he’d been watching her closely ever since.
Her innocence and naivete called to his Dominant. He wanted to introduce her to everything in this club. Himself. Not someone else. He wanted to be the one to guide her and educate her. But first, he had to jump this hurdle.
He nodded over his shoulder and grabbed her hand again to give a slight tug, encouraging her to follow him. As he led her down the hallway, he took a quick glance in both directions, looking for a private room that might be open.
Finally, he found one and stepped inside.
“Uh, Cameron?” She hesitated at the entrance. “What are we doing?”
He released her hand and took a step back. “Talking, Little one. I need to tell you something. I didn’t want to tell you in front of other people.”
She glanced back down the hallway in the direction they’d come. “I don’t know you and…”
He drew in a deep breath. “The thing is, you do. Or at least I know you. I’ve been racking my brain since you arrived, knowing I’d seen you before. You work for Tilden’s. I believe you’re an engineer. A production manager.”
She gasped and turned around. “Shit. Shit shit shit,” she muttered. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
He hated making her feel uncomfortable. “Aria, it’s fine. I would never tell a soul.”
She spun back around, groaning. “You work in HR, don’t you?” She looked him up and down. “I didn’t recognize you without a suit and tie.”
He smiled and nodded. “That’s me.” For some reason it pleased him that she at least finally recognized him. It might have taken a chunk out of his self-esteem if she’d continued to stare at him with no recognition. “I’m pretty vanilla when I’m at work. I shed that side of myself when I’m at Blaze.”
She licked her full lips. “I see that.” Finally she stepped farther into the room, and he was so glad. She also shut the door and leaned against it. “You promise you won’t tell anyone I was here? I won’t come back. It’s your space. I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ll never tell anyone I saw you either.”
He frowned. “Aria, that’s not the response I was hoping for.”
Her eyes went wide. “You’re going to rat me out?”
He flinched. “God, no. Never. Aria, it’s against club rules to ever out someone’s private life. I would never do such a thing. You have my word. What I meant was I’d rather you stayed and enjoyed yourself. I’d rather you let me take you on a date instead of pretending you’ve never met me before.”
“A date?” Her voice rose.
“Yes. A date. I’d come to your house and pick you up, and we’d go to dinner.”
She stood frozen, staring at him as if he’d sprouted two heads. “That seems like a dangerous idea.”
“Why? I promise I’m a safe driver. I’m also a nice guy. I would never do anything to endanger you.”