Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 41635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“Been busy at work,” I say. “Do you know where Dr. Hill is?”
She shrugs. “In his office, I think.”
“Okay, thanks.” I turn to leave.
“Do you know where it is?” she calls after me.
I wave to her. “Yep, thanks!” It occurs to me that I probably shouldn’t know how to get there, but whatever. She says she’s his friend, so it doesn’t matter if she makes some assumptions.
I reach the elevator and ride it up. Taking the stairs does occur to me, but I decide against it. I don’t want to show up at his office sweating and out of breath, although I bet he’d like that.
I step out onto his floor and follow the empty halls to the far corner. I remember the way, mostly because it’s such an odd walk. There’s nothing up here, even though there’s enough room to pack a hundred more patients and nurses and doctors into the rooms and empty stations.
It feels even stranger without Aiden to guide me. I hurry along, trying not to glance at the empty beds, wondering what happened in each of them.
I find his office door at the end of another empty hall. The fluorescent lighting feels strange somehow, like the whole place is darker even though it’s still early evening and the sun hasn’t set yet. I walk slower toward his door, which is shut, but I can hear some strange sound.
It’s almost like… moaning.
I stop dead in my tracks.
Moaning. Coming from his office.
What the hell?
I stare at the door. I should turn away, run back downstairs, pretend I never heard any of this.
Instead, I walk right up to it and press my ear against the wood.
I stand there, unmoving, listening to the noises inside.
Nobody speaks. There are no words coming from inside his office.
Just the occasional grunt, the low-throated moan.
I step back, eyes wide.
There’s a woman in that office.
I move away from his door, heart hammering. I know we’re not exclusive or anything. Heck, we’re not even dating. We’re not together at all.
But I thought… I thought there was something between us.
Maybe it’s my fault. I’ve been so busy at work, staying late to finish this big last-minute advertising project that I was tapped to illustrate for, I haven’t had time to come visit Grandmom. Which also means I haven’t had time to see Aiden.
Maybe he thinks I forgot about him. I mean, he was asking about me.
I just don’t understand. Why would a man ask about me, want to see me, and then go sleep with someone else like three days later?
I walk back to the door. I walk away from it. I pace around the hall, trying to decide what the hell to do.
I should just leave. This is weird, way too weird. I should walk away and pretend like I heard nothing. Aiden doesn’t owe me a freaking thing.
But I’m angry. The more I stand here, the angrier I feel. I almost want to kick in that door and scream at him.
He made me call him Daddy…
I press my ear against the door. I don’t hear anything this time. I listen closer, waiting, willing my heart to beat slower.
Nothing. And then a rustle.
I jump back from the door, eyes wide. I hurry away, dodging into an empty room and stepping behind the curtain just as his office door opens and a woman steps out.
She’s tall and thin, almost Aiden’s height. He follows her and she turns back to him.
“Thank you, Dr. Hill,” she says. “That was very… helpful.”
He nods once. I watch them from the window to the room I’m in, hiding in the shadows, tucked behind the curtain.
“I’m glad it helped.”
The woman hesitates before turning away. They don’t say anything else as she leaves. I listen to her heels clack on the floor until she disappears around the corner.
Aiden hesitates in his doorway, watching her go. I study his face, wondering what he’s thinking, but it’s mostly blank. I can’t read it at all.
Finally, he turns away and disappears back into his office.
I come out from the room I was hiding in and stare at his door. I don’t know what to feel or think right now.
I should just ask him. He’s a doctor, after all. Maybe that was just a patient, or his sister, or something…
But those moans.
I shake my head. He’s an asshole. Don’t forget it.
I walk quickly away, hurrying toward the stairwell.
8
Aiden
I don’t see Ruby for five full days before I run into her outside of her grandmother’s room.
Five full days. I know she’s visited at least twice in that time. Jackie even mentioned that she was looking for me.
But she’s been avoiding me somehow. I don’t know how or why or what she’s thinking, but I haven’t been able to track her down until right now.
She spots me and freezes, like a rabbit in front of a car. I stare at her, almost angry. I think she’s going to say something to me, but instead she turns and bolts away.