Page 12 of Protecting Paige

But that officer doesn’t know Paige. He doesn’t know that she wouldn’t just hang up on me without explanation. He doesn’t know that she always stays home in the evenings, working on her house or watching HGTV. And he didn’t hear the fear in her voice when she told me she thought someone was inside her house.

Shit.

Someone was in her house.

I’m sure of it.

Which means the chances of Paige being okay are nowhere near what I want them to be.

As I fly past the mile markers on the way to Fredericksburg, all the horrible stories I’ve read about—serial killers and violent offenders and human traffickers preying on the innocent—bombard me, but this time with Paige as the victim.

Shit.

I slam my palm on the steering wheel, welcoming the sting of pain. Anything to distract from the terrible images in my head.

She can’t be hurt. Can’t be taken. Can’t be?—

No.

NO.

I refuse to consider it.

Not when there’s so much left to discover between us.

All the reasons for keeping Paige at a distance are gone. Swept away in this storm of fear and panic and urgency.

She wouldn’t think it was creepy; asking her out after talking for so long.

And do I really believe Paige would judge me for my scars? Or have I been letting my own insecurities control me?

If she’s okay…

I’ll ask her out. And if she agrees, I’ll take her on a date as soon as she’s willing. We can have dinner—Italian, our favorite—and go to a movie. Or check out one of the breweries she’s mentioned, play some darts or pool. Talk until closing time, and maybe when I bring her home, we’ll share our first kiss.

The possibility of a future with Paige stretches out ahead of me, filled with things I’d given up hoping for until I met her. A partner. A lover. A best friend. A woman I’d do anything to make happy.

A woman I’d do anything to protect.

Not that I didn’t feel like that about Raisa once. She was my wife, after all, and I took my vows seriously.

But with Paige… It’s different.She’sdifferent.

Now I get it; how my friends felt when the women they cared about were in danger. The fear is all-encompassing. It’s a balloon expanding inside me until there’s no room for anything else. It’s a feeling that nothing can ever be okay unless Paige is safe.

My phone chimes with an incoming text. A message appears on the dashboard, superimposed over the map already displayed there. It’s from Niall.

Do you need backup? Nolan’s in Arlington. He could be to you in an hour. Want me to send him?

I hesitate before responding.

Backup would be nice. But I’m less than ten minutes out now, and I don’t want to wait. Especially not knowing what’s in store. If it’s nothing, just a misunderstanding, I don’t want to dragmy old Army buddy out to Fredericksburg when it’s nearly ten o’clock at night.

And if I get there and it’s a shitshow of epic proportions? Then I’ll need all the backup I can get.

So I quickly dictate my reply.

I’m good for now. Almost there, so I want to do a recon. If I need backup, I’ll let you know.