Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,51

okay. She insisted that she could handle herself and I don’t doubt that, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since the moment I drove away.

I should go and check on her.

I glance down at my watch and let out a sigh. It’s coming up to midnight and she’s on shift tomorrow. It would be a dick move to show up at her place right now, but what if something had happened. I grab my phone out of my pocket and light up the screen. There are no messages from her checking in, though why would there be? It’s not like I had a second to ask her to text me. Fuck, I don’t think I’ve even given her my number.

This whole situation is screwed up. I just spent an hour over dinner explaining to her that I want to be with her and that I’m serious about us moving forward as a couple, yet I didn’t give her my goddamn phone number. What the fuck is wrong with me? She probably thinks I was just fucking with her. I don’t even have her number, so I can’t check-in and make sure that she’s alright. I could probably steal it from the hospital employee records, but I’d feel as though that was crossing a line.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I push off the wall and start making my way out of the hospital. My job is done here. There’s no point hanging around. I have three inductions tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep before I put three separate women and their newborns’ lives into my hands. It doesn’t pay to be sleep deprived.

I get out to the underground parking lot and find my cherry-red Ferrari staring back at me. It's practically a ghost town down here, but it always is at this time of night. After dropping down into the driver’s seat and feeling the engine rumble through the car, I hit the gas and get the fuck out of here.

I get ten minutes down the road, and just when I need to turn left to head toward my place, I feel the steering wheel beneath my hands shifting to the right and leading me downtown toward Autumn’s place.

What the hell am I doing? She’s bound to think I’m a fucking stalker, yet I can’t find it in me to turn around.

After seven minutes of arguing with myself, I bring my Ferrari to a stop outside Autumn’s apartment complex and look across the road at the rundown bar. I can either go in there and fuck myself up, or I can man up and go and check on my woman.

Yeah, it’s not a hard fucking choice.

I scan the empty streets in suspicion before climbing out of the car and locking the doors. There's a good chance a car like mine could disappear in this part of town, but I have more important things to worry about than an insurance claim. After hashing in the code I’d watched her put in after the drunken night at the bar, I walk through the doors of Autumn's building, pausing outside her door.

Leaning against the door frame, I try to convince myself that this is a bad idea. What woman would want to waste her time with a guy who leaves her alone at a restaurant? In my experience, that’s when the woman decides it’s too hard. They want me to put them first and don’t understand that no matter what, my job will always take that place. It’s just the way it has to be, but I feel like Autumn could be the one to actually understand that.

Before I convince myself to walk away and leave her alone, my knuckles rap against the wooden door.

My head hangs as I lean against the doorframe and I find myself listening carefully to every little sound coming from within the apartment. It’s dead silent and for a brief moment, I wonder if she’s already gone to bed. Though, why wouldn’t she? It’s well after midnight now.

I’m just about to walk away when I hear the familiar sound of a metal lock sliding out of place before watching as the door handle twists.

I suck in a breath and pull myself back so that I’m not overtaking her doorway, and not a second later, my girl appears before me in nothing but a ‘Hello Kitty’ tank and a pair of cotton shorts that have me desperate to get her inside.

Autumn stands in her