The Bad Boy Next Door: A Red Hot Bad Boy Romance (10 page)

“Get out of here, now, before I call the police.”

“You can’t prove anything!” Genie screamed.

“By this time tomorrow, we’ll have a copy of Reggie’s birth certificate,” Ruby said.

“Genie,” Sidney said softly. “What in the world is going on here? What have you done? Did your mother put you up to this charade?”

Genie stood, shaking violently, sobbing as her plans fell apart around her like so much rubble. Now she would never get away from her mother. Brent sure as hell wasn’t going to pay a dime for his own kid. Genie said nothing, but simply picked up Regina’s toys and tucked everything back into her little suitcase. Then amid the silence that rang out in the house, she went upstairs and packed her things. When she came back down a few minutes later, neither Regina nor Sidney were in evidence.

“They’re in Sidney’s car,” Isaac said softly. “I’m sorry Genie, but I have no idea what you were thinking or what your game was here. I don’t understand how you could do this to me.”

“You have everything,” Genie said softly, defeated. “I have nothing.”

“That isn’t my fault, and I’m not responsible for your happiness or comfort,” Isaac said, but without malice. “You should go, and you probably should lose my phone number and address as well. If, however, you want to sue her real father for what he owes I’d be willing to help.”

“Isaac,” Amanda said, warning him. He put up a hand.

“Her father needs to take responsibility,” Isaac said.

Genie shook her head. “Never mind.” And with that, she walked out the front door, down the steps, and out of their lives.

Ruby stood processing all that had happened over the last few days.
What a whirlwind
, she thought. What a drama. Amanda put an arm around her shoulder and one around Isaac’s and hugged them close.

“It’s been an interesting few days,” Amanda said simply.

Isaac went upstairs without saying anything to either of them. He felt a hole in his chest where his heart should have been. It hadn’t occurred to him that he would ever want children, and then when it looked like he had one, it was all he could do to keep his heart from bursting with love. Isaac felt like Genie had torn out his heart all over again and then stomped on it before walking off into the sunset. He knew that was a dramatic image, but he wanted nothing to do with the world for a while.

Downstairs, Amanda and Ruby sat on the couch for a little bit. “I don’t think he’s coming back down,” Amanda finally said.

Ruby nodded. “I’m going to go. I’m right next door if you need anything. I suppose I should do some real work now that the Genie drama is over.”

*

Ruby looked at the document on her computer. It was the rough draft for
The Affair in Red,
and in Ruby’s opinion, it was coming along nicely. Her main plot contained plenty of adrenaline-pumping scenes intermixed with sizzling, romantic scenes. Feedback from the Ophelia Maddox Fan Club confirmed that her readers were happy with the first book in the trilogy, and Ruby’s motto was “Don’t fix what ain’t broke.” She already had ideas for the third and final book in the series:
The Affair in Aqua,
would take her main characters into the deep blue sea. As such, Ruby knew she would need a great cliffhanger for the end of
Red
which would lead into
Aqua.

There was a knock on Ruby’s front door. She looked up at the clock and saw that it was well past dinner time, and she wasn’t expecting company.
Maybe it’s Isaac
, she thought. Maybe he was ready to talk about what had happened with Genie Randles. Upon opening the door however, Ruby saw that it was Amanda Johnson, Isaac’s aunt. She backed up a few steps and waved Amanda into her home.

“Please come in. I wasn’t expecting company and thought it might be Isaac.” It was then that Ruby noticed the pensive look on Amanda’s face. “What’s wrong? Let’s sit here in the living room.” Ruby led her into the spacious room and took a seat in one of the recliners.

Amanda had her handbag clutched to her side, cradling it. She looked at Ruby and spoke after a moment of silence. “Isaac kicked me out.”

Ruby’s face registered shock and disbelief. “He
what?!
But you’re his only relative!”

Amanda nodded. “I know. After you left I sat on the back porch reading for a bit to take my mind off of what had happened. He didn’t even come down for dinner; completely ignored my knocking on his bedroom door. Then about half an hour ago he came downstairs and asked if I would mind if we cut this visit short.”

“But why?” Ruby’s brows were still knitted together. “Did he give a reason?”

“He said he wanted to be alone with his grief. I offered to go to a hotel and give him space, but he said he just wanted to be alone for a while. I think maybe since I was so against the whole Genie thing, having me around is too much like an I-told-you-so.”

Ruby put her hand over the other woman’s and gave it a warm squeeze. “You are welcome to stay with me if you like. It’s almost ten now. No sense driving in the middle of the night after such a trying day.”

“Thank you, but I can’t impose. I’m going to a hotel tonight and heading back to St. Louis in the morning.” Amanda smiled a wan smile and reached into her hand bag. She pulled out a business card and held it out to Ruby, who took it and looked at it.

“I didn’t know you owned your own business. That’s amazing. It’s so hard these days I think with all the competition.” The card read
Hobby Farm, LTD. Amanda Johnson, Proprietress and Purveyor of artisan breads, cheeses, & free-range meat and eggs.
Two phone numbers were listed.

“Yeah, I’ve been running that farm since my husband died ten years ago. I love the place. It’s so quiet there, located at the edge of St. Louis. But look, I need to get going so you can get back to writing.”

“Oh, no, Amanda, it’s quite all right,” Ruby protested. She tucked the card into her purse next to her cell phone.

Amanda smiled. “I gave you the card so you could call me if you need anything. I like you a lot, Ruby. I think you are perfect for Isaac.”

It was Ruby’s turn to smile. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that his family likes me.”

“If he gets out of hand or you just want to talk, don’t hesitate to call.” Amanda stood and collected herself before Ruby showed her to the door.

Ruby wrote her own phone numbers on a sticky note and handed it to Amanda. “Here are my numbers as well in case you want to talk to me.”

Amanda embraced the younger woman, giving a silent prayer of thanks that this beautiful young woman was in her nephew’s life. She sent up a second silent prayer that Isaac would find his way out of the darkness that seemed to have embraced him suddenly. Then she stood up and smiled a final smile at Ruby before heading to her car and pointing it towards Dallas city limits where her hotel awaited her.

Ruby watched the woman drive away, feeling a spark of sadness that Isaac had so carelessly discarded his one and only relative. She understood grieving and that sometimes it caused people to do things they wouldn’t normally do, but it didn’t change the fact that it hurt the person on the receiving end. Ruby closed the front door and locked it up tight before getting out her cell phone and calling Isaac. It went straight to voice mail.

“Isaac, it’s Ruby. I’d like to talk to you when you have a minute. I want you to remember that both your aunt and I are here for you if you need to talk through what happened.” She hung up then, not knowing what else she could say that would make a difference right now. She went back to her office and made notes on the upcoming chapters, which would be written the following day. Then she saved her work and powered off the machine.

Suddenly she heard loud music coming through the open windows in the house. Confused, she looked out the kitchen window and saw that a bonfire was going in the back yard and all of the lights in the house were on. Ruby sighed and pushed away the frustration at being shut out when Isaac needed to be letting people in. She wasn’t going to go over there though. Ruby was determined to give Isaac his space and not make a scene. If he needed this, then so be it, but he could have told his aunt that instead of pretending he wanted to be alone.

Ruby dug out her ear plugs and went to bed after closing and locking all of the windows in the house. She took her cell phone upstairs with her in case Isaac returned her call. But he didn’t. Ruby slept through the night dreamlessly and woke up, ready for her jog at eight the next morning.

***

When she returned from her jog and before hitting the shower, Ruby called Isaac’s phone again. Again, it went straight to voicemail.

“Isaac, it’s Ruby again. Please call me. I really want to help you through this tough time you’re facing. That’s what couples do: they help each other. Please let me help you.”

Ruby lingered in the shower, letting the hot water cascade over her sore body. She lathered up a loofah sponge with coconut milk-scented body wash and gave herself a good scrub. Afterward, she ran shampoo and cream rinse through her kinky curls and let it sit before rinsing it. Ruby’s mind wandered to the dream she’d had about Isaac and then from there to the steamy session of sex in his large bathtub after their first date. She closed her eyes and recalled what it felt like to feel him inside of her, filling her to the brim with ecstasy and pleasure. Remembering the way it felt to have him cum inside of her, hot and fast, as they both rode the waves of pleasure that rippled through, and around them. Ruby bit her bottom lip as an all too familiar tingle began between her legs and the warmth moved up into her belly. Shivers ran down her spine as her mind continued to play out the scene in his bedroom: his mouth on her clit, rubbing it in slow, achingly sweet circles, before he rode her, thrusting deep inside. Ruby’s breathing was shallow and ragged as her fingers found their way to that same, sweet pink button and she brought herself to climax, still thinking about Isaac’s body against hers and inside of hers.

After her shower, Ruby lay on her bed under the ceiling fan, thinking about the Isaac situation. She looked over at her cell phone, still on the bedside table. There had been no missed calls, no text messages from anybody. Ruby suddenly remembered then that she never told Julia what happened with Genie. Brought out of her reverie, she fired off a text giving Julia the reader’s digest version. Then she got dressed in a simple sun-dress patterned in pink and black swirls. It was a casual dress that Ruby loved wearing as often as possible. As she started the coffee pot and poured a bowl of cereal for herself, Ruby found herself hoping that Isaac would call her back. She missed him, and not just because of the fantastic sex that had her panties moistening at every recollection. Ruby hadn’t felt such genuine affection for anybody in a long time. It would be disappointing to her if one bad apple like Genie Randles could ruin a good thing between the two of them.

Ruby ate her breakfast and drank her coffee in front of her computer as she worked. She was on a deadline, like all writers, but she rarely had difficulty meeting those deadlines. Ruby loved writing so much that she found herself treating it like a regular nine-to-five job. She tried to get in at least eight hours every day and at least three to six hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Her agent gave her about two full months to get the first draft in before the editing process started with less forgiving deadlines. Ruby loved the whole experience though, and was thinking about branching out into other genres. She could write under her own name and self-publish maybe.

***

Around three, Ruby’s stomach started rumbling, protesting its empty state. She rubbed her stomach and looked at the clock. She had been working all morning and most of the afternoon she realized with a start. Her phone hadn’t rung and aside from Julia inviting her out for dinner that night, no text messages had come through. She sighed and carried the phone out to the living room, closing the office door behind her. So far she had put in about six hours.
I deserve a short break,
she thought as she dialed Julia’s number.

“Hey, kiddo,” Julia’s voice came on the line.

“Hi. I’m accepting your dinner invite,” Ruby said, “I have been working since ten this morning and didn’t eat lunch. I’m running on fumes.”

“Let’s get an early dinner then?” Julia offered.

“Great. I could use a shoulder to whine on anyway,” Ruby said, biting her lower lip.

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you the whole story over dinner, but basically Isaac kicked his Aunt Amanda out and hasn’t spoken to either of us since yesterday when Genie stormed out.”

“That jerk,” Julia muttered.

“He’s going through a rough patch, but he didn’t have to shut us out completely. His aunt even offered to go to a hotel so he’d have space, but he sent her home.
Then
threw a huge party last night, which is the most frustrating bit.”

“I’ll be at your place in twenty. I’m leaving a consultation right now and I’m not too far away.”

Ruby hung up the cell phone and went back into her office to save and back up her work. She had an email from her agent, Blanca so she read it in case it was important. Her eyes widened as she read:

Ruby! How’s the book coming along? I like the first chapters you’ve sent me so far. Keep up the amazing work!