The Bad Boy Next Door: A Red Hot Bad Boy Romance (8 page)

“Yeah. She’s picking outfits out for Regina.”

“On your dime?” Amanda’s voice rose a notch, her anger getting the best of her.

“No,” Isaac answered after hesitating.

“That’s a yes. Let me talk to her,” Amanda demanded.

Isaac handed the phone to Genie who had an exasperated look on her face. “Hi, Amanda.”

“Don’t you ‘hi, Amanda’ me, Genie Randles,” Amanda said sharply. “You had better hold up your end of the bargain. I put you in touch with my nephew against my better judgment. Now you had better be on the phone with my lawyer
tomorrow
to arrange the DNA test.”

“What’s that?” Genie asked. “The connection is breaking up. Sorry.” She hung up the phone.

Amanda stared at her cell phone, fighting the urge to slam it to the ground.
That little twit.
She went upstairs to the spacious master bedroom and threw her suitcase onto the bed. She began stuffing clothing into it, mentally planning for the trip she was about to take. Amanda felt like she couldn’t get there fast enough.

***

Genie handed the phone back to Isaac and picked up several more outfits and set them in the basket. Isaac watched her tossing several outfits in without looking at the price tags. They were in La Petite, an upscale children’s boutique, which Genie had chosen. Isaac took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I thought you only wanted one or two new outfits for pictures when Reggie gets here?”

Genie rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Isaac. Our little princess deserves nice new things, doesn’t she? We can afford it.”

We?
Isaac wondered if his Aunt Amanda was on to something. He put a hand on Genie’s arm. “Do you have enough to cover the cost of all these clothes? This is a pretty expensive place.”

Genie looked surprised. “Oh, I guess I just assumed that you would want to buy these for your daughter.” She continued looking at him steadily.

Isaac closed his eyes, feeling tension building between his shoulder blades. He suddenly missed having Ruby’s arms wrapped around him. Isaac opened his eyes and shook his head. “No. I’m already considering paying the enrollment fee for her private school.”

Genie dropped the hand basket she had been carrying and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Let’s go then. Reggie doesn’t need new clothes. I will, however, need the enrollment fee soon. I have to send it to the school with the application.”

Isaac nodded and they walked out of the store. Awkward silence reigned on the way back to Isaac’s house. Genie stared sullenly out the passenger window and Isaac stared straight ahead out the windshield. When they pulled into Isaac’s driveway, he handed over the house keys.

“I’m going to Ruby’s for a bit. Go ahead and let yourself in. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I need to smooth things over with her.”

Genie’s lower lip stuck out in a pout. “Smooth what over? She was way out of line trying to tell you what to do with your money.”

Isaac didn’t respond. He walked up the steps to Ruby’s front door and knocked loudly in case she was in her back office. She opened the door a minute later with a little smile.

“Hi there,” she said. “Where’s Genie?”

“I sent her into the house. I want to apologize for jumping down your throat earlier,” Isaac said. “Can I come in for a minute?”

Ruby stepped back and ask Isaac entered the house, he put an arm around her waist and bent down to kiss her deeply. “I’m sorry,” he whispered when he pulled back.

Ruby responded by pulling him to her again and kissing him as deeply as he kissed her. “Forgiven.”

“My aunt Amanda is coming down to see me in a couple of days,” Isaac said. “I want you to meet her. I think you two will like each other a lot.”

“Sounds good,” Ruby replied, closing the door behind herself and pulling Isaac over to the couch. “Got time to say a while?”

Isaac grinned wide. “Always.”

Chapter10

Ruby stood up and pulled her tee shirt over her head. Isaac’s eyes widened slightly as she proceeded to unfasten her bra and let it drop ever so slowly to reveal her plump breasts. She licked her thumbs and ran the moistened digits over her nipples, leaving a trail of moisture behind. Isaac smiled and Ruby flicked her tongue at him, never breaking eye contact. Ruby swayed her hips in a circle lowering herself to her knees. Isaac bit his lower lip and clenches his fists lightly on his jeans. His mouth went slack as Ruby unbuttoned his pants and slid them down to his ankles, freeing his hardening manhood.

“What are you going to do?” Isaac asked playfully.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Ruby asked in return as she took his hard length into her mouth and began sucking as she lifted and lowered her head.

Isaac moaned and ran his hands through her hair. His hands fisted in her dark black curls and he coaxed her deeper onto his shaft, until he could feel himself at the back of her throat. He leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of the moistness of her mouth and the soft suckling feeling coupled with her expert hands massaging his shaft as she lifted her head off of it.

Ruby felt herself growing wet and the tell-tale tingling of arousal had her pulling his shaft out of her mouth so she could lean back on her heels. Isaac cupped her breasts in his hands and squeezed the nipples gently, eliciting a moan from Ruby’s parted lips. She arched her back lightly and unbuttoned her jeans. As she stood, Ruby slid the jeans down her legs slowly stepping just out of reach when Isaac tried to make a playful grab at her panties.

“No, no, lover boy,” she said with a grin. Having discarded her jeans, Ruby slid a finger under the waistband of her panties, sliding it down until she was touching herself. Isaac took a deep breath and licked his lips, imagining all the things he was going to do to that body.

“You want some of this?” Ruby asked, continuing to pleasure herself.

Isaac lunged for her, sending them both rolling on the floor laughing. With one hand Isaac ripped the lace from her body and with the other hand he guided himself inside of her. Grabbing the floor for leverage, Isaac plunged himself deep inside Ruby’s tight pussy. She moaned, arching her back and coming almost immediately. Isaac grunted and thrust into her harder and harder, until she became aroused again, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

“Yes,” she moaned loudly.

“Mmm,” Isaac moaned in her ear. His tongue found its way to her mouth and they explored one another, hot and fast. Isaac felt a desperate need to feel himself inside of her, and as he continued thrusting, he rolled over on his back so she was on top.

Ruby felt herself impaled on his shaft even deeper as she was pulled down on top of him. Her hormones and emotions ran as wild as mustangs on the open plains. She moaned and pumped her hips harder up and down on Isaac until she felt it pulse and throb, a sign that he was about to cum. She grabbed his hands and coaxed one to her breast and the other to her clit, rubbing it hard until they came together, moaning and clinging to one another. Isaac obliged her by applying pressure to her button with his thumb, and running it in circles, activating the cluster of nerve ending there that send ripples of intense pleasure up and down her spine.

They lay on the floor of Ruby’s living room, spent and exhausted. Ruby closed her eyes and breathed deeply, fully content. Isaac was tracing patterns on her stomach with his finger tip, up around her breasts, down to her belly button, to the pubic hair between her thighs.

“I better get back home,” he said eventually after some time had passed.

Ruby sighed and rolled over on her side, “I guess you should. Don’t be tempted by that bossy boots though. You’re mine.”

Isaac laughed. “No worries there. I have a firm boundary between us where physical contact is concerned. I won’t even shake her hand,” he said.

The two of them dressed and Isaac gave her another deep kiss before departing for his own domicile. Ruby watched him until he had gone into his own house and the porch light went off. Then she went upstairs and ran herself a hot bubble bath before bed.

***

Genie let herself into Isaac’s house and rummaged through his desk. She found his checkbook and several bank statements. As she was running a finger down the page looking at the kinds of things Isaac was spending his inheritance on, her phone rang. It was her mother. Genie answered, thinking fast, She hadn’t told her mother what she was up to, and no doubt Judith was wondering why she hadn’t heard from her only daughter in two days.

“Hi, Mom,” Genie said, keeping her voice bright.

“Where are you?” Judith demanded.

“Out and about. Why? Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is
not
okay,” Judith said sharply. “I saw a man sitting outside my house yesterday and today. I saw the same man behind me in traffic when I was going to the grocery store, and I could swear that I saw him take a picture of me.”

Genie furrowed her brow. “What? Are you sure?”

“
Yes
I’m sure,” Judith huffed.

“Did he approach you or do anything else?” Genie was starting to worry a little. She remembered that once her mother had been so drunk she’d insisted that strange men in black suits were doing medical experiments on her in the middle of the night. Was she starting to crack up again?

“No. Where are you?”

“Out and about like I said,” Genie repeated.

“Why haven’t you been to work in two days?”

Genie’s breath caught. Damn, she forgot her mom had her work phone number. “I just decided to take a couple personal days. No big deal.” Genie looked out the window to make sure Isaac wasn’t coming. She tucked the statements back into their drawer and shut it. Then she went upstairs to rummage through his dresser.

“Why is Regina at the babysitter’s house?” Judith persisted.

“Jesus Christ, Mom,” Genie finally said. “Why am I getting the third degree about this?”

“Because I think you’re in Texas. With your ex-boyfriend Isaac Ross,” Judith said in a self-satisfied tone.

Genie stopped dead in her tracks. “Why would you think that?”

“Because when your boss said you’d taken a couple of days off, I called your sitter to ask if you’d dropped Regina off the last two days. She told me she was leaving tomorrow to bring Regina to Texas.”

Dammit, dammit, dammit!
Genie made a furious mental note to tell Sidney
not
to give information so freely to Judith. Genie hated that she was twenty-five and her mother still treated her like she was some errant teen in need of a babysitter herself. Not wanting to deal with her mother any longer, Genie hung up the cell phone without saying anything further. She turned it off to avoid having it ringing off the hook when Judith inevitably called her back. It was bad enough that damn attorney kept calling and leaving messages for her. Genie had zero intention of following through with any DNA testing

“Now, if I were Isaac, where would I keep my ‘rainy day’ cash?”

***

Isaac let himself in through the unlocked front door. The house was dark, he noticed as he looked at the clock face. Its green light informed him that it was midnight. Isaac went upstairs and into the bathroom to get ready for bed. The house was silent, and Isaac figured Genie must have gone to bed long ago. As he was passing the guest room in which she had stowed her things, he stopped suddenly. Moonlight poured in through the window and across the bed. The empty bed, Isaac noted. His brows knit together as he wondered where in the world Genie was. He checked the other two guest rooms; both were empty.

Isaac sighed heavily. There was only one bedroom left in the house:
his.
She must have cooked up some scheme and invited herself to sleep in his bed, he decided. Isaac crept silently on the balls of his feet, not wanting to wake her, wherever she was. He peeked into his room, which was on the same side of the house as her guest room, and so the moon streamed in through the window and fell across Genie’s sleeping form. Isaac shook his head and made his way to one of the empty guest rooms. He closed and locked the door and slid between the sheets.

***

Genie awoke the next morning, disappointed to find that she was all alone in the big, king-sized bed. She felt first frustrated and then upset that Isaac had spent all night with
her
. Genie racked her brain devising a plan for getting Ruby Schmidt, romance novelist, out of Isaac’s life for good. The woman asked too many nosy questions about things that were none of her damn business. Genie’s second plan was to convince Isaac that a non-profit was the worst way to spend his inheritance. She never did find his rainy day cash stash, which surprised her. The Isaac Ross she knew from back in high school always had money stashed away somewhere.
I’ll just have to look harder next chance I get.

She rolled out of bed finally and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Genie didn’t forget that she had undressed before getting into bed the night before. She had hoped Isaac would crawl into bed next to her and be reminded of how good she was to him, physically. Genie noticed one of the guest bedroom doors was shut. She tried the knob—locked. She sighed and got dressed before trudging downstairs to turn on her phone.
Might as well get all the voicemails out of the way
, she thought.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, Genie saw that it was eleven. Through the window of the front door she saw a woman’s form with the rising sun silhouetting her.

“Damn that Ruby,” Genie said, spitting the words out. She hollered up the stairs for Isaac to get out of bed and then opened the door, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Amanda Johnson on the other side of the screen door.

“Good morning, Genie,” Amanda said, all smiles and sunshine. She wore a yellow, wide-brimmed straw hat and a white sun dress with yellow flowers on it. She had a suitcase in one hand and her purse over her shoulder. Without waiting for Genie to invite her in, Amanda pushed past the girl and set her suitcase down in the living room before looking around the lower floor of her nephew’s new house.

“Hi, Amanda,” Genie said slowly. Her stomach felt suddenly hollow.

“Where’s Reggie?” Amanda asked, making direct eye contact with Genie.

“The nanny is bringing her today, so I don’t know if there’s room for all of us here,” Genie responded sharply.

“Then you better get a hotel,” Amanda said with a smile, which grew wider when she saw Genie’s mouth open in surprise. “You might want to put some more clothes on, too. This isn’t a flop house, and my nephew’s girlfriend lives next door. Show some damn respect.”

Genie hadn’t recovered from the first shock and took a few steps backward, away from Amanda as the woman continued attacking her verbally. Before she could gather her wits to form a reply, Amanda had already turned away to pull Isaac into a hug. He came down stairs, rubbing his eyes, wearing only a pair of swim trunks. Isaac wrapped his arms tight around her.

“Aunt Mandy! I’m so glad you’re here. It’s getting to be quite the party,” he said.

“Indeed,” Amanda replied. “Where shall I put my stuff?”

“I’ll show you.” Isaac turned to Genie. “I’ll put a plaque on your door so you don’t lose your way to your room again.”

Genie felt her cheeks burn. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Instead, she went up to her room and put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, replacing the short kimono-style robe she had been wearing previously. Afterward, she scrubbed the negativity away by washing her face. Genie went downstairs and out the back door to sit by herself for a bit on the patio there. It was private, so she could listen to her messages in peace. Two were from her mother, threatening to disown her if she didn’t share a piece of the action. Genie rolled her eyes at these and deleted them. Two were from Amanda Johnson’s attorney, Bartholomew J. Higgins. He was requesting a call back to arrange a suitable time for a DNA test. Those were deleted without response as well.

Genie put her knees under her chin and rocked back and forth to clear her head. Her plan had been simple and straight forward. Now Amanda showed up ahead of schedule and some guy was following her mom around. It was all too weird, and too much of a coincidence. Genie felt like she was getting in over her head, but forced the thought away.
See it through. You just need that five grand and then you can disappear again
. Finally she stood and went back into the house.

She saw Amanda and Isaac both sitting on the couch in his living room. They stopped speaking the moment Genie walked in, and Isaac looked away from her.

“What?” she asked, one hand on her slender hip.

“You didn’t tell Isaac my condition for putting you back in contact with him, did you?” Amanda accused, keeping her voice even.

Genie sighed and pleaded with Isaac. “It’s none of her business, Isaac. You’re an adult, a grown-ass man. You can decide whether or not to be part of Reggie’s life. Amanda has no business making that choice for you.” She stopped talking when she saw that Amanda’s face flushed with suppressed ire and Isaac’s eyes narrowed at Genie.