by Mia Ford
1º Edition: August 2020
©Mia Ford
HERO NEXT DOOR
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Hero Next Door
Blurb
I’m not getting myself entangled into another love situation.
Not again.
I’ve been hurt once.
My marriage ended in the worst possible way.
I moved into this new house to start afresh and focus only on my job.
And the last thing I need is a distraction.
Esme Smith, the girl next door seems to think otherwise.
Her intoxicating smile is everything that a guy could ever want and more.
Polite, as I was moving in.
Angry and rude, when I tried to talk to her.
Happy, as we drank and ate dinner.
S$xy, as we fell into bed together.
Vulnerable and afraid, as I rescued her from the fire.
And now she wants answers.
Maybe I want them too.
Am I about to fall in love again?
Content
Chapter 1 – Esme
Chapter 2 – Theo
Chapter 3 – Esme
Chapter 4 – Theo
Chapter 5 – Esme
Chapter 6 – Theo
Chapter 7 – Esme
Chapter 8 – Theo
Chapter 9 – Esme
Chapter 10 – Theo
Chapter 11 – Esme
Chapter 12 – Theo
Chapter 13 – Esme
Chapter 14 – Theo
Chapter 15 – Esme
Chapter 16 – Theo
Chapter 17 – Esme
Chapter 18 – Theo
Chapter 19 – Esme
Chapter 20 – Theo
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Chapter 1 – Esme
“Yes, Mr. Jones, right away. I’m coming. I’m just…” Oh God, why won’t he let me get a word in edge ways?
He’s always like this, always stressed, always yelling, and as his personal assistant, I get the brunt of it all. My job is simply to manage his diary and to filter out calls that he doesn’t want to take. I can’t be responsible when clients aren’t happy, when the production team don’t get things out on time, or when he loses money… yet it’s always me.
No wonder my eyes are always consumed with bags and there’s a permanent ball of stress on my shoulders. I would love nothing more than to tell Mr. Jones where to stick his job, but I don’t know where else I would go. I don’t know what else I can do but be the PA to the awful Mr. Jones. It’s all that I have done since high school and now I am twenty-four-years-old. I think I might have pigeon holed myself in to this job. No way out.
I can’t afford the transition period in between jobs anyway. I live pay check to pay check and transition time is always when there’s no money coming in. I can’t make that happen. I just can’t.
So, I stand by my front door and slide my eyes closed. I let the man take his latest rant about money out on me, trying to block out the intense pain that it causes. This isn’t personal, even if it feels it sometimes. The last thing that I need to do is cry. But even if I can feel hot tears burning and blurring behind my retinas, I can’t let them fall…
And then he’s gone. He’s hung up the phone, cutting me off before I can respond. Of course he has. Why would he stick around to listen to me? Nothing that I can say is worthwhile. Wonderful, what a great start to my Monday morning. I should have known the moment that I slept through my alarm, it wouldn’t go well.
I step outside in to the beaming, bright sun slight, allowing it to wash over me for the few seconds before I step in to my car. Once I drive to work and head in the office, there will be no more day light for me. Not a chance of getting warm because no matter what time of year it is, it’s always dark before I’m home again. I have to take a moment.
Oh! But a sound distracts me from my moment of solitude. A noise by the house next door which has been empty for a very long time. I don’t even know what happened to the last person living there, he just sort of vanished. Not that I make it a habit to get to know the people living near me. A cursory hello is okay, but that’s it. I much prefer to keep to myself because my work is so all consuming. I don’t have time for friendly coffee with the neighbors.
“Ah, hello.” A muscle man smiles at me, showing me gorgeous looking dimples as he smiles. His green eyes sparkle and his black hair shines in the sun. But it isn’t that which captivates me the most. It’s the fire fighter uniform in his hands, a genuine one, not a stripper type. He’s a man in uniform which makes me feel weak at the knees. I didn’t even know it was a fantasy of mine until this very minute when it’s staring me in the face. “My name is Theo Landon. I’m just moving in the house next door. You must be my neighbor. The woman who I will be running to in a crisis when I have run out of sugar and milk, that sort of thing. Nice to meet you.”
He smiles and extends out his hand to me in a warm welcome, but all I can think about is the pounding of my heart and the sheer ice cold terror that now I will always have to be in form. Dressed and with nice make up on, hair always brushed, just in case this hunk does turn up for something. No more sweat pants days for me…
“E… Esme Smith,” I stammer like an idiot as I take his hand. His warm giant lifesaving hand which sends a shiver of excitement racing down my spine. “My name is Esme and erm, yes, nice to meet you as well.”
Well, as first impressions go, that sure as shit was a crappy one. I can see him staring at me curiously as my cheeks heat up. I don’t know what shade of red I must be by now, but it’s utterly humiliating to the core. Still, our eyes seem to be locked in together. I can’t stop looking at him, however hard I try. I really want to drag my eyes away, to shatter the magic of this moment before it swallows me up whole and I find myself a puddle at his feet, but I can’t.
I think that it must be because Theo is the first good looking guy that I have ever laid my eyes on in a very long time. I haven’t had this weird fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach since Luke who I dated in high school. But that was just a crush, puppy love, teenage lust. I thought that was the reason it hadn't happened again, but now I’m starting to believe that there might be another reason why none of my other dates have worked out. I’ve been missing this.
What a shame that I can’t ever act on it. Not that I’m convinced a man as hot as this would like me back anyway, but I’m too filled up with my work. I don’t have time to act on it. Even if there is a small part of me right now that wants to jump on him. I would love to wrap my legs around him and cling to him forever more…
Especially if he was wearing that uniform. Wow, I bet he looks amazing in that.
“Theo, where the hell do you want this to be put?” A woman appears behind him, shaking her purple dyed hair out behind her. She has one of those show stopping smiles as well. It’s enough to have my self-consciousness flooding to the surface. I have to admit that I haven’t ever considered myself sexy or gorgeous, cute at a push, but this woman is everything that I am not. And of course she looks wonderful beside Theo, like they are meant to be. “Oh, hey.”
“Hi.” Now the intimidation levels are through the roof, I can hardly contain myself. I was just thinking about this woman’s boyfriend in a way that I definitely shouldn’t have been. I wonder if she can see it on my face.
“My name is Natasha. Good to meet you. Esme, did I hear you saying it before? That’s a nice name…”
Oh God, she’s sweet and very likeable as w
ell. Of course she is. Why wouldn’t she be? She has everything else going for her. I can’t really stand being around her to be honest, it’s too much for me. I need to escape.
“Good luck moving in.” I back away, hoping that my smile plays off well. “I have to get to work before my boss starts being even more of an asshole than before. But erm… I’m sure I will see you both around.”
Everything burns as I get in to the car, I feel like my whole body is vibrating and screaming. That was all just too much, as if my morning hasn’t been crazy enough, now I have that on my mind. Oh my God, and now I have to live next door to the hot fire fighter and his girlfriend. That really doesn’t feel fair to me…
“How’s it going?” Delia declares as she takes a seat next to me in the work canteen. She has a very sunny demeanor about her, but I suppose she can really. On the factory line she doesn’t have to deal with Mr. Jones all the time like me. If she did, she would be pale and stressed looking just like I am. “Uh oh, that good huh?”
I shrug, knowing that it must be written across my face. “Yep, pretty much. Things don’t seem to be going well. The massive order from Starks has earned us some complaints and now they might stop dealing with us…”
“Well, the boss only has himself to blame for that. He wants to use cheaper materials. This is what happens when you cut corners. And it can’t be blamed on you anyway, Esme, so why are you taking the brunt of it all?”
Before she can start on another rant about me needing to stand up for myself, which is easier said than done as far as I am concerned, I change the subject to the other thing that I am far more desperate to talk about.
“I have a gorgeous new neighbor, you know.” I giggle, feeling myself blush yet again. I can’t stop going red every time I think about Theo. He just has that effect on me, I can’t explain it. Every blood vessel inside of me reacts. “He’s a fire fighter, I think. He had the uniform and he seems really nice. Shame he has a girlfriend…”
“Aw, I was just going to suggest that you ask him out. You know me too well.” Delia slaps her palm to her forehead. “Do you know his surname? Let’s look him up online so I can see him for myself.”
“Theo Landon. I don’t know if that’s too much of a common name, but let me take a look…”
The words fall apart on my lips when I realize that she has found him already. He’s almost as good looking in his photographs, it takes my breath away just looking at him like that. And he’s definitely a fire fighter because there are pictures of him at work. I know what I am going to spend my evening looking at… wow! My heart pounds, I feel my breath get stuck in my throat, there is a buzzing at my core. I’m a mess already and this man lives beside me.
“It doesn’t say that he has a girlfriend.” Delia’s lips turn down in to a frown. “But I suppose if there was a woman moving in with him, it might just be a private thing. Shame because he is hot. How are you going to live next door to a sex god without losing your mind? Honestly, he’s making me feel things just looking at him.”
The laugh I let out this time is booming and real. Even talking about Theo and thinking about him makes everything that has happened with Mr. Jones all day long not seem quite so bad. Hey, if this guy can give me a good distraction, then I am all for it. And it’s made me think that maybe I should try and find time for dating after all. It’s something that I haven’t even thought about for years, so it’s thrilling and exciting.
“Esme,” Mr. Jones barks, bringing me back to Earth with a thump. Of course, I’m never going to have time to meet someone with him breathing down my neck. “Get back to work now, you have fucked up this invoice…”
“It’s my lunch break, I don’t even do invoices,” I say… but only in a whisper and only to Delia. I don’t have the guts to say it at Mr. Jones’ face because I have no idea where that will lead me. Nowhere good, that’s for sure. No one stands up to him for that exact reason. We’re all under his power. “See you later, Delia.”
Chapter 2 – Theo
“Natasha, I don’t know what I would have done without you.” I pull my sister in for a hug. “Thank you so much for everything that you have done. Moving house is a massive bitch, but somehow you made it fun.”
Natasha doesn’t take the praise too well, but that’s just the way she is. She always puts others before herself without even thinking about it. It won’t have even crossed her mind that she took one of her vacation days from work today just to help me out, that will just come natural to her. I honestly wouldn’t have been able to handle the explosive end of my ill-fated marriage had it not been for her. Even if Jane was the one in the wrong and it was her adultery that ended our relationship, she still had a way of making me feel like it was all my fault.
Thankfully, Natasha always ensures that I have my head screwed on straight, she brings me back to Earth whether I like it or not. If it wasn’t for her constant rounds of kindness, I don’t know where I would be now.
“I still think that it’s dangerous living this close to Jane,” Natasha declares as she pulls back. “Even a city over. That woman finds it hard to leave you alone, you know that much, but I understand why. I know that you didn’t want to change the fire station that you were working for, even if any other place would have taken you on…”
“I like my guys,” I declare with a shrug. “I like the women I work with too. I like it here. Jane has already taken so much from me, I lost my house and everything in the break up last year. I don’t want to lose that too. I don’t think that she will be bothered with me now that the divorce is finally done and she can’t get anything else from me…”
“What about when you move on?” Natasha shoots me a playful wink. “Then she might get involved. She is used to you being on your own. You’ve been single ever since you walked out on her. When that changes…”
“Believe me, I won’t be moving on any time soon,” I reply wryly. I just want to get used to my new house first, my new life without her able to bother me any longer. I’m not in any hurry to find someone else to cause me anymore hassle.”
“Not every woman is the same. Don’t judge us all on her.” Natasha pulls back to take a look at the building. “And I think that you might well have landed on your feet anyway. The house might not be as big as the last one you had, but you’ll feel like you have more space because she isn’t in the way. This will be good for you. You moved because Jane broke you and you always felt too close to her. This is supposed to be a fresh start. You have been single for over a year. Divorced for a few months after all of the legal dramas she caused, now is the time to start getting your life back. In whatever way that means… and if that means moving on then you should go with it…”
“You are probably right.” I hug Natasha again. “And thanks again for everything that you have done. I suppose I better get in and see what else I have to do… although you have done a lot of the unpacking for me.”
“You know me… I have to get everything done. I can’t help myself. I like things complete.”
“Well, it’s done now, so you can get off. I need to get organized before I head to work. An all night shift…”
“Will you be able to handle that? You’ve been working on the house all day. I didn’t realize otherwise I would have made you nap while I got everything sorted for you…” My sister looks like her head might explode…
“I can sleep now!” I reassure her with a laugh. “Plus, we all have beds at the station anyway. You know that. It really isn’t an issue. I am going to be fine. You don’t need to worry about me, you worry about yourself…”
It takes a while, but finally I get Natasha to see that everything will be okay and I see her off in the car. To be honest, once she’s gone, I realize that she really has done everything for me. She’s so speedy and efficiently organized where I couldn’t even hope to be. All I have to do is wander around and check it all out.
“Minimalistic,” I smile to myself as I declare this. “Nothing like the clutter that
I lived in before.”
Maybe my marriage has left me with less than half of what I had before I met Jane, but it doesn’t make me half a man. I don’t need to live half a life anymore because of this. This isn’t the end of my story, just the start of a new chapter, that’s all, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting afresh and seeing what happens. Since the breakup, I have just been existing, but now that I have finally worked up the courage to move away, that can change. Maybe. I don’t know, I’m not going to rush myself too much. One day at a time will be just fine.
“The neighbors seem nice too,” I say, just to fill the house with some sound. “The red head from next door is a real sweetheart. Esme, I think her name was. I want to get to know her a whole lot better.”
I can’t help but wonder what her story is. She seems sweet and quiet, but looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Something is troubling her for sure, making her worried all the time. I suppose I could have caught her in an off moment, but she had the look of someone who is always like that. The part of me who always wants to be the hero, which is what attracted me to the fire fighter path, wants to save her as well.
I don’t know if I can, I certainly shouldn’t try and interrupt her life, but if she wants help from me, I should give it. Only as a friend, of course. I’m not interested in anything more than that. It might have been a long time since me and Jane split and a fair while since the divorce was all sorted out, but still I don’t feel ready to move on. Not yet. It’s the drama, I can’t handle the constant drama, and the desire to make my life difficult. I like things to be easy, to be smooth, I want to leave the drama to work, and on my own I just know that I can make that happen.
“Hey there, hot stuff…” my friend, Frankie, cries out as he slaps a towel around my ass. “Good to see you, buddy. How did the move go? Glad to be away from that bitchy ball and chain of yours once and for all? It’s been forever.”