Professor next Door

by Summer Cooper

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  PROFESSOR NEXT DOOR

  SINGLE DAD VIRGIN ROMANCE

  SUMMER COOPER

  Table of Contents

  Personal Note

  1. Galen

  2. Tara

  3. Galen

  4. Tara

  5. Tara

  6. Galen

  7. Tara

  8. Galen

  9. Tara

  10. Tara

  11. Galen

  12. Tara

  13. Galen

  14. Tara

  15. Galen

  16. Tara

  17. Galen

  18. Tara

  19. Galen

  20. Tara

  21. Galen

  22. Tara

  23. Galen

  24. Tara

  25. Galen

  26. Tara

  27. Galen

  28. Galen

  Author’s Note

  Paranormal Romance Collection

  Contemporary Romance Collection

  Exclusive Never Before Published Bonus Book

  Deleted Scenes

  Summer Cooper

  Copyright © Lovy Books Ltd, 2017

  Summer Cooper has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Lovy Books Ltd

  20-22 Wenlock Road

  London N1 7GU

  FREE!

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  signing up at summercooper.com/10-free-books

  Summer is currently working on her next book, so she’s trying to stay away from the internet! However, if you wish to get in touch, please email her at hello@summercooper.com and she’ll get back to you as soon as she can.

  Personal Note

  To my lovely readers,

  Thank you for choosing to read my book. I really hope that I can bring you some joy with my words.

  To extend your reading pleasure, I’ve included a few bonus short stories right after the main story.

  Please refer to the Table Of Contents to see what to read next!

  A BONUS DELETED SCENES is also included. I just can't spoil you enough!

  Don’t forget to check out the Exclusive Never Before Published bonus book, Brit Next Door!

  Summer Cooper

  Discover the wild girl in you.

  1. Galen

  I stared down at the papers on my desk, brought by one of those people that looks at you with an inscrutable smile as they ask your name before they hand you a yellow envelope of doom. Was it satisfaction or pity? The look I got was full of assumptions and a smugness that foretold my doom when I took the large envelope from the man’s hands. Today, the man was obviously pleased with his job as a doom-bringer. Jerk.

  “Elizabeth, hold my calls please,” I murmured to my assistant as I went back to my office.

  Now all I could do was stare.

  Bastards!

  Jerks!

  Presumptuous vultures!

  Who the hell did these people think they were?

  I wanted to fling the papers across the room, out of my window and down onto the students below, heading to class, heading to their dorms, heading to a life that was far less complicated than mine.

  My office was larger than others. I was still riding on the laurels of selling two historical novels that had garnered quite a bit of attention and more than a few awards. My office wasn’t cramped, it was just full. The office was as full as my head as I stared down at the words written on the papers.

  My in-laws, my daughter’s grandparents, were suing me for custody of Rikki!

  Why? That was my first question. In the last year and a half, they’d not even attempted to make contact, they hadn’t even sent Rikki cards for her birthday or on holidays. There’d been no communication at all, and now they wanted to take away the one solid thing in my life?

  Kayla, Rikki’s mother, had died two years ago, six months after our daughter was born. Where had they been then, when I needed them? When Rikki had needed them? I’d seen them at Kayla’s funeral but they’d left before I’d even been able to speak to them. I’d made a few attempts to contact them, but my calls, emails, and texts had gone ignored. Thinking it was their way of coping with their loss, I’d eventually left them alone.

  Now, this.

  Inhaling slowly, I stood and walked to the window for a breath of air untainted with the smell of paper and dust. What could they possibly want with my daughter?

  I decided to head home, I had no more appointments and my class schedule was done for the day. I needed to see my baby.

  “Elizabeth, I’m going home. I’ll have my phone on if you need me.” I brushed past the matronly woman who’d served me with diligence and skill for the last five years.

  “Of course, Mr. Elliot. Enjoy your evening.” She barely looked up from the typing she was doing. Five years and I’m still Mr. Elliot.

  It brought a small smile to my face as I went into the hallway, before bumping into one of my students.

  “Oh, Mr. Elliot!” The student reached out, clutching at my bicep to keep from falling.

  “Steady, Lucy. Sorry about that.” I gave her my usual charming smile and she blinked up at me with false eyelashes that looked like they belonged on a cartoon elephant. Why did women do that to themselves?

  “Thank you, Mr. Elliot. Actually, I was just coming to see you to talk about my grade. I need to, well…” She paused, giving me what I knew was a practiced look of seduction. “I need to get it up, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t, Lucy. I need to get home, if you’ll excuse me.” I made to brush past her but she put her hand on my chest this time, fingers splayed over my heart.

  “That’s a shame, Mr. Elliot. I really wanted to show you some of the things I learned this year. Some rather, well, grownup things.” Her blue eyes stared up at me, a light burning in them that put me right off any further conversation.

  At least once a semester one of my students would develop a crush on me. They’d come to my office, hoping to tempt the professor, hoping to lure me into breaking the rules. The naughtiness of it drove them to distraction. For a moment I forgot I was being sued as I stared down at the student, a 21-year-old girl in my advanced history class. Blond, leggy, breasts that drew my attention and a tiny waist that would barely fill my hands. Lucy was certainly my type but one thing held me back.

  She was obviously not as experienced as she hoped she’d appear. And that look in her eyes was scary because it could end my career. I wasn’t above the attention, I’d been tempted before, I’d even given in a time or two, but I wasn’t a monster. I was also choosy, taking
only the ones that were truly mature, that knew the importance of discretion, that didn’t hold dreams of luring me into marriage.

  Admittedly, just after my wife died in the car accident, I’d lost myself in drink and women, my good looks and the sadness of my loss, leading many to want to comfort me. I’d let them, but always with the unspoken understanding that it wasn’t a permanent relationship.

  Little Miss Lucy here, with her blinking and unskilled seduction technique, was more trouble than she was worth.

  “I don’t give grades for ‘demonstrations' Lucy,” I told her. “I give grades for the work turned in. Now, I really must get home. My daughter is waiting for me. See you in class.” I walked away from her, hoping our exchange hadn’t been witnessed.

  I didn’t need any more grief today.

  I strolled out of the building to my car, the only self-indulgence I’d allowed myself from the proceeds of my book sales. A low-slung, sports car with a paint job so shiny it looked like it was liquid. I saw my reflection in the paint, but ignored it. I knew what I looked like. A tall man, just a tad over six foot three, I kept myself in shape by running and weight-training. My body was physically fit, and I’d maintained a muscular frame that the ladies definitely appreciated.

  I pushed blond hair that had grown too long out of my green eyes, revealing the face that had earned me so many bed partners. Women had described it as strong, kissable, with chiseled cheekbones, a nose suitable for my face, an angular jaw, and my best weapon of all: my eyes. They were rimmed with dark lashes, and apparently mesmerizing. I didn’t even have to try most of the time, women just found me appealing and since I’d lost my wife, I hadn’t really minded.

  I threw my briefcase in the car, the papers inside souring my day once again as my life as a father, and not just a lover of the ladies, came back to me. Sometimes I felt like I lived two lives and the heat in the car was a further reminder. The interior of the car was so hot it took my breath away, and my forehead grew damp. As I’d learned to do I checked all of the seats, my fear, that I’d somehow drive off with Rikki inside, never leaving me since I’d heard about so many cases of children being left in hot cars by distracted parents.

  My fear was irrational. Rikki had a babysitter, I didn’t take her to daycare or drop her off with anyone, and she never left the house with me in the mornings. Yet the fear was always there after Kayla died. I didn’t want to lose my daughter too. Every morning when I pulled into my parking spot I checked the seats, and checked again before I left. Despite the fact I knew better, I did it anyway. Just in case.

  As I drove home I thought about calling my lawyer. Surely he could get this lawsuit thrown out?

  2. Tara

  I watched the moving truck disappear into the distance before turning back to my new home. I was moving into more than just a new home—I was moving into an entirely new future. Wiping my hands on the front of my jeans, I took a deep breath and headed inside the two-storey white Victorian model on the well-kept street.

  I turned as I heard a car pulling into the driveway just at the edge of my own yard. A sports car, something with a powerful engine that gave off a deep hum pulled in. The owner got out as I stood there, a jaw-dropping gorgeous fellow that barely gave me a flicker of acknowledgment before heading into the house next to mine. He was built, and hot, and probably taken by some entrancing blond with long legs and proportions that were out of sync with reality.

  “Well, hello to you too, neighbor,” I said to myself, giggling before heading into my own home.

  I didn’t need a handsome man anyway. I’d just transferred from my old school to the university and was preparing to start classes a week late. I had a lot to do between catching up and getting the house sorted. I’d already started unpacking, the furniture and boxes were all in the rooms they belonged in. I hoped it wouldn’t take long.

  I’d decided to move to be closer to the school I’d transferred to, a school I was hoping would start me off in the right direction. I was a bit of a late bloomer, growing up in a small Georgia town where I’d been raised by my grandmother. I hadn’t spread my wings until they both passed away, leaving me a sizeable but modest inheritance. I couldn’t waste my time or their money on ogling a man!

  I wanted to be a doctor. I had a lot of time to make up for, but I knew I could do it. I just had to work hard, and even if Mr. Man Next Door did look like sex on legs, I was a good girl. Besides, I’d never drawn the least bit of attention from the males in my hometown. I was just plain old Tara Smyth to them and nobody noticed me most of the time.

  I’d worked in a bakery in town up until my grandmother passed away. My grandfather had been one of those soldiers that went missing during the Vietnam War and my grandmother spent the rest of her life waiting for him to return, hoping until the very end to hear what had happened to him. They’d been married long enough to produce my mother before he’d been drafted and sent out.

  Being the child of a father that was Missing In Action had taken a toll on my mother. She’d spent her youth trying to fill a void that was impossible to fill by running away and taking drugs. When she’d become pregnant with me, she’d gone back to my grandmother, given birth and then took off again. I’d never met her. I had no wish to, really. She’d never been a part of my life.

  My grandmother had filled so many roles for me: mother, father, and grandparents. She’d given me a sheltered life of love and nurturing. Her passing had really hit me hard and it had taken a little while to get over it. I don’t think it’s anything you really get over. You just learn to live with it.

  It took a few months to get the paperwork sorted so I’d taken one semester at my local junior college before heading to the university. I’d found a two-storey but small house within my budget, bought a second-hand car, and now I was in my very own home. My first grown up and on-my-own home.

  I felt my head swim a little at the overwhelming realization, but I quickly recovered. I’d never been a party animal and hadn’t cared about how popular I was, so I’d left my hometown with little fanfare. I was hoping to find a few friends at university, but if I didn’t that was okay too. I heard something outside and went to look out of a window I still hadn’t put a curtain in. The sun was going down so I hoped the light would hide me.

  “Debbie, you can’t just leave me like this! I really need you! Who’s going to look after Rikki in the morning?” I heard the sex-god next door call out to a retreating figure. Oh dear, was he a horrible boyfriend? Husband?

  I wasn’t sure and decided to leave it all alone for now. I went back to unpacking, arranging pictures on the walls, putting some of the knick-knacks Granny had most valued on a shelf, and rearranged the furniture. I’d set up an office in the living room and had just ordered a pizza to be delivered to the house.

  The Wi-Fi was already installed so I found the signal and connected. I saw my schedule was ready for my classes and found the school’s website to find out who my instructors were. I was more than a little surprised to see my neighbor was one of the professors at the school!

  How was that going to go? I wondered, but dismissed it. So I might develop a crush on a professor who also happened to be my neighbor. It was silly, but I’d get by. I wasn’t there to flirt, I was there to learn. I stared at his picture, the man’s eyes and charming smile oozed sex appeal.

  I thrust the top my laptop down, refusing to think about him anymore. He’d never look at me twice, I could tell that just from that smile. He’d like women that didn’t leave their mousy brown hair in big fat buns on top of their heads, women that wore makeup and contacts instead of glasses that hid boring brown eyes. Women that wore clothes that showed off every single asset to perfection. I lived in jeans and t-shirts. In the winter I might put on a nice sweater, but I hated dresses, tight clothes, and looking like a fashion plate.

  No, he’d never notice me anyway so school would be fine. I couldn’t see how a tiny fascination would be a problem. I smiled to myself as I went to answer the
doorbell when the pizza delivery man rang, swerving past Gran’s couch and headed to the door. It might even be fun to finally have a crush on someone! This wasn’t going to be a problem at all.

  3. Galen

  “I’ll see your five and raise you ten.” I shoveled a few plastic coins across the table into a similar pile of red, white, and black poker chips, staring dead-eyed across the table at my friend John. He was one of those types that looked for weird things he called “tells”, a scratch of the cheek when you were bluffing, a squint around the eyes when you got the card you needed. Nonverbal language I called it, but he called it tells. Whatever.

  “I’ll see you, and raise you another ten.”

  John slid more chips onto the pile and I immediately threw more in as well. I had an ace high flush. John was totally buying the pizza tonight.

  “Let’s see what you got, Poker Man.”

  John liked poker a lot. Too much if you asked me, but it’s his thing and I’d known him since we were both twelve. I wasn’t going to ride him over it.

  “Two pairs, read ‘em and weep!” John let out a cackle of laughter that made me grin quietly, and his gleeful eyes twitched as he saw me. Fanning the cards out, I stared at John in satisfaction.

  “Rookie mistake, John! You thought you knew me too well, relied on old knowledge, buddy. I win!” I scraped the chips onto my side of the table as the other three men around us whooped in laughter.

  “Fuck you, Galen!” John spit out before he grinned at me. “Good hand!”

  We bumped fists and I stood, going over to the playpen to check on Rikki.

  “How’s our girl?” John stood to follow me, taking Rikki from her pen. He stood with her, which made her give a drooly grin as she slapped at his nose.

  At just over two years old, my daughter was beginning to form sentences and was not afraid of using them.

  “Nuncle Zohn stink!” she cried with a giggle and pushed away from him. The man was wearing more cologne than he normally did. Only my daughter could have gotten away with letting him know.