Hot New Neighbor
Sienna Chance
Copyright © Lovy Books Ltd, 2017
Sienna Chance 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
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London N1 7GU
Contents
1. Lucas
2. Ellie
3. Lucas
4. Ellie
5. Ellie
6. Lucas
7. Ellie
8. Lucas
9. Ellie
10. Lucas
11. Ellie
12. Lucas
13. Ellie
14. Ellie
15. Ellie
16. Lucas
17. Ellie
18. Lucas
19. Ellie
20. Lucas
21. Ellie
22. Lucas
23. Ellie
24. Lucas
25. Ellie
About the Author
1
Lucas
“I just can’t go,” huffed Maria, her arms crossed over her chest in bed. I sighed, running my hand through my hair as I slipped out of bed, away from my wife and her excuses.
“It’s Luna’s first play, Maria,” I said, looking over at her as I got dressed. “She’s really excited for you to be there.”
Maria waved my words away. “She won’t even notice I’m not there. Not with Daddy there cheering her on.”
“Why are you missing our four-year-old daughter’s first play?”
“I have a job,” Maria said, staring at me with her wide dark eyes, her hair wild around her face. She really was beautiful—still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
“What job?”
“A commercial,” she said, a smile spreading across her face. She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Congratulations,” I said through clenched teeth. Maria was getting steady work as an actress and yet there was still an eviction notice on our door. Judging from the car she’d bought a month ago and her freshly-manicured blood red nails, I knew exactly where the money was going. I couldn’t bring it up, though. Last time I did, Maria threatened to take Luna away from me for good.
“Thank you,” Maria said, as if she didn’t hear the anger.
“What do you even come home for, Maria?” I asked her. She stood up naked, letting the sheet drop from her breasts. I couldn’t help but stare at her, so beautiful yet so poisonous and toxic in a way I’d never anticipated when we’d started dating. I’d been head-over-heels for Maria from the moment I’d met her, and when she’d fallen pregnant three months later, I had been happy to settle down and marry her. I had no idea what kind of a person she was—what kind of mother she would be.
Maria approached me and wrapped her arms around my neck, rubbing up against me like a cat.
“You know what I come home for, baby,” she purred, reaching down to slip her hand into my jeans, taking my cock out and stroking it with her palm. I pushed her hands away and readjusted myself, walking away and into the bathroom. She followed me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and burying her face in my back.
“Why are you mad at me?” she asked. I turned around and looked at her incredulously. There were dozens of reasons to be angry at her, but the way she treated Luna was the worst.
“You don’t give half a shit about our daughter, Maria.”
“I love Luna,” she said defensively, though there was an emptiness to her voice that I recognized all too well. It was the same way she’d always spoken to and about our daughter, like she was nothing but a burden.
“Then do something for her for once. Go to her play. If you’re starring in this commercial, they can reschedule it. Or you can just cancel it.”
She snorted. “And wait for you to make some money?”
The words hit me like a blow to the chest. It was a good point. I’d started out as an actor along with Maria but hadn’t had much success—I never really had time to go to auditions because I was too busy picking up Maria’s slack with Luna. I was the one who went to our daughter’s daycare trips, took her to the zoo and made her dinner, tucked her into bed at night after reading her at least two stories. I didn’t have time to find jobs like Maria did.
“Maria,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “When am I supposed to look for jobs if you’re never home to help me take care of our daughter?”
“I’m out making money!” she said, raising her voice. “I don’t see why you can’t handle a four-year-old on your own.”
“I can handle Luna. But I can’t be her mother and her father at the same time.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have to be her mother,” Maria said, putting her hands on her hips. “She’s already got one.”
“She’s got a fucking lousy one.”
Maria’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck you, Lucas. You’re just a loser who can’t even provide for your family.”
I sighed. It was always the first thing she went to in order to insult me, and it always got under my skin.
“I want you out of here, Maria,” I said. She stared at me for a moment, mouth open. Then she gave a small laugh and wrapped her arms around me again.
“No, you don’t,” she said, tilting her face to kiss me. I moved away from her, into the bedroom.
“I do,” I said, pulling her suitcase out of the closet. “I want you out. Now.”
She glared at me, realizing I was serious.
“Fine,” she said, stomping across the room. She put her hands on my chest and shoved me away so hard I nearly stumbled. Then she started to pull her things out of the closet, folding them carefully before putting them in the case. She carried it out to the front room where Luna was asleep on the couch. I’d wanted to move her to her room but Maria wouldn’t let me. Instead, she’d dragged me into the bedroom as soon as she got home, taking the one thing she wanted from me.
Maria opened the door and rolled her suitcase out. She looked at me over her shoulder, a cold look, one that made me shiver even in the warmth of the house.
“I really don’t ever want to see you or the brat again,” Maria said, her voice like ice.
I shut the door, a lump forming in my chest. I turned around to see Luna sitting up on the couch with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, a frown on her tiny face.
“Where’s Mommy going?” she asked.
I didn’t know what to say. I went over to the couch and sat down, pulling her into my lap. “Doesn’t matter, baby,” I said. “Daddy’s still here.”
She snuggled into me and I heard her sigh contentedly. She’d never formed the bond with her mother that she had with me, but it still made me furious to think Maria had just left her without a thought, without even a goodbye.
Luna fell asleep in my lap after a few moments and I slid out from underneath her. I went into my room and sat at the desk, pulling the eviction notice out and staring at it. Thirty days. I had thirty days to find somewhere cheaper to live. I would have to sell my car for a down payment, but it was something I was willing to do if it meant Luna and I could start a whole new life without Maria.
Wh
ile Luna was sleeping, I spent the rest of the morning looking for apartments, bookmarking them for later when I had more time. I had no idea what we were going to do without Maria, how I was going to pay the rent, but every moment I started to feel desperate made me think of Luna and how I had to keep going to take care of her, knowing nobody else would.
2
Ellie
It was hard not to scream in frustration when I looked at the screen of my publishing website. The change in their terms of service was written in a tiny font that I scrolled through numbly, chewing on my lip. I didn’t read every word but I got the gist of it—they were changing the way they allowed authors to advertise their work on the site and off of it, and it meant I’d have to change my entire marketing campaign to make up for the changes. I sighed, accepting the terms, and clicked through my stats to see how my most recent books were doing. As far as the romance genre went, I was pretty successful in self-publishing my own work. I’d made a living out of it and it was paying the bills fine, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last with these new website terms.
I sighed when I saw how little my books had sold in the past few days. The update to the website had taken place a week ago and already my sales were tanking. I felt like ripping my hair out—if there was one thing I hated, it was feeling helpless. I wanted to be in control of what happened to me, and right now I felt like there was nothing I could do to get my revenue back up without making a huge change.
I was flipping through the website when I heard a noise outside, a loud crash coming from the hallway. I heard someone grumble something through the wall and got up to check on it, opening my door to see a man crouching down in front of the apartment door just across the hall, picking up several kitchen items and tossing them haphazardly back in the box. He looked up at me when I walked out. Just the sight of him nearly took my breath away—he was extraordinarily good-looking, with dark wavy hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled politely when he saw me and stood up.
“Hi,” he said, reaching his hand out to shake mine. I was frozen for a moment just looking at him, drinking him in. When he stood, I noticed his size; over six feet tall and broad, big enough to pick me up and carry me to bed like a doll. I blushed when I thought about it. I noticed that he was still holding his hand out and I took it, slipping my palm into his.
“I’m Lucas Garvey,” he said. He gestured at the door behind him. “Just moving in. Badly.”
“I’m Ellie Waters,” I said to him. My voice came out small and shy. He was studying me with a slight look of amusement, and I knew he could tell what I was thinking. I looked away from him, though I felt his gaze on me. I knelt to help pick up the things on the floor, desperate for something to do.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, kneeling and putting his hand over mine to still it. I met his eye again and he was looking at me intently. After a moment, he gave me a half-grin that made me squirm on the inside, feeling warm all over.
“Ellie Waters,” he said, and I could have sworn he’d glanced at my lips while he said it. “Thank you for helping, but I’ve got it.”
“Okay,” I said, but continued to pick things up and put them in the box. He chuckled and helped me.
“Hi, guys,” came a voice behind me, and I turned around to see a woman who was just as beautiful as he was. Her blonde hair was nearly down to her waist, and she had soft brown eyes and a smile that was sweet and sexy at the same time. She raised her eyebrows at me when she saw me on the floor with Lucas, and I quickly stood up and took a step away from him.
“I’m Ellie,” I said to the woman, and only then noticed that she was holding the hand of a little girl, who was staring up at me quietly with the same blue eyes as Lucas. I smiled down at her and she gave me a coy little smile back.
“I’m Alice,” said the woman. “This is Luna.”
“Hi, Luna,” I said, bending over slightly to speak to her. “You look just like your daddy.”
Luna’s face wrinkled up. “I don’t look like a boy,” she said, making me laugh.
“No, but you have the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”
The little girl gave me a pleased smile. Lucas stood up to join us, holding the box in his arms.
“Alice, you mind opening the door?” he asked. I looked over my shoulder at him and he smiled.
“It was nice to meet you, Ellie,” he said as the woman circled around us and used a key to push into the new apartment. I nodded at him, not speaking, and watched as the three of them disappeared into the apartment. I went back inside mine and put my back to the door, my head filled with the image of Lucas’s smile. I shook it off. He had the most beautiful family I’d ever seen—they were all perfect together, a gorgeous happy family. I’d never had a relationship like that. I’d dated but it was nothing half as passionate as the romances in my novels. I sometimes felt like a fraud when I wrote them, like I had no idea what I was talking about. I’d chosen my career over having a close relationship like that and I didn’t regret it, but sometimes I did feel lonely.
I sighed and got up, going back to my computer. I had to think of some way to solve my revenue problems or else I was going to go under, and I didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out. Still, no matter how hard I tried to deal with it, I found myself thinking about Lucas. He was so good-looking, with perfect cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a body I knew would undoubtedly be perfect. I had an idea then—a small one. Lucas looked just like the men I fantasized about, the ones who were featured in my romances. I allowed myself to wonder briefly if a new cover model might be just the thing I needed in order to get my books out there, but in the end decided it was a silly idea. I didn’t know Lucas or anything about him other than the fact that he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and there was no use dreaming about getting to see him with his shirt off.
3
Lucas
Alice sighed. “I fell down the stairs.”
“You fell down the stairs,” I repeated. “Were you drunk?”
My friend paused on the other end of the line. “Yes.”
I sighed. “Alice, I really need you right now.”
“I know,” she said apologetically. “But I can’t go anywhere. My leg is in a full cast.”
“Okay,” I said. There was nothing I could do about it. “You gonna be okay? Want me to come by later?”
“Maybe,” she said. “I might be drunk again.”
I laughed. “You’re crazy.”
“What else is there to do when you have a broken leg?”
“Good point.”
“Call me after your commercial,” Alice said. “I want to hear about it.”
“It’s a plumbing commercial,” I said dully. “I just have to pretend to hire a plumber.”
“You’re looking at this the wrong way. It’s a part. You need it for your resume.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m just—”
“You want something bigger. I get it,” said Alice. “And you’ll get there. In the meantime, I’m proud of you for getting this job.”
“Thanks, Al,” I said, grateful as ever for my friend’s words. Alice was my best friend and closest confidant, and she was always supportive of me and my career. “I’ll call you later.”
“Good luck with Luna,” she said. “I’m sorry again.”
“It’s okay,” I told her, then said goodbye and hung up. I looked over at Luna, who was playing quietly on the couch with her favorite Barbie.
“What am I going to do with you today, baby?”
“You can leave me and Cindy here,” she said brightly, holding her Barbie up to me. “She will make me lunch.”
I laughed. “I’m sure Cindy’s a great babysitter, but I’d be more comfortable if you had a real adult.”
“Cindy’s a real adult,” Luna protested.
I walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I told her, going into my room to search through my computer.
&nb
sp; I had a list of phone numbers there and I was trying to think of who I could call to come watch Luna. I scrolled through the list of names and found no one who wasn’t going to be at work or busy. I thought of the neighbor across the hall from me—Ellie Waters. I’d looked her up the day I’d met her, curious, and found out that she was a romance novelist. She would probably be home right now if I went over. I thought about it for a moment, how odd it might be to ask a complete stranger to look after my daughter. But I was desperate and there was something about Ellie that made me trust her, a softness in her eyes that told me she was kind and sweet.
“I’m going across the hall, Luna,” I said, making the decision. “Stay on the couch. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I went outside, feeling slightly nervous as I knocked on Ellie’s door. Even from our brief meeting, I’d found her fascinating. She was lovely in a simple way, her hair the color of honey and cut around her face, her eyes green, hidden behind a pair of glasses. The glasses didn’t obscure her beauty at all, and I could still see her heart-shaped face and high cheekbones.
When she answered the door, I froze, momentarily forgetting what I was going to ask her. She was wrapped tight in a robe, not wearing her glasses, her eyes sleepy and half-lidded. When she saw me, they widened.
“Hi, um—”
“I’m sorry to wake you,” I said, though I didn’t feel sorry at all. In fact, I couldn’t keep the smile from my face just looking at her. She looked innocent and sweet, her lips slightly parted as she stared at me. There was definite interest on her face, though she tried to hide it by looking away.
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