by Lacey Legend
THE OUTLAW
NEXT DOOR
A BAD BOY ROMANCE By..
LACEY LEGEND
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Summary
He was gorgeous. He was single.
And he had just moved in next door to 29 year old hopeless romantic Jasmine Harris.
Eric Storm was the type of man that every girl's mother warned them about but Jasmine just could not resist. However, Eric had a very dark past. One full of bad mistakes and dangerous situations.
It was the type of past that would always catch up with him eventually.
Could Jasmine get out before she got in too deep? Or was she prepared to be a ride-or die chick for the outlaw that lived next door?
Copyright Notice
The Outlaw Next Door © 2016, Lacey Legend
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Contents
Chapter1
Chapter2
Chapter3
Chapter4
Chapter5
Chapter6
Chapter7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
Chapter1
Well, hello there, cute neighbor, thought Jasmine as she spotted a man moving boxes into the house next door. The house had been standing empty for the last few months, and she’d wondered who was going to eventually move in. The couple before had infuriated her with their perfect relationship and their perfect baby. Jasmine suspected that they weren’t nearly as ‘perfect’ as they made themselves out to be – but they would never have admitted that to her or to anyone else. They were the type of people who would never admit to any problems and then would one day surprise everyone by getting a divorce. On Facebook, they were almost too shiny and too flawless. They’d moved because the husband had gotten some big promotion, and they wanted to use it as an opportunity to move to a better area.
“But there’s nothing wrong with this area,” Jasmine had said.
She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to defend her suburb. She was glad they were moving out; she should be encouraging them. But it had just annoyed her. She certainly had no intention of moving out – she loved where she lived. It might not have been Beverly Hills, but she hadn’t wanted it to be.
“Oh, come on, Jassy. It’s not the best place – I’m sure you can see that yourself. And it’s just gone downhill over the years. You can actually see how it’s started to decline. Not our style at all. And now that we have little George to look after, we want to make sure that we bring him up in the best neighborhood. We simply cannot have him growing up in a place like this. He needs to be surrounded by the right type of people. I’m sure you understand.”
Jasmine tried not to flinch at the nickname they had given her from the moment they’d met her. Even her closest friends only went as far as ‘Jas’ – and these two were far from close with her. She didn’t mind that they were rich and successful at all; she didn’t even mind that they were good looking on top of that. What she did mind was the way that they looked down on everyone and everything around them – including her. And she wasn’t sure if they were talking about her when they said that they didn’t want their child surrounded by certain types of people.
“You know what? You’re right. Absolutely right. This is an awful neighborhood, and you’ve done the best thing by moving out! Well, it’s been a pleasure. Have a lovely time,” she had said, finally coming to her senses. And good riddance, she had added in her head.
“Jassy, I do hope that you get out of here soon yourself and that you find yourself a nice lad. You’ve been single for too long. Far too long. And you’re not getting any younger, you know. I promise you – finding love is so great. And having a baby is just the best thing ever.”
This came from Renee, the wife, who was standing in front of Jasmine with her hands on her hips while her husband was putting the last of the boxes into the car. She’d always been a little iffy with Jasmine, whereas her husband had been a lot nicer. Although she had a feeling that Renee’s husband was nice to all women.
“I’m not so sure I want kids, to be honest. I mean, you’ve changed. I noticed a few gray hairs the other day, and the lines on your face have deepened. Of course, I mean that in the nicest way – you’re lucky you can pull it off. I’m not sure that I’d look quite as nice as you if I were so tired. And I’m sure you must be tired – I can hear George sometimes screaming all through the night. Poor you, it can’t be easy. Well, anyway, I must get going. I actually have a party, can you believe that? Who knows? Maybe I’ll meet the man of my dreams tonight. You two have a safe trip. And do try to get some rest when you can. Bye.”
And Jasmine had walked inside with Renee staring open-mouthed at her. It wasn’t the sort of way she usually spoke to people, but she’d been so sick and tired of the way they spoke to her. She wanted to finally rattle their cages a bit.
Of course, there was no party. Jasmine hadn’t been to a party in a very long time. But they didn’t need to know that. Anyway, she considered climbing into bed with her book a party for one. And she was going to meet the man of her dreams that night – even if he was just a character in her book. Renee did not need to know all of that. After that, she’d wondered who was going to move in. Jasmine had lived in the same house for five years – a house that she actually owned herself and was incredibly proud of – and in that time, she’d seen a few people come and go. Before ‘the perfect family,’ there had been Trinity, Troy, Farah, and Sam – four college kids who had moved in together as best friends. It didn’t take long for those friendships to start to fall apart and for them to want nothing more to do with each other. Jasmine had been so grateful the day that they had moved out. She’d been tired of their late night parties and even more tired of their late night arguing. She could never understand why people didn’t keep their lives to themselves. If she had an argument with someone in her house, her neighbors would know nothing about it. She didn’t scream and go on the way some of those college kids had done. By the end of the stay, she knew exactly who had done what with whom, as well as silly things like what they were going to eat for dinner that day. Trinity loved pizza – but not the crust. Troy liked strawberry milkshakes. Farah ate only salads and indulged in the occasional slice of toast. And Sam ate everything that came his way – and yet remained as skinny as only a boy his age could. They’d kept their doors and windows open at all times, and their loud voices would travel into hers. Troy had developed a huge crush on Jasmine, which was causing a major upset in the house. Trinity, the ex-girlfriend, kept telling him to go and sleep at the neighbor’s house if he was so unhappy, and Jasmine would quickly make sure that all her doors and windo
ws were firmly shut. She hadn’t been much older than Troy, but she had no interest in dating a college kid.
The couple before, who had been there when Jasmine had first bought the house, had been wonderful. Jasmine had been sad when they had moved out. Bob and Betty (already she had fallen in love with just their names) were an old couple who had been married for fifty years. They were sweet, gentle, kind, and had a wicked sense of humor. Also, Betty loved baking cookies and cakes and dropping some off for Jasmine each week. They’d moved out to live closer to their new granddaughter, and for a second, Jasmine had considered begging them to take her with them. Her own grandparents had passed away years ago, and she had regarded them as her new grandmother and grandfather – a role they seemed happy to take on. To this day, they still sent her letters in the mail – mostly because they abhorred the idea of an impersonal email. These letters were the only ones Jasmine received in the mail, and she cherished them. She’d even tried to start letter writing with all of her friends, but it hadn’t taken off. Bob and Betty’s last letter had made her incredibly happy.
Darling Jasmine – oh how we love your name,
I have some big news to share with you - my daughter is pregnant again. Can you believe it?! It was actually a big surprise to us all but, of course, a very good one. A baby is always a good surprise in my opinion. My daughter is thirty-nine years old, and she is pregnant with another baby – she’ll be just short of forty when she gives birth. My, how things have changed. Back in my day, that was too old to have a baby. Now, it seems so normal. I’m happy for her. She had a very busy life before – traveling here, there, and everywhere, and she finally wants to settle down with a family. It’s not for everyone – having a family – but I’m happy for her. And for me, of course. I love being a grandmother. It gives me an excuse to bake more. And to knit more. I did all those things even when I was younger – but now it is expected of me. Now I can be the cool granny that makes all these things for the family – what a great excuse for me to do the things that I love. Anyway, I tell my daughter about you all the time. And guess what… she loved your name so much that she’s decided to name her daughter Jasmine. Isn’t that wonderful? Now I’ll have two lovely Jasmines in my life. Now we have to hope that she has a girl. She mentioned Jasper if it’s a boy, but I’m not a big fan of that.
This is a short letter – because I have something that I want to tell you…
I’m coming to visit you soon! I’ll be in the area for a day or two. So it won’t be a long visit, but I insist that I take you out for tea and cake. Bob will be with me, too, and he is dying to see you. I’m not sure when exactly; it might be in a few months’ time or as little as a few weeks’ time. But either way, I’ll let you know! We cannot wait to catch up and see your pretty face.
All my love,
Granny Betty
Jasmine had jumped with joy when she’d read that letter. The house next door had simply not been the same since they had left. And none of the residents had come close to how wonderful Betty and Bob had been. But the house had stood still for the last few months, and every day, Jasmine had looked out onto the empty space and wondered who was going to move in. She almost wished that nobody would. There was something nice about not having to worry about horrible neighbors. But there was also something a little bit sad about the house sitting all alone. So, it was to her great surprise when she finally heard a noise outside and discovered that not only was there finally a new neighbor, but that he was absolutely gorgeous. Well, at least he seemed to be, from the vantage point of her window. She watched for a while as he took boxes out of his car, and she wondered why he hadn’t moved with a van. Perhaps the van was still on its way, she decided. She considered going to help him, but he looked perfectly capable on his own. Also, it was quite nice just watching him this way. He was so immersed in what he was doing that he thankfully didn’t notice her staring. She only had the curtain open slightly, though, so if he did look up, she’d be able to move away quick enough. When the phone rang, Jasmine jumped and almost fell to the ground in shock. She’d been watching him so intently that the noise had startled her.
“Hello?”
“Jas, you sound out of breath! Sorry, did you just get in from somewhere?” It was Allie, her work colleague and very best friend.
The two of them had gone through everything together – school, college, and now work. She wasn’t sure what she would do without Allie in her life. They knew so much about each other that it sometimes felt as if they were sisters rather than friends.
“Sorry. No, I’ve been at home. I just got a fright. I was spying on the boy next door,” she whispered.
Allie laughed. “Why are you whispering?”
“I don’t know, actually,” Jasmine said in a normal voice and then laughed. She felt as if she were part of some spy movie. “But I’ve just realized that my life is incredibly sad. I’ve spent the last ten minutes spying on some man I don’t know and getting all excited about it. When the phone rang, I almost died – it felt as if I had been caught red-handed. My heart is still beating out of my chest. Oh, this is absolutely pathetic - I really do not have a life.”
“Well, is he cute?” Allie asked.
“From what I have seen, yes, he’s very cute!”
“Then you are allowed to spy,” Allie concluded.
“I knew we were friends for a reason!” Jasmine exclaimed.
Allie giggled. “So, a new neighbor, huh? A good-looking one, too. I do like the sound of this. He must be pretty cute if you were spying on him like that. Ha! Imagine if he had turned around and caught you – that would’ve been hilarious. Better than that awful couple who used to stay there. What were their names? Actually, don’t tell me – I don’t even want to think about them. They were horrible. So, have you introduced yourself yet?”
“No! I’ve just spied.”
“Any girlfriends? Wives? Husbands? Kids?” Allie asked.
“I have no idea. I mean, so far it’s just him. No family that I can see. Although there’s not even a moving van yet. So there is a big chance that the extended family will be coming along with that. I’m not looking forward to seeing that. Having a good-looking neighbor is far better if he’s there all alone. That’s much better for my fantasy. I simply cannot entertain any more thoughts if I see a family come along. I bet you his wife is going to be super-hot, too. There’s no way that a guy like that would have a normal-looking partner. Argh, I’m not going to like her either. He’s going to be this lovely man, and she’s going to be this awful woman. The kids will be cute, though. They’ll take a shining to me, and the wife is going to resent me for that. They might eventually have to move because of that. She’s jealous, that wife of his.”
Allie started laughing. “You really don’t have much of a life, do you? Well, it’s best you keep spying then until you know for sure. Remember that you’re not just doing it for yourself now — you’re also doing it for me. I also need to know.”
“That is exactly what I intend on doing. I swear, he better either be single or gay. Those are the only two options that I will accept. Allie, he’s really cute, though. Some great eye-candy.” Jasmine realized she was swooning, but she didn’t care.
“Well, that’s good to hear, Jasmine. You could do with a bit of eye-candy," Allie said.
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Jasmine went immediately on the defensive.
“Oh come on, you haven’t even so much as looked at a man this past year. I’m just happy to finally see you looking, that’s all. If this had happened a few months ago, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“Well, that’s because all men are scumbags,” Jasmine announced.
“Do you really still think that? Surely a year is enough time for you to see that there are other men in the sea? Better men!”
Jasmine sighed. “Yeah, I know. You’re right. It’s just been easy to declare all men as part of the same bracket as Brendan. If I say that all men are sc
umbags, then I can’t get close enough for them to hurt me. It’s been my little plan all along, and so far it’s worked. But I know that they’re not all like that. And I am actually ready to move on. I just haven’t found someone to move on with. But I’m not dissing all men – not anymore, at least.”
Allie whooped with delight. “I’m so happy to finally hear you say that. You deserve someone amazing, Jasmine, and I will not rest until you find him. I promise you that not all men are like Brendan. And it’s better that you found out about him – because who knows when you would’ve eventually caught on. You might have already been married to him or had kids with him. I know it’s hard to see it sometimes, but it really is for the better. Anyway, enough about Brendan. Have I told you lately that you’re the most incredible person in the world?”
Jasmine smiled. “You haven’t. Do continue.”
“Well, you ARE amazing. You’re gorgeous, funny, and intelligent, and you have a body that makes me love you and hate you all at once.”
“Oh, come off it, Allie – look in the mirror for a change.” Allie was absolutely stunning, and that she didn’t realize it only made her more beautiful.
“Anyway, what I mean is that you really do deserve someone who can see all of that. Sadly, I’m not into girls, otherwise I would’ve been there in a second. But who knows – maybe the handsome neighbor will sweep you off your feet.”
“Thanks, Allie. I don’t think so. He’s gorgeous, but he’s not my type. Remember when the ‘perfect couple’ – whose names I will not mention – said that they wanted to move out because this was a bad neighborhood? Well, this guy looks like he’s from a bad neighborhood. Ha! Which means maybe they were right all along. They would’ve run a mile if they had seen him.”
“Ooh! I like a bad boy,” Allie giggled.
