Free The Bad Boy Next Door: A Red Hot Bad Boy Romance by Lacey Legend Page A

top-notch. She’ll have all kinds of chances that we never did.” She put one hand delicately on his wrist and looked into his eyes.
    Isaac nodded and extracted his wrist politely by taking another drink of his lemonade. “You’d like me to pay a portion of the tuition? Is that it?”
    Genie shrugged and looked at the floor. “I’m working two jobs to make ends meet right now, and if I could get help with the down payment that would be a huge burden off my shoulders.”
    “What are you doing for a living now?” Isaac recalled that when they had originally met, Genie was waiting tables at a dive that shared the walls with a strip club. Many of the diner’s waitresses also danced on stage for extra money. It was well know that the same woman owned both halves of the building and paid as little as possible to the waitresses in order to encourage them to come over to the other side of the building.
    “I’m waitressing at the Truck Stop Diner and I also work as a team supervisor for a call center.”
    “Both full time jobs?” Isaac asked. His aunt’s warnings were ringing in his ears, but he ignored them.
    “Both part time.”
    “What does your mom get up to these days? Still drinking from morning ‘til night?” Isaac remembered what a heavy drinker Genie’s mother Judith had been. The woman was usually passed out in front of the television whenever Isaac came over to “study” at Genie’s place.
    Genie’s eyes flashed. “You’re a bit of a party animal since you came into money. Not sure you have a right to judge her anymore.”
    Isaac put his hands up defensively. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just remember she used to get pretty sloshed and passed out.”
    Genie crossed her arms. “She still has a drinking problem yes. I don’t like to talk about her though. I’m trying to get her out of my life, actually.”
    Isaac put a comforting arm around Genie’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, Genie. I didn’t mean to upset you. It can be hard getting a toxic person out of your life, though. I’ve had to do it a few times myself.”
    Genie snuggled into the crook of his arm comfortably. Isaac gave her a squeeze and then stood up abruptly. “Just so we’re clear, Genie: Ruby and I really like each other. I invited you here to meet Reggie, not to rekindle anything we had. That was over six years ago, and I don’t think I could go back.”
    Genie hid the irritation at the mention of his new girlfriend’s name. “Fine. Look, I need help with Reggie. I need money. She needs new clothes and the school requires uniforms and all that.”
    “So did you just come to me for money then?” Isaac crossed his arms, his own ire beginning to bubble lightly.
    “Partly yes. But also because I think you should meet your daughter.”
    “Why didn’t you call me when you found out you were pregnant?” Isaac countered. “Why now, of all times?”
    “Because I thought I could do it on my own,” Genie said with a sob.
    Isaac dropped his arms to his side but made no move to comfort his ex-girlfriend. “Fine I want to be part of her life, if I’m going to be forking out thousands of dollars for her to go to a private school. I should be part of her life anyway; I’ve never done anything illegal or reckless, at least not as an adult.”
    Genie looked at him through lowered lashes, “You have a record now, though.”
    Isaac sighed. “Yeah. I did some stupid shit while working through grief. But that is beside the point. Who is Reggie staying with while you’re here, anyway?”
    “Oh, I have a woman who babysits her while I work. She agreed to keep her for a few days while I’m here.”
    “That’s a dedicated babysitter,” Isaac observed. “You should have her bring Reggie here. The sitter is welcome to stay as well if you think you’ll need a nanny while you’re here.”
    “I’ll think about it and call her to see if that would work.” Genie had to concede that if she was going to ask Isaac for such a