Title: The Anti-Boyfriend
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 31, 2020
Blurb
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward, comes a new standalone novel.
At first, my neighbor Deacon frustrated me.
Sure, he was great-looking and friendly.
But our walls were thin, and on occasion, heâd bring women to his place and keep me awake while he âentertainedâ them.
As a single mother to an infant, I didnât appreciate it.
So, finally it was my turn.
When my daughter wouldnât stop wailing one night, Mr. Manwhore came knocking on my door.
Miraculously, at the sound of his voice, Sunny stopped crying. And when he held herâ¦she eventually fell asleep in his arms.
Deacon was rough on the exterior, but apparently on the inside? Mr. Single-and-Ready-to-Mingle was a baby whisperer.
After that night, we became friends.
Heâd go for coffee runs. Come over to chat. Normal friend stuff.
But over time, our conversations ran deeper. We got closer.
Until one night we crossed the line.
Our friendship turned into a complicated mess.
Iâd gone and fallen for a guy whoâd sworn off commitment and kids.
I knew Deacon was starting to care for me too, even though Sunny and I didnât fit into any plan heâd ever imagined for himself.
He was wrong for meâso wrong that Iâd dubbed him the âanti-boyfriend.â
Then why did I wish more than anything that I could be the one woman to change him?
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Excerpt
Copyright © 2020
By Penelope Ward
Today, just as I got back to my door, Deacon was exiting his apartment.
âOh, hey, Carys-Like-Paris. How goes it?â He flashed a wide smile.
When people ask me my name, for some stupid reason, I sometimes answer, âCarys, like Paris,â particularly when Iâm nervous. That was the case the first time I met Deacon.
A whiff of his amazing smell put my body on alert. He looked handsome as always. Today he wore a camel-colored suede coat with a shearling collar. His blue eyes, which stood out against his tanned skin, glimmered under the fluorescent lights overhead, which also brought out the copper tint to his otherwise medium-brown hair. He was at least six-foot-twoâa beanstalk to my five-foot-four self.
This was my opportunity to bring up last night. But now that he was right here, towering over me, his musky smell saturating the air, I seemed to have lost the words. Still, I was determined to speak up now or never.
My heartbeat accelerated. Here goes. Still out of breath from my sprint up the stairs, I said, âWell, honestly, in answer to your question⦠Iâd love to say Iâm doing great, but I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. So, Iâve been better.â
He frowned. âIâm sorry to hear that.â
âActually, itâs sort of your fault.â
Deaconâs forehead crinkled. âMy fault?â
âYeah. I donât know if you realize this, but your bed is right up against mine, on the opposite side of the wall. Yourâ¦interactionsâ¦last night woke me up, and I had a hard time getting back to sleep.â
Boom.
There.
Said it.
Deacon closed his eyes momentarily. âShit. Iâm sorry. I didnât know you were right behind me.â
âYeah. Itâs basically like Iâmâ¦right there.â
âWell, that was rude of me. I shouldâve invited you to join.â
What? It felt like all my blood rushed to my head.
He held out his palms. âIâm kidding. Bad sense of humor comes out when I feel awkward, I guess.â
Slipping a piece of my hair behind my ear, I brushed off his comment. âI know youâre kidding.â
âTotally kidding.â He smiled. âBut Iâll try to be more considerate now that I know you can hear everything. You shouldâve said something.â
I tilted my head. âHow exactly would that have worked? Barging in on two naked people? Thatâs why Iâm saying something now.â
âSolid point. But I take it last night wasnât the first time you overheard things?â
I looked down at my feet. âNo, it wasnât.â
âYou couldâve banged on the wall or something.â
âIâm not one to rudely interrupt someoneâsâ¦personal happenings. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation. We donât need to discuss it further.â
âMaybe we should come up with a code.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âLike, If Iâm disturbing your peace, you play a song and crank it up to send me a message.â He snapped his fingers. âSomething ironic like âThe Sounds of Silenceâ by Simon and Garfunkel.â
âCanât exactly crank up a song when a baby is sleeping.â
His smile faded. âSee? That goes to show you how clueless I am. Clueless and so sorry, Carys. Truly. Iâll try not to let it happen again.â
âIt better not, fuckboy!â a voice shouted from behind one of the apartment doors.
Deacon and I turned around in unison. I noticed Mrs. Winsbangerâs door move across the hall. The old lady must have been listening in. She lived alone, and I often spotted her peeking out her door, spying on people.
Deacon grimaced. âMrs. Winsbanger loves me.â
âApparently Iâm not the only one who overheard things last night,â I said.
His face turned red. His embarrassment was a bit surprising. Iâd expected him to be more cocky.
âIâll move my bed to the other side of the room. That should help.â
âWell, that would be nice, if itâs not too much trouble.â
âItâs not.â
Happy to have the conversation over with, I let out a long breath. âOkay, well, Iâll let you get going.â
He didnât budge and seemed to be examining my face. âYou okay?â
âYeah. Why?â
âYou seem frazzled.â
Well, yeah. I didnât get good sleep, Iâm trying to get things done in possibly the only hour of the day I have free, and we just had the most awkward conversation EVER.
âThis is just meâmy life. I have what could be barely more than an hour to eat my lunch and have some quiet time before my daughter wakes up from her nap.â
âAh.â He scratched his chin. âHow old is she now?â
âSix months.â
Deacon knew I was a single mom. Heâd run into me one day and helped me bring groceries in while I tried to juggle Sunny and her stroller.
I was just about to head back inside my apartment when his voice stopped me.
âDo you need anything?â
I wasnât entirely sure what he meant. âLike what?â
âSomething from the store? Aâ¦coffee, maybe? Iâm just headed out to run a quick errand, but I can stop somewhere on the way back.â
âItâs the least you can do, monkey balls!â Mrs. Winsbanger chimed in from across the hall.
She was apparently still listening.
âDid she just fucking call me monkey balls?â he whispered.
At that moment, I lost it. Laughter got a hold of me, and it took almost a minute before I could even speak. Deacon laughed, too, but I think he was more cracking up at my reaction.
âNo idea why she just called you monkey balls. But I havenât laughed this hard in weeks.â
After I finally calmed down, Deacon repeated his earlier question.
âAnyway, as I was saying, can I get you a coffee or something?â
His offer gave me pause. It was rare that anyone asked if I needed anything. I had a couple of good friends in the city, but they worked and had busy social lives. It wasnât like they were around in the middle of the day to run to the store for me. And given that it was fall in New York, it was getting chilly out. I had to have a damn good reason to take Sunny out in the cold.
Honestly, I was dying for a latte from Starbucks. Running to the coffee shop was definitely something people without babies took for granted. It wasnât worth having to bundle Sunny up.
âI would love a vanilla latte from Starbucks, if you pass one on your way back,â I finally said.
âDone.â He smiled. âThatâs it?â
âJust one pump of vanilla would be great.â
âOne pump. Got it. Anything else?â
âIsnât that enough? Itâs hardly a necessity. I shouldnât be taking advantage.â
âTake advantage of me. What else do you need? Seriously. Itâs the least I can do after disturbing your peace last night.â
Take advantage of me. Yup. Mind straight in the gutter. âYouâre not my gopher.â
âCarysâ¦.â His baritone voice turned serious, and he repeated in a slow and exaggerated manner, âWhat. Do. You. Need? I could run to the store.â
There was something else I desperately needed.
âDiapers?â I said hesitantly.
âOkay.â He laughed. âYouâre gonna have to help me out with those. Iâve never purchased them in my life.â
Before I could tell him what size, he handed me his phone. I was all too aware of the brief touch of his hand.
âEnter your digits. Iâll text you from the store to make sure I get the right kind.â
I did as he said before handing him back the phone, once again enjoying the contact from that brief exchange. Cheap thrills were as good as it got these days.
He put it in his pocket. âAnything else?â
âNot that I can think of.â
âAlright. Well, if you change your mind, you can let me know when I text.â
âThank you. I really appreciate it.â
âTalk to ya in a bit,â he said before heading down the hall.
I stood by my door and watched him walk away. The view from the back was just as good as the front. And moreover, it seemed Deacon was just as lovely on the inside as he was on the outside.
âOne pump my ass,â I heard Mrs. Winsbanger say before she slammed her door.
Author Bio
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
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