Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Elsie
You can take a girl out of a small town, but you can't really take the small town out of a girl, because I'm a fish out of water in Chicago.
My best friend is convinced my hot cop neighbor is in the mafia.
I'm convinced he belongs in my bed.
But I did not expect Noah Kirk to show up on my doorstep with cookies.
I definitely didn't expect to bring him home with me when I returned the favor.
Now, we're in this weird place where he thinks we're friends…and I'm secretly planning our wedding.
I need out of this friend zone before I combust.
But how do you tell the detective of your dreams that you stalk him through the window?
Noah
Bringing my curvy neighbor cookies was a desperate ploy to learn her name.
I didn't expect to fall in love in two seconds flat.
But Elsie Cameron is the stuff dreams are made from.
Now, I spend all my time at her place...or trying to convince her to come to mine.
But trying to tell her that I'm wild about her is an entirely different matter.
If I lose her, I will do shady, illegal things.
But if she isn't in my bed, wearing my ring soon, I may be forced to burn my own house down just so I can move into hers.
Whatever it takes to make her mine.
Have I mentioned that I'm desperate?
Beauty & the Cop is a spicy and cute neighbors-to-lovers rom-com featuring a hot cop and the curvy neighbor he watches through the window.
Beauty & the Cop is a heavily expanded version of the short story "Call Your Name."
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Elsie
"What do you think of the new place?" Alice asks as I try to hang a picture over the mantle. Try being the operative word here. If I ram my boob into the corner one more time, I may Hulk-smash the whole mantle and start over. "Do you love it yet?"
Her voice crackles through my phone's speaker, her Southern drawl as familiar as it is loud. She sounds happy.
I grunt, balancing awkwardly on my tiptoes, one hand gripping the frame while the other flails uselessly for balance. The corner of the mantle jabs me in the boob again, sharp enough to make me wince.
"Why is moving such a pain in the ass?" I grumble.
"How should I know?" Alice laughs. "I'm never doing it. Does that mean you hate the new place?"
"No, I love it," I murmur while lifting higher to try to hook the frame onto the nail. Of course, the corner of the mantle gouges my nipple again. "Aside from the mantle currently trying to murder my boob, it's got great bones. And it's close enough to the school for me to walk to work."
"Uh, you better not be walking to work in Chicago. Are you crazy?" my best friend practically shouts at me.
I laugh softly at her panicked tone. "It's fine. I think my hot neighbor is a cop, so I'm safe."
"Oh, a hot neighbor!" she cries, immediately taking the bait. If I know anything, it's Alice. Nothing distracts her faster than a gorgeous man and the prospect of her bestie finally getting laid. "If you don't tell me that you've already borrowed sugar and found out his entire life story, we can't be friends anymore. Wait. He's a cop? Really?"
"Yeah." I finally hook the picture onto the nail and then step back to admire my handiwork, rubbing at my sore boob while I assess. The picture is so crooked, Picasso would be impressed.
A level would be nice…if I knew how to use one. Sadly, my home improvement skills end at macrame DIY and origami, not basic carpentry. I didn't even own a hammer until yesterday.
"At least, I think so. He drives an unmarked unit, but it looks like a cop car to me."
There's a pause on Alice's end before she speaks again. "So…let me get this straight. You've been living there for what? Three days? And you're already creeping on your neighbor's car?"
"I'm not creeping," I argue defensively, though heat rises to my cheeks anyway. I'm totally creeping. Am I admitting it to her? Hell no. I'm a creeper, not a mad woman. "I just happened to notice the car when he pulled into his driveway last night."
"And by 'happened to notice,' you mean you pressed your face against your window and stared at him like a lovesick puppy, don't you?"
"No!" My objection is too loud to be believable.
"Uh-huh." Alice bursts out laughing again. "You little liar."
"Shut up," I mumble, grinning.
"Seriously. It could just be a car, Elsie."
"Maybe," I say, straightening the picture. By some miracle, the mantle doesn't attack me this time. I kind of doubt the neighbor's car is 'just a car', though. I'm not entirely sure, because I've only seen him at a distance, but I'm pretty sure he was wearing a Chicago PD T-shirt when I caught a glimpse of him while I was moving stuff in. And by moving stuff in, I obviously mean I watched and gave out helpful commentary like, "Careful, that's heavy," while two guys with a truck moved stuff for me. I work smarter, not harder.