Tall, Dark and Handsome Neighbor: A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Lauren Wood

  Tall, Dark and Handsome Neighbor

  A Friends To Lovers Romance

  Lauren Wood

  Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Wood

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Betty

  2. Betty

  3. Nick

  4. Betty

  5. Nick

  6. Nick

  7. Betty

  8. Nick

  9. Betty

  10. Nick

  11. Betty

  12. Nick

  13. Betty

  14. Nick

  15. Betty

  16. Nick

  17. Betty

  18. Nick

  19. Betty

  20. Nick

  21. Betty

  22. Nick

  23. Betty

  24. Nick

  The Billionaire’s Surrogate (SNEAK PEEK)

  Chapter 1

  Also by Lauren Wood

  About the Author

  Exclusive Offer

  1

  Betty

  When I first found out that my parents wanted to move out of Los Angeles, I was taken off-guard. We had lived here for most of my life, and I didn't want to move to Montana or anywhere really. I know that I was born in Montana and everything, but that did not mean I wanted to live in one of the least populated states in the country. It was cold and I couldn't even imagine going back there. How many years had it been since we even visited?

  Something was going on in the family, and even though I was twenty-one years old, no one decided that it was important for me to know what was going on. I was just left in the dark and told to get my affairs in order, because in a week we were all moving.

  Since I am old enough, there was a huge part of me that wanted to stay in L.A. I could find a place; my parents would help with all of that. When I suggested it, though, my mother in particular, told me that it was impossible. I felt like she wanted to tell me something else, but instead, she looked to my father quickly and then turned away. What I wouldn't have given to ask her more. There was something that I was missing. There had to be some kind of reason for all of this.

  It felt like I didn't have much of a choice, so I did what they said, and I started packing up my life, and even though I had just finished college, it didn't mean that I was ready to start my life. I was still having too much fun and now that I was going to be moving to Montana, that fun was immediately going to come to a screeching halt. Montana. Out of all the places in the country, why did it have to be there?

  The day of moving was quickly upon us, and I left my bedroom for the last time, looking back at all the boxes that I had carefully packed. We had movers for that, of course, but I didn't like the idea of strangers pawing through my things. Now, it was going to be days before I would see any of it again. We were going to be flying out in a couple of hours to Montana and then checking out our new house. There was a bit of excitement; however, most of it was nervousness. There was obviously something going on that I was not privy to, something that had changed my life drastically. Was it really the right choice to stay with my family, instead of living on my own in L.A?

  Mom was in the plane with me, but that was it. Dad was taking care of business, something that I was rather used to. My father was a billionaire, so I really didn’t get to see him all that much. Money was traded for time, and he gave up a lot of his for that green paper. I'm not going to say that I don't mind spending it, but I certainly didn’t understand spending one’s whole life in pursuit of it. You could only spend so much.

  “Are you nervous?”

  I told her that I wasn’t. It wasn’t confusion that I was feeling. It was something else. Maybe I just didn’t understand.

  “Why in the world are we moving to a place that has more cows than people? I just don’t get it. I thought we moved away when I was young, so that we would have a better life?”

  Anna smiled and nodded her head without really answering for a moment. “Oh, honey, I'm pretty sure that it won’t be that bad. It’s not like it used to be. There are more people now.”

  “So, you haven’t been in a while either?”

  My mom smiled and then shrugged. “You know that I don't have much say in this. Your father said that we needed to move here, so that's what we're doing. I'm just along for the ride, just the same as you. It’s been a bit of time since I’ve been home, but not too long. I am sure that this is all going to work out, you’ll see. Your father is usually right about the big moves.”

  That was a perfect example of how my mother and I were different. She was more of a coaster, letting things happen, and I was not. I wanted to force my will on the world, hoping for a better result. I almost never got one, but the will-forcing I was getting pretty good at.

  “I don't know if I'm going to stay. I will really give it a try for a few weeks, but if it's as bad as I think it's going to be, I'm going to move back to L.A. Maybe this is just the bump I need to get my life started.”

  Mom was alarmed and she pushed her blonde hair back away from her face. Her being upset was not a good look for her because it caused wrinkles, so she was quickly back to a placid smile that was giving me the creeps at the moment. Anna seemed like plastic, void of feeling on many occasions.

  “Now, honey, you know that you're not going to do that.”

  “And why not? You know that I am not going to be happy here.”

  She smiled sweetly. “Because your father would cut you off, and we both know that you like to shop too much to let that happen. He wants us here for a little while, Betty. Does it have to be a bad thing? Maybe we can find a way to make it work.”

  “I did get a college degree for a reason. I'm going to get a job, and I don’t know what kind of prospects I am going to have in such a place.”

  That made Anna laugh out loud. It was the tinkling sound that made me so upset. Why was that so funny? I wasn’t going to have a problem getting a job.

  “You don't think that I'll be able to get one?”

  “No, Betty, I know that you will get one. I also know that you don't have to get one, because you are a Simmons. Your father has more money than he'll ever be able to spend. Why in the world would you get a job? Have you ever seen me with a job? It’s not natural.”

  I told her that I hadn’t, and then she smiled like it was all settled. I don't think it was though. Even though my parents were ridiculously rich, that didn't mean that I just wanted to cruise on through life. I wanted to make a difference, take companies to the next level, and one day soon, when my father saw how good I could do with that, I knew that he was going to bring me on to do the same with his. That was the only way that I was going to get into the company, considering that my brother was being groomed to take over. Like my mom, dad didn’t think that women should work.

  That’s what I was working against.

  The plane ride was about as depressing as the conversation on it. It was just me and mom and someone was running around getting us things. My mom liked to order people around. I watched the flight attendant walk back and forth at least twenty times, before I finally said something to mom. I got a dirty look from my comment because it was unheard of. They were the help and to her, they shouldn’t be thought of any other way.

  “Why don't you just give her a break?”

  Anna looked at me. “I swear, Betty, you're ac
ting completely strange today. First you want to get a job, and now you expect me to apologize to a flight attendant? It's like you don't even know me at all.”

  I sat back in the seat. I definitely knew that feeling.

  “I'm just saying you don't have to be so demanding all the time. She has a lot of stuff to do that does not involve us.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  I could have told her that I partied on a boat with a couple of flight attendants when I was in Paris, but she didn't know about that trip, so I kept it to myself. It was better to leave them guessing, she always told me.

  I closed my eyes and told her to wake me up when we got to Montana.

  “I'm sure a nap will be the best part of the trip.”

  “You know, Betty, you should really stop being so sullen. You're never going to get a guy like that, and all you're going to get is wrinkles. Just think about how your aunt looks. Do you really want that? She has a turkey neck and jowls.”

  She looked at me like it was the most horrible thing in the world, wrinkles and age lines. My Aunt Misty was the black sheep of the family. She didn't care about money, and most of the time she was traveling. Everyone in the family called her the gypsy and looked down on her, because she hadn't taken her place in the Canton Dynasty. Misty and I had a lot in common. Neither one of us wanted the family we were born into.

  2

  Betty

  When my eyes opened again, I was gently being shook by the flight attendant. She had blue eyes and a kind smile. For a moment, I didn't quite know where I was, and she reminded me.

  “You're in Billings, ma'am. We just touched down a few minutes ago.”

  “My mother?”

  “She is already off the plane. She was on her phone, so I don't know where she was going.”

  I thanked her for waking me up and got up slowly. The door on the plane was open, and I could already feel the cold air rushing towards me. It wasn't even October yet. Why was it so cold?

  The sun seemed to be missing as well. When I walked off the plane, I was expecting to have to squint a little bit in my sunglasses, but there was no sun. I did a full three-sixty circle and did not see it anywhere. It must have been behind the dreary clouds that filled the sky. How in the world was I ever going to make it here? It didn't seem like the place that anybody would want to live. Why here?

  I had a lot of questions for dad, but they weren't going to get answered. I could ask mom, although she would ask me why I was worried about any of it. She didn't think about what dad did. She just spent the money and went with it.

  Mom was about ten feet away from the plane and she was still on her phone. I couldn't tell exactly who she was talking to, but it was most likely my dad. She was quite upset and when I got a little closer, I realized what it was about. There was not a car there to pick her up, and she was basically freaking out about it. I just kind of shook my head. What was I supposed to do when she was acting like this?

  Finally, she came to some kind of conclusion, and got off the phone. Her face was streaked with fake tears, and she expertly fixed her face so that it looked like nothing had ever fallen from her eyes before.

  Walking back over to me she smiled. “I had this whole thing planned out. We were going to take a nice limo and drive around through the city. Check things out, you know. I was going to show you the old charm of the place.”

  “I don't think there's much to look at, so I wouldn’t be too bothered if that plan is derailed.”

  I could see a few skyscrapers in the distance, if that's what they wanted to call it. It seemed substandard, everything did. Everything was bleak and dirty and cold. There was even snow in some places. I knew then that I didn't want to be there.

  I looked around, wondering what that conclusion was that she had come up with.

  “When are we going?”

  “We are going to go as soon as they get here. It was just some kind of mix up. I'm sure that once we get to know people here things will go smoother. Tip big and often.”

  Another life lesson wrapped into a few words, that was repeated to me over and over again. That one was actually a good one, though.

  “So, what am I supposed to do here?”

  “I don't know, honey. I'm sure you'll come up with something. You got that big fancy degree of yours. Why don't you put it to use?”

  “You're right. That's what I should do.”

  That's not exactly how I felt at all. Everything was going the wrong way. I didn't get my business degree so I could work in some yokel town in Montana. I doubt that they even knew what kind of systems I would put in place. I needed a big city, with progressive people. I didn’t think I would be able to find that where I was currently standing.

  I tried to pull myself from the dark thoughts. I was going to make the best of it. I had decided to come with, and even though it was of course attached to the threat of taking away all my funds, I was just going to have to make the best of it.

  That advice didn’t come from mom. That was all me, though she had inspired it.

  The most complicated part of it all was actually smiling about it. She talked incessantly for the next ten minutes until the limo got there and finally, she stopped. She, of course, had to give her minutely detailed information to the driver. He looked about as lost as I did. I wanted to help him, but there really was no stopping her when she was on a roll. And my mother was on a roll.

  The town of Billings was not impressive at all. I didn't see much that interested me, not as far as businesses and architecture went. The weather certainly wasn't doing anything for me either, but I started to notice a theme in the town. It was the people that made me pay attention. It wasn't the women, either. I wasn't worried about the competition, but the men. The men there, there was just something different about them. They wore jeans that molded to their legs and butt. Broad shoulders, trim waist. Completely different than what I was used to, but I have to say that it was doing something for me.

  Mom must've caught me looking and she smiled. “They don't make them like they do in L.A., do they?”

  I shook my head. All of a sudden, I wondered what the guys would look like with surfer shorts on.

  “I see you're starting to perk up, Betty. Good. I knew you would come around. Mommy knows best.”

  I smiled thinly and looked over at her. “I am just starting to see that maybe Montana has a few good things in it after all. Don’t expect much more than that.”

  She giggled at me, like it was the funniest thing ever and agreed. “I think that you will find that there are lots of things to do here, that you wouldn’t be able to do back in California. The people are different, too, as you can see.”

  “Do you miss this place? You act like you do. I didn’t even know you came back here.”

  She agreed. “I’ve came back a few times. Your father has had business here for years.”

  I didn't want to get into dad’s work. It was complicated and a little shady. He did not get to the billionaire mark by doing things the right way.

  “Why have I never been here before?”

  She shrugged. “You were so busy in school, and you've had a lot on your plate, Betty.”

  “Are you going to tell me why we're really here?”

  Mom looked up towards the driver, like he was going to eavesdrop and tell the world her business.

  “Let's just say that your father is having some trouble with some accounting issues. We feel like it's best for us to come here, where a lot of our business is already centered. It has some beneficial laws here as well, that could help your father in the future.”

  “Why does it sound like dad did something wrong?”

  Mother got serious. “Your father hasn’t done anything wrong, Betty. Don’t even say that joking. He hired an accountant that took liberties with loopholes. In a few months, all of this will be figured out, and we will be back in the sunshine again. This is a nice place to visit, but I don’t see how anyone would want to live
here.”

  Another guy passed while we were at the stop light, and I have to say that the eye-candy was tempting. I had to agree for once with her. I don’t know if it was a good place to stay, but a visit seemed certainly in order.

  “Why don’t we get to the new house? We can look around, and then you can get ready for the party.”

  “What party?”

  “The one we are throwing to introduce ourselves to the area.”

  I nodded, knowing what that meant. My mother wanted to show off to all of the new people that were going to be in her life. She wanted to be admired and that took people.

  “Do I have to go?”

  She frowned at me and then sighed. “You know, sometimes I just don’t understand you, Betty. This is a perfect opportunity for you to meet new people.”

  “You’re right. I will do my best.”

  She smiled at the false answer, satisfied that she’d heard what she was supposed to hear. That was enough for her. Mom didn’t worry about if it was true or not.

  “You never know, Betty. We might find you a husband here. A lot of these men are filthy rich, but you’d never know it. It’s all about land and cattle out here.”

  I shook my head and laughed. There was no way that I was going to find a guy here. Here, in Billings. I looked around, and though the men were of a different breed, that didn’t mean that I was ready to rush into marriage, although at twenty-one, my mom acted like I was going to be a spinster at any moment. I was getting old, she reminded me all the time.