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

by Lauren Wood

  “Just go ahead and go, Nick. You don't want to leave people waiting.”

  “I don't care if people wait. Are you going to be here when I get done?”

  She told me that she would be and that was the best answer I could get.

  “I will be back in a few moments.”

  Before I could think about it and the fact that we had just said there was going to be a certain bit of distance between us, I was pulling her up into my arms for a quick kiss. Her lips were surprised and felt perfectly soft. I pushed my tongue in passed her lips for only a moment, swiping against her own and then pulling her closer for just another second before I let go.

  Letting go of Betty was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.

  21

  Betty

  Listening to Nick helped me to relax. It was the same guy that I had met that first night, and he was the same guy that I had fallen for the next few days. I was still trying to figure out where Nick came from. It was just out of the blue and right on time. One minute, I had been hating the fact that I had to come to Montana, being dragged here because of my dad's business, but then the next moment, I could see why my mother was so in love with the place. I don't know if it was for the same reason, but my reason was Nick.

  Now I was full of anxiety, but it wasn't because I was worried about what Nick was going to think. He had reacted just fine, but now I was worried about what was going to happen next. There was still this desire that I had for him and it worried me. What if I was unable to tell him no? I was already to the point where I didn't want to tell him no. He had made me feel so good the other day and I knew that there was so much more that he could do. That is what I was afraid of, not being able to say no to the pleasure.

  At some point, I can't even tell you when, I had fallen for him and the idea of having sex with him was one that I had come to grips with. I knew that I wanted him, and he wanted me, and all I had to do was say so. I'm sure that Nick would have been more than happy to help me.

  As much as I thought about it and figured that I even wanted it, there was another side of me that just couldn't. There was so much that I didn't understand and I didn't know.

  The second set seemed to stream by, whereas waiting for the first one had felt like forever. I don't know why, but the seven or eight songs that he played were through in just a matter of moments. I was not happy about that at all. My anxiety was at full steam and of course, all I wanted was a few more minutes to think it through. How was I ever going to think straight, when he was right there, making my heart slam and skip a beat?

  Maybe it would be best to just get it over with. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to think until whatever this was between us was at an end. Nick was back down, smiling at me and asking me if I liked the new song. I didn't want to tell him that I hadn't heard it, but that was the truth. I had been far too stuck in my head to think of anything else. I certainly hadn't heard a song.

  “I don't remember hearing it.”

  “Really? It was about you. It even had your name in it.”

  That made me laugh and he kind of looked at me a little stranger than before. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to laugh about it, but, of course, he would sing me a song that I never heard. That sounded about right.

  “Maybe you will sing it to me later?”

  He agreed that it could definitely happen, and I asked him if he wanted to get a drink. I was still nervous about how this was all supposed to work out and I was trying to just take his lead. The problem was that I think he was doing the same thing understandably, which made it just this weird awkward mess. I don't even know how else to describe it.

  “If that's what you want. We can do anything you want to do.”

  I knew immediately why he was being like that. I had run off before and he didn't want to upset me again. It was little things like that which made it hard to not fall for Nick. He was just that sort of guy.

  “Why don't we just stay here and dance for a little while? They got some slower music coming on and I don't know, I think it would be nice. Do you dance?”

  Well, he said that he didn't dance, but he also agreed to at the same time, so that told me that he probably could, he just didn't want to admit it. I was sure that Nick had many hidden talents that I wasn't quite privy to, not yet anyway.

  The problem with that was the temptation. Not only would it be somebody that I had fallen for head over heels, but I had a feeling that making love to Nick would be amazing, just because he had so much experience. Never once did the idea of him knowing what he was doing ever bother me. I didn't want to be with a guy that was a virgin like me. I wanted somebody that would know how to touch me in all the right ways, and I had a feeling that was Nick.

  We went to the dance floor, and I really had not thought it through. He was pulling me up against him and I could feel his hard body against mine. There was no way that we could do this without being completely turned on, wondering what else he could do with other parts of his body. I had already learned what his mere fingers could do. Imagine the rest of him. The hard body that mine molded up against told me that it would be more than a little overwhelming. Everything about this guy screamed that he was too much and even the sure way that he held me around the waist, told me that he knew exactly what he was doing. Why did the idea of that make me shake so much?

  “You're really quiet tonight, Betty. Penny for your thoughts?”

  I shook my head and told him that he probably didn't want to know what I was thinking.

  “I want to know every thought. For the first time that I can remember, I want to get to know everything about you.”

  “And you've never felt that way before?”

  He insisted that he hadn't, and I wondered how true his words were. Had I not witnessed time and time again, a man saying anything and everything to get his way? Usually when his way was getting in a woman’s panties, it was hard to believe such things. And like everything sweet and divine, I wanted to believe it, and I really didn't think that I could. There was so much that I didn't know and didn't understand. He made me feel all sorts of new feelings, and I really didn’t like the idea that he was going through the same cognitive dissonance as well.

  “Well, then, we’re in the same boat. I haven't felt this way before either.”

  It was an admission that I hadn't planned on making, but for some reason it just came out of me. Maybe I didn't want him to feel like he was alone.

  Maybe I just wanted to say it out loud.

  “That is good to know, Betty, because I think you're going to be the death of me. It would be better to know that at least you feel something, too.”

  When he said things like that, I didn't know how to take it. There was, of course, a hard body pressed against me to sidetrack my every thought and this man that said all the right things at all the right times. How was a woman supposed to trust that?

  Eventually the music stopped, and I didn't want the feeling to stop that had taken over me. He just felt amazing. Really amazing.

  We were still swaying and he finally told me that the music had stopped, like I couldn’t hear it for myself. It was going to be a few minutes and so help me I didn't want to leave his arms. It was perfect and I whined a little bit when he pulled me aside. The dance was over, but I didn't want it to be. There was so much that I had tried new in the last week since I’d gotten to Montana. All of it, all the changes and overwhelming feelings were because of Nick.

  “Where do you want to go? Do you want to get a drink at the bar?”

  I nodded my head that I didn't. That was the last thing on my mind. I didn't need any liquid courage. I just needed to not think about it. Thinking about it always made it harder to wrap my head around.

  “No, why don't we get out of here? Is there somewhere around here that we could be alone? Maybe not in the cave, though.”

  He had this brilliant smile that came over his face, but he quickly toned it down, turning off the wattage. I was almost sad i
n that it was gone so quickly. Maybe he had convinced himself that he needed to cool out?

  “I think I know a place. “

  “Is it your house?”

  He disagreed, but then quickly said that if that's where I wanted to go, that's where we would go.

  I was still up in the air about it. Maybe I wanted to be close if I had another moment where I just had to get away. It was a very real possibility, considering that just being around Nick made my heart flip-flop in my chest. Being alone with Nick in his house where I knew his bed was, that for some reason seemed even more of an extreme.

  “That sounds like a perfectly good spot. You have a movie or something we can watch?”

  Nick was quick to agree. Before he had been so sweet and thoughtful with what we did on our dates, but this time I wanted to skip all of that. I wanted something else, even though I had fought so hard to ignore that part of me. Maybe I just couldn't ignore it anymore. I didn’t want to. It was time.

  I told him that I would meet him back at his place and he looked unsure for a moment.

  “What?”

  “I just want to make sure that you make it.”

  I didn't know what to think about his comment. Maybe he thought that I was just going to take off on him again, and I can't say that I wasn't going to. There really was no telling, but at the same time, I liked to think that there could also be something great between us, that was so much more. All we had to do was see how it all worked out. I was anxious, but also anticipatory.

  I really don't know where or when it happened, but I decided that Nick was going to be my first. It was a decision that I hadn't really believed I would ever make. Still, as I was going to his house to be with him in all ways, I still couldn't believe what was going to transpire. Nick was so different than me, but maybe that was the point. Maybe I was in desperate need of a change. Montana and Nick in particular, had changed me so much. I liked to think that it would never go back to normal. I had now realized how I didn't want normal. I wanted something new and exciting. I wanted Nick and what he had to offer.

  22

  Nick

  I don't know what had come over Betty, but it was quite clear that something was different. She let me pull her close when we were dancing, and I could have sworn that she was making innuendos that really threw me off. I had told myself that any way that I could have her would be enough, realized and internalized that I couldn't have her just yet, but then she went and changed the rules.

  One minute I was desperately wanting and the next I was coming to grips with the chance that I wasn't going to have her in the way that I wanted. And now she was flirting with me again, pressing her body up against me as we danced. If I didn't know any better, I would say that she was purposely trying to drive me crazy.

  I definitely started to believe it was true when she came by the house a little bit later. We were supposed to meet there, and she hadn't taken too long, but she had gotten dressed in a different way than she usually did. No longer was there a natural look that seemed effortless. This time she had put on some makeup and her clothes were a bit skimpier than before.

  Of course, my mind was going a mile a minute, convincing myself that she wanted me. She was ready. Mind you, she hadn’t been ready for all of her twenty-something years on the planet, but today, that was the day.

  It wasn’t all that accurate, but it made me feel better. When I grinned at her, most likely with a whole lot of need and desire on my face, she looked away, like she was too embarrassed to look at me. I had to wonder why.

  “You look, different.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  I told her that it wasn't a bad thing at all. There was going to be consequences, though. As much as I liked to think that I was immune and strong enough to ignore all the desires that cut at me, that wasn't necessarily true. My body had no problem reacting immediately to her new look, which in turn, made my mind spiral out of control.

  “It was just spur of the moment thing. Don't make such a big deal out of it.”

  I told her that I wouldn’t, but of course I was. I was playing an investigator, trying to piece together the puzzle that I was sure she was laying out for me. I didn't even know if it was complete or all the pieces were there, but I was trying my damnedest to put it together.

  “I'm not. Are you coming in?”

  She agreed and I took her hand in mine. I don't know what it was, but there was such a real feeling with her, so pure and not so easy to understand. I wanted to pretend like I didn't have to understand it.

  When we got in the house, she looked around and I gave her the name of a couple of movies to see which one she wanted to watch. I didn't know what she was into and was rather relieved when she picked the new adventure one over a rom-com that I wasn't looking forward to. I had just gotten what the lady at the rental place told me was doing well. The one title that I wanted to watch, she picked and once again, I was trying to convince myself that it had to be fate.

  We popped some popcorn and had a couple of drinks together. I'm not going to say that I made them overly-strong, but they certainly weren't lacking in the good part. It wasn’t just her that needed a drink, I needed one as well. She was hard to be around, especially knowing that I couldn't touch her. I was still thinking about the time she had let me touch her and I wanted to get back there.

  It was so innocent for quite some time. We were sitting next to each other. I was getting into the movie and Betty kept shifting next to me, so I would look over and notice pretty quickly that she wasn't paying attention to the movie. She was obviously occupied with something else, but at the same time, I knew that asking might be the wrong thing to do. Maybe I would not be able to handle the answer.

  Finally, she laid her head on my shoulder and I just melted inside. I'm not going to say that I wasn't sporting a rock hard one, but there was something else there. It was hard to notice, buried under all the unfulfilled lust that I had for her, but it was definitely there. If I didn't know any better, I would think that I actually had fallen for her. That I actually loved her.

  The very thought of it kind of blew me away. Never before had I even thought that in my own head. I certainly had never said it out loud, but I was definitely feeling it now. What was this hold that she had over me, and was it as dangerous as it felt?

  Suddenly, I was the one that was quiet and she asked me if everything was okay. It made me chuckle.

  “What?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “What is it?”

  “You just don't understand how badly I want to touch you. I want to. I promised that I wouldn't come back, but it's going to be harder than I thought. I am okay, but not. You know?”

  She surprised me with a simple grin and put her head back on my shoulder. It was good to feel the warmth, as well as the softness of her curves pressing into me. Possibly, I didn't want it to feel that good, because it was dangerous. She was dangerous and the desire that she brought out in me was unnatural. How could I trust myself to be anywhere around her, when I so easily had lost myself before?

  We sat like that for another ten or twenty minutes. I hadn't been paying attention to the movie in quite some time and now I was aware of every little thing that she did. Every time that she breathed just a little bit more than before, I was looking over, wondering and waiting for something. Some sign or something of that nature. I really had no idea what I was looking for. This was unknown territory for me.

  It was about halfway through the movie and Betty was obviously the restless sort. I hadn't noticed that about her before and again, I had to wonder if her restlessness was tied to my own. Why did I so desperately want her to be just as affected? That would have made it easier for my own feelings, if they weren't just directed out into the world with nothing coming back.

  Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I couldn't be pushed to the edge any further, she slid a little lower down where she was leaning against me and finally put her head in my l
ap. She was now laying on her back, instead of on her side. Betty wasn’t looking at the screen at all.

  “Do you not like the movie?”

  She insisted that she did, it just wasn't one that needed to be watched.

  Now that she had changed positions, I wasn’t paying attention to the television screen either. How could I, when she was breathing heavy and her damn chest was rising and falling rapidly. The low-cut shirt was barely containing the top half of her.

  I tried to ignore the throbbing between my legs. I had made it clear that I was prepared to wait it out, no matter how long that it took. It was hard to think of it being much longer. It was impossible to think that tonight I couldn’t cup the breasts that were on such beautiful display for me.

  “Now you’re not watching the movie. Is there something wrong with it?”

  I unfocused on her hard nipples and rising and falling chest, to realize that she was looking right at me, and it didn’t take a genius to know that I had been busted. I didn’t know what she was going to think about it, but I hoped that she would see it as a compliment. I hadn’t reached out and grabbed them, even though I wanted to so badly. Didn’t I get some props for that? If not, I felt like I should have anyway.

  “No, just a lot better view this way.”

  She looked away, giggled and her face turned a bit pinkish. It was so easy to embarrass her. I should have known sooner, that her innocence was genuine and not manufactured like some women liked to do.

  “It’s getting hot in here, though, don’t you think?”

  “Uh, yeah, okay. Do you want me to turn the air on?”

  I wasn’t hot, not in temperature. I was in need and that increased blood flow had produced more heat, but it wasn’t something that an air conditioner was going to help.

  “No, I am just going to take this off.”

  By this, she was talking about her overshirt. It had made the tiny camisole underneath it look presentable, but now it wasn’t presentable at all. The white material was thin and when stretched across her bosoms, it showed all of the things that I wanted to see. Her nipples were so hard, and I could perfectly see the darkened areas.