The Billionaire's Surrogate (A Small Town Billionaire Brothers Book 3) Read online

  I was trying to decide if it was worth it to push him. The last thing I wanted to do was shove through a sweaty crowd of strangers in the dark, drinking too much and destroying my hearing with all the loud music in the process. I hated to become the cliche who stopped wanting to go out the older he got, but I couldn’t help it. Besides, we had a lifetime of partying in previous years. The appeal of coming to Cherry Falls for me was settling into a quieter life. I was ready to settle down, though I’d never tell Ben that.

  Before I could resist any further, my cell phone started to ring. I instantly recognized the number on the screen and knew it was not a call I could take with Ben sitting right in front of me, so I silenced it and shoved it back into my pocket.

  “Come on,” he persisted. “Do this for Damon and Nick.”

  “All right,” I groaned reluctantly. “But let’s try to go somewhere nice, huh? A VIP room or something where we can have a little privacy.”

  “Fair enough. I’m sure I can snag us a few girls to invite along. And Angel will be there.”

  “Shit,” I said under my breath, immediately regretting having given in so easily.

  Ben shot me a frustrated look. “Don’t make it weird. You know she’s Del’s and Lizzy’s best friend. Nick and Damon aren’t going anywhere without them now, and those girls don’t go anywhere without Angel.”

  “Don’t remind me,” I grumbled.

  “Angel hasn’t done anything to you, anyway. At least nothing you didn’t whole heartedly consent to,” he argued.

  “I was drunk.”

  “So what? Get drunk again. I’m sure she’s down for round two.”

  “No. No way.” I put my hands up for emphasis. “No matter how much I have to drink, you are under no circumstances to allow me to leave with her again. It was already risky enough to hook up with her the first time with how close she is to everyone. I don’t want to make things weirder than they already are.”

  “Don’t worry, man. I’ll look out for you. The last thing I want is for you to get married like our other two boring old guys.” He finally stood and made his way out the door. “I’ll have my car pick us up downstairs in ten minutes,” he said on his way out.

  The problem was, I wanted to be exactly like Nick and Damon. I wanted to be a boring old guy with a wife who loved me. I was ready to start a family, but Angel seemed like the wild type who had no interest in settling down. I’d had enough of wasting years on women, thinking they might be the one, only to realize far too late that they were just along for the ride that my money could afford them and had no interest in actually getting married or having kids.

  I had hoped women in Cherry Falls would be different, but so far—no such luck. That’s why I was planning to skip the wife part of the equation altogether.

  I slid my phone back out of my pocket and clicked to listen to the voicemail that came through while Ben was in my office.

  “Mr. Williams, this is Lucille Connors from the Strathmore Surrogacy Clinic. I received your message and was hoping to connect with you to provide the information you requested about our services. Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.”

  I added a reminder to my calendar to give them a call back in the morning just before closing down my laptop and shutting down for the night. I was done waiting to find the right woman. I had more than enough money to pay for a full-time nanny, so if raising a kid on my own was the only option left to have a family, I was up for the challenge.

  2

  Angel

  After three sets of knocks on Lizzy and Damon’s door with pauses in between and still no answer, I finally turned the handle and let myself in. Entering my best friend’s home when there wasn’t an answer felt like a normal thing when she lived in a tiny little apartment like mine—one that was basically like a second home to me. It was a tab bit harder to get used to now that she lived in a giant mansion with Damon.

  I swung the door open and stepped inside the lavish foyer, complete with a chandelier hanging above. All things considered, it was homey for a mansion, especially with the kid’s toys and clothes strewn around the rooms. Yet, it was not the kind of place I ever envisioned my best friend living.

  “Hello? Anyone home?” I called out, looking through the halls and entryways.

  “Lilly!” Lizzy’s frazzled voice rang out from the kitchen, followed by a screaming cry from her little one.

  I followed the commotion to see Lilly in her highchair, covered in remnants of food while Lizzy clamored around her with the phone pressed to her ear, doing her best to talk over her daughter’s cries while cleaning up the mess.

  I leaped into action, snatching up a towel to clean up the bits of chopped veggies that Lilly had tossed over her head in protest, giving Lizzy a moment to step out of the room and finish her call. Lilly’s temper tantrum quickly melted into excited laughter at the sight of me. She reached out her little fingers and began waving them in and out, begging me to pick her up.

  “Well, it looks like dinner time may be over.” I chuckled, pulling her out of the chair and onto my hip.

  “Oh, hey, Angel.” Damon emerged, looking fly as ever in whatever new designer threads he was wearing. “Ready for our big night out?”

  “Probably not as ready as you must be,” I joked, wiping the last bit of food from Lilly’s cheeks.

  “She’s a handful, all right. We’re definitely ready for a break.”

  “Apparently, we’re not going to get one,” Lizzy huffed, popping back into the room.

  I could see her attempts at getting dolled up with her hair styled and makeup quickly thrown on. The sequin top and tight jeans she had put on showed just how ready she was to get out and blow off some steam, but she had a horribly disheartened look on her face.

  “The sitter canceled, last minute,” she huffed. “I’ve been trying to call everyone I could think of to cover for her, but no one’s available at this point.”

  “Who’s ready to party!” Del sang out as she danced into the room. Nick was behind her with a rather amused look on his face as he watched his wife.

  “Let’s pregame!” Ben suggested as he followed in behind Nick.

  I tried not to notice Joey standing at the back of the line into the kitchen, and instead, I turned my attention back to poor Lizzy.

  “Lizzy was just saying that they have no sitter,” I told them.

  “What? No way,” Ben’s face dropped. “That’s bull shit.”

  “Language!” Lizzy hissed, cutting her eyes down to Lilly, who was now emptying her mother’s purse out onto the floor.

  “What do you mean, no sitter?” Del asked, taking her son, Jackson, from Nick’s arms. She quickly snatched up Lizzy’s purse and spread out a blanket from the diaper bag, putting him down on the floor so the two little ones could play together.

  “I mean just what I said,” Lizzy snapped back. “And believe me, no one is more upset about it than me.”

  A collective buzz kill fell over the room as Damon rubbed Lizzy’s back. “You go ahead. Have a fun night out,” he offered. “I can stay here with the kids.”

  “Uh, I don’t know about that,” Del winced. “You may be used to Lilly’s antics, but I’m not so sure you can handle both her and Jackson.”

  “That’s not the point, anyway.” Lizzy frowned. “I was looking forward to us all going out together. Like the old days.”

  I couldn’t help but flash a fleeting look in Joey’s direction and then back to the guys. I was all for going out like the old days, but nothing was like it used to be. We’d be kidding ourselves if we pretended otherwise. Lizzy, Del, and I had been thick as thieves since grade school, but ever since Nick and his crew swept into town, everything had changed.

  My two best friends were married off with kids, leaving me alone to deal with things like the awkwardness that was going out with Joey, who I never fully forgave for his cold treatment after our little hookup. I didn’t understand
why the guys always had to follow us around everywhere. Sure, Damon and Lizzy were married now, and so were Nick and Del, but couldn’t we ever just have a night to ourselves? Just us girls? Now that would have been like the old days.

  But with Nick and his entourage crowded around, both him and Damon trying to console their wives as they wallowed in the acceptance that their night out was ruined, I could see that it obviously wasn’t the time to broach that topic.

  “There will be other nights,” Damon said, gently kissing Lizzy’s forehead.

  “We could hang out here,” Del suggested, always the one to look on the bright side. “The kids will go to bed before too long, anyway. We can take shots and play games.”

  “No. No way!” Ben argued. “We hang out at our houses all the time. The whole point of this was to actually go out.”

  Lizzy looked down at her sparkly outfit and sighed. I knew this was the first night that she could fit back into her skinny jeans after having the baby, and while Damon was the love of her life, she was dying to get out and show that body off.

  I felt the nagging feeling that I needed to do something for them to fix this. After all, they had signed up for night after night of caring for their kids. I still had the freedom to go out any time I wanted.

  “I can stay here with them,” I offered slowly, already regretting the words the second they came out.

  “But I wanted you to go with us, too!” Lizzy protested in an almost annoying whine.

  I tilted my head in her direction while kneeling down to pull a set of keys from Jackson’s mouth. “Well, you have no sitter. You’re obviously not getting the night out with everyone you imagined, but you can still make the best of it. I’m tired, anyway. Honestly, a night in with the kiddos sounds nice. You guys go and have fun.”

  “Really?” Del asked with big, hopeful eyes. She was so desperate, she looked like she might cry. “Angel, we’d hate to ask that of you. But if you’re okay with it, it really would be so amazing. We’d owe you big time.”

  “Don’t mention it.” I waved dismissively. “Go dance the night away and have an extra drink or two for me.”

  Del and Lizzy swarmed me in a flurry of hugs and excited squeals before jumping back into Del’s dance routine. “Who’s ready to party?” they sang and laughed in unison, bumping their hips together.

  “I’ll stay, too,” one of the guy’s voices chimed in, bringing their celebration to a dead stop.

  I closed my eyes, not turning around to look, but I knew exactly who had just offered to stay behind with me. I didn’t have to look at him. Everyone else was just as surprised as I was and staring him down with gaping mouths.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ben laughed, shaking his head.

  “You know, I grew up with a lot of brothers and sisters,” he shrugged. “I miss it sometimes. I wasn’t really in the mood to go out, anyway, and I’m sure Angel could use the help.”

  With that, I finally whipped my head around. “Actually, I grew up in a full household, too, and I know plenty about looking after kids. I’ll be fine on my own.”

  Del placed a hand on my shoulder. “Word of advice, which I’m only just now starting to fully understand myself—if someone wants to help you with the kids, you let them.”

  “But I don’t need—”

  “So, it’s settled, then,” Lizzy cut me off. “Joey and Angel are on babysitting duty. One of you for each kid. Sounds perfect to me. Now, let’s roll.”

  “You’ve lost your damn mind,” Ben scoffed in Joey’s direction before fleeing to the door. Maybe he thought if he stayed a moment longer, he might get sucked into changing diapers, too.

  I held up my finger, desperately trying to get out one protest after another about why Joey really didn’t need to stay behind. I felt like I had better chances of being heard if my dispute was directed to everyone else instead of Joey himself. I followed each of them around, explaining why I was fine on my own, but my words were lost in the chaos of the girls snatching up their things and kissing the kids goodbye. The guys were quick to follow behind them, and before I knew it, the front door slammed shut in my face.

  I turned around slowly to see both Jack and Lilly sitting on the floor, looking up at me with stunned little smiles over how quickly everything had happened. Jack started to laugh randomly, the way babies his age did. It was infectious to Lilly, who soon followed suit with her own little adorable toddler giggles. I couldn’t help but feel like they were laughing at me, taunting me for my shitty luck.

  I bit my lip and finally cut my eyes up to Joey, who didn’t look nearly as uncomfortable as me. He was standing there with his arms crossed, obviously fine with the whole thing.

  “How’s it been?” he asked casually.

  “Great.” I faked a tight smile before going over to pick up Lilly. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful and help me get these two into a bath.”

  3

  Joey

  Jackson stared up at me from his few safe inches of bathwater, which had just been warm enough but was now starting to turn cold. He was having so much fun splashing around with his toys that it was hard to crash his party.

  His blue eyes lit up with that innocent, curious amusement that all little kids had. He was a mischievous little stinker who always had a permanent grin plastered on his face like he was constantly plotting his next move. I could see so much of Nick in him, and it was hitting me harder than ever that, soon, I would be making moves to bring my own kid into this world.

  A few bubbles rippled through the water behind Jack, which sent him into a fit of giggles.

  I smirked. “All right, buddy. I’d say that’s a good sign that we’re done with bath time for the night.”

  He kept laughing and cooing as I scooped him up in my arms and wrapped him in the soft yellow duck towel that Angel had laid out. There was a patter of feet behind me as Lilly ran into the room, now fully dressed in her PJs and with a stuffed animal in hand.

  “No running in the bathroom!” Angel called after her. She may not have had kids of her own, but her voice boomed with startling authority and motherly instincts.

  “That was fast,” I said, shooting her an impressed smile.

  “Yeah, well, like I said, I was the oldest of five. So by the time I was a teenager, I was a pro at wrestling little munchkins down after bathtime and wrangling them into their pajamas.” She nodded. “I really didn’t need your help tonight.”

  We stood in the close quarters of the bathroom with her staring up at me, one hand on her hip and a less than amused expression on her face. She was wearing a satin and lace camisole, and her eyes glittered with dark eyeliner and shiny shadow—all dolled up only to get stuck here with these kids. I was kicking myself more than ever for that random night we had shared together. This was exactly the sort of awkwardness I hoped to avoid.

  “Listen, Angel. About…what happened between us,” I started slowly. “I never meant to…hurt your feelings or anything. I just…”

  “Hurt my feelings?” she scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself, Joey. I knew what I was doing that night, and I knew nothing would come out of it. I mean, you didn’t have to be such a jerk about it, but…” Lilly cut her off with a squeal as she took off running down the hall. “But now’s really not the time to talk about it.”

  “Maybe later,” I said as she took off after Lilly.

  “I’d say the time to talk about it has passed,” Angel replied over her shoulder before disappearing into the kid’s room at the end of the hall.

  I couldn’t help but smile at how strong and sassy Angel was. It was the thing about her that always turned me on. But for as confident as I felt with kids, I couldn’t say the same for women. That was where things got tricky for me, and I had given up a long time ago on trying to make things work with them.

  I got Jackson dried off, diapered up, and into a fresh onesie with pants and booties to keep his feet warm. With him all bundled up, his eyes started
to grow heavy as he let out a big yawn. We found Angel and Lilly in Lilly’s room. Angel was laid back in Lilly’s bed with Lilly’s small body draped across her chest as they read a book. I put Jack in his playpen and sat next to him while she finished the story.

  “And they lived happily ever after. The end,” Angel said as she gently closed the book.

  “I’m a princess. I will live happily ever after,” Lilly murmured in the sweetest sleepy voice as she slowly closed her eyes.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” Angel replied, kissing her forehead before inching her way out from under her.

  Jack took his cue to lay down as I pulled the blanket up around him, tucking him in. We had run all of their energy out after the gang left, and they were more than ready to pass out. Angel and I crept to the door and turned out the lights, not resuming our normal stride until we had reached the bottom of the stairs.

  Angel was quick to plop down on the couch with a big stretch and yawn of her own. I wanted to join her, but the tension between us was still thick.

  “You may not want to talk about it, but I am sorry if I came across like a jerk,” I told her before finally sitting down at the other end of the couch.

  She rolled her eyes and flopped her head to the back of the couch. “Ugh, Joey. Seriously, let it go. That was forever ago, and I’m beyond over it.”

  Something in her voice and everything about how she had treated me that evening told me she wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to push her and make things worse. “Well, you’re right. You probably would have been just fine with the two kids on your own. You’re really good with them. Have you ever thought about having kids?”

  She laughed. “I’d have to find a man first.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  She wrinkled her brow and looked at me like I was crazy.

  “I just mean that there are other ways, you know. I, for one, am ready to have kids. Start a family. So, I’m considering going the surrogacy route.”