Fever (Falling For A Rose Book 4)
Page 17
“I’ve misled you all,” he said.
Sharp whispers fled around the sanctuary, and I opened my eyes just in time to see my father step forward.
“Sir, if you’ll just let me speak my peace,” Josiah said.
“You better make it good, son,” my father said with venom laced in his tone.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to please my father,” Josiah continued. “Being the youngest in the family made me the wild child in his eyes—and my brothers’.” Josiah cleared his throat. “So, I’ve lived up to his minor expectation of being just that, the irresponsible one, the foolish kid, the one who was not ready for real accountability. Then recently I was giving an opportunity to make him proud. He wanted me to run his company, Gemz, making me CEO of the business. I was shocked at first, and then I found out that there was a catch. To take over, he wanted me to find a wife and settle down.” Josiah peeked over at me again.
“At first, I was outraged that he would put a clause like this in the contract, but then this crazy idea came to me, and I ran it by someone who’d become my best friend.”
I found it interesting that Josiah took the blame, when it was actually I who came up with the elaborate scheme. He continued.
“At first, we laughed at the idea, but then she agreed that if it was what I wanted to do, she would pretend to be my companion.”
More shocked whispers went throughout the building, and I kept my focus on only Josiah. My heart squeezed as I hurt for him, knowing the courage it took for him to say this weighed a ton.
“We went through the motions of being girlfriend and boyfriend, then an engaged couple, and now here we are.” Josiah continued. “I was going to call this whole thing off. I had a notion of ending it before it got to this point," he turned to me, "but then I realized I didn't want to." Josiah’s gaze ate me up, searing into mine, steady and solidifying. "I decided to let this go on. I wanted us to get to this altar, hoping beyond hope, that she would truly marry me.”
A sharp gasp tore from me, and the tears that I’d held back streamed down my face in rapid succession.
“You see, in all of that pretending, I fell in love with her, and the thought of not being her true husband was more than I could bear.” Directing his next words to me, Josiah spoke, “I love you, Santana, and I want to be with you. This is the real me, talking to the real you. I know I don't deserve your heart, and I suck at being a boyfriend, but I was wondering, if you're crazy enough and maybe a little reckless, if you could love me forever, like I love you, and be my wife.”
Tremors rocked my body as I cried; Josiah sank to both knees and removed another ring from his pocket just as large as the one I was wearing. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I tossed my arms around his neck, and we fell to the floor. I sank my lips into his mouth and cried my eyes out. When I found a moment to pull back and breathe, Josiah held tears in his eyes.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
“Yes, baby, you’re damn right I’ll marry you.”
A roaring applause broke through the building as I kissed him long and hard. It was unbelievable, and something I’d never expected to happen.
“I love you, Mr. Rose,” I cheerfully said.
“And I love you, Mrs. Rose.”
We kissed again, and a deafening roar split through the building like a stadium of crazy football fans. And Josiah and I kissed, and kissed, and… kissed.
The End
Enjoying the Falling for a Rose Series? Grab the next installment, which follows Jonathon Alexander Rose and Octavia Davenport as they venture into a thing called love in A Lifetime With You.
Hey reading family, here we are again! I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If so, take a moment and leave a review on Amazon. Check the next page for other books and get an exclusive teaser not found in stores when you subscribe to my newsletter!
XOXO - Stephanie
More Books by Stephanie Nicole Norris
Contemporary Romance
Everything I Always Wanted (A Friends to Lovers Romance)
Safe With Me (Falling for a Rose Book One)
Enough (Falling for a Rose Book Two)
Only If You Dare (Falling For a Rose Book Three)
Fever (Falling for a Rose Book Four)
A Lifetime With You (Falling for a Rose Book Five)
She said Yes (Falling for a Rose Holiday Edition Book Six)
Mine (Falling for a Rose Book Seven)
Romantic Suspense Thrillers
Beautiful Assassin
Beautiful Assassin 2 Revelations
Mistaken Identity
Trouble In Paradise
Vengeful Intentions (Trouble In Paradise 2)
For Better and Worse (Trouble In Paradise 3)
Until My Last Breath (Trouble In Paradise 4)
Christian Romantic Suspense
Broken
Reckless Reloaded
Crime Fiction
Prowl
Prowl 2
Hidden (Coming Soon)
Fantasy
Golden (Rapunzel’s F’d Up Fairytale)
Non-Fiction
Against All Odds (Surviving the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) *Non-Fiction
About the Author
Stephanie Nicole Norris is an author from Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a humble beginning. She was raised with six siblings by her mother, Jessica Ward. Always being a lover of reading, during Stephanie’s teenage years her joy was running to the book mobile to read stories by R. L. Stine.
After becoming a young adult, her love for romance sparked, leaving her captivated by heroes and heroines alike. With a big imagination and a creative heart, Stephanie penned her first novel Trouble In Paradise and self-published it in 2012. Her debut novel turned into a four-book series full of romance, drama, and suspense. As a prolific writer, Stephanie’s catalog continues to grow. Her books can be found on Amazon. Stephanie is inspired by the likes of Donna Hill, Eric Jerome Dickey, Jackie Collins, and others. She currently resides in Tennessee with her husband and two-year-old son.