by Katie Dowe
Lucas
He's avoided serious relationships all his life, has he met his match?
A sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club. Features another free bonus book.
Jasmine Crichton is a beautiful, hard-as-brass food critic who is driven more by her career than her need to be in a relationship.
But that changes when she meets billionaire Lucas Henderson, who insists on integrating himself into her life!
She can only resist for so long, because deep down Jasmine knows she has fallen for him just as hard as he has for her.
She agrees to marry him, but there is one hang-up: she refuses to have children!
Jasmine was adopted off the streets, and doesn’t want kids when she still has no idea who her father is.
An investigation into her life reveals the shocking truth about people she thought she knew.
But now that the truth is out, will Jasmine change her mind and finally start a family with Lucas?
Find out in this emotional yet sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.
Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes so hot, you'll want to marry your own billionaire!
Tip: Search BWWM Club on Amazon to see more of our great books.
Free: Get Jason from the Members From Money series where YOU'RE the star!!
Hi there. As a special thank you for buying this ebook, for a limited time I want to send a copy of Jason free of charge directly to your email! It's a personalized story, meaning you'll add a few details about yourself (these won't be shared with anyone else) and you'll become the star of the story!! :D
You'll be emailed a new chapter once a day for 7 days. You can get it by clicking the cover below or going here:
Direct link: www.afroromancebooks.com/personalized-jason-members-from-money
This book is so exclusive you can't even buy it. As well as sending daily emails with the story, I'll also send you updates when new books like this are available.
Copyright © 2017 to Katie Dowe and AfroRomanceBooks.com. No part of this book can be copied or distributed without written permission from the above copyright holders.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Bonus Book – Another Man's Baby
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
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Chapter 1
It was the screams that woke her up, even though they were trapped inside her throat and would not come out. It was always the same! She would dream that she was being chased by a faceless monster and just as he was about to grab hold of her she would wake up screaming! She had thought she would have outgrown the nightmares as she got older but they were apparently here to stay. She jumped up with her heart racing and her skin clammy. She waited until she was steady enough to climb off the bed and then she went to the bathroom. She switched on the light and went over to the mirror to stare at herself. Her large dark brown eyes were wide and spaced indicating the trauma she had just experienced and her hair tumbling around her face looked as if she had been combing agitated fingers through the strands. Taking a deep breath; she used the paper cup she had used the night before and caught some water from the tap. Taking a sip, she emptied the rest in one gulp.
She could not afford to be rattled and usually she was not. Tomorrow she would be going to a new French restaurant that had just opened up in town and she had been hearing all sorts of raves about it but she would decide and her decisions were highly rated. She had called and made a reservation two months ago making sure to use an assumed name. She did not want to tip them off about who she was, she wanted to catch them by surprise and make her unbiased opinion. She combed long fingers through her tangled hair and realized with a grimace that she was going to have to wash her hair before going out which meant a little extra time to use the blow dryer.
A glance at the clock in the bathroom showed that it was only a minute past twelve but she knew she was not going to get any sleep now. Jasmine ran off adrenaline and at the end of the day she would settle back with a glass of red wine and try and relax. Robert, aka ‘Bubba,’ as she had called him when she was a teen was her surrogate father and the man who had rescued her from the horror that had been her life. She shied away from the memories even now which she had buried at the back of her mind. Bubba had told her that one day she was going crash and burn if she did not slow down but she had laughed at him and told him not while she was alive.
She contemplated making a pot of coffee but figured she needed to be clear eyed for the day so she switched to chamomile tea. She put the kettle on and turned on the small television she had in the kitchen, switching between channels until she settled on a silly comedy she had watched several times before.
*****
Lucas Henderson was also awake but for a totally different reason! Henderson’s Hardware, the giant of hardware stores all over the world, was having its Christmas special and he had to sign off on the usual discounts. The ads had been running in the papers and on television including the internet since November and people were looking forward to clearing out the stores. Black Friday had come with the usual rush and fight over the pains as well as carpets and the sales had skyrocketed for the do it yourself cupboards. It was a father and son business but his dad had let go of the reins somewhat in the last two years and had decided to take some rest. Both he and Bella, his wife and Lucas’ stepmother, had gone for a three week’ cruise to the Caribbean and would not be back until mid-January. Lucas’ mother had died when he was only four and his father had remarried five years later. He had resented the attractive red head for a little bit until he had discovered that she was genuinely in love with his father and wanted to be a mother to him. He had grown to love her like one and they were even closer than he and his dad. He got to his feet and went to look out the window at the darkened landscape. His apartment was on the top floor and he preferred it that way. It had every amenity and was complete with guards downstairs. The building also belonged to Henderson’s and had been in the family for ten years. He had moved from home the minute he had graduated from Harvard business school and had moved into the luxurious four bedroom apartment. He had one rule: he never brought a woman home with him not wanting to give them the wrong impression. He was twenty-nine years old he was thinking of settling down next year June when he reached thirty. He had someone in mind and he figured she was suitable enough. Lucas Henderson was what one would call an alpha male. He was tall and commanding and was a leader in whatever group he was in. Without even trying he commanded attention and had people listening to him as if he had the cure for the various diseases. His stepmother had told him laughingly that he could have made a career as a motivational speaker! It had been the same when he had been in high school and all through college. So much so that he had been in charge of several clubs in college. His dark green eyes could pull you in and hold your attention without him even making the effort. He had dark brown hair tinted heavily with blonde and had a dark tan that he had acquired on his many trips to Europe. He worked out in his home gym often and was a member of the Elite Club where his father and grandfather had been a member as well. He looked up suddenly as he saw the streak of light flashing across the sky. A shooting star, he mused
as he stepped away from the window. He should have probably made a wish!
*****
“Trying to fatten me up, Bubba?” Jasmine asked wryly as she took in the table laden with food. Robert Ingles had been a cop all his life and had retired two years ago. He had not taken kindly to retirement but had taken on a gig where he acted as security at apartment buildings uptown. Jasmine had tried to persuade him to take up a hobby or something to relax but he refused to listen to her telling her that sitting and twiddling his thumbs was not a part of his makeup.
“You are too thin,” he told her darkly as he eyed her slender body encased in skin tight jeans and knee length boots. She looked like she had just stepped off the runway with her hair bundled untidily on top of her head and the three piercings in each lobe decorated with different colored stones. She was not wearing makeup not that she needed any because she was naturally beautiful. He had rescued her off the streets when she was only thirteen and could not love her more if she was his own flesh and blood. She had been a skittish little girl who had been afraid of her own shadow and had placed a hard cast over her heart, only letting him in when she discovered he was not out to hurt her.
“I am the right size,” she told him as she pressed a kiss on his weathered cheek. She loved him so much that she felt overwhelmed with it. Love did not come easy for her and she owed this man her life. He had taken her in when it was against regulations and had fought to keep her, letting her know that she was precious and should make something of herself. She had tried to pay him back for all he had done for her and the money he had shelled out for her but he had told her roughly that if she ever tried that again he was never going to speak to her again!
“I have no idea how you can be a food critic and stay so thin.” He passed her a loaded plate of food.
“I eat tiny portions,” She looked at the heaped plate sceptically and pushed her fork around the different meats and vegetables. She started to tell him about her visit to the French restaurant and had him laughing as she related how after she had been served the creamy chocolate sauce pudding that it had been leaked who she really was. “You should see the chef scrambling to try and serve me the special,” Jasmine said in amusement. “The food was very good though and I told the very anxious chef that I would be writing an excellent review. The service was also good as well.”
He looked at her in amazement. “I am very proud of you.”
She shrugged carelessly not really comfortable with compliments. “You did good.”
He did not continue in that manner knowing she was not comfortable with it. “How are you sleeping?”She looked up and caught his eyes.
“I wish you would stop doing that,” she muttered.
“What am I doing?”
“You are not a cop anymore, Bubba, so stop trying to pry the truth out of me.”
“I just asked you a simple question which should have required a simple answer,” he said mildly as he chewed on the delicate sliver of turkey meat. He had gotten up extra early refusing to take the Christmas Day shift because he was determined to spend the day with her. He did not see her enough and he knew she traveled a lot. He could not wait for the day when she found a good man and settled down and gave him some grandchildren. “You used to tell me the same thing when you were a kid,” he said with a gentle laugh. “You would say to me, ‘It’s not fair that I treated you like a suspect and I would say-”
“If you act like one I am going to treat you like one,” Jasmine ended the sentence with a laugh. “I could never hide anything from you.”
“Not even the stock of potato chips you had pinched from the groceries I was taking for the homeless children.”
“It used to confound me to no end how you managed to know what I was up to.”
“I was more than a cop; I was a parent,” he told her quietly.
Their eyes met and held and she nodded, her action saying more than words could. They finished the meal in silence and then went into the small living room with the cheerful fire. Robert had been married for fifteen years when his wife had a stroke and died. They had never been able to have children and when he had been doing his patrol on the worst part of town and had seen the little girl huddled beneath some tattered blankets trying to ward off the cold his heart had been touched immediately. His partner at the time had told him to take her back to the home where she had run away from but something had told him that she did not want to go back. He had taken her in and she had eyed him suspiciously probably thinking he was about to jump her scrawny bones but he had proved himself to her and had wrapped her in his love until she had started to unthaw.
“How is Marion?” she asked him teasingly as she stretched her booted legs out in front of her and enjoyed the hot chocolate he had made.
“She is okay.” He shrugged a little carelessly as if trying not to show how much he cared.
“Why is she not here?”
“She has gone to Florida to visit her kids and grandkids and I am here with you, twerp.”
“When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?”
“I was married once and that is enough for me. We are just friends.”
“Yeah, right.” She snorted in an unladylike tone. “You two have the hots for each other.”
“Watch your language, young lady,” he said gruffly but his dark weather beaten face looked slightly embarrassed.
“I am not a kid anymore, Bubba, so you cannot take a strap to me,” Jasmine said in amusement.
“I never did,” he reminded her quietly.
“No, you never did.” She looked at him gently. “And that was one thing that makes you the best person I know.”
*****
Lucas made the walk through. He did not have to but he loved to visit the various stores and get to know the people. He knew it intimidated the staff to know that he was in town and would pop by for a visit. He would walk the floor and smile and talk to the customers. They knew who he was of course and was often delighted to know that he was not too proud to mingle with them. This Henderson Hardware was one of the first ones that had been built almost sixty years ago. The small town of Kendal had been a place where the population had been small but had grown over the years along with the demands and the Hendersons had capitalized on it. The store had gotten bigger until it took up several blocks and sold everything that had to do with the building of houses and offices.
“Mrs. Grant, how lovely to see you,” he greeted a long-time customer.
The delicate white haired woman with a pooch in her arms turned to the tall handsome young man with a very wide smile as she greeted him. “Lucas, my, look at you!” she gushed as she gripped his dark green sweater. “You are as handsome as ever. What are you doing here?”
“I am in town for the Christmas and have decided to come in for a look through.” He bent and kissed the woman’s parchment like cheek.
“And your dad and stepmom?”
“Off on an extended cruise. How are the children?” he asked her with much more than politeness. He genuinely listened and that was one of the reasons people were drawn to him.
“Julia is now having her third child and Mario is traipsing all over the world doing that writing of his,” she said with obvious pride. “You young men don’t seem to want to settle down.”
“I am sure he will one day. What are you buying today?”
“I need a new cupboard. I am fancying redwood.”
He topped off the day with a meeting with the management staff and a trip to the club where he figured he would unwind for a few hours before going back to the apartment. His eyes wandered around the vast room and he nodded to a few acquaintances. His best friend Anthony was not around, he had gone to Europe following after his on again off again fiancé and had decided to stay for a couple of weeks. He took his drink and wandered over to an empty seat but he was immediately crowded in by several men who wanted his opinion about one thing or the other. Before long there was a group around him and the
y were laughing and talking and pulling attention to themselves.
He left there feeling slightly tipsy and a lot more cheerful than when he had arrived!
*****
Phil pretended that he had no interest in Jasmine whatsoever other than the fact that he was just a friend. He knew if he showed the slightest inkling that he considered her to be more than a friend he would drive her away but he wondered how long he was going to be able to keep this up! He was a cop at the same precinct her surrogate father had been a part of and had met her when she was in her early twenties and had come to the station to wait on him. He had been bowled over by her stunning good looks and had been trying to make her fall in love ever since but he had to play it cool. He knew she spooked easily and he did not want to drive her away. His eyes brightened as he saw her coming into the café. He felt a sense of pride as he saw the men turn to give her long looks. She was wearing the usual faded denims and knee length boots along with a clinging soft blue sweater. Her hair was loose around her face and she had a cell phone glued to her ear as she murmured softly into it. She did not seem to be aware of the attention she was drawing and even if she did it never mattered to her. She slid into the seat and nodded to him, pausing to mouth her order and then continued.
She finished talking to the person on the line and leaning forward gave his hands a squeeze. “Sorry about that. Work,” she said briefly as she accepted the hot chocolate with a smile at the besotted waiter. “What’s up?”
“A guy cannot want to see his best friend?” he asked her lightly as he leaned back and took in her face. “I have not seen you in two weeks.”
“I was in New York and then in Chicago.” She shrugged without apology. “You know how it is. I have a deadline waiting for me when I get back home and I am not looking forward to writing it. The chef seems to be genuinely nice but his food sucks.”
