Luke, page 1
Luke
Getting to know this fiery African American beauty is more than he bargained for!
A sexy BWAM, surrogate romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.
Janice Ramsey loves her beloved bookstore that she inherited from her father.
But for the store to survive, she needs money that she doesn’t have!
She never thought she’d agree to be a surrogate for money, but desperate times call for desperate measures!
Korean multi-billionaire Luke Christopher Jeong needs an heir, but without any strings attached…
What better option than to hire someone to have his baby for him!
But when he meets the smart and sexy Janice, suddenly everything becomes more than just a business agreement…
Janice has fallen hard for the handsome man…
But can Luke get past his disdain for romance and allow himself to fall in love too?
Or will Janice be forced to leave him once the baby is born?
Find out in this emotional yet sexy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.
Suitable for over 18s only due to shockingly hot sex scenes with a 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 © 2021 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
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Get Another BWWM Ebook Free
BWWM Book Of The Week
More Hot BWWM Books You'll Love
Chapter 1
“I need an heir.” The statement was delivered in his usual abrupt tone as thirty-five-year-old Luke Christopher Jeong stood at the sideboard where he had poured himself a glass of Scotch in readiness for dinner.
“Of course, you do darling, and I think the very beautiful Serena Crosby would do nicely…."
"No." Luke tossed back the drink and set the glass down before turning to face the classically beautiful woman at the head of the table. "I do not want a relationship."
"Then how do you expect…." Understanding dawned and a look of disapproval settled on Lisa Jeong's face. "Please tell me you are joking?"
"I do not want to be bothered with the entanglement. You will see to the arrangements."
"You need to settle down."
"I do not want a wife," Luke's lips curled in distaste at the idea. "A surrogate is clean and clinical. It is certainly what I prefer. There are agencies for this kind of thing, aren't there?"
"You are not shopping for a secretary!"
"I am shopping for a suitable woman to bear my heir." He shot back the cuff of his impeccably cut jacket. "Dinner is two minutes late!"
"The chef just rang and said he will be sending it out…"
"I do not appreciate tardiness. Have a word with him and let him be aware of my displeasure."
"Ah, here comes the meal." Lisa's relief was almost palpable as the maids hustled in with the food bowls, studiously avoiding her son's glowering face as they placed the bowls in the middle of the long dining table.
"Mr. James apologizes once again madam." One of the maids said with a slight curtsy.
"Advise him that Mother will be speaking to him on that topic," with a curt nod, Luke dismissed them and they hurried away.
"That was uncalled for darling." Lisa placed the snowy white napkin carefully over her lap.
"Time is money." Luke tested the lamb and concentrated on the texture before nodding in approval. "About the topic."
"What would you have me do?"
Her son's impenetrable dark eyes flickered over her face and Lisa wondered if he even had a heart. Luke was truly his father's son and showed the same exacting coldness that her husband had shown her during the years of their marriage. They were both Korean-American, having been born in this country but had been betrothed by their individual parents since they were children. A mutually beneficial arrangement for the business's sake. He had never loved her and she had endured his cold indifference for so many years that she had become immune to it. She was wishing for something better for her son.
"Make the arrangements of course." Luke reached for his glass of wine and sniffed at it before taking an experimental sip. "Get in touch with the agency and have them send you a list of names and photographs of the applicants. I trust your instinct on these matters so it will be left entirely up to you. I will not have to contribute because as you well know, my er- contribution has already been made."
"And if and when you get married?"
"I am content to live my life as it is. Hopefully, it will be a son so we don't have to repeat the process. It is now September. I am looking to see results in a matter of weeks. Will you, do it?"
Lisa cut into her potatoes with precise motion as she avoided her son's eyes. He had been the only joy of her life and she had hoped to grow him up in a loving environment but her husband had seen to it that he turned out to be an exact replica of himself. She had not had any say in the upbringing of him, except when she had insisted on reading him stories at bedtimes and that had been far from frequent.
"Of course." She told him coolly. "I will get right on the matter as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Mother." His phone rang just then and he looked at the LED. "I have to take this, please excuse me?"
"Go ahead."
She watched him push back the chair and stride from the room. Luke Jeong was an impressive male with wide shoulders and tapering back that he held rigidly. He had inherited the height from his father and was 6'3" tall with thick black hair that was brushed back from his forehead. And he was always in control. He was the CEO of an electronics company that was responsible for the latest in technology and was at the helm every single day except Sundays. He traveled a lot and his assistant, a thoroughly gay young man, accompanied him wherever he went. He was a precise, exacting and ruthless taskmaster who expected nothing less than the best, but was very fair in his dealings with his staff and rewarded loyalty.
"Should I clear this away, Madam?"
Lisa had been so deep in thought that she had not heard the maid come into the dining room.
"Go ahead, Mildred." She said with a forced smile. "I doubt Mr. Luke will be coming back to finish it."
She knew him well enough to realize that once he left the table, he had no intention of returning. The call was most likely business and he was probably sitting in his sumptuous home office and carrying on transactions. His assistant, the well-compensated George Kim was on call for twenty-four hours of the day and did not keep regular office hours. That was one of the reasons he was still employed at Jeoung Electronics.
She sat at the table and sipped her wine, her mind turning to the distasteful task before her!
*****
Janice stared at the figures before her and rubbed the weariness from her eyes as she stretched her back to get rid of the kinks. No matter how she tried to crunch them, it was perfectly obvious that she was in the red and had been for quite some time. She had taken on a second mortgage out on the house and the banks would in no way accommodate her in that respect. The bookstore's sales had dropped drastically and she was going to have to close the doors if she did not come up with something and fast. A loan would not cut it and she had been doing her research and had been thinking about a solution for the past couple of weeks. When she had broached the subject to her mother, Deloris had been horrified.
"You are young and beautiful. Honey, you just turned twenty-eight in June! Surely you expect to get married one day?"
"Not soon. And I don't see anything wrong with it."
"You are signing up to have your body used for childbirth and you don't see anything wrong with that? You are going to be carrying the child for a couple and signing away your rights. It does not seem right."
"It's the only solution I see so far unless you have a better one."
"Give up the store."
Janice had looked at her in horror. "That's not an option. I can make the store work. Dad made it work and it has always been my dream to operate it one day. I have no intention of failing. There is excellent money in going the route I am considering. Enough for me to pay off the loan at the bank. The interest rate alone is strangling and I need to get rid of it once and for all. And I have plans for the bookstore. A tea and reading room at the back as well as a book club and other competitions. I don't just want i
"But surrogacy? What if you decide that you want the child for yourself? If you want to be part of the child's life?"
The comment had stoked a kind of fear inside her and she had brushed it away.
Now seated in her bedroom with the documents strewn all around her, she was reminded how deeply in debt she was. She had told her mother that she loved the store and that was the truth. She had been thrilled when she took it over, not the way she had taken over because that had been when her father passed away suddenly from a heart attack. But she had been determined to make her mark on the place. She was brimming over with ideas and just needed the capital to make it work. But over the past year, difficulties had started to set in. A friend had shown her a magazine that spoke about surrogacy and she had read that was the route some wealthy couples were taking these days.
At first, she had cast the idea aside but had found herself coming back to it after her options had run out. She was young and healthy and could certainly accomplish this. After all, it was for a good cause. She would carry the child to the full-term and collect her money and be done with it. Then she would set about making her dreams come true. Besides, she not only had herself to think about but there were the staff as well, people who had been with them for years. It was her responsibility to look out for them. She had to do it - it was her only way out.
*****
"Darling you are late!" Maureen Montgomery chided as she got to her feet for the obligatory air brush kisses that they exchanged.
"I had to finalize the menu for later and there was a minor incident with one of the maids." Lisa Jeoung took her seat and nodded as the waiter hurried over. "I will have the same thing she is having."
"Nothing too dreadful, I hope? Good help is so difficult to find these days. I had to let one of my maids go just last week and am yet to find a replacement. The girl broke a priceless vase."
"Surely you could have looked past that?"
Maureen shook her chic and superbly styled blonde head. "What kind of precedent would that be setting? It was a Ming that we picked up in Asia on one of our travels and could not be replaced. She was fortunate to be sent away with two weeks wages and that was Herman's doing." Her lips curled in disgust. "He always had a soft spot for the help."
"The 'help' as you put it makes our lives that much easier." Lisa had no idea why she kept being friends with someone as snobbish as Maureen Montgomery. The woman had been from the lower working class before she married into money and was intent on letting everyone know that she had wealth. It riled Lisa and it was times like these that she wished she could be as blunt as her son and tell her the truth.
Maureen sent her a conciliatory smile as she sipped her water. "Of course, darling. Sometimes I keep forgetting that tiny detail. Now how is the handsome Luke? I read in the papers that the company is coming out with a new brand of devices including phones and iPod. I told Herman that I will be making sure that we give our support. Is there to be a press launch?"
"I suppose there will be." Their salad had arrived by then and they waited for the waiter to depart before continuing the conversation. The mention of her son brought back the distasteful task she had to do and she was going to the agency as soon as her luncheon date was over.
"When is he going to settle down? My Peter and his wife are on their third pregnancy now. A son! Did I tell you that last week when I last saw you?"
"No, I don't remember hearing you say anything." It was a strain to pretend to be happy for the woman when she was not. "That's wonderful news."
"Three sons!" Maureen gushed with a laugh as she delicately sprinkled the dressing over her salad. "I must admit that at first, I was not keen on the idea of being a grandmother, after all, I have my image to think about and I am way too young. But those little darlings certainly make your day. I had the two over for the day last week Sunday and enjoyed them tremendously. "Her light blue eyes took in Lisa's exotic Asian beauty and timeless grace and felt the familiar stirring of envy. The Korean woman had a beauty that made people look at her with second and third glances. She was sixty years old and her skin was flawless. She could be mistaken for a woman in her forties. Thick dense black hair was coiled at the nape of her neck and diamonds shone discreetly at her lobes. Her slender body was showcased in a frosty pink pants suit and her make-up was flawless. Everything about Lisa Jeoung was flawless and whenever she entered a room, the conversation would come to a stop. Maureen had often wondered what it was about her that was so distinctive but she knew that her extreme confidence had a lot to do with it.
She also knew that Luke Jeoung was not attached to any one woman and had been rumored to change women without any thoughts as to their feelings. People were saying that he was not human and had ice water running through his veins, just like his father. The man was in his middle thirties and showed no signs of settling down. So, Lisa Jeoung did not have everything after all.
"I am sure you are dying to hold a grandchild in your arm," she added a trifle spitefully.
"In due time." Lisa knew what the woman was doing and was determined not to let her get under her skin. "Can we discuss the charity event? I am a little pressed for time."
*****
"This way Mrs. Jeoung," The administrator gushed as she guided the elegantly clad woman inside her office and closed the doors to afford them total privacy. "Would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you. I would just as soon get on with this."
"Of course. I prepared a folder for you with the likely candidates that would appeal to your son."
"And we are ensured absolute discretion?"
"Of course, Mrs. Jeoung. We would not be in business this long if discretion was not our keyword." The plus-sized woman gazed over at Lisa seated upright on one of the elegant stuffed chairs. "You did not define ethnicity."
"There was no need for that. I will make my choice after I have reviewed all of what you have to offer."
"Your son will not be involved in the selection?"
"He has left it entirely up to me. May I?"
"Of course." Madeline Nelson jumped to her feet and brought the folders over, going back to her desk as Lisa opened them and started to peruse.
"I am going to be taking these home with me to study them at length if that is okay with you."
"Certainly Mrs. Jeoung. Do you have any idea how soon you will be in touch?"
"By the end of the week." Lisa closed the folder she had been leafing through. "How does this work exactly? Do I have to meet with the surrogate?"
Madeline shook her head. "Not if you do not want to. And we find that anonymity is better in these cases. Both parties communicate through the agency to give everything a professional feel to the entire thing. "
"Perhaps you are right," Lisa murmured. "Now if there is nothing else?"
"Not right now. We will be waiting to hear from you of course. Thank you for coming in."
*****
Lisa looked up as her son strode into the living room, a slight frown on his brow as he headed for the liquor cabinet. As she had predicted, he had not returned to the dinner table last evening and when she had gone into the dining room this morning for breakfast, the maid had informed her that he had already left. He had called and told her briefly not to expect him for dinner as he would be dining out and she had eaten without him. Something she was used to doing.
"Rough day?"
"Meeting with the lawyers." He poured his drink and brought it over to sit on one of the plush sofas in the vast living room. He had discarded his suit jacket and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shell-pink shirt, rolling the sleeves up to reveal powerful forearms with the scattering of dark hairs. Luke Jeoung was a potently attractive man whose unapproachable aura made him even more attractive and irresistible. "How was it?"
"I have the folders here if you would like to take a look." She suggested. She had come home from the agency and had started looking when she had been interrupted by several phone calls and household things that needed her attention. She had picked them back up right after the evening meal and had been poring through the information.
"No!" He told her abruptly. "I have no interest in getting involved. I trust your decision."
