You can read I Do free below.
Blurb:
An unlikely bride, marriage, billionaire, interracial romance book. Josie hopes that her new career at Beckett Industries will be different from her last job. She’s tired of feeling undervalued when she has so much to offer. Billionaire Ethan Beckett fully expects most women he interacts with to either be after his money or after his reputation.
But Josie is a breath of fresh air, dedicated, captivating, and apparently indifferent to his financial status. Their worlds are vastly different, yet they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, bound by an intense love.
However, as their relationship swiftly evolves, Josie contends with its rapid progression, particularly as Ethan begins to broach the topic of marriage. Are talks of marriage a step too soon in their blossoming romance? Find out in this BWWM, unlikely couple romance story by J A Fielding.
Chapter 1
When Josie Johnson walked into her office on Monday morning, she was exhausted and it was not just physical exhaustion. It was emotional exhaustion as well. She might have been in San Diego but her mood made her feel as if she had been snowed in. And she had every right to feel that way. The previous weekend had seen a disappointing end to a four-year relationship. Josie had been with her boyfriend, Lucas Fletcher, for the better part of five years. When they first met, Josie was just a few days shy of turning twenty-six. Back then, she thought she had found the perfect man. A man that could do no wrong.
Lucas Fletcher was exactly what every girl was looking for in a man. He was tall, he was dark and so handsome! It may have been a cliché description of the ‘perfect’ guy but that was what Josie thought when she met him. As if that was not enough, he was a funny guy and the two of them had more banter than she ever thought was possible with another person. He was the kind of man Josie pictured herself growing old next to–the kind of man she wanted to have for life. She may have been moving a little fast but she had made the decision that he was the guy for her after only two hours of conversation. However, Lucas did not see her the same way. As far as he was concerned, she was a great girlfriend but he was not ready to commit just yet. Josie had been talking to him about starting a family for as long as she could remember. But he just wasn’t getting the idea. Or was it that he was ignoring all the subtle hints? She did not think there was any reason to delay the inevitable and she had actually talked to him about marriage during her thirty-first birthday celebration. She did not know if it was the conversation she’d had with him or the way Lucas kept on dropping hints about living together, that had her thinking that he was going to propose to her on Valentine’s Day…
Josie had been dying to try the new restaurant in town for a long time. As an advertising agent, she hardly ever had any time for socialization and the little time she had, she made sure she spent it with her boyfriend. The new restaurant in town was on her to-do list since she found out about it and she could not wait to share the experience with Lucas. It was especially important to her that they dine at that particular restaurant since she had always told him that the day he came around to proposing she preferred it to be in that restaurant. It was not just because their soufflé was out of this world. It was also because there was no other romantic spot she could think of that was perfect enough for her to say yes to his big question. But things did not work out as she had imagined.
Valentine’s day had been a disaster. Lucas was clueless, to say the least. He did not seem like he had anything up his sleeve. At first, Josie dismissed it as all part of the ruse. But when nothing happened at the end of the night, she knew that something was wrong. Nothing was going to happen that night. Nothing was going to happen on any night. She could have at least settled for an invitation to move in with him but nothing happened. At the end of the night, the question was burning in her with more fury than she had ever experienced before. She just had to know. That was the thought that made her stop suddenly in the middle of the parking lot as they were leaving the restaurant.
“Why did you stop?” he asked. “Is everything okay? Are you cold maybe?”
She shook her head even though she should have nodded. In the strapless dress and silver heeled sandals she wore to look great for him, there was nothing to protect her from the cold except for the satin scarf that was draped over her shoulders.
“Then what is it?” Lucas asked. “The car is right over there. Just a few more steps.”
“I know that. But there is something I need to know before I get into the car,” Josie said as she looked into his eyes. “What exactly are we doing here?”
Lucas frowned.
“What do you mean?” he asked, looking confused.
“I am talking about us,” she said in a soft voice. “I am not getting any younger and we have been together for so long…but it is like you like this ‘arrangement’ we have going so much that you are not willing to change it.”
Lucas shook his head.
“Come on, Josie. Where is this coming from?” he asked.
“Well, for starters, it is coming from the fact that I feel like I am still in a high school relationship with the way you have me up and down this emotional roller coaster.”
Lucas frowned.
“What?” he asked.
“Well, you are hot and cold with me. I don’t know where this relationship is or where it is heading… Like if I asked you right now what or six-month plan is, what would you say to me?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Josie, we have talked about this,” he said as he looked around the parking lot. “We just have to take things as they come.”
“Yes, and we have been doing that for four years! If this relationship was a kid, he would be well into kindergarten by now, Lucas.” She sighed and bit her lip, frustrated that she could not find a way to drive her point home. “I don’t know what you are doing here. I don’t know what we are doing anymore.”
“What do you want from me, Josephine?” Lucas asked.
Josie could tell by the tone in his voice that he was angry and she could not really do anything about it. She was angry about the situation they were in, too. Really, that was exactly what she was in a situation. Definitely not a relationship.
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“I want you to show me some kind of commitment,” she said in a soft voice.
“What? You want a proposal or something?” Lucas asked.
“That would not be so bad but I could settle for an invitation to live with you. I mean, that is the next logical step. Isn’t it?” she asked.
Lucas forced out a laugh. “What are you trying to do here? Force my hand?” he asked.
She shook her head. She was confused at the tangent the conversation was taking. Thirteen months earlier, Lucas had taken her to a jewelry store and got her ring size.