Jerrold Read online

  Jerrold

  She's haunted by high school experiences but that won't stop him!

  A sexy pregnancy romance by Katie Dowe of BWWM Club.

  Billionaire basketball player Jerrold Littman is enamored by his beautiful physiotherapist Noelle.

  But when he finally confesses his love after sleeping with each other, Noelle refuses to be with him!

  After a horrible teenage experience Noelle is left with a shattered self-esteem.

  Despite her gorgeous looks and her impressive education and work experience she still feels like that awkward teenager who was bullied constantly!

  And when Jerrold comes into her life, she can’t help but think he’s like the rest of them!

  But now that she’s pregnant with his child she doesn’t know what to do…

  Especially since she’s starting to have feelings for him!

  Can Jerrold convince Noelle that she is beautiful—inside and out?

  And will they be able to start a family together?

  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 start dreaming about your own basketball 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 © 2019 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 am so happy that you have decided to join me.” Robert Buckner glanced at his daughter as he handed her the glass of wine. “The work is getting too much for me and I really need the help.”

  Noelle accepted the glass of wine and followed her dad into the cozy living room where a cheerful fire was burning in the hearth. She had given up her practice in town to come back to the small town of Lakeside to work alongside her father who was the resident physiotherapist for the famous basketball team, the Lakeside Bears. She had spent years after leaving medical school playing a little more than a masseuse to spoiled rich socialites and celebrities and realized that she was extremely tired of it! When her dad had called and offered her the position, she had quickly jumped at it and had moved within a week. But she had told him that she needed her own space and had rented an apartment in the busy town area much to his disappointment. She had told him that she had spent too many years living on her own to live with someone else even if that someone was her own dad. Today was the first Thursday in December and the weather had turned decidedly chilly with the possibility of snow further in the month. “I must say that I had quite forgotten how enchanting the place is and how quiet,” she murmured as she curled her feet beneath her and sipped the wine.

  Robert glanced at his beautiful daughter and hid his concerns. She had followed in his footsteps and became a physiotherapist and he was so proud of her, but he had realized since her high school days and college as well as university that she kept to herself. She had never brought home a guy to introduce to him and when he had asked her recently about a relationship she had shrugged and told him that she was not ready to settle down yet. When she was away all those years he had always called to check on her and jokingly asked what her plans were for the weekend. She had always told him that she intended to settle down with a good book until she fell asleep. She hardly ever smiled and was far too serious for someone so beautiful. He was well aware that she had had a pretty traumatic experience all through high school where the students had been cruel to her, but he figured that she should be over it by now. He also marveled at how the former gawky and lanky teenager had been transformed into a beautiful woman with gentle curves, thick shoulder length dark hair, and a complexion that had become flawless after her endless battle with acne. Now Noelle was a tall, willowy, graceful woman with a white smile that gave no indication that she had had to wear braces for so many years. “The team is throwing a party on Saturday and it would be a great chance for you to meet the members. Jerrold Littman, the owner and one of the players, is down to earth and does not behave as if he is one of the most successful team owners in the world.”

  “You don’t have to sell them to me, Dad,” Noelle told him with a slight smile. “And you know how I feel about crowds.”

  “Darling, you are young and beautiful and should be going on dates!”

  “So you are trying to set me up with one of the players?” she asked him teasingly.

  He shook his head seriously. “No fraternizing with the players.”

  “You have no fear of that happening.” Noelle glanced at her watch and realized that it was time to go. She had arrived back in town a week ago and was still getting settled. Work for her started on Monday and there were still some things needed to be done. “I will let you know about the party.”

  Her father followed her to door. “I wish you would also considering giving up the apartment and coming back home. This house is way too big for one person.”

  She leaned up and kissed his lined cheek. “I promise to come over for dinners, but I need my own space. I do better by myself, Dad.”

  “That’s what I am afraid of.” He sighed as he hugged her briefly. “Drive safe.”

  With a wave, Noelle bounded down the steps and went to her car. She warmed up the interior first before driving out of the cobbled driveway. The apartment building was only two miles away so she decided to take it slow, driving through the town and eyeing the Christmas lights glittering on most of the houses and along the white picket fences. The streets in the town of Lakeside were almost identical, with identical frosted pink houses and white picket fences, and gave the impression of living in a candy world. She smiled as she remembered bicycling along the streets and stopping every now and then to greet the neighbors who always looked out for her.

  The expression on her face sobered as she remembered her childhood and deliberately strayed away from that part of her life. Turning on the music, she listened to the mellow tones of John Legend as she made her way home.

  *****

  Jerrold Littman tugged off his thin merino, grimacing at the sweat soaking through the material before throwing it over one of the chairs in his bedroom. His workout had been almost brutal, but he had games all of next week and needed to lose some of the kinks in his muscles. He had been planning to retire when he reached the age of thirty this past April but his love for the game had urged him to stay on. He had been playing since high school and was very good at it. The game was his passio
n as well as his outlet for the passion and sexual tension that was present every morning he woke up. But unlike the other players he did not give in to the temptation of taking up the offers from women who flocked around them even when there was not a game going on. Jerrold was focused on his game and the training they always put into it and did not allow anything or anyone to make him lose focus. He had achieved phenomenal success and fame as a result of his excellent plays over the years and had bought the Lakeside Bears when the then owner had lost interest and the backings of other investors. Jerrold did not only own the team but had also heavily invested in apartment and commercial buildings in and around town. He had been portrayed on the covers of sports magazine and his rugged handsomeness a magnet for the opposite sex! He had successfully fended off the advances of women and had only been in two semiserious relationships in the past ten years. He was tall, topping six-feet five-inches. and his body finely tone and well-muscled. He had thick coffee dark brown hair and blue eyes that crinkled with humor and was considered the nicest rich guy anyone had ever met. His mother and dad were still alive and as soon as he had made it big he had set them up in a house on the edge of town where he had Sunday dinners with them whenever he had a chance.

  He stripped off the rest of his sodden clothes and pulling the partition aside he stepped into the huge shower install and turned the shower jet on, dunking his head beneath the spray and closing his eyes as the water beat down onto his skin. He pressed his palms against the tiles and let the water beat the kinks out of his muscles. He had realized a few months ago that something was missing from his life. He had seen the way the members of the club he belonged to looking at the women in their lives and found himself longing for something like that. He had gone to a function just a few weeks ago at the club and watched the latest married couples and had found himself wanting more. That had been the reason he had given up his latest relationship more than six months ago. It had been sexually satisfying, but apart from that something had been lacking. Samantha had tearfully asked him if it had anything to do with her and he had told her that he was sorry but the relationship had become stagnant which had been true. He had not wanted to hurt her, but he could not very well stay into a relationship that had him wanting the evening to end whenever they went somewhere together. That was the reason why he had decided against entering into another unsatisfying relationship. He was holding out for the real thing no matter what it took!

  *****

  Noelle sipped the champagne from the flute and tried her best not to look as bored as she was feeling. She had come against her better judgment and because her father had asked her again if she would accompany him. So she had reluctantly taken out a simple dark blue pants suit and carelessly putting her thick dark hair in a chignon she had made her way to the huge auditorium where the party was being held. She had also been introduced to most of the players who had looked her over like a particular delicious morsel of food that they intended to nibble on at a later time, but instead of giving in to the resentment and anger boiling inside her, she had given them amused smile that conveyed to them that she was above the message that was coming across. Her dad had gone to mingle with the team members and had left her alone for the moment. Several of the team members’ wives had struck up conversations with her, but she had merely replied in monosyllables because she did not have the slightest interest in the latest fashion trends and the rounds of parties that were planned for the holiday season. She had just made her polite excuse and was looking around for her dad when he came up to her. Her dad had told her that Jerrold Littman was the owner of the team and that he had not arrived yet, but as soon as she saw the tall man towering over her she knew exactly who he was!

  “Robert said I should come over and introduce myself.” He extended a large hand to hers, his ready smile coming as he stared down at her. “I am Jerrold Littman.”

  “Noelle Buckner.” She had to tilt her head back to look up at him and the minute he shook her hand, she removed it immediately.

  “The new physio and Robert’s daughter.”

  “Very nice to meet you,” she said politely, trying to find a way to make her escape without it being too obvious.

  “You are not leaving already, are you?”

  Noelle stifled a sigh. He was standing right in front of her with people milling around them. In order for her to pass him, she would have to squeeze through and either end up touching him or the other people crowded around them. There was no escape for her right now! “I am not much for large crowds.”

  “You cannot leave yet.”

  She looked up at him startled as he took her elbow and guided her away from the crowd. “Why not?”

  “The fun part of the evening is not here yet.”

  “What part is that?” she asked, stifling her impatience.

  “The impromptu karaoke. Jermaine has a pretty amazing baritone,” he said, gesturing to an unnaturally tall African American man who was surrounded by a group of females who were hanging on to his every word.

  “I think I will pass.”

  “Please stay.” Jerrold had no idea why he was insisting on her staying; he only knew that the minute he had spotted her across the room trying to look as if she was having fun, he had been drawn to her. Robert had intercepted him as soon as he came in and told him that his daughter was there and had pointed to her.

  “Why?” she asked him bluntly. For a few seconds, he had no idea what to say then he came up with a feasible reason.

  “I happen to hate the crowds myself and you would be doing me a big favor if you stayed and kept me company.” He prayed that she did not know he was lying!

  A smile came and went on her beautiful face and he had an idea that she had seen through him! “I will stay for a few more minutes.”

  “Thank you.” A wide smile came across his ruggedly handsome face and he quickly looked away. He grabbed two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to her. She was about to decline but took the drink when he pressed it into her hand. After a few minutes, the man he had called Jermaine ran up to the makeshift stage and announced the beginning of the entertainment section. Noelle watched in idle amusement as several of the members went on stage to try and sing along to the words running on the screen. She even laughed as two men kept jumbling the words, unaware that she was being watched by the man next to her.

  She jumped as he spoke to her. “Now you are in for a real treat,” he said with a mischievous grin as he abandoned his glass on a table next to them and walked away swiftly as his name was called.

  “Okay, ladies and gents,” Jermaine said in amusement. “Not only is he handsome and very rich and a reasonable player of basketball, but he also has a voice!” He shook his head as Jerrold came alongside him. “I often said that this guy here has the devil’s own luck. Now let’s give it up for Jerrold Littman!” He handed the mic to his friend as the thunderous applause sounded through the huge room. Jerrold gave a mock bow and turned to the screen waiting for the music to start and the words to begin singing. Noelle’s eyes widened in surprise at his rich baritone voice singing along to Luther Vandross’ hit song A House is Not a Home. She stood rooted to the spot as he sang along, his voice blending like a professional. Suddenly, he turned to look straight at her as he continued singing and she could not tear her eyes away from his. He finished the song and bowed to the sound of applause again as he made his way back to where she was standing.

  “That was quite a performance,” she murmured the minute he was next to her. “Was that why you wanted me to stay?’

  “Part of the reason,” he told her with a grin. “What do you think?”

  “I think you belong on a stage,” she told him with a shrug. There was something about him that kept the bad memories from her childhood resurfacing! She knew that it was the way he looked and the easy confidence that he had about him. With an abrupt movement, she placed her half-empty glass on the table and made to turn away.

  “Leaving?
” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice as he watched her.

  “I am. Thanks for the performance.” With a wave, she was gone. He watched as she headed to the closet to get her coat and watched as she whispered something to her dad before she left. Unconsciously, Jerrold took up the glass she had been drinking from and emptied it before putting it back down, a thoughtful expression on his face.

  *****

  Noelle hung her coat on the peg just inside the doorway and slipped out of her boots before padding into the kitchen to go and find something to eat. She had not eaten anything before she left for the party earlier on and had not bothered with the finger food that had been passed around while she was there for the short time. She wrinkled her small nose as she looked at the contents of the fridge and realized that she needed to go shopping and pretty soon. Dragging out a tub of rocky road ice cream, she reached for a spoon and dug into the tub. Ice cream had been her go to solace when she had been a teenager and had had a particularly rotten day at school which was almost every single day! She had been plain and awkward looking with pimples, braces, and had been as skinny as a rail. She had spent hours staring at herself in the mirror as if doing so would somehow magically cause the image in the mirror staring back at her to disappear and a much more attractive one take its place. But that had never happened of course and she had been stuck by the girl she had come to despise because she had been teased endlessly about the way she looked. The only attractive thing to her back then had been her large dark brown eyes and her thick black hair, which even then had fallen into lustrous waves past her shoulders.

  “Darling, you are going to surprise those mean children who keep picking on you one of these days,” he mother had told her when she had just turned fifteen and had complained about the way she looked.

  “Why couldn’t I look like you?” Noelle had asked her.

  “Because you have not grown into your looks yet,” Nicole Buckner had told her gently. “Right now you are all arms and legs and hair, but one day you are going to stare into the mirror and be shocked by transformation.” Her mother had been right, but it had taken several more years for that to happen and by then her mother had died of an aneurysm when she had just entered college leaving her brokenhearted and lost. Noelle pushed back a thick lock of hair from her face as she bent to scoop some more ice cream from the container and lick it off the spoon. She had toyed with the idea of seeing a therapist to help her get past the cruelty of her school members and especially how she felt and still felt about Joey Virgil who had damaged her beyond repair by his callous words and his need to hurt her whenever his friends were around. She had spent days and nights crying for the boy she had spent two years crushing on and who had ended up crushing her very soul! Noelle put the spoon away and covered back the container before putting it back inside the freezer. It was late, but she never really put on weight which made it easy for her to pretty much eat anything she desired and besides she exercised like a fiend! The memories had come crashing back because she had been in a room full of grown up jocks! Closing the door firmly she made her way to the bedroom to change her clothes and get some sleep. She had work Monday morning and still some packing to do as well!