His Princess - Stacy Gail Page 0,21

is turn this into some kind of one-upmanship power struggle, the way you did when you wanted to show that Emerson jackass what he’d thrown away. That’s just your pride, and you’re better than that. Do yourself a favor and make the choice to grab for what you want—which, at the moment, happens to be Gus. And when you do, know that you’re the one who’s made that choice, so you’re the one who’s in control. Now,” she went on while Joelle chewed on that, “which is it going to be? The halter, or the wraparound?”

The edgy, vaguely unappreciated feeling Gus’s near-silence had spawned in her, along with a healthy dose of injured pride ebbed under Alice’s words. Bottom-lining it, her foster sister was right; she did want to go out with Gus, but her pride was trying to make her miserable about it. The question of whether or not she should go wasn’t about who had more power in this budding relationship. It was simply about whether or not she wanted to enjoy his company.

And she did.

She really did.

But if he ever again made her feel like he was taking her for granted, there would be hell to pay.

“The wraparound, I think.” Head held high, she headed for the closet. “I’ve got some studded Alexander McQueen stilettos that’ll go perfectly with that. And if he pisses me off in any way this evening, I can always stab him in the eye with one of them.”

“It’s always good to have a fallback plan,” Alice agreed.

Chapter Six

Waiting for three o’clock to roll around was far too nerve-wracking for Joelle to even contemplate, so after her foster sister left, she threw herself into her work. Clearing her decks, she thought, focusing on a transition from one segment of video to another. She’d clear her decks, but not because Gus had told her to. Alice was right about that, as usual. Far from following orders, Joelle chose to do exactly what she wanted to do, which was getting the lion’s share of her latest video done so she wouldn’t have it hanging over her head throughout the weekend.

This weekend was all about focusing on Gus, the man who’d somehow managed to become the center of her attention.

By the time her doorbell rang a couple minutes to three, her video was just about done with the exception of the voice-overs and music. But that would have to wait until Monday. As of now, she had a man to seduce.

“Hey.” The witty remark she had all set up and ready to fly abruptly vanished when she swung the door open and saw Gus standing there. Over the past four days she had all but convinced herself that no man could be as drop-dead gorgeous and hubba-hubba sexy as Gus had been painted in her mind. Somehow she had glorified him, made him something he wasn't. Surely he couldn't be that perfect for her.

But now she knew.

Real-life Gus was even better than memory Gus.

By a longshot.

“Hey.” His hand came up, hooked around her nape, and pulled her in for a kiss. She'd expected it to be just a peck in greeting, but it was a proper kiss, complete with just the right amount of tongue and more than a hint of passion.

Wow.

When he finally stepped back, she had to consciously will herself to let him go. “Whew. You really know how to bring the heat, don't you?”

“I know how to bring a lot of things.” His russet brown eyes moved over her face like he couldn't drink in the sight of her fast enough. “You gonna invite me in?”

“Oh. Of course.” Flustered, she opened the door wide and swept an inviting hand. “Make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?”

“I'm good. Nice place,” he added, wandering into the sunlit, white-on-white living room that showed up so well as a background for her videos. “I think I recognize that fireplace from online.”

“You're basically standing in my offsite studio.” She nodded toward the bay window where her workstation was. It was a pretty sweet setup, with a 4K-quality camera and ring light, a couple HD monitors, a wireless keyboard, her laptop, a microphone, a mixing board and other gizmos. “That's where the magic happens. As per your request, I just uploaded a video onto my own channel, and my latest assignment for Buzzword, which is due next Wednesday, is almost done—just needs sound. My decks are cleared. What are the plans?”

“It’s a surprise. You’ve been busy.”