His Princess: (A novella from the world of House of Payne) Read online

  “I’m lucky, all right.” Giving her a wink, he went about clearing the table as fast as possible. More than his next breath he wanted to get her to his place, and let nature take its damn course.

  He couldn’t fucking wait.

  “Geez.” Standing opposite him, she watched as he sank the eight ball right in front of the pocket she stood in front of, looking pissy enough to take that ball out of its pocket and throw it at him. “That didn’t take long. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so quickly demolished before. At least when I played against my father or brother, they’d take the time to gloat at just how badly I was getting whipped.”

  “I was highly motivated.” Dropping the cue stick on the table—bad form, but Casey could kiss his ass if he had a problem with it—Gus rounded to where Joelle stood. Taking her cue stick to leave it on the table as well, he pulled her up against him, watching those knockout blue eyes of hers as he ground her slowly against his hips. He knew the exact moment she felt his hard-on, because her eyes widened first in surprise, then darkened in unmistakable lust. “You make me hard just by breathing, lady. Knowing you’re good with coming home with me tonight was all the motivation I needed. Any objection to bouncing out of here?”

  “I haven’t finished my drink yet, but a kiss from you could probably compensate for that. I could definitely get drunk on your kisses.”

  Jesus, this woman. “Prepare to get fucking smashed.”

  Her delighted laugh echoed in his head as he caught her mouth, and that one light-filled sound worked on him like an aphrodisiac.

  God.

  Damn.

  When had a woman's laugh ever turned him on like Joelle’s did? Had he ever kissed a woman while she laughed? It was as intoxicating as she'd claimed his kisses to be, and he couldn't get enough of it. Of her. This bright, bubbly, determinedly happy gift to mankind was a damn treasure. Better still, this treasure was under his hands and loving it, if the tongue tangling with his was any indication. A smart man would do one hell of a lot to keep that rare kind of treasure in his life for as long as humanly possible.

  Thank God he was a smart man.

  With his mouth never leaving hers, he slid his hands down her back, memorizing the graceful narrowing of her torso to the indentation of her waist, before moving his caresses lower. That sweet ass that had mesmerized him during their game was now his for the taking. He did so with conquering gusto, filling his hands with those rounded, irresistible cheeks. The action pulled her all the more up against his cock, and it was all he could do to keep himself from moaning out loud when the friction of her pelvis rubbed against him.

  Fuck, yeah.

  He wanted her to come home with him so she could rip the sheets off the mattress while he buried himself inside her. And by God, he would make that happen, just as soon as he could get her there. But he couldn't stand the thought of having to wait to be inside her. Hell, he was just about positive he couldn't wait. There had never been a woman sexier or more desirable on the fucking planet, and she was right there in his arms. So willing. So responsive. If he could find a quiet, out-of-the-way place, he’d have her gasping his name in no time—

  The sound of his phone sliced through the illusion that they were alone in the world. She pulled in a shaky breath as they broke apart, and that one sound hit him as tangibly as a caress.

  “Let me guess.” Even her voice had turned breathy, and the sound of it was so damn seductive he almost forgot why he had his phone in his hand. “You need to get that. I understand. A successful person is a busy person.”

  “Seriously, where the fuck have you been all my life?” Smiling, and loving the understanding he saw shining in her eyes, Gus glanced at the screen. Shit. “Look, I do need to get this, but I'll be quick. And this doesn't mean you're not top priority.”

  “Of course I'm top priority.” She laughed up at him with that staggering brilliance that came from a magical combination of confidence and beauty. For a full second he forgot how to breathe as he stared at this miracle in front of him. “I think I'll rack them up for another game and challenge you to best two out of three. I really want to go naked hot-tubbing with you.”

  That made two of them, but in less than five minutes he was cursing fate, the world, and the Nikkei, which had taken a swan dive off a financial cliff.

  Naturally.

  Just when things were getting good.

  “I've got a panicking client,” he told her without preamble the moment he hung up, and it was oddly heartening to see her momentary disappointment. He could relate. “Most nights aren't like this, Joelle. Once the market closes, I can usually do whatever the hell I want and not be interrupted. But every once in a great while, shit goes sideways overseas, and I have to respond.”

  “Gus, I told you, I get it. It's fine.”

  “It's not fine,” he said, and the heat of his tone surprised even him. But it was true. Dropping this woman like he had better things to do hit him in all the worst ways. “You have my word, I’m going to make this up to you. And I promise, I'll find a way to make it un-fucking-forgettable.”

  That brilliant smile came back with a vengeance. “So, you’re saying I have something to look forward to?”

  “Count on it,” he promised.

  Chapter Five

  “Four days.” With a short sigh, Joelle read through the glowing email her boss, Heidi Meadows, had sent her regarding the “Distressed Test” piece she’d turned in early, before setting aside her phone and sitting at her workstation. Her next assignment, “Thrift Store Gold,” already had the script completed and segments planned out. Now she had to coordinate the outfits, shoot the video and stills of the completed outfits, and make some sense of her assembly edit—laying out scenes she wanted to run in sequence—before blending it all together with transitions. As usual, she was ahead of schedule, which was a good thing. At the moment, all her brain could think about was Gus. “Four damn days, and just one stupid phone call from Gus. Seriously, can you believe that?”

  “Yeah, we can believe it, because that’s all you’ve talked about for the past two hours.” Her brother, Felix, dropped a bunch of bags bearing a thrift store logo onto her living room sofa. “What I can’t believe is that you actually said this trip was going to be fun. Rummaging through gross, used clothing worn by unknown people and listening to you whine about some guy has not been my idea of fun.”

  “Your sister suckered us both, pal.” Alice came into the room as well, shrugging out of her jacket. “She told me she wanted to get coffee.”

  “We stopped and got coffee.” Joelle scowled at them, just in case they hadn’t yet realized they were working on her very last nerve. “And then we went shopping.”

  “Going to a thrift store and touching other peoples’ used things isn’t shopping. It’s pushing the limits on how disgusting you can be in public.” Felix, as blonde and blue-eyed as she was, had a bodybuilder’s physique and enjoyed playing the role of tough guy. But his tough-guy aura was nowhere to be found as he grimaced like a squeamish Victorian miss. “The air in that store smelled. I think I can even smell it on me.” Felix bent his head toward Alice. “Quick, give me a sniff, Al. Can you smell old, used clothes on my hair?”

  “I’m not going to smell your hair, dude.”

  “I’m serious, Al. I think I need a shower.”

  “Then go get a damn shower,” Joelle snapped, and didn’t even care when Felix and Alice jumped as her voice rang around the room. “And while you’re washing off your imaginary poor-people cooties, try to get it through your spoiled head that if it weren’t for thrift stores, a hell of a lot of people wouldn’t have anything to wear as they try to improve their lives. Thrift stores supply the homeless with suits and dresses so they can go on job interviews. They do diversity hirings, work with veterans, and a boatload of other wonderful things that help the community. What do you do besides pump iron and post selfies on Insta about how you’re shredding your latest workout?”

  Fel
ix’s eyes were as round as quarters. “Hey, I’ve got over ten thousand followers who love my content, okay? And I didn’t say anything about poor people, Joelle.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  “If that’s what you think, fine. I’m out.” With his mouth practically an upside-down U, Felix snatched up his jacket and stomped toward the door. “See you later, Al.”

  “That was… intense.” As the sound of the front door slamming reached their ears, Alice seated herself on the loveseat and pulled a couple thrift store bags toward her. “Are you okay?”

  “I just don’t have the energy or the patience to deal with Felix right now. It was probably a bad idea to take him along,” she added, grimacing. “I thought I wanted the distraction of having you guys with me, because I haven’t seen Gus in—”

  “Four days. Right.” With a sigh, Alice began to paw her way through one of the bags. “Have you tried calling him?”

  “Twice. The first time it was obvious I’d caught him at work, so he was super distracted. The second time I had to leave a message.”

  “Did he answer it?”

  She nodded. “With a text message that pretty much said, I’m busy, I’ll call you when I’m not. I stopped calling after that.”

  “Because you’re a smart woman who doesn’t have to chase a man.” Alice surfaced with a vivid Aegean blue pencil skirt. “Hey, this is kind of cute. Why don’t you wear this with your Ralph Lauren boyfriend shirt, and I’ll video you against that white wall on your upstairs balcony? In full sun and wearing your shades, we can make it look like you’re somewhere exotic, like Greece. Maybe you can pose with some moussaka, or something.”

  Oy. “Alice, you’re not helping.”

  “I’m trying to distract you from moaning about Gus, so I’m totally helping. Look,” she added, holding up the skirt. “The label says it’s a Donna Karan, and you bought it for three bucks. That’s a good enough bargain to earn a place in your next video, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s great. Maybe I shouldn’t see Gus’s one call as a bad sign,” Joelle went on, half to herself as she turned the problem over in her mind—just like she’d been turning the problem over in her mind for four freaking days. “It’s not like he’s completely forgotten about me. I mean, he does send text messages several times a day, so that’s a positive sign that I’m not like every other princess he’s been seen with, right? I’m not destined to be a one-and-done woman like all the others were in his past. Right?”

  “Joelle.” With a sigh, Alice dropped the skirt and came over to where she sat at her workspace, which she’d positioned by a wide bay window overlooking the townhome’s back garden. “I love you, honey. I need you to know that, because what I’m about to say comes from a place of love.”

  Uh-oh. “Okay.”

  “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

  Joelle winced. “Ouch.”

  “Sometimes the truth really does hurt. I know you’re upset that this Gus guy hasn’t called you more,” Alice went on, reaching out to grab her hand to give it a squeeze. “But you’re obsessing on him to the point of mania. It’s not healthy. In fact, I’ve never seen you act this way about a man before. He’s just a guy, Jo.”

  “No, he’s not,” she protested softly, shaking her head. “I’ve never felt this way before, about anyone.”

  Alice’s mouth pursed before she dropped her hand. “In case you’ve forgotten, it wasn’t even a week ago that you concocted a wild plan to make that snob, Emerson what’s-his-name cry in his dry martini over dumping you. Yet now here you are turning yourself inside out over another guy you literally just met and know almost nothing about, except that he has a thing for perfect princesses.”

  “Which I’m not.” Joelle sighed and rubbed a weary hand over her face. “I hear what you’re saying, and I know how it must look. But please believe me when I say that Gus Bloch is completely unlike any man I’ve ever met. That means I feel differently about him. Completely, utterly different.”

  Alice frowned. “Different how?”

  “My whole body starts to tingle when I just think about him. I can’t sleep because I’m afraid I’m going to somehow miss his call or text. When he smiles at me, he’s not trying to be charming or put up some kind of schmoozy front that’s going to vanish the moment I turn my back. When Gus smiles at me, it’s the most real thing I’ve ever seen. I want to find ways to keep that smile going because I love how real it is. Everything about him is real, and solid, and so damn impressive I could just sit there and glow about how much he’s already achieved in life. He’s smart. He’s funny. Yeah, he’s kind of bossy, but I love that aspect about him, too. It’s definitely a departure from all the mealy-mouthed, indecisive jellyfish I’ve dated throughout the years.”

  “I need to stop you right there, because I’m kind of freaking out.” Alice held up a hand, all the while staring at her like she’d never seen her before. “Just now, the word love came out of your mouth not once, but twice. You’re not falling in love with this serial princess dater, are you?”

  “I…” Stunned, Joelle stared at her foster sister as that one question put everything into sharp focus. “Oh my God, you know what? I think it’s a strong possibility. Or at least, falling in lust. Is that a thing? I seriously think that might be a thing with me. Do you think people really can fall in love at first sight?”

  “For most people, I’d say no way, but we’re talking about you here, and weirdly magical things have a tendency to happen around you”

  “Like what?”

  “Like that sorority that begged you to join, when come to find out it was the most exclusive sorority on campus. Or that one time an executive chef decided you needed a meal that literally went from soup to nuts, gratis, just because he overheard you talking about how you’d had nothing to eat that day except SpaghettiOs.”

  “To be fair, I think any chef would’ve had that reaction.”

  “That’s not the point,” came the eyerolling response. “The point is, amazing things happen around you. Weird and crazy and wonderful things. I’ve always assumed it was because that’s what you put out into the world, so that’s what the world gives back to you. If anyone is going to stumble across that rare unicorn of falling in love at first sight, it’d be you. The question is, is Gus Bloch the type of man to feel the same way?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured, shaking her head in a dazed kind of way. It wasn’t every day she realized she was on the precipice of falling in love, after all. “I can’t allow myself to think about that, because I can’t control what he feels. I can barely control what I’m feeling. which I’m going to label as lust for now,” she added, putting a hand to her somersaulting heart. “Going off the deep end and dreaming about happily ever after with a man I just met is too much even for me to handle.”

  Alice’s response was interrupted by the sedate bonging of the front doorbell.

  Gus.

  “I swear, if that man has decided to just show up out of the blue and not give me the chance to get my damn makeup on, I will literally throttle him.” Nevertheless, Joelle hopped to her feet and practically ran to the door, while anticipation made her almost giddy with a wild urge to laugh. That urge fizzled out when she looked through the peephole and saw a delivery man already walking away. “Damn it.”

  “What is it?” Alice hovered around the mouth of the foyer, as if not knowing whether or not she needed to give Joelle some privacy.

  “It’s just a delivery. I forgot I ordered a couple makeup kits for a Halloween segment I’m planning, so that’s all this is.” It wasn’t Gus. He hadn’t troubled himself to drop in on her even though Gilded Swan was no more than an eight-minute car ride from there. It didn’t matter that she could have made that car ride herself; what mattered was that he hadn’t shown enough interest in her over the past four days to inspire her to make that car ride.

  Then again, maybe he felt the same way.

  Maybe he wanted her to pursue him.

&
nbsp; Or maybe she really was just like all the others he’d dated. Maybe she really was just a one-and-done princess in his eyes.

  “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath as she hauled open the door.

  And came to a jaw-dropping halt.

  “Geez, how much makeup did you order?” Alice was beside her, staring at the large rectangular box propped up against the wall. “You can have too much of a good thing, you know.”

  “I don’t think that’s my order.” Frowning, Joelle bent to read the label, only to hear her own breath squeak to a halt. “It’s from a florist. These are flowers. I didn’t send myself flowers.”

  “Good, because that’d be weird.” Alice backed out of the way as Joelle snatched up the surprisingly hefty box and all but dashed to the living room to drop it on the coffee table. A few moments later she had the box open, and a lushly exotic perfume spilled into the room as she stared at a profusion of purple flowers.

  “Wow,” Joelle said softly, staring at the gorgeous bouquet. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many purple flowers in my life.”

  “Same here.” Alice also peered into the box. “I was expecting roses.”

  “Any man can give roses. Gus Bloch isn’t just any man.” Then she gasped out loud and dived into all that heaven-scented purple. “Unless these aren’t from Gus.”

  “Who else would they be from?”

  “I don’t know. Someone. Aha.” With a sound of triumph, she surfaced with a card. “Here we go.”

  “Let me guess,” Alice drawled, heading back to the couch to fold up the pencil skirt before tucking it back in the bag. “It’s Gus.”

  “He says these are princess flowers, and that they’re only found in one place on earth. Rare and beautiful, like me.” Okay, maybe she wouldn’t kill him, after all.

  “Not to mention princessy,” Alice snorted. “Don’t forget princessy.”

  “He wants me to clear my decks so I can give him my undivided attention.” That brought her brows together like nothing else, as did the next line. “According to this, I’m supposed to pack a bag and be free of all work obligations by three this afternoon.”