I felt my nose trying to wrinkle in denial again, and I forced my face into stillness. But were they for real? I mean, I had decent and consistent engagement on social media, and I had noticed that my sales through Etsy were steadily growing, but … were there really people out there—a vast number of them, if they weren’t exaggerating—who knew about me and loved my brand?

They had to be exaggerating.

Esther planted a hand on my arm, giving my elbow a little squeeze. “So, we were hoping that you and Luci might like to be the faces of an event we’re planning.”

“An event?”

“Ferretcon!”

My mouth fell open. “You mean, like …”

Jules was already nodding wildly. “Like a cosplay event, but with ferrets!”

“Is there really a market for that?”

“We believe that not only is there a market locally, but this has the potential to be an event that people will travel from out of town to attend.”

I couldn’t stop the nose-wrinkling this time. “Are you serious?”

They nodded in unison. “Deadly serious. And we want you, and Luci, to be the faces of the event. We’d obviously offer Dooks of Hazzard a prime position on the day, but you’d have the ability to market to our ticketholders in the months leading up to the event, and your face, and your logo, would be on all our marketing materials, and our website.”

I couldn’t speak. My heart was jumping into my throat. This was a massive opportunity. If this was touching people from out of town, people who owned and loved ferrets …

“How much is this going to cost me?” I blurted. Because this all had to be too good to be true.

“I don’t follow …” Jules looked genuinely confused.

“Well, it sounds to me like a sponsorship opportunity. And I’m not … strictly speaking … in a position to be outlaying money right now.” Understatement of the century.

Esther squeezed my arm tighter. “We don’t want cash from you, Jemma. More of an … exchange, I suppose you might say.”

Heat pulsed behind me, and every nerve that had been fluttering all week turned to a riot. Esther’s eyes lifted, and her eyebrows rose as a deep voice from behind me boomed.

“What exactly are you suggesting that she exchange with you?”

19. Bossy, Domineering Alpha Male

Chapter 19

Bossy, Domineering Alpha Male

Jemma

His voice was dark, and proper … and full of menace.

The snarky spark within me flared to life. The one that he always seemed to awaken.

I patted Esther’s hand and extricated myself from her grip. “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment. My … boyfriend … is a tad overprotective.”

Jules was staring up at SJ with bulging eyes, mouth agape. On a mad whim, I leaned closer. “Fanfiction Draco Malfoy, am I right?”

I winked, grinning at Jules’s shellshocked expression, and finally turned to see him looming over me.