of his ebony hair as it coursed the length of his planed back — a back clearly visible through a black net shirt that similarly revealed his bulging chest and firm muscled shoulders. And while she was at it she managed to check out his sculpted derriere and his long, sturdy legs.
Her gaze finally rested on the floor, where she shut her eyes tight and fought to halt her stream of unbidden emotions.
Why is it, she wondered, that the man she’d been dating for more than a year never excited her like this- never made her heart pound and her pussy gush?
“Well, maybe because my roommate is unfortunately hotter?” said that part of her subconscious she usually tried to ignore-the part that sounded a lot like Joan Rivers and got her into a lot of trouble.
Oh, not that her longtime boyfriend Peter was ugly by any means; and not that she, with her frizzy brown hair, bespectacled eyes and rubenesque figure, was anything close to conventionally beautiful. Still she couldn’t hope but to admire the incredible masculine beauty that Joel personified.
“Admire,” she sniffed, “that’s a nice word. Does it mean the same as lust, desire, outright idolize?”
“Are you OK?”
That was the second time today she’d been asked that question. Not good.
“I’m kosher, no worries.” Smiling with more confidence than she felt, Jasmin raised her head to greet Peter Moore; the short, balding accountant she’d met at her college graduation. “How are you darling?”
Her grin broadened and grew more sincere as she basked in the warmth of his tender smile; also in the gaze of those piercing blue eyes that had drawn her to him in the first place.
Peter may not be the man of her dreams, she mused, but he was the man of her heart. And while her randy playboy roommate seemed to find a different girlfriend every other month, she and Peter found each other again and again, every day.
The image of the gorgeous Joel faded from her mind as she considered the simpler beauty of good, loyal Peter; finally she returned his boyish grin as she held her hands out to him.
Both grins dissolved seconds later, as her boyfriend took a seat next to her on her basic camp bed.
“Hon, there’s something we have to talk about,” he released on a labored breath. “I’ve met someone.”
His mouth fell agape as she met his words with a brash, casual shrug; leaning forward to rest her chin on her fist and regard him with disinterested eyes.
“Well we both meet people every day, seeing as how we both work in public service professions,” she reasoned. “And the big deal about this person is?”
“I’m passionately, unforgivably in love with her.”
The words fell from his mouth in another long rush; this one striking her with full force as she clasped her hands before her.
“Where did you meet her?” Jasmin asked, not precisely sure what else she could say.
Peter sighed, burying his head in his hands.
“We met at the accounting convention I attended last month in Miami,” his voice low and repentant. “Jasmin I’m so sorry.”
His girlfriend regarded him a moment, meeting his regret with a cool expression as she shook her head slowly from side to side.
“So you’re leaving me for another number cruncher,” she said finally, adding with a wry smile, “Well at least she won’t be bored silly by the story of how your crafty calculations kept three of your clients from imminent prosecution under the law.”
“Well actually she’s not an accountant,” Peter shook his head, totally missing the not so veiled insult hurled in his direction. “She worked as a booth babe for the McGregor Office Supplies Co-op. She is, however, planning to study accounting at Clayton Community College next semester, right after she turns 20!”
A nodding Jasmin rose from the bed, now scowling in the direction of her red faced boyfriend.
“Well that’s just grand,” she growled. “Maybe the two of you can work together to tally up the amount of money that I loaned you to complete your own stint at accounting school-plus the cool thou I fronted you a few months ago to help pay your rent.”
Peter shook his head.
“We said we’d arrange a payment plan,” he said vaguely, “with a specific due date for all funds loaned.”
“The due date has been readjusted to reflect the following,” she leaned over to stare her stunned visitor straight in the eyes. “You will pay me the money, in cash mind you, by this Friday-or I’ll be making some informative calls to the IRS.”
She rather enjoyed the ashen expression that crossed his ruddy features as he stood to his feet and made a mad dash for the door.
Jasmin watched him leave with a cool expression that dissolved the moment she heard the door close; then she sat down hard on the edge of her bed and stared at the door he’d closed behind him.
“Two years of my life is just… I don’t know,” she wrapped her arms around her legs, shaking her head from side to side as she struggled to grasp the news.
Oh, she knew that she’d survive this; she, after all, was a self-made woman who had never depended on a man for money, respect or emotional support. Still and all, it had been nice to have Peter in her life; someone to hold her, to listen as she shared the news of her day.
“I guess I never felt swept off my feet,” she shrugged. “It just made sense for us to be together. And I thought we always would be. So now what?”
Her head shot up as she noted the entrance of her roommate; a man who rushed immediately to her side and wrapped his strong, sturdy arms around her frozen body.
“I’m so sorry babe.” Pulling her flush up against the planes of his hard muscled body, Joel cradled her closer than close as he kissed her flushed cheek. “I saw the bastard out in the parking lot and asked him why he seemed so upset. When he told me I made him even more upset.”
Jasmin’s eyes flew wide at this news, and her face erupted in a giddy smile.
“Did you haul off and slug him?” Hope sprang eternal.
Joel shook his head.
“I was sorely tempted,” he admitted, adding with a wink, “but I thought that an assault charge wouldn’t do much to improve your situation-so instead I just gave him a light whack with an empty rubber laundry basket.” With these words he bowed low before her. “Just call me your brave knight in shining leather, milady.”
Jasmin laughed.
“I’ll be very proud to do just that my friend,” she rested her head on his muscled shoulder. “Thank you so much for being here for me right now.”
“Not a problem.” Joel touched her lips with a soft, sweet kiss. “You were the kind lady who took me in a year ago when I had no place else to go-charging me much less rent than you needed to pay the bills around here, because you knew it was all I could afford.”
Jasmin shook her head.
“You more than paid me back by keeping this place spotless-a state of being it never came close to attaining when I lived here alone,” she rolled her eyes heavenward.
It was Joel’s turn to shake his head.
“You did a great job, babe, considering that you were working all the time.” With this he waved an admiring hand in her direction. “And now just look at us. You’re a junior partner in a big time marketing firm, and I’m a model who’s actually finding work in LA.”
A beaming Jasmin nodded in agreement, pulling her friend to her in an affectionate hug.
“You’re so right,” she graced his chiseled cheek with a warm, sweet kiss. “We don’t need that jerk in our lives. We’ll get along just fine.”
“Of course we will,” Joel agreed, nestling her neck. “And to celebrate his timely and very welcome departure, I say we pull an all-nighter.”
Jasmin arched her eyebrows.
“An all-nighter?” She froze in his arms. “Sounds fun.”
“You know it.” Joel waggled his eyebrows.
***
