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The Jerk in Shining Armour.

3

The next morning, everything felt different. A strange energy and exhilaration was humming through Jasmine's mind and body which was missing most mornings unless she had a cup of coffee first. As she sat up, stretching and rubbing her eyes, she remembered how her night had been with a jolt. She had had a sizzling one night stand with Armaan.

In her dreams...

He had been there, tormenting her with his devilish looks and satanic demands. Whether he was made of the stuff of heaven or hell, the guy had made a serious impact on her on their first meeting. She had thought she was immune to other men's charms but her reaction to Armaan proved that that was not the case. Still, why not Alex? He was quite a catch and he was trustworthy. Best of all, he cared about her. But no, it had to be this insufferable new guy. It must be those eyes.

After having showered, she called Alex and asked him to meet her out in the hallway. He looked cute in his yellow t-shirt and safari shorts. If she used her head half of the time like she used her emotions to make decisions, she would be married to this guy by now. This would probably have been their honeymoon.

"Good morning, Alex."

"Morning, beautiful. You ready for our day-out?" he asked sweetly.

Jasmine nodded. "Yup. Ready as ever. But you said the ride over to the first apartment was going to take at least twenty minutes. Can you give me that manuscript I started on? I want to make some changes to it on the way."

He froze and then spent quite some time pocketing his keys. "Um...how about if I give it to you when we get back?"

She frowned at him. Upon his request last night, she'd let him take a look at a few hand-written chapters of the latest story she had been working on and now she wanted it back. What was the hold-up? "Alex," Jasmine began tepidly. "I need those pages now."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he popped one open and grimaced. "Please don't be mad at me."

Jasmine tried not to be softened by his cute expression. "Please tell me you didn't lose it."

"No. Of course not." He sighed. "Armaan asked to have a look at it-"

"You gave it to Armaan?" she interrupted angrily and he took a step back.

"Jas-"

"Alex, what did we decide about who gets to see my manuscripts before it goes to the editors?" she demanded with a scowl.

He looked away miserably. "Just the two of us," he muttered. "But he was really interested in reading the story." Alex turned back to her and gave her a pleading look. "We were in his suite having a nightcap and I took the pages to read through them. After I was done, he asked to have a look. Don't worry. He'll give it back."

She frowned. "Nightcap? He drinks?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Alex stressed and looked at her tenderly. "Not every Muslim is as devoted as you. Armaan is...well, he's just different."

Shaking her head, Jasmine stepped aside as a hotel maid passed with her trolley to enter a room on the other side. "No kidding," she said. "What's with the blue eyes?'

Alex dimpled at her. "His mother is British. But she converted to Islam when she met Armaan's dad."

That explained it. "Get my manuscript from him," Jasmine commanded in a no-nonsense tone. "I won't leave without it."

"I told you he'll give it back."

She was starting to lose her temper with dimple guy here. "It's my story, Alex," she burst out. "You can't just hand it over to anybody without my permission."