“How did you meet him?”
“A professor invited him to one of my classes to judge our projects. That’s when he slipped me his card and told me to call him. At first I thought he was trying to hit on me, so I threw the card away. A couple of months later he showed up at my class and asked to speak to me. When he asked why I hadn’t called I told him the truth, and that’s when he said he wasn’t interested in sleeping with a girl younger than his daughter. He said he was impressed with my project and wanted me to work with him so he could help me develop my talent.
“I worked with him whenever I didn’t have classes or when he wasn’t traveling and I learned more from him in six months than I did in four years of classes. Once I graduated I became his apprentice and soon after that we began sleeping together. Meanwhile he’d begun referring clients to me and I was able to save enough to start up my own company. He’d also set up an account at a Madison Avenue boutique for me to shop whenever I needed something to wear to accompany him for a formal event.”
“Did you ever think of him as your sugar daddy?” Cameron questioned.
Jasmine shook her head. “Never. He helped me professionally and I returned the favor when I became his escort because he’d tired of taking out a revolving door of women. I was still living at home at the time and when I told him I was thinking of moving into Manhattan he urged me to buy a coop or condo. Of course I didn’t have the money for either, so he co-signed for the loan for the down payment, and I only accepted his offer if he agreed to let me pay him back.
“After being handed the keys to the unit we went out to celebrate at his favorite restaurant. I never got to pay him back because two months later he died in his sleep from natural causes. I was devastated losing my mentor and it took me a while before I could even think about becoming involved with another man.”
“But you did, darling,” Cameron reminded her.
Her eyelids fluttered wildly. “Yes I did and much to my detriment.”
“If we don’t meet the bad ones, then we’d never recognize the good ones when they come our way.”
Jasmine stared at the light-blue orbs shimmering like polished topaz. “You’re right about that.” She paused. “Are you one of the good ones, Cameron?”
He lowered his eyes. “That all depends on who you talk to. I’ve never mistreated or taken advantage of a woman, so hopefully I’d like to believe that will put me in the good guy category.”
She smiled. “It does.”
Her feelings for Cameron were changing so quickly that Jasmine couldn’t explain them away. Everything about him was a turn-on from his exquisite grooming to his impeccable manners, while his overt masculinity wrapped around her like a cocoon from which she did not want to escape. In that instant she wanted to experience making love with Cameron.
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. You are who you are and that’s enough for me.”
Cameron put the flute to his mouth and drained it. Jasmine pushed back her chair. “Let’s circulate because I don’t want your friends to think I’m antisocial.”
Cameron rose with her, cupping her elbow. “It really doesn’t matter what they think, because it will be another year before I’ll get to see them again.”
“Aren’t you invited to Philip’s wedding?”
“I’m sure I’ll get an invitation once they set a date. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get a glass of water from the bar.”
Jasmine watched him make his way to the bar, and then turned around when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She smiled at a petite blonde woman wearing a black dress with a plunging neckline. Each time she inhaled it appeared as if her breasts would escape the revealing décolletage. The skin on her face was so smooth, so tight, it was impossible to pinpoint her age.
“Yes?”
“Jasmine, my name is Cindy. May I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“I’d like to know where you got your dress.” Jasmine gave her the name of the Madison Avenue boutique where Gregory had first set up an account for her. “I was looking for a lace dress like yours, because right now it’s all the rage, but unfortunately I couldn’t find anything in my size,” Cindy continued. She cradled her chest in her hands. “My boobs are too big, and if I bought a larger size it would fit my chest but not my hips. Luckily you have just enough.” She let go of her breasts and touched Jasmine’s, causing her to take a step backward. “By the way you have a fabulous body. Were you ever nipped or tucked?”
Jasmine stared at the woman as if she had lost her mind. She didn’t want to believe she was being hit on. “No!” She glanced around for Cameron and found him talking to Philip and another man. Without warning, he turned in her direction and she silently implored him to rescue her. She exhaled an inaudible breath with his approach.
He kissed her hair. “What’s the matter, darling?”
“Can you help me to our table? I’m slightly woozy from the champagne.”
Cameron’s arm went around her waist as he led her away from the chatty woman. “Did she try to seduce you?”
Her head popped up as she stared at him in astonishment. “You know?”
“It’s a fact that Cindy and her husband have an open marriage and engage in threesomes. So when I saw your face I figured she had propositioned you.”
