One
of my most favorite characters came into a story as a minor
character. I expected him to be the friendly, comforting police
officer who walked in, did his thing and left. He didn't do that.
Instead, Jasper Waters damn near took over the book! But that's
because he's the kind of man who is somewhat larger than life, and
has a full blown Sir Galahad Complex. (You'll find that many of my
male characters do.) He takes his duty to Protect and Serve very
seriously – particularly the protect part.
When
things get hairy for the female lead, Amanda Bitterson, in New at
Love, Jasper comes to the rescue
once again. Unfortunately, he's got competition for Amanda's
affections in the form of Derrick Butler. It doesn't stop Jasper from
developing a little crush. (Don't worry, he gets his own woman in
Conduct Unbecoming.)
Jasper
is in at least 14 of my books, but I can't be 100% sure, because I
don't always write his name on the cast list. Here's a scene from New
at Love, which illustrates why I love Jasper so much. Amanda and
Derrick have an argument, based on a complete misunderstanding. She
gets angry, and he leaves abruptly. Jasper calls to check on her and
finds her in tears. To help her calm down, he invites her to
breakfast.
"So,
what happened between you and Derrick?" Jasper asked casually,
but there was more to the question than he was letting on.
"A
silly argument. It's my fault for not understanding," Amanda
replied.
"Don't
blame yourself. There's always two sides to every conflict."
"On
my side, there were a lot of misconceptions and assumptions. My
interpretation of his actions was based on a variety of bad
relationships. I thought he was acting like all those other guys and
he wasn't."
"Bummer,"
Jasper didn't sound nearly as upset as he was trying to. "And
what were these misconceptions and assumptions? If you don't mind me
asking."
"That
he just wanted to get in my pants and then leave me."
"That's
happened to you?" He sounded shocked. "How could any guy do
that to someone like you?"
"Not
so much the getting in the pants part," she admitted with an
embarrassed blush. "The leaving part. I'm a pro at that."
"So
they don't love you and leave you? They just leave?"
"When
I try to make it clear that they aren't getting into my pants, that's
when they leave."
"Ooh...."
He looked at her with a totally different expression. "So,
Derrick tried to get more friendly than you wanted?"
"Not
really, no. That's the assumption part. I read him totally wrong."
"So
he didn't try to take advantage?"
"No.
I'm not making any sense, am I?"
Jasper
laughed, taking a sip of his coffee. "Not a lot, no."
"Okay,
let me go over events and see if that clarifies it for you."
She
told him what had happened that morning between her and Derrick.
Jasper nodded, listening politely as she talked.
"So
I drove him away. I've totally ruined a great relationship with a
wonderful guy because I'm an idiot."
"Did
you try apologizing? Just a suggestion." He held up his hands
like she was holding a gun on him.
"I
didn't have the chance. He drove away before I could get outside."
"Phone?"
He held his thumb and finger up by his ear like a play phone. "I
bet those two little words, I'm sorry, would go a long way
right now."
"What
if he's still angry? What if he won't forgive me?"
"My
grandmother would say, what if doesn't pay the bills. Amanda,
speaking from the perspective of a man who's been on the hard side of
an argument, I think you should call him. I think you'll find him
receptive to an apology."
"Why
would he be?"
"Because
if he's not, he's an idiot of the first order. He probably forgave
you before he'd even driven away."
"How
do you know that?"
"Because
I would have." He attacked his food like it had threatened him
with bodily harm. He didn't look at her for several minutes as he
concentrated on his food. "Look." He set his fork down.
"I'm not going to pretend that I'm not attracted to you. I see
this from his perspective and I know why he left. He doesn't see any
way to convince you that he's not what you think. He seems like a
good guy, Amanda. Not every man would have stayed the night in the
first place. Any guy who's only interested in bedding you would have
used your fear to his advantage. Derrick didn't do that."
"Why
are you taking his side?"
"I
have no idea. Really, I kind of hoped you two would break up
so I could ask you out."
Amanda
was so shocked, her mouth fell open. "What? So this whole
friendly breakfast thing was your attempt to get in my pants?"
He
set his glass of orange juice down with a click. "Can I explain
a few things about men so you know where both of us stand? You've
obviously been burned a few times by real dicks. Okay, I accept that.
Please, don't judge all men by the dweeb squad standards, okay? Some
of us are actually gentlemen who take more than five minutes to get
to know a girl. Like for instance, if this was dinner instead of
breakfast, I wouldn't take you home and try to screw your brains out
on the first date. Give me a few dates, yeah, I'm gonna try. By that
time you'd have made up your mind how far you were going to let me
go, and I'd have a pretty good idea of my limitations."
"So,
what are you telling me?" She looked completely confused.
Jasper
sighed a little, scratching his ear. "I'm telling you that
Derrick and I are just a couple of red blooded, heterosexual males
who see a gorgeous woman we'd like to get to know better. Believe me,
if you weren't already involved with him, I'd try to kiss you
myself."
©
2018 Dellani Oakes
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