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WHEN NAOMI TYLER found her boyfriend sitting naked at her computer in the middle of the night, she first thought he'd gotten lost on the way to the bathroom.

But it only took a few squinty-eyed seconds for the naked truth to reveal itself.

Moments ago, she'd awoken to the inexplicable sound of heavy breathing coming from the living room, which was only one room away in her small apartment.

The glowing red numbers on the alarm clock had told her it was three in the morning, exactly two and a half hours before she had to be awake to prepare for a meeting with her most important client.

Soft light poured through the open bedroom door.

A moan reached her. And then, "Oh yeah, ohhhh…"

Jackson's voice. A glance at the space next to her had confirmed that he wasn't in bed, and the disoriented fog had begun to lift from her brain.

She'd sat up, her heart pounding. Why was her boyfriend up at this time of night, and why was he moaning? She'd slipped out of bed and gone to the door, afraid of what she might find. If he had another woman in her apartment…

Not possible. Jackson was sweet, loyal, faithful.

And sitting at her computer naked.

Now, she blinked at the sight of him on the other side of the living room, lit by the glow of her computer monitor. His blond hair had taken on a weird greenish tinge from the screen, and his hand was moving in his lap, his noises growing more urgent by the second.

His free hand was on the keyboard. With both hands he quickly typed something, then returned to his task.

What the hell?

A wave of nausea rose in her stomach, but she froze, unable to make a sound or move. A silly bit of advice from Cosmo played in her head—if you find him masturbating, join in and help him out. He'll think it's a huge turn-on.

Okay, fine. Maybe a turn-on for him, but Naomi was too pissed about having her sleep interrupted by his little rendezvous with the computer to work up any sort of amorous feelings.

She was considering slipping back into the bedroom and trying to get some sleep when his moaning reached its inevitable crescendo, and his grand finale ended with something oozing down the monitor.

An urge to retrieve the Windex from the kitchen nearly overtook her, as her emotions spiraled from shocked to disgusted to embarrassed in the space of a few seconds. But she suppressed her neatnik urge and decided the best way to face this little problem was head-on.

She coughed, and Jackson nearly jumped out of her desk chair, which she made a mental note to give a good scrubbing tomorrow.

"Naomi!"

"What are you doing?" she blurted. "No, don't answer that. I see what you're doing."

Jackson heaved a sigh and looked at his hand, then at the computer monitor.

"Tissues are on the left."

"I was just, um, instant messaging with a friend."

"Instant messaging? Naked? At 3:00 a.m.?"

"It's nothing, just a little cybersex," he said, taking a different tack now—the casual, guilt-free male.

Naomi watched as he wiped off the monitor. She tried not to feel disgusted, wishing she could be a sexually enlightened Cosmo girl. But mostly she was just pissed off.

"We haven't had sex in weeks. Why aren't you having sex with me instead of some girl—it is a girl, right?—on the computer?"

"Of course it's a girl."

"How can you be sure?"

He looked confused. "She e-mailed me a picture."

Her temper flared. "You're probably getting it on with some middle-aged, hairy guy."

He gaped at her as if he'd never considered the possibility.

"Why not with me?" she asked, her voice revealing too much emotion. "Do I bore you?"

Silence.

"Do I?"

A guilty look crossed his face, and he shrugged.

Shrugged?

Shrugged.

Naomi was so very wide awake now. "Get the hell out of my apartment!" she screeched.

"Naomi, you're not boring. I'm just tired, okay? Can we talk about this tomorrow after we've both had some rest?"

"Tired? You weren't too tired to jerk off on my computer, but you're too tired to talk? Get out!" She pointed a finger at the door. "Now!"

He stood and came toward her, all of a sudden looking far more ridiculous than sexy in his naked state. "Can I at least get my clothes?"

She marched into the bedroom, fueled by fury and wounded pride. Jackson's clothes, predictably, lay in a pile on the floor. She scooped them up, along with his shoes, went to the second-story window, opened it, and dropped everything onto the lawn below.

She turned to Jackson. "Your clothes are waiting for you downstairs. Now get out!"

"SO THEN THE BASTARD LEFT, and I was wide awake for the rest of the night."

Naomi took a long drink of her iced tea, wishing she'd ordered something a little more caffeinated. She'd been dragging all morning and still had another client to meet after lunch. Her best friend Talia Ramsey sat across the table from her at their favorite lunch spot, trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm just so proud of you for making him leave naked."

Naomi was absolutely sure she wasn't boring in bed.

Well, mostly sure…

Copyright © 2005 by Jamie Sobrato.