BLURB AND EXCERPT: A Cruise to Remember by Michelle Hasker

Blurb:

Irene's last boyfriend broke up with her after she'd invested a lot of money into a vacation cruise. Now she's determined to convince her gay roommate, Gabe, that he should go on the trip so her money isn't wasted. What starts out as harmless teasing changes into something she doesn't expect.

Excerpt:

"Do I look fat?" I turned, trying to see my reflection from every angle. When I bought this tiny bikini I'd been happy with my weight, but I'd put on a few pounds. I wasn't sure if it was just me, or if I was too fat to wear this in public.

"What?" Gabriel, my roommate and fashion savior called from the living room.

I took a deep breath for courage, and walked out into the living room. I struck my best sultry pose, put one hand on my hip and held the other out and pouted at Gabriel.

"What are you doing, Irene?"

"Do I look fat?" I dropped the runway model pose and straightened to my full six foot height. Gabriel was one of the few men I knew that was taller than me. I didn't have to slouch when talking to him, and we looked great together.

"No. You have a luscious body." He looked back down at his game of solitaire.

"Gabe." I shook my head and sat on the arm of the sofa. I knew he was gay, but that didn't explain why he'd be that desperate to look away from my body. "I do look fat, don't I?"

"No. You have a nicely toned body. You're a bit white though. You need to spend more time in the sun."

I sighed and pushed his shoulder. "You know what I mean. You won't even look at me now."

"You're practically naked."

"So?" I nudged him again and laughed. "You've seen me parade around in my teddies, what's more revealing about this?"

Gabriel moved away from me so I slipped between him and the arm of the sofa. "Spill it, loverboy."

I loved watching his skin flush when I called him that. Sometimes I'd do it just to watch his pretty face color. Gabriel was one fine specimen of man. He'd make some man really happy one day. What a shame for us ladies, though. If he weren't gay, I'd have taken him for a test drive. Or two. Or a bazillion.

I fanned myself with one hand and leaned over to look at his cards. He was playing the pyramid one where the cards had to add to up to thirteen. I found two cards that equaled to it, but he reached to draw another card instead of making the match.

"Stop!" I smacked his hand and leaned over him. "You missed this one."

Before he could argue, I pulled off the two cards and put them in a pile. Almost immediately I saw another set of cards that added to thirteen. Again he sat there for a while then reached for a card from the draw pile.

"Gabe." I made a loud exasperated sigh. I brushed against him when I reached for the cards. My nipples pebbled at the contact and a spark of desire heated my belly. Before he could notice my reaction, I pulled back and pointed. "There. Those two."

"I know how to play the game. Don't you have a date to get ready for or something?"

A wave of anger washed over me. He knew I wasn't seeing anyone right now. Most men had problems with me living with a man. Even if he was gay. My brother Sebastian had asked me to let Gabe move in for a month. That was a year ago.

"You know I don't have a date, and Valentine's Day is only two days away. I can't believe it. And I already bought the tickets for the Lover's Valentine Weekend Cruise. How was I supposed to know Derek was going to get jealous of you?"

Gabe ignored me and reached for the draw pile again. I smacked his hand harder this time. Why did men ignore me? The blonde hair might be natural, but I'm not stupid.

"All your men get jealous of me. I can't help it that you pick weak, self-centered men who think I lust after their bodies."

"Actually, Derek thought you were lusting after me."

Gabe looked up at me quickly, shock evident in his face. I really did want Gabe. If he'd been lusting after me, I'd have been more than happy to show him that I was a great catch. So was he. He was perfect in almost every way. He even left the toilet seat down.

"Well, we all know that's impossible, isn't it?" I sighed and reached over him to grab two more cards that equaled thirteen. That was when I noticed that he had a hard-on the size of Manhattan.

Bo