Though he seemed to be the logical choice for the job, after about two weeks of living together, Joselyn began to wonder if she hadn't made one big mistake. True, Paul had been in the Chem Department at Mira Pavo for a long time, but it turned out that his position was anything but secure. He had been a grad student there for six years, working under Dr. Ruta Blensch, supposedly attempting to finish his doctoral thesis. During this time, the maximum allowed for the completion of the Ph.D., he had accomplished next to nothing, but had been drawing a hefty salary from Dr. Blensch and her government research grant. There were plenty of rumors floating about that he would soon be shown the door and everyone in the department was openly marveling at how he'd been able to stay on as long as he had without producing anything more than the neatest office on the floor.

Paul knew precisely what was coming. He also knew that once he'd failed to complete his program at Mira Pavo, the chances of his finding another professor to sponsor him further was next to nil. He was a condemned man and he wasn't taking the sentence well. Instead of keeping a stiff upper lip, he tended to alternately sulk and blubber, presenting a weak, defeated, mush-mouthed front to the world… and no challenge to Joselyn in or out of the bedroom.

She realized that Paul's predicament wasn't entirely his fault. He'd had the bad fortune to pick Dr. Blensch for an advisor. An internationally renowned chemist, she belonged to the laissez-faire school of thought when it came to theses. If a student needed help, she would grudgingly take timeout from her own projects to give it, but she did not ride herd on her charges, making sure they were progressing toward the desired result. Given his predilection to inertia, Paul would have done much better to have chosen one of the department's little dictators who supervised every detail of the research and publication process, even down to the subject of the thesis itself. Joselyn could understand his problem and sympathize with it, but only up to a point.