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“Are you ready to go?”

I nodded. Yep. Nodding. That’s what he’d reduced me to. So much for zero impact kissing. Instead of addling my heart, he’d addled my brain.

“Great, let me grab my coat.” He reached inside and slid into a leather jacket. I’d seen him in uniform; I was used to him in button downs. He exuded pressed and professional male almost twenty-four seven. I’d never seen him truly mussed in public. Now he was throwing leather into the mix.Mercy.All he needed was the fedora to make the transition toWhite Collar’sNeal Caffrey complete. Delicious.

He put a hand to the base of my spine, and we walked downstairs together. The warmth of his hand sent pings of sensation zipping through me, and I inhaled the scent of aged leather, holding it in briefly before exhaling. Because that would totally calm my hormones.

“How was the rest of your week?” he asked.

“Fine.”

Yep. My conversational skills rocked. He was too darned distracting with the leather jacket. It shouldn’t have been so hot. Jimmy always looked handsome. But today, the leather turned my hormones up to an eleven.

We walked a few blocks to a hole-in-the-wall diner doing a steady stream of business on the clear and cold Saturday morning. The hostess’ smile was huge as she greeted Jimmy but faded when she saw me. “I’ve got your usual table ready,” she said. “I was hoping to hear more shift stories on my break.” She glanced at me. “But it looks like you’ve already got company.”

The faint edge in her voice had me straightening my shoulders. I thought about announcing myself as Jimmy’swife, but bit my lip instead. I’d already won this competition. I doubted Jimmy even knew the hostess was playing, so I smiled sweetly at her and pushed down the green monster. Jealousy was never part of our deal.

“You come here a lot?” I murmured. Yep. Rolled out that old chestnut. Original, baby. Maybe the hostess was in the running for his heart after all.

Jimmy smiled at the hostess who seated us. “Thanks, Carla. We’ll catch up another time.” He slid into the bench across from mine. “Yeah, I treat myself to breakfast almost every weekend when I’m not working. They have great biscuits and gravy here.”

My stomach growled. He laughed. “You like biscuits and gravy?” I nodded, and he continued. “Then I highly recommend these. They’ll shut down our hearts for sure.”

His laughter tapered off as he realized what he’d said. I smiled to let him know it was okay. “Good thing my issue isn’t with cholesterol then, right? I can’t wait to try them.”

I wanted to get through just one day without thinking about my misbehaving heart. Today was not that day. His expression turned sober. “Have you had any more episodes?”

I shook my head and he reached for my hands on the table, examining my expression. “You’d tell me, right?”

“Jimmy, I’d tell you. I want to focus on something fun today. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

The server came up to take our order. “Hey, Jimmy. Nice jacket. Your usual today?” the twenty-something woman asked with a grin.

He nodded before gesturing to me. Jimmy’s eyes danced. “What about you, Melena? Are you going to have my usual too?”

“If your usual is the biscuits and gravy with a coffee, then sure.”

The server wasn’t nearly so excited to flirt with me. “Yes, ma’am.”

Ma’am. You could tell who had clout here. I didn’t know what it was about Jimmy that made every woman around him territorial. I was struggling to tame my own green monster. First, his sister and now his neighborhood diner staff. He was too charming by half.

After a plate of some of the best biscuits and gravy I’d ever had, we walked back to Jimmy’s and got in his car to meet our realtor.

“How’d you get hooked up with your realtor—what’s his name?”

“Erik. I actually met him at the gym where I met you.”

The blood flowed out of my face and my heart started to race. Crap. Not another episode. I took a slow breath, then exhaled. What are the chances it would be the same Erik? Tacoma had a population of more than two hundred thousand. There were probably more than two hundred named Eric or Erik.

“Are you okay? You’re not feeling sick, are you? You seem pale.”

“No, I’m fine.” I would be fine. I hoped.

We drew up in front of the realty office and got out. Jimmy held open the door as I stepped inside. It was a simple strip mall, nothing fancy. Jimmy smiled at the teen boy sitting at the front counter answering phones. “We’re here to see Erik.”

A few minutes later a familiar figure stepped into the lobby and held his hand out to Jimmy. Crap. Apparently, there weren’t enough men named Erik in Tacoma after all. Both men were tall and fit. Of course, they’d met at the gym. If they started chest bumping, I was out.

Erik was highly competitive. So was I, for that matter. It’s part of why we hadn’t worked out. Where Jimmy took me beating him at video games in stride, Erik couldn’t stand to lose. Everything was a competition he had to win. He wanted it all. The best restaurants, to win every game of pool, and a hot girlfriend. The full package. He’d been a pissy jerk when I beat him at pool on our third date, and it had been the last straw. I hadn’t returned his calls, and I hadn’t seen him since.