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“Do I bring my furniture? Are we just roommates? Are we exclusively dating? Will we share a room?”

“We’re married. In my book, that means we’re exclusive.” He looked at me carefully, and I nodded in agreement. His shoulders slumped slightly, and I wondered if he thought I’d fight him on exclusivity. Confrontation with Erik aside, my dating life was nearly nonexistent. Jimmy had nothing to worry about. He was the one with diner waitresses throwing themselves at him every other weekend. Heat washed through me at the implication of his words. Maybe I wasn’t the only one struggling with our forced celibacy. My stomach hollowed as a second wave washed through me, this time more fear than desire. He wanted me now, but what about a year from now? And what did I want? A tiny voice whispered that a year would be too short. Even if it was the right thing, to free him and pursue my own dreams, leaving Jimmy might leave me with more heart trouble, if fewer medical bills. Broken hearts weren’t usually healed with a trip to the doctor. I pushed the growing ache aside and focused back on Jimmy.

His expression was earnest as he answered my question. “You can bring any furniture you want. If we’re going to live together, I want it to feel like our place. There should be room for everything.”

I raised a brow. “Even my extensive sheet collection?”

He winced. “Even your extensive sheet collection. Why do you have an extensive sheet collection? Do I want to know?”

I shrugged. “Hazard of the therapy trade. Most sets I keep at my office, but I do a lot of laundry at home too. What about rent?” I asked. “I think I should pay expenses. You’re already contributing to my medical care.”

He shrugged. “I won’t argue with that. We can share expenses.”

“Am I going to have my own room?” I couldn’t decide if I should have phrased it as a demand, not a question. Sleeping next to him sounded too tempting. I trusted Jimmy to respect me and the doctor’s orders. He was too protective not to. “Or will we sleep together?”

His slow smile overtook his face, lighting it with mischief. “You just want to find out if I snore,” he accused.

I laughed. “Busted. Do you?” Trust Jimmy to take the sting out of the conversation and inject some fun.

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve never had any complaints before. Do you?”

“Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see.” I grinned.

“What do you wear to bed?”

I tilted my head. “Sweats usually; I’m always cold. Why? What do you wear?”

“Boxers. I’m an inferno between the sheets. I’m happy to share my heat.”

“Yeah, I just bet you are, buddy. I’m not planning to ditch my sweatpants anytime soon.”

His brows wiggled. “A guy can dream though, right?”

“Keep dreaming.”

We talked more about the logistics of the move. Assuming we even got the house, it’d be a few weeks before the deal closed, and we were able to move in. I had to investigate breaking or running out my lease; Jimmy was already month-to-month in anticipation of moving. I hadn’t planned on consolidating households so quickly.

Jimmy’s phone buzzed with an incoming text. He read it before glancing at me. “That was Erik. He’s submitted our offer. We should find out in a couple of days if we got it. Speaking of Erik, you seemed to have history there. Anything more I should know?”

His tone belied his calm expression. Ugh. Erik. The gift that kept on giving. Was Jimmy jealous? He’d masked it well in our time together.

“Nope. Just someone I went out with a couple of times. What about you? Any hidden paramours I should know about? The hostess or waitress from this morning for instance?”

I couldn’t resist asking, even though I had a feeling I knew the answer. His grin stretched across his handsome face at my question as he realized he wasn’t the only one feeling a little green. “Carla and Janice? No, and nope. I haven’t been dating much; too busy studying for my fire investigator exam and house hunting.”

My ears perked up. “Fire investigator exam? Do you have plans to take it soon?”

“Next time there’s an opportunity.”

“You don’t like being with a ladder company?”

He shrugged. “I want to do more. I got a degree in chemistry before joining the department. Arson investigation is something I’ve always been interested in, and I think I’m ready.”

“You never said; what drew you to firefighting?”

He sobered and stared down at the table, drawing circles across the dark wood. “My cousin Dante.”

“He was a firefighter?”