“Let’s see.” He rubs his hands together. “I have terrible morning breath.”

I huff. “That’s not a flaw. Everyone has morning breath.”

“I smell when I sweat.”

I roll my eyes. “Let’s move on from normal human functioning to the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean bad stuff. Are you a loud chewer? Do you have a third nipple? Maybe an extra toe? Oh, I know, you’re a compulsive liar and megalomaniac.”

“You caught me.” He stops, hand to his chest. “I’m a multiple-appendages-having egomaniac with an aversion for truth.”

“Now see, you go and say stuff like that and I can’t hold any of it against you.”

He laughs and then taps my shoulder. “Okay. I’ve got one. A real one. I can get, uh,” he winces and shoves his hands in his pockets, “a little obsessive sometimes.”

“Uh-oh. Is this going to turn into one of those things where you follow me around, clone my cell to track all my calls, and lock my ex in a book vault?”

His grin is blinding. “Of course not. If I cloned your cell, I wouldn’t need to follow you around.”

We both laugh, and then he grabs my hand, twining my fingers with his.

My insides melt.

“I don’t stalk people. But I do obsess over work. It started with games though, when I was a teenager, and then led to app design. Silly, mindless games were something to focus on other than my illness. I still fall back into obsessive patterns sometimes. Leon is forever pulling me from the brink. When I get really involved in a project, I don’t take breaks. I don’t sleep, I forget to eat. I missed a couple of gigs and Leon almost murdered me.”

“I can understand. I mean, I get into a single-minded focus too.” Like when all I cared about was getting my pitch just right. Or getting Alex to kiss me each night, to the exclusion of everything else. And now all I can think about is getting Alex naked.

How can I get him to come up to my apartment? Maybe I can lure him in with the promise of something other than my smokin’ hot bod, because clearly, that’s not enough of an enticement.

“Hey, Pickle Juice!”

This again.

Leon almost gets hit by the car, again. They banter, Leon is called away, and wait for it . . .

“Can I give you a ride home?”

“Yes.”

After he parks in front of my apartment, he kisses me good night. Like every time, my body becomes liquid heat. Lust permeates the air and penetrates my bones. I get so worked up I might detonate out of existence.

“Please come upstairs?”

He rests his forehead against mine. Then he sighs. “No, I better not. This is too important.” Sweet words. A light fingertip over my bottom lip. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”