She blamed it on the buzz from the drinks she had at Fireside. She really should be crying right now. The kind of ugly crying that includes devouring an entire package of Oreo cookies while sulking on the couch in baggy sweat pants as your mascara runs down your pathetic sad looking face. After all, her boyfriend dumped her today. And for a very unfair stupid reason, in her opinion. But instead, she stumbled into her apartment just a little after 1:00 am with a smile on her face.

Maybe it wasn't the drinks that made her current mood happy, she thought, as she switched on the light. It's not like she just lost her best friend. Nope. She still had him. Maybe not the way she really wanted him, but it did her heart good to spend some time off duty with Jamie tonight- even after trying to push him away earlier. She could always trust him to butt into her life to "fix" things, try as she may to discourage him from doing so. She found it both annoying and comforting at the same time, knowing that he would always have her back like that. He knew just what to say to make her feel better tonight.

She set her duffle bag on the dining table and smiled some more as she remembered a certain article of clothing that she had tucked in there earlier. Undoing the zipper of the bag, she unfolded the pink cotton shirt and once again read the gaudy sparkly phrase written on it. "I kick ass." Her consolation prize.

With girly excitement, she ran into the bathroom to quickly put on the shirt. Staring at herself in the mirror, she realized that Jamie didn't just buy this particular shirt on a whim. He actually had put some thought into this purchase. It was just the right size. It was pink (one of her favorite colors). It was V-neck to show off her cleavage (which she purposefully was in the habit of doing around Jamie lately, hoping he would notice- and now she knew he did). And the phrase written on it was just for her. It spoke of what he thought of her, which was nothing like what Josh thought of her. It was the recognition she had been longing for from a man.

How could she NOT wear this shirt?

She finished getting ready for bed by keeping the shirt on and swapping out her jeans for her yoga pants. Climbing under her warm covers, she wondered again for the millionth time how much longer she would have to wait for Jamie to admit that they belong together.

Stopped at a red light on his way home to Brooklyn Heights, Jamie had his mind on the one person he always had his mind on- Eddie.

He saw it coming. He knew from the start that Josh didn't deserve her. While he hated to see her get hurt by some guy who was never going to appreciate the awesome person that she is, he breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she could be labeled "single" again. Although that fact made him feel guilty; he had no right to be happy about that, because she deserved to have someone. But that someone couldn't be him because of the professional boundaries in place. He wondered how much longer he could last with this arrangement.

His mind wandered back to the kiss she instigated only just a few weeks ago. He had wanted to kiss her again for the longest time. The passion that he felt from her was the same passion that was ignited in him, and it still had him reeling. He wondered how she could kiss him like that one minute and the next minute be sleeping with a guy like Josh. Did Josh really mean that much to her, or was he just a distraction?

His phone buzzed with another text from Caroline, reminding him that he really needed to find a way to let her down gently. He already had enough distraction in his life.

The car behind him honked which made him look up at the light that had turned green a while ago. Reaching for the stick shift to throw it from first into second, he noticed Eddie had left her small purse in the console. He wouldn't be seeing her again until Monday, and he knew she would need it before then. So even though it was late, he smiled to himself, happy to have an excuse to go back to see her. He turned his Mustang around and headed toward Jersey.

Jamie almost felt bad for knocking on her door so late knowing that she was probably sleeping. But not bad enough. Especially when she answered the door half asleep looking adorable and wearing that shirt.

"Jamie? God, what are you doing here…it's late. Is everything okay?" she stammered as she rubbed her eyes trying to keep them open.

"Everything's fine. Sorry to wake you," he said as a huge smile formed on his face, taking in her appearance.

She could feel him staring at her and she wondered why he was just standing there with such a goofy grin on his face. She was instantly annoyed. "Well?" she snipped, waiting for him to say something.

"Well what?" he laughed.

Eddie yawned and stretched her arms over head which made her chest stick out more prominently than normal, making the words of her shirt "I Kick Ass" gleam in Jamie's eyes. She ran her hands through her bed-head hairdo, fluffing up her hair which left it even more unkempt than before.

"Why are you here?"

Jamie had a full-on smirk on his face. "Oh. Um….you forgot your purse. Thought I'd bring it to you now since I won't be seeing you until Monday."

Taking her purse from him, she smiled and said, "Wow. My hero. I'm swooning."

"Yeah, I get that reaction a lot."

"Smart ass." Eddie was more awake now and was really confused by the look on his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing," he chuckled. "Go back to bed. See you Monday."

"Okay…" she hesitated. "No really, WHAT?"

"Nice shirt." Jamie pointed.

Eddie looked down at herself and realized what she was wearing. "Oh. Oh Crap," she whispered as she closed her eyes in shame at being caught.

"Looks good on you!"

Eddie opened her eyes and smiled back at him when she noticed his eyes were roaming her body. She was suddenly in the mood to flirt. "What's underneath looks even better."

Jamie accepted the challenge. "Don't I know it. You've only been giving me an eyeful of it for the past month."

"Guilty as charged," she shrugged. "Didn't think you'd notice."

"I notice," he said seriously.

She stared back at him with that look that always makes him want to kiss her. He felt the pull, and the more he stared into her eyes the more he realized that she wanted him to. And he really wanted to.

He cleared his throat. "I'm…gonna...go now. See you Monday."

The spell was broken. Eddie nodded. "Okay. See you Monday." She watched him walk down the hall out of sight and then closed her door.

And for the millionth time, Jamie wondered how much longer he could fight his feelings.