Jamie dropped heavily into the driver's seat of the RMP and handed Eddie one of the two cups of coffee he was holding.

"Here you go, Shorty."

"Thanks!" she replied cheerily, warming her hands around the cup.

"So, what do you say we hit Anton's tonight?" He reached around to grab his seatbelt. "It's been a few weeks, and believe it or not, I'm actually craving some ribs."

Eddie squirmed slightly in the passenger seat. She shifted the coffee cup in her hands and took a slow sip to avoid answering for another moment. "Umm...rain check? I actually have a date", she said, trying to sound casual.

Clearly caught off guard by her response, Jamie paused, his mouth hanging open just slightly. It had been a long while since she made any mention of dating anyone. After a beat, he cocked his head slightly, asking, "Really? On a Tuesday?"

"Yeah, well, we're off tomorrow and he happened to have the day off also, so…." She shrugged and took another sip of her coffee.

"Off on a Wednesday? What does he do?", Jamie inquired. He felt that familiar quickening of his pulse that was unavoidable whenever Eddie spoke of a date with someone else.

"He's actually on the job too. Not NYPD...he's in Jersey." Eddie half-mumbled that last part into the lid of her drink.

Jamie couldn't help the scoff that escaped his mouth.

"Oh, shut it." she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "We met at that holiday fundraiser Haley dragged me to last weekend. He's nice. You'd actually like him."

Nodding slowly, Jamie pressed his lips together tightly before asking, "And he knows you're a cop?"

"Yes...he does. Why?" she furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes at her partner.

"But has he dated a cop before?" he shot back, slightly more pointedly than he intended.

Eddie settled back in her seat, leaning slightly on the door behind her. "Jeez, this is quite the inquisition, Reagan. What's your problem?" she asked gently.

"No problem. It's just you've had issues in the past with guys not being able to handle you being a cop. I just don't want to see you get hurt again. That's all." He busied himself settling his coffee cup in the cup holder before meeting her gaze again.

"That's all?" she asked, leaving the question hanging between them.

Jamie gave a hard swallow and clenched his jaw slightly as he turned to look out the front windshield. Eddie couldn't help but notice how the taut muscles there bulged slightly. She had to look away, always finding his jawline more attractive than she should. "Yeah, that's all" he replied quietly.

Eddie cleared her throat and sensing the seriousness in the car, tried to bring some levity to the moment. "Well, I haven't gotten his full dating history just yet, but I will be sure to find out and give you a full report by start of tour on Thursday." She wrinkled her nose at him, which was always his undoing. He rolled his eyes and eased out of the parking spot, carefully checking over his shoulder first.

"Just looking out for you, partner." he replied coolly, shooting her a tight smile as they headed back to the station.