You were pretty sure you had made it clear that you weren’t interested in him—in fact, you weren’t interested in anyone right now. But Jesse’s attempts at flirting were so ridiculous, so shamelessly over-the-top, that instead of irritating you, they made you sigh… and maybe smile just a little when he wasn’t looking.

Maybe that’s why he kept showing up uninvited, with that smug smirk and more bad pickup lines than an outdated spy novel.

This time, you heard his voice before you even saw him.

“Hey,” he said, sliding into the seat across from you like he was sneaking into a top-secret base. “I brought you something classified.”

You didn’t even look up from your book. “Is it another ‘totally true’ story about how you seduced a guard to escape solitary confinement?”

He grinned. “Nope. Even better.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Fine. What is it?”

“My heart,” Jesse said dramatically, placing an invisible object on the table like it was made of gold. “Still beating. Slightly bruised. A little sarcastic.”

You stared at him.

“And,” he added with a wink, “free of charge. For a limited time.”