arm, friendly blue eyes collided brilliantly with cold, steely gray ones, and Jessica Bates felt her heart drop uncomfortably into the pit of her stomach as her usual sunny smile froze in place. 

Instantly, she dropped her gaze to the more neutral territory of the table in front of her as he sauntered slowly closer, paying her no more attention than the wallpaper, which was her goal.  She could barely catch her breath as it was when the painful pulsing increased with every heavy, thudding footstep he took, forcing her to close her eyes and struggle to control the familiar flood of unwieldy emotion.

It took everything in her not to begin hyperventilating as he walked past and the feelings crashed over her in a blinding, overwhelming wave.