"Options > General > Behaviour > Double-click" when set to "Replace Playing Now (All)" will clear the previous contents of Playing Now. It depends a lot on the View you are using though, and where you double click. In the Album View, double-clicking on the thumbnail will open the bottom pane to show all the tracks. Then double-clicking on the Album name in the heading will add all tracks to Playing Now, replacing what was there. But it will also start playback, even if MC is set to not start playing when files are added to Playing Now. See below.
"Options > General > Behaviour > Jump on Play" has various options, one of which is to jump to Playing Now. There is a similar setting for Theatre View. There is no option to jump to Playing Now when you add something to Playing Now.
"Options > General > Behaviour > Start playing when files added to Playing Now" unticked and playback shouldn't start. But it does in the scenario I used above. That could be unintended functionality. Playback shouldn't start with the setting off. But maybe when double-clicking that setting isn't supposed to be honoured.
So I guess I can't make MC do exactly what you want, at this time. But there are other ways to achieve the result you want, if not the method.
For example:
Setup
Customise the toolbar and add a "Add to Playing Now" button. Perhaps add a "Clear Playing Now" button as well, as I find this useful for quickly clearing all tracks.
In the "View > Split View" top menu, select "Show two views" and "Columns", then select the second split view on the right, select Playing Now in there, then back to the Split View menu and select "Lock View 2". Resize the right-hand pane to your requirements. Playing Now will now always be visible to you.
Use
In the Album View, select an Album you want to play. Click the "Add to Playing Now" button, or right-click on an Album and select "Add to Playing Now". The Album Tracks will appear in the second, right-hand pane.
Select the track you want to play first, and click the Play button. Or just double-click the track.
Keep experimenting. There are lots of ways to use MC.