Page 46 of Watch Over Me

When Lavon left the apartment with one of the officers and noticed Jeremy and Martinez standing there, he started screaming something about the NDAs.

"Another one who hadn't reviewed our NDAs closely." Martinez sighed. "Such a shame."

"Yeah, he might've thought twice about committing crimes under our noses," Jeremy said dryly. "But then again, he should've thought twice about hiring anyone, period."

Martinez leaned back against the hood of the car. "Not the brightest mind we've come in contact with in this line of work."

"Definitely not," Eddie said, and they all turned to see him offer them a shrug. "What, I can judge the guy now."

"You can judge him as much as you want," James told him, earning himself a small, soft smile that was like a shot to the heart.

He couldn't believe it had only been a few hours since he'd come to work with a plan of approaching Eddie tonight and showing off his entire hand.

Now, James didn't know if he could even make it another fifteen minutes.

Still, while they were all eager to leave the parking lot, especially Eddie, the police held them back for their statements, so it took well over an hour before they were done.

Finally, though, they were free to go. They needed to make a stop at the headquarters, but they were all heading home after, on Kalei's orders.

Unable to take his eyes off of Eddie, James offered him a ride, and Ryan—the best friend James had ever had, no doubts about it—took one look at the two of them and announced he would go with Jeremy and Martinez.

Eddie stayed silent in the passenger seat for a while,staring through the side window.

Then, he turned to James.

"Why didn't Ryan ride with us?" he asked in a soft, quiet voice that broke through the last of James's defenses.

He reached out and took one of Eddie's hands in his before tangling their fingers together.

"Probably so I could do something like this. If I dared."

Eddie tightened his fingers around James's hand before relaxing the grip slightly but not letting go. "You did."

"Yeah."

Another beat of silence, and then, "Was this all he thought you'd do?"

James shook his head. "No. That's not all I want to do, either. But… After?"

The next red light allowed him a quick glance, and he saw Eddie watching him, wide-eyed and hopeful.

It made James want to take a sharp turn and head home right away.

He didn't.

Eddie's answer, though, was a promise in itself.

"After, then."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Eddie wished he could grab James's hand again and take him home, close the door and not come out until they were both ready to face the world, however long that might take.

A week, at least.

But for now, they needed to be here—at the HQ, doing a short debrief after Eddie's security and medical check-ups.

What was amazing, if a bit overwhelming, was the outpour of people who stopped by to tell him they were glad he was back safely. Some, of course, were closer to him than others, but even those with whom he rarely interacted offered their well wishes.

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