Page 56 of Watch Over Me

Pulling out his phone, he excused himself from the kitchen. Since Ryan didn't immediately follow, James hid in their office before hitting the call button.

"I'm still fine," was the first thing Eddie said. "Also, I was supposed to be the one to call you."

James sat down behind his desk and took a sip of his coffee, already smiling. "Maybe I couldn't wait to hear your voice."

That earned him a chuckle in response.

"Liar. A charming one," Eddie added, "but still a liar."

"Well, at least you think I'm charming."

"Oh, I'd say I've already proven I think very highly of you." Eddie's voice lowered a bit, making James wish he wasn't at work but back where he could properly appreciate it. "Multiple times."

"Stop that." He shook his head, even though Eddie couldn't see him. "I actually did have a reason to call."

"Oh?" The change in Eddie's tone was immediate. "What's up?"

"You know how we work with people whose job it is to be observant?"

"Yes?"

"So, some of them have already caught on that there's something going on between us, and I realized we didn't have a conversation about that," James said before taking another sip of coffee. "And I know doing it over the phone isn't the best idea, but I'm about to be cornered by Ryan, at least, and wanted to check in with you about it."

There was a beat of silence, and then, "What do you want to do?"

It sounded weird, as if Eddie tried very hard to appear neutral but couldn't quite get there.

"While I don't want to lie to Ryan, especially, I also don'tsee any reason to hide it from others," James admitted. "I mean, we have to report it to the HR, of course, but after that, if anyone asked, I'd prefer to tell them the truth." He paused, staring into his half-empty cup. "Unless you don't want that."

"I do!" Eddie said, right as James was finishing the sentence. "I prefer to tell the truth, as well. I don't want to have to pretend. And, as you said, they'll all probably catch on anyway."

James smiled again, relaxing back in his seat. "Okay. That's great."

He didn't even want to imagine how he'd feel if Eddie insisted on keeping it a secret from everybody.

"Yeah." Eddie's answering smile was evident in his voice. "I guess we should've predicted this."

"We were kind of busy," James teased, right before he saw his partner approaching. "I have to go, Ryan's coming."

"Good luck!" Eddie said and hung up, leaving James to wait for the interrogation to begin.

Ryan held back for maybe two minutes, keeping busy with logging into his computer and rearranging the files on his desk, before he turned in his chair and pinned James with a look.

"Sooo," he started, dragging out the word. "You talked to Eddie this morning, huh?"

"Yes." James took a sip of his coffee, already wishing for another cup.

"In person, perhaps?"

James sighed. "Yes."

"Mhmm." Ryan lifted his eyebrows. "Care to elaborate or should I continue to ask you yes or no questions for the next few hours to get the whole story out of you?"

"I'm pretty sure we'd have to do at least some work during those hours."

"I'd fit it in," Ryan assured him dryly. "But it would definitely be more efficient if you elaborated now."

James sat up in his chair. He wanted Ryan to know, anyway, so he might as well get it over with already.

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