Page 59 of Watch Over Me

Eddie grinned brightly, standing up to kiss him. "Hello, you."

"Hey." James circled his arms around Eddie's waist. "Are you up for a coffee break?"

"I don't see any coffee in your hand," Eddie teased, basking in James's smile and not caring one bit how cheesy it was.

"Oh, well. I have it on good authority that you have the good stuff in here, and I thought you might share, in exchange for a croissant."

"Cherry and cream?"

"As if I'd dare choose something else."

Eddie stole another kiss before pulling back. "You have yourself a deal, then."

Waving James towards his usual chair, Eddie busied himself with making coffee, sending glances James's way every couple of seconds.

It hit him once again how much had stayed the same between them. He wouldn't be able to tell how many times they'd hung out here, talking and teasing each other. Sometimes James had brought something to eat, and sometimes Eddie had made them coffee, or green tea, when the last thing they needed was more caffeine in their systems.

In some ways, they'd been dating for a long time now. They'd just never let themselves acknowledge that.

Not anymore, he thought as he ran his teeth over his lips, imagining he could chase James's taste there.

"What has you smiling like that?" James's question pulled him out of his musings, and Eddie quickly filled two mugs with coffee and brought them to his desk.

"It's too sappy to say out loud," he admitted and shook his head, pushing one mug towards James. "It is about you, though, in case you were worried."

"Terrified," James deadpanned, but soon enough, his face broke into a soft smile. "So, how's the standby going?"

Since Lavon and Albert Corner had been arrested, both teams Eddie usually covered were on standby, and so was he. Both contracts had been terminated by now, but with all the paperwork and legal matters, they were likely to get at least another week off rotation, so they all tried to stay busy in the meantime with other things.

"Kalei let me at least look at the summit stuff, so I'm checking it out," Eddie said. "You?"

"You had to catch him at the right moment, then, because he's pissed off now, after yet another dozen of calls blaming us for Senator Corner's resignation. A couple more, and I think Vic is going to storm the Hill to knock some sense into people." James bit into one of the croissants. "Ryan, Jeremy, Martinez, and I managed to sneak off to do some training earlier when the lawyers let us out from the conference room, though, so there's that."

No amount of money would convince Eddie to spend even a third of the time the field agents did in the training area, but he definitely appreciated the results. James's body was worthy of worship, and Eddie had already spent some quality time doing exactly that.

He was looking forward to doing more of it, too, as soon as possible.

If only he hadn't let his mother mess up his plans for a weekend in bed.

Shit, he'd been so stupid. He should've said no.

"Are we still on for tonight?" He nudged James's knee with his and earned himself a smile.

"I sure hope so." James pointed at him with the croissant in his hand. "You promised me tonight is curry night."

"That I did." Eddie took a sip of his coffee and wondered how to best approach the topic of the weekend. They hadn't made any plans, but—

"Hey." It was James's turn to nudge his leg, prompting Eddie to meet his careful gaze. "What is it?"

Eddie sighed and scooted down in his chair.

"I had this idea of the two of us spending an entire weekend at my place, clothes optional."

James lifted his eyebrows. "Sounds great to me. But I'm guessing it's not going to happen?"

"My mother called," Eddie grumbled. "And now I'm going to a family dinner tomorrow night."

"Ah."

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