“I have an herb garden.”
He’d known that before he asked.
“What do you need?”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Will you be okay with the girls for a few minutes?” he heard Saylor ask Ava. He didn’t catch the answer, but she stood and walked over to him. “I’ll go with you.”
Monk held the door for her, and she waited for him on the porch while he closed it.
“I live in that—”
Monk grabbed her around the waist and pushed her up against the outside wall. He brought his hand to her neck and held her in place while he captured her mouth with his. Her arms went around his neck, and she kissed him back. With their tongues tangling together, Monk leaned his body into hers. Just kissing her made him hard enough to pound nails. Feeling her breasts against his chest made his desire painful.
He ended the kiss, backed away, and took her hand, leading her off the porch. He held her hand all the way to her house.
“Can I come in?” he asked when she muttered something about being right back.
“Uh…sure.”
He followed her into the kitchen where she opened a drawer and handed him a pair of heavy-duty kitchen shears.
“I use these in the garden,” she told him.
Monk took the scissors from her hand and set them on the kitchen counter. He rested his ass against it and pulled Saylor’s body flush with his. He reached down and pulled his shirt up and then hers, not over her head, but enough that he could feel her bare skin next to his. He put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her deeper than before. He could kiss this woman for hours and still crave more.
Saylor pulled away, her skin flushed, breathing accelerated, and her pupils dilated. “We should get back.”
Monk picked up the scissors and followed her out of the house and into the garden.
“Would you mind?” he asked, pointing to the lettuce and spinach.
“Not at all.”
She went back inside while he snipped the greens, and came out with a basket made of wood and mesh. She set it on the ground near him. “I have a cucumber too, and red and yellow grape tomatoes.”
“And snap peas,” he added, pulling two from the vine and eating the first in one bite. “So sweet. Taste.” He brought the one still in his hand to her mouth. When she took it, she nipped his fingers, which made him laugh.
“I’m on security detail,” Monk told her on the walk back to Razor’s house. “I’ll be here for a while.”
Saylor had been looking out at the ocean, seeming as though she wanted to say something.
“I want your body next to mine, Saylor.”
She looked back at him, directly in the eye. “The girls,” she murmured. “Their lives…I know they don’t remember, but I need to protect them.”
“I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“We’ll talk, but some other time.” She dropped his hand and ran up the steps of Razor’s porch and into the house.
“Sorry to cut our visit short, but we have lots to do, girls. I’m sure Uncle Razor and Aunt Ava are getting hungry. We don’t want to keep them from having dinner, right?”
Monk stood in the kitchen, watching as the little girls hugged Ava and blew kisses to their uncle. He went back to the sink to wash the vegetables he’d gotten from Saylor’s garden.
“Bye, Mr. Monk,” he heard a small voice say from the doorway.
He dried his hands, walked over, and bent down. “Goodbye, Miss Savannah. I hope to see you again soon.”