Saylor didn’t give him permission, nor did she wait. She leaned forward and kissed him. When his tongue thrust into her mouth, Saylor whimpered, causing him to pull back.
“I’m sorry—”
She put her fingertips on his lips. “Don’t be. It was my fault.” When she moved away from him, he grabbed her wrist, but when her eyes met his, he let go.
“I missed you so much,” he murmured.
No, no, no! Saylor wanted to shout out at him. They couldn’t start up again only to have him leave in a few months. Her heart couldn’t take it. “Monk, I…”
“It was a mistake to walk away from you.”
She turned her back to him when she felt her eyes fill with tears. “Please don’t do this.”
“Are you saying you didn’t miss me? You don’t feel the same way I do?”
She shook her head.
“Turn around and look at me, Saylor.”
First, she looked up at the ceiling, willing her damn tears away, and then slowly turned around.
“Tell me you didn’t miss me, and I’ll walk right back out that door.”
“I can’t.”
He stepped closer. “Can’t what?”
“I can’t tell you that I didn’t miss you. I can’t tell you that it wasn’t a mistake to let you walk away, but, Monk, I can’t do this again.”
What were simple tears a moment ago, turned into full-blown sobbing. Every inch of her ached with longing for the man standing close enough to touch, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to reach out. When he did, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, she couldn’t bring herself to back away again either.
He held her tight, and it felt so good. Too good. The way her body sank into his was like they were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. She could feel his arousal, and it added to the heat that was already pooling in her core.
He captured her mouth with his. This time he was gentler, the kiss softer; he made love to her mouth with his. He nibbled her bottom lip and then rolled the ball on the tip of his tongue over the same place. The coolness of it soothed her.
“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand and leading her through the house to the garage.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To dinner, and before you ask why, I’m hungrier for you than I am for food, and if we don’t leave now, I’ll devour you.”
“I don’t want food, Monk. I only want you.”
He sighed and closed his eyes as though he was counting like she did when she was angry with her girls and needed time to think before she spoke.
“I missed more than being inside of you, Saylor. I need more from you first.”
What she should do was pull away from him, ask him to leave, tell him again that this wasn’t what she wanted, but she couldn’t. His body was a magnet, and she couldn’t resist its pull.
She tossed him the keys after opening the garage door. There was no way she could drive in her present state.
As he backed the Jeep out of the garage and drove downtown, Saylor studied him. There were a few more gray hairs mixed in with the black both on his head and in his beard. The lines on his face appeared more pronounced than when she last saw him too. What had happened; what did he go through in the last ten months that had aged him in such a way that she noticed?
He looked over at her and smiled. “I like your eyes on me.”
“I like your eyes on me too.”
He reached over, took her hand, and brought it to his lips, making her wish they were still steps away from her bedroom rather than about to turn into a restaurant’s parking lot.