Monk (K19 Security Solutions 7)

He came around to help her out of the Jeep. Even though she didn’t need it, she liked the gentlemanly side of him.

“Just one more,” he whispered, bringing his lips to hers. The kiss wasn’t chaste by any means, but it wasn’t as heated as the earlier one they’d shared either.

“TELL me what you’ve been doing,” he said once they were seated at a table. “Razor said you’ve been busy.”

“The usual. The girls keep me busy.”

“There’s more, though.”

“What did Razor tell you?”

Monk smiled. “Only that you weren’t seeing anyone that he knew of.”

“You asked?”

“I did.”

“What about you, Monk? Have you been seeing anyone?”

He reached across the table and took her hand. “You know the answer to that.”

“But why? Why haven’t you been seeing anyone? And why haven’t I? We agreed to end this, and look at us. The minute you’re back in town, we can’t keep our hands off each other.” She shook her head. “Why can’t I resist you, Monk?”

“The same reason I can’t resist you. I dreamed of you every night and in my daydreams too. It didn’t diminish, Saylor. My longing for you only intensified.”

“We’re crazy.” She took her hand back and opened the menu. “I suppose part of our being civilized requires we share a meal, although no matter how much I eat, I’ll still remain as hungry as I am now.” She said all of that without looking at him. When she was finally able to meet his gaze, he looked as though he was on fire with want for her, just like she was for him.

“Nothing will change, Monk. You’ll still leave again, and my heart will shatter. Not just mine, my girls’ too. I was cleaning their room the other day and found a calendar that Savannah had hidden under her bed. She’s marked every day you’ve been gone with a big red X.”

“If I leave, your heart will shatter?”

Saylor’s cheeks flushed. She had said that out loud, hadn’t she? She tried to study the menu, but everything was a blur.

Monk got up from the table, came around, and sat in the chair next to hers. “My heart will shatter if I leave again too.”

“But you have to leave. Yachats isn’t your base. There are missions or ops or whatever you call them, and when they’re over, you have to go home.” Saylor shook her head. “I don’t even know where your home is Monk.”

“If I agreed to make Yachats my home, then I would return after each one, just like your brother does.”

“Are you saying that’s what you want to do?”

“I see no other option.”

“Does this mean we’re going to be in a relationship, Monk? We both said we weren’t looking for one.”

“Sometimes things appear whether you’re looking for them or not.”

“I don’t know.”

“As I said, I see no other option.”

“You make it sound so…business-like.”

“This isn’t like you, Saylor,” he said, stroking her cheek with his finger. She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It’s been…rough.”

“For me too.” He put his finger under her chin and brought his lips to hers.