“Lunch. You said you were hungry.”
“I can wait.”
Monk closed the refrigerator door and led her into the master bedroom.
Saylor watched him undress, like she always did. He unbuttoned his white dress shirt, revealing so much that she didn’t know where to look first.
“Is this new?” she asked, running her fingertip over the black beads intricately wound with leather.
“It is.”
“For Onyx?”
Monk nodded.
As he eased the shirt off his arms and shoulders, Saylor unfastened the heavy copper buckle on his jeans.
He grasped her small wrist in his big hand. “Wait, Saylor. We need to talk.”
“Okay,” she said, backing up to sit on the end of the bed.
He knelt in front of her, taking each of her hands in his, turning them over, and kissing her palms. “There are some things I need to say to you, Saylor.” He looked into her eyes. “I need you to let me finish. Even if you think you don’t want to hear it, you have to promise to let me finish.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded.
“First, I’m sorry. I should’ve called you, and I have no excuse for not doing so. I’ll tell you this, though, I think about you every day. As I sit in that hospital and watch machines keep a very dear friend of mine alive, I think about you. This might surprise you, as it did me, but I spend most of my day talking to Onyx.”
“Out loud?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes, out loud.” Monk leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. “I tell him stories about you and me and the girls, and some
times I just talk to him about how I feel about you. Most importantly, though, is that no matter where I am or what I’m doing, you’re there with me. When I sit in a restaurant alone, I close my eyes and imagine you’re sitting across from me. When I leave the hospital at night, I get off the elevator and imagine what it would be like to find you there, waiting for me.”
“Like tonight,” she murmured.
“I was sure I was dreaming.” He put his hands on the bottom of her sweater and pulled it over her head. He tossed it on the floor and then reached around to unfasten her bra. He slowly slid it off her arms and took a deep breath when her breasts were exposed.
“I dream of having my mouth on you,” he said before his lips encased her nipple. “God, I want you.” He rested his head on her lap. “But I have so much more to say.”
She wove her fingers in his hair that had gotten so long.
He sat back on his haunches and looked into her eyes. “Your brother gave me a message.”
Saylor opened her mouth to speak, but he reached up and put his fingertips on her mouth. She lowered her gaze.
“Look into my eyes, Saylor.”
She couldn’t bring herself to do as he asked. Was she ready for this?
“Look at me.”
She couldn’t stop herself when he used the demanding tone of voice.
“I love you.”
She closed her eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and then opened them. “I love you, Monk.”
They both ignored the sound of a ringing cell phone that came from the other room, until the tone changed.