Chapter 7: A Perfect Match

She kissed him. She kissed him, in his sterile, cleaner than a hospital apartment. She kissed him with Benjy, who was probably spying on them, right in the next room. She kissed him and, Lord, she didn't want to stop.

The minute her lips touched his, all doubts about what she was doing faded and disappeared. It felt so right, and she knew now that even if he couldn't tell her how he felt, he could sure as hell show her – if his OCD didn't kick in, that was.

Sharona's eyes popped open at that thought, and she quickly broke away from Monk, leaving him with eyes closed and mouth in a pucker. He looked vulnerable and oh so cute, Sharona thought.

He slowly opened his eyes, relaxed his mouth, and looked at her. Her lips were slightly swollen from the force of the kiss, and all he wanted to do was touch them. No, that's not right. He didn't want to touch her lips. He wanted to kiss them. He wanted to kiss her lips and her nose and her cheeks and every other part of her body.

The whole time the two were lost in their thoughts, they were staring at each other longingly. This sudden pull, the energy that was making them breathe heavily and feel what they had just come to realize…nothing like that had ever existed for the two of them. She was forgetting that she was supposed to be watching after him, and he was forgetting that he wasn't supposed to want to be kissing her.

He reached up and pushed a stray curl behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her cheek. He had never realized how soft her skin was before. He had never really touched her face before, but now all he wanted to do was touch her.

Sharona finally broke the silence. "Adrian…" she started, and while that's all she said, Monk knew right then that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He would make it up to Trudy by protecting Sharona.

"Sharona," he said, "what does this mean?"

"It means you're moving on," Sharona answered. "It means…it means I can be your prom queen. You'll be the most popular boy in my high school, and all I want is for you to be the prom king." Her voice was down to a whisper. "Can you do that for me, Adrian? Will you save the last dance for me?"

"I'll only dance with you," he said softly. He had never shared his feelings like this before, by using metaphors to express what he was feeling. But Sharona knew what he meant…she was the only one that could read him like that. She hadn't even needed him to say anything to know that all he wanted was to be with her. That was how close they were.

But then there was Benjy to think of. What would he think of the two of them together? Monk had never really considered the ramifications it would have on the boy.

"Benjy," he whispered hoarsely to Sharona.

The look of lust on her face disappeared as she asked, "What?"

"Does he – what does he think – have you said anything?" Monk stumbled for the words he needed.

"Benjy's had ideas in his head for a long time, Adrian," she assured him. "Since he sees you more than he sees Trevor, I think he sees you as a surrogate dad."

"So, he's not going to rebel and shave his head or get a tattoo or something?" he asked her nervously. Any hint of lust had vacated for the time being, at least until they were finished discussing Benjy.

Sharona smiled. "No. I think he'll be rather happy, actually."

"Did you kiss him, Mom?" Benjy was suddenly in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.

"Benjamin," Sharona chastised through clenched teeth. She dragged him into the living room and asked, "Were you spying on us?"

"No," he answered slowly, obviously lying. "If I would've been watching, I wouldn't have asked."

"You know what I've told you about spying on people," she related, a little angry with him.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he apologized. "I just wanted to see if you did the right thing. I mean, you don't have to worry about Mr. Monk turning out to be some weirdo. You already know how weird he is, but you accept him. And I know he cares about you, Mom. He may not show it very much, but he takes care of you just as much as you take care of him. You're a perfect match!" Benjy beamed, very proud of himself.

Sharona couldn't help but smirk at Benjy's logic. Monk may have made her crazy at times, but her life just wouldn't be the same without him, and she could use the excitement of having a detective – even a slightly neurotic one – in her life.

"You know what, Benjy?" she asked him, and he looked up at her hopefully. "You may just be right." They shared a wide grin and returned to join Monk in the kitchen.

THE END