Chapter 60

Oh, Monday. The weekend was over and I was back to a full schedule of meetings and trainings once again. Daniel was in my office with a list of restaurants in Denver along with the PowerPoints he'd completed today.

So, this one has great steaks," Tall, Dark, and Arrogant said as he went through his list.

"I'm a vegetarian. Can we please focus on the presentation instead of food?"

"A vegetarian?" he chuckled like I'd made a joke. "A spit-fire like you? I figured you enjoyed ripping into a big piece of…"

"Daniel. The presentation?" I cut him short. My hand hovered over my phone. Just call HR and get it over with. No, not worth the effort.

"Fine. But after that, you'll need to pick out a place."

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss restaurants in June," I assured him.

After an hour of going over charts and talking points, I was ready for a break. My phone beeped as Daniel left my office. I reached for my cell and groaned. It was a text from Jack. Great, replace one asshole with another.

I know the truth.

I shook my head at the words. Truth? Oh, God. Were my towers going to crash in on me today? What had he researched now?

What truth?

The phone rang in my hands. Dammit! I shouldn't have replied to him.

I answered the phone. "I'm at work, Jack. What do you want?"

"He's a werewolf. Don't lie to me."

"Are we back to this again? You can't honestly be…"

"Lycanthropy," he cut in. "It's all that makes sense. I've read all about it."

"That makes sense? Twilight isn't considered reference material. Lycanthropy isn't a real thing, Jack."

"Now you're just covering it up."

"No, I'm living in the real world and not your delusional one," I bitterly replied.

"There was the case of Pierre Burgot and Michael Verdum in France back in 1521. Those two men were caught eating villagers and were put to death for being werewolves. There have been accounts of men and women eating people all through history, even in the past decade. But no one believed the ones who tried to alert authorities."

"So, was Jeffrey Dahmer a werewolf, too?" I scoffed. He was a Wendigo, but Jack didn't need to know that.

"Maybe. I need to check on that one. But what matters is that your boyfriend is a monster. Has he bit you?"

"Where Monroe's mouth goes is none of your business, Jack. I'm hanging up now."

"If he bites you, you'll turn into one too!"

"Goodbye, Jack."

I hung up with another groan and shook my head as I tossed my cell on my desk. I didn't need this right now. I needed… to go to lunch. Thankfully, it was past noon. Lunch at my favorite café would lift my spirits.

As I entered, the familiar face of my lawyer lunch buddy greeted me. She was sitting at our usual table by the window.

"Renée!" she called out. I crossed the café and sat down.

"Adalind, I'm glad to see you."

She looked concerned. "Oh, why is that?"

"It's just been a rough day," I said waving it off. "How are you?"

"Good, actually," she said with a grin. "I took a half day today. This morning I made a trip to the art museum. I met up with an old boyfriend of mine."

"Oh, really? Old boyfriend?" I grinned back at her.

"We stay in touch. It's not like that," she quickly replied while keeping her composure.

Such a Libra. Her birthday was a week after my mom's. Even so, there was a slight blush to her cheeks. Being with her ex may not seem like anything, but she sure wanted it to be. The waitress came by and took my order.

"Did you get to see La Bella?"I asked. "It's still exhibiting at the museum." Well, it was again since Nick had recovered it.

"Oh, that? Yes, I saw it, but that's really not my kind of art."

"Really? I found it beautiful."

"She's… Well, like I told my old boyfriend, she's kind of fat."

"A woman of wealth showed it off by her weight."

Adalind chuckled with a sardonic smile. "She seems a bit too wealthy to me."

As the waitress brought my lunch and tea, Adalind and I moved our conversation from art to relationships. I let her know Monroe and I were still great as ever.

"So, have you heard from the bee whisperer lately?"

She chuckled as she smiled. "Actually I'm dropping by his house tomorrow night."

"Oh, really?"

Her smile widened. "I'm hoping to… push things along."

"Well, that sounds promising," I grinned as I drank my tea.

"Oh, I have a plan he won't be able to resist." Adalind's smile turned almost sinister. "I'm going to do a little baking. He won't be able to say no to my chocolate chip cookies."

Poor guy. It seemed he was getting more than he bargained for with this one.

"They say a way to man's heart is through his stomach."

"That's one way," she nodded with a smirk. "That reminds me, I'm having a get-together Thursday night with a few friends." Her face shifted into a perfect smile. "Nothing fancy, just appetizers and wine with the girls. Maybe dessert. I could bake something special. I'd love for you to meet them. Are you free?"

"Yes, I should be," I replied. I'd have to let Monroe know, but he was doing better with our days apart.

"Great! I can't wait."

She gave me her address on Northwest Everett Street and I put it into my phone. Wine and human interaction. Sounded like a wonderful evening to me.

"I've got to get back to the office," Adalind said as she stood. "They just hate it when I take time off."

I gathered my things. "Yeah, I've got a training I need to finalize."

Adalind glanced at my blouse. "That's an interesting necklace you're wearing."

"Oh, this? Just a… family heirloom," I stammered back. That was putting it mildly.

"Ah," she said with a twitch of her mouth. "Such a unique design." She shook her head quickly and her artificial smile returned. "So glad you stopped in here for lunch today."

We both paid for our meals and said our goodbyes.

"I'll see you Thursday. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"Just your appetite," she replied.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

While dining on Monroe's vegetable lasagna I went through my day. I left out the parts about Denver restaurants and exes. If Monroe had known about Jack it would've made for a sour evening. Instead I mentioned Adalind's party.

"It's on Thursday. You're fine with that, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, no problem," he rested his free hand on mine. "It's good for you, you know, to go socialize."

"Monroe I'm fine, really," I said. "And I've been going out. Natalie and I socialized over the weekend, remember?"

Monroe nodded. "Yeah, but I know you stayed in a couple of days, too."

"I just needed some alone time." I looked down at my plate.

"I understand needing to do the solo thing sometimes. But I just mean it'll be good for you to get out with some new people, human beings, you know?" His eyes widened. "Not to say that, umm, you're not human, I mean, you still are, but…"

A small sigh escaped me. "It's fine, Monroe. I'm half-human. If a Grimm is still considered human."

"Yeah, well, of course your Grimm side is human. I mean, not a typical human, but still…" He awkwardly took a forkful of lasagna into his mouth.

"This week was just overwhelming." I looked up into his brown eyes. "And not just for what I learned. Monroe, that woman wanted to kill you… wanted you dead. And I'm related to that."

"But that's not you. I mean, technically you have her genetics, of course, but her mentality? Well, that you don't have. Thank God for that." He cleared his throat. "To be honest, and I only say this as a possibility, since you're half Wesen, you may not even have the Grimm gene. You said that your grandma's parents didn't have the ability to see, so it's possible you only see what you do because of your Wesen side."

"No, I don't think this reckless force is the Wesen side."

"Well, the Waldgeists are protectors, so it could be."

I shrugged. "No real way to tell for sure. But it doesn't matter."

"Well, Thursday you go spend some time with these ladies and, you know, just put all this stuff out of your mind for a few hours."

"She said she's baking dessert," I grinned.

"I can do dessert, too," Monroe gave me a wink. "Oh, before I forget… Saturday I have a Bikram class. I've been to your yoga class twice now, so you're coming to mine for a change," Monroe said rather than asked. "My instructor wants to meet you. She thinks I'm making you up," he laughed.

"Uh, okay?" I hesitantly replied. I still wasn't too sure about Bikram.

"It's good. You'll enjoy it." He seemed satisfied with his idea, but I worked hard to keep my face smooth as I nodded.

"What time is this class?" There was no way it was going to be an afternoon kind of thing.

"Six." He smiled the words.

Yay. Early o'clock in the morning.

"Okay, we can do that," I said.

"Promise me you won't back out. I'm gonna hold you to this promise, all right?"

I nodded. "I promise."

Monroe gave me his trademark smile.

After dinner, he offered to bake up a little dessert, a là bedroom.

We stumbled up the stairs as we tried to walk and kiss simultaneously. Once we finally reached the top, Monroe pressed me up against the door to the bedroom, taking advantage of the opportunity to hold me in place. His mouth moved from my lips to my neck until I gasped out.

"I just love the noises you make," he said in a sexy tone as I managed to find the doorknob. We practically fell into the bedroom as we continued moving our hands over one another.

I stretched up and laced my arms over Monroe's neck as he kissed me again. He hooked his fingers into the belt loops of the back of my jeans and pulled me toward him. I reached down to unbutton his shirt.

He grabbed my hand on the first button. "Hang on a second."

I gave him a puzzled look. Since when did he want me to slow down?

Monroe let me go and held up a finger. "Don't move."

He crossed the bedroom and rifled through a dresser drawer. What was he looking for? He closed the drawer and turned to face me. Monroe's devilish grin spread over his face. In his hand he held a long, braided, nylon rope. It was bright red.

A/N: Adalind is making dessert? That's never good.
Red rope? Oh, Monroe... What are you thinking?

I'll leave you with this cliffhanger for now. Comment if you liked it.

STAY TUNED!