Page 45 of Challenging Luke

"I'm sorry, I missed that. What did you say?"

Ryker gave her a knowing smile. "Luke told me to give you these. He said you can keep them. I'll walk you to the door and then get out of your hair."

They were a set of keys to Luke's apartment. Somehow the thought of having them sent her heart into overdrive.

It's just because you're staying here for a bit. It's easier.

Monica did her best to try to convince herself that having keys to Luke's place was nothing more than a convenience, but her heart wasn't having it. Somehow this felt like something more.

"Thank you." She gingerly took the keys and stepped out of the vehicle. The walk to Luke's door felt different today than it had last night. This time, she would be in his space by herself.

"Good night, Monica."

Ryker waited until she was inside before he turned to leave.

Monica dropped her bag on a bench in the entryway. As she walked through Luke's apartment, she did so with a fresh set of eyes. The place was nothing like she expected. Luke had mentioned a recent move to the area, so her first guess would've been a bachelor pad with barely any furniture. Maybe a recliner, TV, and the basics. Instead, the place was stunning and homey. Every accent was masculine, so it was easy enough to assume a woman hadn't decorated it, but based on how busy Luke was, she didn't know when he had found the time.

She moved straight to the bedroom and stripped out of her dress and heels. This was the best part of her day. When she could shed the CEO look and crawl into something more comfortable. Unfortunately, when she purchased clothes that morning, comfy wasn't on the agenda.

As Monica stood there in Luke's bedroom, she realized she only had two options. Put her dress back on and wait for Luke to get home so they could go shopping once again. Or she could snoop through his drawers until she found something more suitable to wear.

After looking at the bed with longing, she decided the second option was the only one she cared about. Grabbing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from the drawers, she shrugged them on.

Luke's bed was calling her name. She was so damn tired after the last few days, a little nap wouldn't hurt. Ryker never said what time Luke would be home.

Decision made, Monica slid into the cozy sheets and settled on a pillow that spelled distinctly like Luke. This was probably his side of the bed, but she didn't care. Now that her head had hit the pillow, there was nothing that could get her to move.

Within moments, sleep dragged her under and that's exactly how Luke found her a couple of hours later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Nothing about his day had gone according to plan. After he had left Monica's office, he figured he would put a few hours of work in and then be back to pick her up. Not only had that not happened, but he had been forced to meet with the chief of police. The federal agent who had hired them initially to look into Alexander Fletcher was back. As it turned out, they too were keeping an eye on Monica.

After the recent attacks, the federal agent was advised to loop in the local police department which led to him and Nash being called in to review what they knew.

Neither the police chief nor the agent was happy to hear they had nothing.

Luke waited until he was on his way home before he called Caden.

"How did the meeting go?"

His friend wasn't one for pleasantries.

"As expected. They want us to do all the work and turn it over to them."

That was literally their job description, but this time it bothered him. Mostly because Monica wasn't just some job to him. She was the woman he cared about. The woman who was at his home, waiting for him.

"Were they upset when they realized we didn't have any more information than they did?"

Luke thought back to the meeting he had just left. "I'm pretty sure the FBI knows more than they’re telling us."

"Shocker," Caden huffed. "I spoke with Tex. He overnighted that tracker. It’ll be here tomorrow. He also said he might have a lead on Fletcher, but he can't be sure. He asked that we give him a couple of days to check things out and then he would reach back out to me."

"I'll take anything we can get at this point."

He didn't know who this Tex person, was but if Caden trusted him, then he would trust him as well.

"I'll have more for you tomorrow." With that, Caden hung up.