Page 24 of Loving Kai

She was quiet for a moment. “Okay.”

“You need romance. Quiet dinners. Movies. Flowers.”

“Well, I guess.” She nodded. “You’re right. As naïve as it may sound, I do want those things.”

“I, on the other hand…I don’t think I could give that to you.”

“You have made it quite clear that you aren’t a relationship guy.”

He rubbed her arm. “It’s not naïve to hope for the ideal. You’ll find it.” He grinned. “Not in Larry the laundromat guy, though. And not in me, I’m afraid.”

She nudged him. “I’ll work on my screening process.”

“Please do.”

“So, where does that leave us?”

“That leaves us being mature adults and putting last night behind us.”

“Forget about it?”

He touched her face. “That’s not going to happen. As I said, it was pretty damn good.”

“Keep it to ourselves?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. So, business as usual?”

“Ideally, yes. Realistically, that might not be so easy.”

“But the Vegas thing applies.”

“Vegas thing?”

“What happens in Vegas…”

“Oh, right. Yes. Absolutely.”

“I just need one more of these.” She leaned toward him and kissed him, then she sat up and wrapped the blanket around herself.

He put a hand on her back. “Maggie.”

“Yeah?”

“I wish I could be that guy for you.”

She stood. “So do I.” She headed for the bathroom. “I’m going to go clean up a little and get dressed.”

Abe reached for his phone. “I’ll call Gentry and see what the plan for today is.”

Maggie went into the bathroom, which was fairly well lit by the gray light filtering in through the window above the shower. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and whispered, “You slept with Abe freaking Buchanan.” She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from squealing. Crazy. Unexpected. Inappropriate. Wonderful. She blew out a breath. So, so wonderful. She pointed at her reflection. “Do not fall in love with him.” She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face, ignoring the little voice in her head telling her she already had.

Chapter six

“You do good work, bossman.”

When Abe and Maggie arrived at Rocco’s, Luke was already there, setting up. The restaurant had a generator that kept the walk-in and the freezer running. It also powered half the lights in the kitchen. With the propane stove and the wood-burning pizza oven, they were able to offer their full menu.