Page 67 of Loving Kai

She had a grocery bag in her hand, and she stepped in and said, “Oh my.”

“You’ve been here before.”

“No. I haven’t. But I’ve heard about it.”

“It’s just a house.”

She shook her head. “No. This is a guy’s house.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“Where do we start?”

“Let’s start in the kitchen.”

Abe headed for the kitchen with Lucia right behind him. His phone was sitting on the counter, still connected to the charger. “Right where I left it.” He unplugged it and stuck it in his pocket.

Lucia set the bag on the counter. “First thing, let’s put locks on all the cupboards.”

“Locks?”

“Yes. You’ve been in Gentry’s kitchen, right?”

“Yes. But I didn’t rifle through his cupboards.”

“Well, we don’t want Kai rifling through yours.” She pulled out a plastic cupboard lock. “That’s what the locks are for.” She took a moment to show him how they worked and where to place them.

“Okay. I can work a screwdriver. I’ve got this.”

“While you do that, I’ll go look around and see what else needs to be done. Is that okay?”

“Sure. I’ve got no secrets.” She raised an eyebrow, and he smiled. “Other than a two-year-old. But in all fairness, he was a secret kept from me, too.”

She motioned toward the cupboards. “Get screwing. Or…you know what I mean.”

Abe laughed as she left the room.

When he finished in the kitchen, he found Lucia in the living room, standing next to his exercise bike with her hands on her hips. She glanced at him as he came up beside her. “What are we going to do about this?”

“My Peloton? Nothing. It’s not like he can take off on it.”

“Maybe just keep it unplugged when you’re not using it.”

“I can do that.”

“I put covers over all of your outlets. If any of the things on the lower shelf of your bookshelf is important to you, you should move it higher.”

“Is he going to read my books?”

“Toddlers love to look through books. So, if any of those magazines are…inappropriate, you might move those.”

He smiled at her. “You think I have inappropriate magazines lying around?”

She shrugged, then blushed. “You never know. You’re a single guy.” She shoved him. “Stop.”

“Those are motorcycle and car magazines that Kai is welcome to look through.”