Page 1 of Loving Kai

Chapter one

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

Abe was closing down Rocco’s by himself because Maggie had asked to leave early. She’d been reluctant to tell him why, but he finally got it out of her that she had a date. He was wiping down the tables and stacking the chairs on them when someone knocked on the front door.

Maggie waved at him through the glass, and he went to unlock it for her. “What happened to your date?”

“I’d rather not talk about it. Do you need help closing down?”

“Um…sure. Not much left to do. You can sweep and mop.” She scowled, and he smiled. “If you sweep, I’ll mop.”

“Deal.”

“Man, I gave in too easily, didn’t I?”

“I know you like to mop.” She shook her head. “Weirdly enough.”

“That’s not…” He sighed deeply. “Just get the damn broom.”

He finished with the tables, then went to get the mop and bucket. He filled it with hot, soapy water, then rolled it out to the front of the restaurant.

Maggie was done sweeping, and she looked at him for a moment. “Have you closed the register yet?”

“No.”

“Go do that. I’ll mop.”

“Are you sure?”

She went to him and took the mop. “Go.”

By the time he finished counting the money and preparing the deposit, Maggie was done with the floor. He went to the beer cooler, took out two beers, and walked over to her.

“Are you drinking both of those?”

“Only if you won’t drink one with me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You want me to drink a beer with you?”

“Sure. Why not?” He went to a booth and sat down.

Maggie followed him, then stood for a moment.

He looked up at her. “This isn’t a trick or some sort of test. Just sit down and have a beer with me.”

She sat and picked up the beer. “You’re being weird, Abe.”

He took a drink. “What happened with your date?”

“I’m not telling you that.”

“Who was it with?”

“I'm definitely not telling you that.”

He studied the label on his bottle. “Let me try to guess.”

She smiled. “Wow. Okay. Go for it.”