Chapter 14
As disappointed as Maggie was that Luke had refused her invitation, part of her was also excited that he was clearly interested in more than sex.
Even though part of his appeal had been that he was leaving.
But she shoved that thought back into its box when his mouth met hers.
His lips were as soft as she remembered, and just like her cheek had, her lips caught fire.
He explored softly at first, but when she sighed and kissed him back, he pulled her even tighter to him and drank deeply.
Maggie opened her mouth on a moan and his tongue slipped in to dance with her own.
She had no idea how long they stood under the yellow porch light with the silent street behind them, wrapped in each other. Eventually, Luke came up for air, but he chuckled as she chased his mouth. He let her catch him, and she didn’t want to let go.
When they finally broke apart gasping, Maggie’s hands were clutching his coat for dear life. Her knees were jelly; she needed him to hold her upright.
“I should go while I still have the willpower.”
Dazed, Maggie pouted. “If you’re sure.”
He nodded, and helped her steady herself. “I’ll wait till you’re inside.”
“Good night, Luke.” Her hand trembled as she turned the key to the Haven, opening the door.
“Good night, Maggie.” Luke stayed on the porch until she turned the lock, then he waved and headed back to his car. Maggie watched through the sidelight as he backed out of the driveway. She waved as he drove down the street, then turned and leaned her back against the door.
Holy shit. She was in trouble. Because a temporary thing with him would never be enough.
Monday morning came and Maggie was still riding high from her date with Luke. They’d texted back and forth, but she’d spent the day before hanging out with Grace above the bakery, watching chick flicks, and discussing ideas for the Too Sweet social media account.
When she came downstairs for breakfast, Virginia had another delivery for her.
“Maggie, look what came this morning!” She squealed and gestured at the spray of flowers next to her. Not roses this time, but orchids and lilies. Large white petals opened to the light, clearly a fresh bouquet.
“Was there a note?”
Virginia shook her head. “Just a card with your name, like before.” She wagged her eyebrows at Maggie. “Could they be from Luke?”
Maggie furrowed her brow. “I don’t think so.” Why would he send her flowers when she’d just been on a date with him? He’d have had to order them yesterday before the shop closed, and that made no sense. “Throw the card away and keep them for yourself. I’m too old to play guessing games.”
Virginia huffed through her nose and put her hands on her hips. “We can’t all have multiple suitors, you know.”
“Well, I’m only interested in one, and he doesn’t play games.” She felt confident in saying that. If Luke was going to get her flowers, she felt certain he’d deliver them himself. Jess had mentioned in a text the other day that her hours at work had been cut, so it definitely wasn’t her.
Kirk, on the other hand, needed to take a hint.
Luke threw another load of dark clothing into the washing machine. Had he gone through this much laundry when he was Aaron’s age? For a kid that didn’t do much, he sure wore enough.
He hefted the full laundry basket up on his hip and headed to the living room, where Mom sat on the couch. “Here you go, Mom.”
“Thanks, Luke. I hate feeling useless.”
“You’re not useless. You’re healing.” At least folding laundry was something she could do sitting down. Before Mom could argue with him, the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“Oh! Go open it.” Mom smirked.
He narrowed his eyes at her, but did as she said. When he pulled open the front door, Maggie stood on the front porch.
“Maggie! I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I came to help.”
“Help?”
“I asked your mom if she needed anything and she said you were trying to clean the whole house by yourself. So, I’m here to help.”
“Let her in, Luke!”
That troublemaker. Luke opened the door wide with a grin on his face. “Come on in.” He slid her coat off her shoulders and hung it on the hook with his. She caught him staring down at her, and her smile lit up her face as she laughed.
“Put me to work.”
He didn’t want her to work. He wanted to work on her.
But with Mom in the living room, Luke couldn’t say anything.
He did however, let the heat he was feeling show on the surface, and was rewarded with a deep blush on Maggie’s face and ears.
“Why don’t you get started in the kitchen?
I’m going to raid the beast’s lair for dirty dishes. ”
“The beast’s lair?” Her green eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Yes. The teenager only exits his lair for food but rarely brings the dirty dishes back out with him. So, someone has to brave the beast and go in and get them.”
Maggie covered her mouth, holding back her laughter. “Okay, then. Where’s the kitchen?”
“It’s through here!” Mom called from her place on the couch.
Maggie waved and greeted her. “Deb! How are you?”
Satisfied that Mom could show Maggie where to go, Luke ascended the stairs and headed to Aaron’s door.
Things had been strained since their confrontation.
Aaron had barely looked at him at mealtimes, which had been the only time he’d come out of his room.
The rest of the time he spent either sleeping or playing video games.
And then at night, he still snuck out, though Luke hadn’t bothered following him again.
There’d been no point now that the evidence was turned over to the sheriff.
But he hadn’t said anything to his mom… Luke shoved the guilt down as he approached Aaron’s room. Mom had enough to deal with.
He knocked three times. “What?”
“Do you have any dirty dishes in there?”
Aaron mumbled something. Luke tried to turn the doorknob, but it had been locked. “We’re missing most of the bowls and neither Mom nor I leave dishes in our rooms.”
Grumbling came from the other side of the door, then the turn of a knob, and a rumpled Aaron opened the door.
“A wild Aaron appears!” Luke tried a joke to break the tension between them.
His brother glared at him. “I was in the middle of something.”
“So am I. It’s called cleaning.” He looked around the disaster that was Aaron’s room. “You should try it sometime.”
If looks could kill, Luke would be worried. “I’ll bring them down. You’re not coming in here.”
“Fine. But put a clean shirt on.” He pointed at some yellow stain of unknown origin on Aaron’s chest. Honestly, it was probably mustard. “We have company.”
“Company?”
“Maggie came over to help clean. And she’s doing the kitchen so be nice when you bring the dishes down.”
“Ugh, fine.” Aaron slammed the door again.
Luke snickered and teased him some more. “Luke used Logic! It’s super-effective!”
“No one plays that baby game anymore!”
Laughing all the way downstairs, Luke started with the powder room on the first floor.
He heard the stomping of a thousand elephants as Aaron left his room, the clatter of a dozen spoons chiming in with every step. When he was done scrubbing, he gathered his cleaning supplies in a bucket and headed for the upstairs bathroom, passing the kitchen on his way.
Maggie and Aaron were locked in conversation as Aaron showed Maggie where the clean dishes lived.
Luke bit his fist to keep from laughing.
His baby brother was leaning in too close to Maggie, who was just an inch shorter than Aaron, his fingers brushing her arm as he helped put the dishes away.
If it had been an older adult doing this, Luke would have told them to back off, but Maggie was oblivious and Aaron had no idea why.
It was fucking hilarious watching him flirt.
“And did you see the part when they went to Fushiguru’s old school?”
Maggie was shaking her head. “No, I haven’t gotten that far yet. Honestly it made me nostalgic for Bleach so I ended up going back and rewatching that.”
Aaron made a face. “Jujutsu Kaisen is way better than Bleach.”
She caught Luke watching and winked. “Kids these days. They don’t know good anime anymore.”
He tilted his head in confusion as Aaron lost his mind. He’d never been big on anime.
“Wait! How old are you?” His little brother sputtered.
“Old enough to say it’s rude to ask a lady her age.”
“Oh. Uh…”
Luke slapped a hand over his mouth to keep the laughs at bay. “Are you macking on my girl?”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “No one says macking anymore, old man.”
Maggie patted Aaron’s shoulder. “I’m thirty-three, Aaron.”
His little brother’s face turned beet red, and he fled from the room. Maggie pressed her lips together in silent laughter until Aaron was safely upstairs. Then the giggles erupted as she wrapped her arms around her middle and shook.
Luke couldn’t hold it anymore either, and they leaned against each other as they fell apart. Mom even wheeled into the kitchen to see what was going on.
“What’s so funny?”
Maggie wiped the tears from her eyes. “Aaron thought I was his age.”
“So?”
“He was flirting with her.” That made them laugh harder, and Mom chuckled, too.
“Well, I can’t blame the boy for his taste.” Deb shook her head and backed out of the room.
“Me neither,” Luke winked at her.
“Sometimes I hate being short.” Maggie took deep breaths with her hand over her heart. “At least I don’t get carded anymore.”
“This is my fault,” Luke told her. “I didn’t say anything to him about our date Saturday night.” He leaned against the counter and caught his breath, then turned to help her finish putting the clean dishes away.
“You don’t talk to him?”
Luke shrugged. “I barely see the kid. He’s up all night and sleeps most of the day.”
“Maybe you should spend more time with him. You could watch Jujutsu Kaisen with him.”
Luke considered that while she loaded the dishwasher and he showed her where they kept the detergent tabs. That wasn’t a bad idea. Although getting Aaron to do anything after what was probably a humiliating experience would be difficult.
They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house top to bottom. Maggie wielded the vacuum with expert precision. Mom remarked the house hadn’t been this clean since her in-laws came around. Maggie had blushed and brushed the praise off.
Mom ordered pizza for dinner from Tony’s and Aaron reappeared. No one mentioned the embarrassing incident. After dinner, Maggie helped Deb upstairs, and now just the two brothers sat together in the living room.
Aaron broke the silence. “Did we get the bill for Mom’s doctor yet?”
Luke shook his head. “If we did, I haven’t seen it. It usually takes a month or so for that to get processed.”
His brother drummed his fingers against the arm of the couch. “I can help.”
“We need help at the diner, Aaron. Not what you’re doing.” He hadn’t heard from Gabe yet whether the sheriff would be willing to act on the evidence he’d provided, so he wanted to keep it quiet.
Aaron scowled at him. “I make more than the diner.”
“But the diner is Mom’s livelihood. If it goes under, how will she support herself when she’s healed?” Or once Luke was back to his normal life, was the unspoken question.
“I can’t cook.” Aaron spat out.
“I’m not asking you to. You could be a server.”
Aaron gripped his hair, then shook his head back and forth. “I have to … I can’t… I won’t do it.”
Luke threw his hands up in the air. “Fine.” Propping his elbow up on the arm of the couch, he leaned his head down to rub at the ache starting at his temple. He’d figure something out.
Maggie came back downstairs and sat between them on the couch. “What’s going on?”
Luke sighed. “Just trying to figure out how to make the diner successful enough to pay for more help and Mom’s medical bills.”
“Who does your social media?”
“Mom doesn’t have social media for The Busy Bee.” Aaron answered her question.
“How about I do that? We can bring in more customers and then she can hire more help.” Maggie turned to Aaron. “Surely some of your classmates would be interested in earning some money.”
Aaron snorted. “I’m out of high school.”
“I see.” Maggie tapped her plump pink lip with the pad of her finger, and Luke wished they were alone.
“Well, I can still help. If your mom agrees.” She pulled out her phone and did a quick search.
“We can start with social media pages, then we should get a website going. If we can draw in more business from the surrounding area, that will help.”
Luke felt another weight drop from his shoulders. He wasn’t in this alone. That realization made him wrap his arm around her, bringing her head to his lips for a quick kiss. “You’re a genius, Mags.”
“I’ll make some mock-up posts; you convince her to let me do this.”
“She’ll want to pay you.”
Maggie shrugged. “With everything you guys have going on, I’m not taking her money. I have other paying clients, and I can afford to help until we know what’s going on with her health-wise.”
“How about I cover your rates for now, and we tell Mom it’s a gift from me?”
Maggie sat up straight, pulling away from his arm. “I don’t know how I feel about taking your money.”
“Mom and Dad always taught me the workman is worth his — or her — hire. Please?”
She chewed on her lip, but she agreed. “I’ll bring my laptop over tomorrow. Now—” she turned to his brother. “—how about we show your brother what he’s missing with Jujutsu Kaisen?”
Aaron shrugged. “Sure.” He brought up his Crunchyroll account on the television and they settled in to watch.
With Maggie under his arm, Luke would watch just about anything, but he found he enjoyed the anime about the high schooler fighting cursed spirits.
Maybe if the diner started bringing in more business, Aaron would see that he could make money legally.