Finally

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Can we build a snowman?” Abbi asked, looking hopeful.

  “Are you going to make us sing the Frozen song?” Charlie asked, unable to help but smile when she saw the devious little smile that Abbi was trying to hold back.

  “Yes, I am,” Abbi said, nodding as she tossed her book on the couch and jumped off with a sigh and a, “Bath time?”

  “Your Daddy is going to have to give you a bath tonight, sweetie. I have to get some stuff done before tomorrow,” Charlie said, sighing sadly because she looked forward to bath time every night.

  “But…” Abbi began as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she threw her father, who looked really pissed right now, a worried look. “Daddy doesn’t know how I like my bubbles.”

  “And he doesn’t give me double-kisses when he tucks me in,” Dustin mumbled sadly.

  “I know, guys, but you’re just going to have to try to get through it for tonight,” Charlie said with a sad shake of her head that she knew would annoy the man that had been trying to get her alone all day.

  She could have made it easy on him, but…

  Where would the fun in that be?

  “Do we have to?” Abbi asked, making sure to look appropriately pitiful as she glanced back at her father, but Charlie didn’t miss that devious look in her eye when she did it.

  Biting back a smile, Charlie murmured, “I’m afraid so.”

  Glare aimed at her, Devin bit out, “Bedtime,” only to narrow his eyes when the kids made sure to sigh sadly as they reluctantly made their way over to her for their goodnight kisses.

  Once they were done, they sighed heavily and slowly made their way upstairs, pouting the entire way as Devin leveled one last glare at her before following them upstairs. Deciding to get some work done while she waited, Charlie headed into her apartment as she mentally calculated how long it would take Devin to give the kids baths, get them dressed, tucked in, and read them a bedtime story before he came down here to make her pay for tormenting him all day.

  Not that she did it on purpose…

  Okay, so maybe she’d tormented him a tiny bit on purpose, but that was only because she was nervous. She’d spent most of the night driving herself crazy thinking about that kiss until she couldn’t take it anymore. She found herself heading for her apartment door, wondering if that kiss was really as good as she remembered only to find herself cooking everything that she could get her hands on around seven this morning when the reminder of why they couldn’t rush this came walking into the kitchen wearing tighty-whities and an adorable smile.

  Hoping to distract herself, Charlie walked into her office, unable to help but smile when she spotted all the drawings covering the walls that the kids had made for her, sat down at her desk, and turned on her computer only to stare at the letterhead that she’d created with the blank spot where the name of her business should go.

  She really needed to come up with something soon, Charlie thought, sighing heavily as she leaned back in her chair and slowly spun around, looking for inspiration. Without a name, she couldn’t get a domain for her website, create her Facebook page, Twitter, incorporate, or do more than half the things that she needed to…

  Dustin and Abbi, she thought as she took in all the drawings surrounding her and found herself smiling as she turned back around in her chair and started playing around with their names until she came up with Dabbi Digital Marketing and-

  “That’s perfect,” Charlie said, smiling as she sat back in her chair and stared at the name of her new business.

  Absolutely perfect, Charlie thought as she glanced at the time and realized how late it was. Deciding to call it a night, she clicked Save and turned off her computer before heading to her bathroom for a shower. A thousand ideas ran through her head as she stepped into the shower. She had to finish the incorporation paperwork, buy a domain, sign up for-

  “Cold!” she gasped when the hot water suddenly turned ice-cold and-

  “What are your plans for tomorrow night?” came the drawled words as her attention shot towards the faucet where the large tan hand was slowly turning the hot water back on.

  “I’m not really sure yet,” she admitted as she sighed with relief when the hot water hit her.

  “I see,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful from the other side of the dark curtain as she tried to remember if she’d hung her towel outside the shower or not.

  “Is there something that I can help you with?” Charlie asked, hoping to keep him distracted as she reached through the opening at the other end only to wince when her hand found the metal hook empty.

  “Go out with me tomorrow night,” he said, making her lips pull up into a smile.

  “Well, I’d have to check my calendar to see if-Cold!” she ended up gasping when the devious man turned off the hot water.

  “Are you going out with me, Charlie?” he asked, sounding bored as he slowly turned the hot water back on.

  “I mean, that’s kind of short notice and everything,” Charlie said, only to end up pressing herself back against the shower wall when that large hand slowly turned the hot water off again.

  “Go out with me,” he said, turning the hot water back on a few seconds later.

  “Shouldn’t I consider my options?” she asked only to gasp when the evil man once again turned the hot water off.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes! That’s a yes!” Charlie gasped as she backed up as far as the shower would allow her, which unfortunately for her, wasn’t very far.

  “You could have just said that,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful as the large hand slowly turned the hot water back on.

  “Well, I mean, I didn’t want you to think that I was easy or anything,” Charlie said, only to yell, “Oh, my god! Stop doing that!” seconds later.

  “Then stop driving me crazy,” Devin said, once again turning the hot water only to stop mid-turn and shut it back off when she said, “Do I really have to?”

  “Alright, I’ll stop!” she gasped, laughing when he turned the hot water back on. “Are you going to leave so I can get out?”

  There was a pause and then…

  “Well, that depends…” came the murmured response that had her eyes narrowing on the large tan hand still holding the hot water faucet.

  “On what?”

  “On whether or not you give me a kiss goodnight,” he said, making her lips twitch.

  Sighing heavily, she asked, “Do I have to?” only to yell, “Okay!” when the devious man that she’d underestimated shut off the hot water again.

  When he turned the water off a few seconds later, Charlie glared as she watched his hand disappear only to reappear a moment later with a towel.

  Taking the towel, Charlie continued to glare as she wrapped it around herself before she reached over and yanked open the shower curtain to find the incredibly handsome man that would pay for coming between her and her hot water leaning back against the sink counter looking a little too pleased for her liking.

  “You went too far, sir,” she said, stepping out of the shower.

  “Did I, though?” Devin asked as he pushed away from the counter.

  “You really did,” Charlie said, nodding as she headed for the bathroom door.

  “And what do you call tormenting me all day?” he asked, following her.

  “Using my free time effectively,” she said, grabbing a pair of panties and the Bradford Creations’ tee-shirt that she’d helped herself to.

  “Isn’t that my shirt?” he asked, reaching over to take it from her only to sigh when she pulled it back out of his reach and gestured with her other hand for him to turn around.

  “Mine now,” she said, waiting until he was turned around before she quickly dried off and pulled on her underwear and the shirt that she felt was rightfully hers now.

  “First you steal my children,” Devin said as he slowly turned around with a sad shake of his head and a heavy sigh, “then you steal my office and now you’re stealing my
shirts.”

  “I mean, can you really say that I stole them when they came willingly?” Charlie asked, unable to help but smile as she took a step back towards her apartment door.

  “True,” he murmured, looking thoughtful as he followed her.

  “And since you made it impossible for me to go back to my office, you really left me with no other choice but to try to make the best of it,” Charlie said as she reached back and opened the door.

  “Is that what you call taking over my office?” he asked softly as he reached over and grabbed hold of the front of her shirt and used the light hold to pull her closer.

  “Yes,” she said, reaching up to wrap her arms around him.

  “And my shirt?” Devin asked, releasing his hold on her shirt so that he could wrap his arms around her.

  “It looks better on me,” Charlie pointed out, nodding solemnly as she ran her hand over the back of his neck.

  “Yes, it does,” he murmured as he leaned down and brushed his lips teasingly against hers once, twice and then…

  “You have no idea how badly I want you,” he said, breaking off the kiss that had her struggling not to pull him back down for more.

  “But we need to take this slowly,” Charlie managed to get out as she forced herself to let him go.

  “Yes, we do,” Devin said as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

  “Because I need to be worshipped,” she said solemnly, feeling his lips twitch against hers.

  “Do you now?” he asked softly.

  “I really do,” Charlie said, placing her hands against his chest and gave him a gentle push.

  “I think I can handle that,” Devin said with an incredibly sexy grin as he allowed her to push him back.

  “We’ll see,” she murmured, noting the glimmer of anticipation in his eye as he said, “Yes, we will.”

  Chapter 26

  “You look handsome, Daddy,” Abbi said as she held out the navy-blue tie to him.

  “Thank you, baby girl,” Devin murmured, leaning down and kissed her forehead as she handed him a tie.

  “Very handsome,” she stressed with a firm nod that had him narrowing his eyes on her.

  “What do you want?” he asked as he pulled the tie on.

  “What makes you think I want something, Daddy,” Abbi asked, blinking innocently up at him.

  “So, you don’t want anything?” Devin asked, throwing her a questioning look as he fixed his tie.

  “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t say no to some fluffiness,” she said, shrugging it off.

  “That’s very generous of you,” Devin drawled as he grabbed his aftershave off the bathroom counter.

  “I know,” Abbi said, nodding solemnly.

  “Did Uncle Aidan get married again?” Dustin asked from where he sat on the bathroom counter, watching him curiously.

  Chuckling, Devin said, “No, Uncle Aidan didn’t get married again. I’m taking Charlie to dinner and I wanted to look nice.”

  “Oh,” Dustin murmured, worrying his bottom lip as he glanced at Devin only to sigh heavily while he carefully climbed off the counter with a mumbled, “I’ll be right back,” before he quickly made his way out of the bathroom.

  “Me, too,” Abbi said

  Chuckling, Devin double-checked his hair and couldn’t help but smile when a chime drew his attention to find a text from Charlie and-

  “Shit!” he said, sighing heavily as he glanced at his watch.

  “What’s wrong, Daddy?” Dustin asked as Devin debated calling the restaurant to move their reservation back.

  “Charlie’s stuck in traffic,” he said, glancing at his son and…felt his lips twitch as he watched his son pull on his dress trousers.

  “Is she okay?” Dustin asked, pausing mid-yank to worry his bottom lip between his teeth.

  “She’s fine. I just need to see if I can push our dinner reservations back an hour,” Devin explained as he gestured towards the clothes that Dustin had placed on the counter. “What’s all this?”

  “I’ve gotta get handsome for my lady,” Dustin said as he finished pulling his pants up and reached for the black shirt that he’d picked out for the party his family had thrown for Aidan and Melanie after they got married.

  “Ah, I see,” Devin murmured absently as he tried to figure out a way to explain this to his son. “Do you remember Jane?”

  “Yeah,” Dustin said as he struggled to button his shirt.

  “Well, she’s going to come over and watch you guys for a bit while I take Charlie out for dinner,” Devin explained as he knelt down so that he could help his son.

  “I don’t wanna stay with Jane. I wanna go have dinner with Charlie,” Dustin mumbled sadly as Devin reached for the small tie that matched his and placed it around Dustin’s neck.

  “I know you do, buddy. But I’d really like to take Charlie out to dinner alone tonight. We can have a special dinner tomorrow night. How does that sound?” Devin said, giving his son a reassuring smile as he fixed his tie and worked on helping him tuck his shirt in.

  After a slight hesitation, Dustin reluctantly nodded with a murmured, “Okay,” that had Devin sighing with relief. That is, until he looked up to find his baby girl wearing the Disney princess dress that he’d given her for Christmas along with the tiara and the pink plastic shoes that came with it.

  “I’m ready,” Abbi said with a regal nod as Devin reached past his son and swept his baby girl off her feet with a growl.

  “You’re ready, huh?” he asked, covering her face in kisses as he carried his giggling baby girl and headed for the door, deciding to go see if the sitter was here so that he could focus on making the rest of the night absolutely perfect.

  *-*-*-*

  “Maybe she forgot,” Dustin said as Devin ran his hands roughly down his face, telling himself that this wasn’t happening.

  Not now.

  Everything had been beyond fucking perfect. He’d had a sitter lined up, reservations for two at the best restaurant in town, managed to get his hands on a bouquet of white roses, had a bottle of white wine chilling in the fridge, and played with the kids all day, ensuring that they would be too exhausted to torment the babysitter tonight, and then…

  Everything went to hell.

  His sitter canceled a half hour after she was supposed to show up, which led to him trying to find a sitter at the last minute on a Friday night and begging the restaurant to push his reservation back an hour only to end up calling them back an hour later to ask them if there was any chance that he could turn that reservation for two into a reservation for four when he gave up trying to find a babysitter.

  That had led to the restaurant hanging up on him and realizing that he was going to have to come up with something else to salvage this date. It had taken twenty minutes of searching his kitchen and a quick trip to the grocery store, but he had everything that he needed to make this night memorable except for Charlie.

  Two hours ago, she’d been an hour late and now…

  Now he refused to send her one more fucking text. He had more self-respect than that, he told himself as he glanced down at his phone only to toss it on the couch with a sigh of disgust when he found himself looking to see if she texted him, again.

  “We still love you, Daddy,” Abbi said with a pitying smile that appeased him…somewhat.

  “And I really love Charlie,” Dustin said with a wistful sigh that had his eyes narrowing on the little traitor.

  “Traitor,” Devin grumbled as he once again found himself reaching for his phone, resigned to call Ben to make sure that nothing bad had happened to the woman who’d stood him up just as the woman in question came walking through her door, carrying a stack of pizza boxes.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late, guys,” Charlie said, sighing heavily as she placed the stack of Blackjacks pizza boxes on the coffee table. “For some reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to start construction on 95 during rush hour on a Friday night, which wouldn’t have been too
bad but then an eighteen-wheeler tried to pass everyone on the shoulder and ended up blocking the only open lane. I tried to call, but my charging wire stopped working.”

  “You got us Blackjack pizza?” Abbi asked in an awed whisper.

  “I did,” Charlie said, smiling warmly as she leaned over and kissed Abbi’s cheek. “And I also missed you.”

  “Did you miss me?” Dustin asked with an adorable smile.

  “Of course, I did, sweetheart,” Charlie said, barely getting a chance to open her arms before Dustin ran into them, wrapping his small arms around her so that Charlie could give him a big kiss on the cheek that had his son giggling while Devin sat there…seething.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, sending him an apologetic smile that did nothing, absolutely fucking nothing, to quell his anger as he sat there, forced to watch as she gave all the kisses that should rightfully be his to his children.

  She should be kissing him and telling him how much she missed him, Devin thought, narrowing his eyes on the heartless woman as he reached over and stole a slice of pizza, too angry to enjoy the deliciousness that was Blackjack’s pizza. For the next two hours, he was forced to sit there, watching as she snuggled with his children, watching a Disney movie that they’d probably watched a hundred times by now until it was finally bedtime and he found himself abandoned with barely a word.

  He would not forget this, Devin decided, kicking off his shoes and pulling his tie loose as he laid back on the couch with a heavy sigh, beyond fucking exhausted. It had been a long fucking day, he thought, only to open his eyes sometime later to find the inconsiderate woman that had abandoned him kneeling next to the couch.

  “I’m sorry,” Charlie said, reaching over to run her fingertips down his jaw as he pointedly looked away from her as he bit out, “You’re just using me for my children.”

  “I mean, can you really blame me? Have you seen how cute they are?” she asked, sounding amused as she leaned over and kissed his cheek, somewhat appeasing him.

  Somewhat.

  “We are no longer speaking,” Devin said, folding his arms over his chest as he continued glaring at the wall.