Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,29
it felt to be in his arms. She liked the way that he’d held her, the way that he’d touched her, but it was the way that he looked at her that had her realizing that…
She didn’t need another complication in her life.
Not now when she was finally trying to stop making excuses and get her business going. It was going to be hard enough when it was time to tell him that she was leaving Bradford Creations, she didn’t want to make things more difficult. The problem was, she really liked him and she loved his kids. Her only hope was that she didn’t lose them when this was all over.
*-*-*-*
“Tell me again why we’re doing this,” Devin said, looking from the television where a werewolf was tearing apart another unsuspecting camper down to the small woman sitting next to him with her hands pressed over her face and-
“Tradition,” was all she said before she released what sounded like a whimper, turned towards him so that she could carefully throw her legs over his lap, and pressed her face against his arm with another whimper.
“I see,” he murmured, placing his arm over her legs as he leaned forward, careful not to dislodge the small woman that had announced that they were having a horror movie marathon when he came back home after dropping the kids off at school, and helped himself to the bowl of Halloween candy that she’d put out.
“You can’t have Halloween without a horror movie marathon,” Charlie said as she gave up trying to cover her eyes so that she could wrap her arms around his and hold on tightly as the sounds of growls filled the room.
“It’s not Halloween yet,” he pointed out around a handful of M&Ms as the high school jock being ripped apart by a pack of werewolves released a bloodcurdling scream.
“Close enough,” she mumbled against his arm.
“And you do this every year?” Devin couldn’t help but wonder.
Nodding, Charlie said, “Every year since I turned twelve.”
“And before that?”
“Grandma Bea banned me from watching anything that could give me nightmares,” she mumbled, releasing her hold on his arm so that she could blindly reach back, grab hold of the Mickey Mouse blanket that Dustin left on the couch and pulled it over her head.
“And she changed her mind when you were twelve because…”
“Because I promised that she wouldn’t find me hiding under her bed at two in the morning again if she did,” Charlie said, wrapping her arm back around his.
“And did she?” Devin asked, resting his other hand on her ankles.
“No, I kept my promise. She found me at one in the morning instead,” she mumbled against his arm, making him chuckle as he absently ran his thumb over her ankle.
“And you loved being scared so much that you decided that it was a good idea to continue the tradition?” Devin asked as he settled back against the couch with a heavy sigh as he resigned himself to spending the day watching shitty horror movies.
“Yes, I did,” Charlie said, reaching up to pull the blanket back up when it began sliding down, threatening to expose her to the horror movie that she’d picked out.
“Have you ever considered doing something else?” he asked, glancing at the woman curled up against him.
There was a heartfelt sigh and then, “I love traditions.”
“I can tell,” Devin said dryly.
*-*-*-*
“I…” Charlie began to say but she was at a loss for words.
She closed her mouth, swallowed hard and watched as Devin continued destroying her will to live as he put the final touches on his pumpkin and-
“What are you doing?” she found herself asking, glancing from the man that kept her company all day while she’d secretly worked on her company that she really needed to come up with a name for and then to the pumpkin that he’d given two round eyes, a triangle nose, and a small, “O” for a mouth.
Frowning, he gestured to the pumpkin and said, “Decorating my pumpkin.”
“But we agreed on a scary theme,” Charlie pointed out.
“And he’s scared,” Devin said, nodding as he tossed the marker on the table and sat back in his chair as he waited for the twins to finish drawing their designs on their pumpkins.
“I just feel like this is a cry for help,” Charlie murmured weakly as she once again found herself looking back at the large pumpkin with tiny eyes and-
“What the hell are you doing?” Devin asked when she stood up, careful of her foot,