Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,42

he tied a ribbon around the teddy bear that Abbi was going to love.

“Umm, because it’s your party?” the little control freak said as she reached over and fixed the bow.

“It’s Bradford Creation’s party,” Devin corrected her as he grabbed the book set and the writing tablet that she’d picked out for Dustin.

“Which you own,” Charlie pointed out as she handed him the red wrapping paper with a smiling Santa Claus that Dustin was going to love.

“The party’s for the employees,” he said, tempted for the first time since he’d started doing this four years ago to go, but…

He wasn’t a fucking masochist.

If he went to the party nothing on earth was going to be able to stop him from pulling her into his arms and dancing with her and that was the problem because he knew that he would never be able to let her go. He also wasn’t sure how he’d handle being forced to watch as some other asshole pulled her into his arms. He’d rather stay home eating ice cream with the twins and watch another Disney movie marathon than to see that.

When Bradford Creations started taking off, he wanted to do something special for everyone that made that possible so he asked T.J.’s father if they could use his restaurant for a New Year’s Eve party. He’d handed the reins over to T.J.’s mother, asked T.J. to make sure that it didn’t get out of hand, spent the night with the twins, and pretended that he wasn’t thinking about the woman that had spent the last two days baking every Christmas themed dessert known to man.

“And you have a hot date that doesn’t want to mingle with the peasants?” Charlie asked, blinking at him.

“I don’t date, smartass,” Devin said dryly as he reached over and grabbed the tape.

“Why is that exactly?” Charlie asked, grabbing a sugar cookie off the plate and took a bite, looking thoughtful as she waited for an answer.

“I just don’t,” Devin said evenly as he reached over and plucked the cookie out of her hand and finished it off in one bite.

Nodding, she said, “That’s an interesting answer.”

“Why don’t you date?” he countered back.

“Who says I don’t?” Charlie asked, grabbing another cookie only to sigh heavily when he stole it.

“You haven’t been out on a date since you moved here,” he pointed out.

“Because it wouldn’t be right to all the men that are pining away for me,” Charlie said with a sad shake of her head and a helpless shrug that had him narrowing his eyes on her.

“You really are a brat, aren’t you?” Devin asked, wondering if she had any fucking idea what she did to him.

“I really am,” Charlie said, nodding solemnly as she dusted off her hands and got to her knees so that she could reach beneath her bed and pull out a box wrapped in silver paper with a large white bow on top.

“Here,” she said with a satisfied sigh as she handed the gift to him.

“What’s this?” he asked as he took the surprisingly heavy gift from her.

“Your Christmas Eve gift,” she said, only to add, “Tradition,” as she gestured for him to get on with it and open the gift.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the kids?” he asked, biting back a smile when she reached over and snatched the gift back from him with a mumbled, “You’re taking too long,” as she climbed onto his lap and sat back against him with a sigh.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re impatient?” Devin asked, wrapping an arm around her while he watched as she carefully opened his present.

“Someone might have mentioned it at some point,” she murmured absently as he watched her reveal a white box, raised the cover, and-

“Where did you get this?” Devin asked as he found himself reaching into the box so that he could run his fingertips over his great-grandfather Noah’s mark carved into the antique picture frame as he took in the picture of him holding Dustin and Abbi only hours after they were born.

“There’s more,” Charlie said as she carefully picked up the framed picture and handed it to him so that he could set it aside as his attention went to the matching frame with a picture of the twins taking their first steps.

She picked that frame up and handed it to him to reveal a picture that he’d never seen before. “When did you take this?” Devin asked, tracing his great-grandfather’s mark as he took in the picture