Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,47

of it and that’s what he did. Every time she saw him, Kenzie remembered just how much it hurt to lose him and she couldn’t go through it.

Not again.

“Sign the papers,” she said hollowly, forcing herself to look away.

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” Kenzie snapped, wondering why he wouldn’t just let her go.

“I came to tell you something,” he said, turning his head to look at her.

“What’s that?” she asked, wondering when this nightmare would end.

“I’m done waiting.”

Chapter 22

New Year’s Eve

“We want to go to the party, Daddy,”

“We really do,” Dustin said, nodding absently as he paused to select a crayon from the large box that Charlie had given him for Christmas.

“And I really want you to get in your pajamas,” Devin said as he plucked Abbi out of her chair and hung her over his shoulder.

“Why aren’t you going to the party, Daddy?” Abbi asked, sighing heavily as she began to draw shapes on his back with her finger.

“Because I would rather spend New Year’s Eve with you,” he said, wrapping his arm around Abbi’s legs as he reached over and helped Dustin put his crayons away.

As tempted as he was to go to the party tonight, it wasn’t a choice. If he went there would be nothing on this earth that would be able to stop him from pulling Charlie into his arms and that…that was a bad idea.

Christ, just being around her was a bad idea.

Over the past week, he’d kept his distance, hoping that it would be enough to stop him from doing something that he would regret and…

He loved her.

God, did he fucking love her, but the problem was that his children loved her too and he would never do anything to hurt them. Charlie was the closest thing that they’d ever had to a mother and he wasn’t about to do anything to take that away from them.

Nothing else mattered, not the fact that he wanted her, couldn’t fucking stop thinking about her, or that the idea of never being able to show her how much she meant to him was tearing him apart because his children came first.

“We’d rather go to the party,” Abbi said with a forlorn sigh, bringing him back to reality.

“You’re brutal,” Devin said, chuckling as he took Dustin’s hand in his.

“What do you think?” came the question that drew his attention to the woman that he had to remind himself was off limits at least a hundred times a day.

“You’re pretty,” Dustin said, making the woman that was so much more than pretty smile as Devin slowly ran his eyes over her, taking in the way that her blue eyes sparkled, the soft pink of her lips, the way that her curly hair teased her bare shoulders, her toenails painted white, and the soft white dress that took his breath away.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he found himself saying, unable to take his eyes off her.

She opened her mouth to say something only to frown when Abbi said, “I thought you were mad at Charlie, Daddy.”

“Why would you think I’m mad at Charlie, baby girl?” Devin asked, frowning as he pulled Abbi off his shoulder and placed her on the table even as he couldn’t help but wonder if they’d noticed that he’d been avoiding Charlie over the past week.

“Because you’re always yelling her name, Daddy,” Dustin said, shrugging it off as Devin shared a confused look with the woman in question.

“What are you talking about, sweetie?” Charlie asked as she absently reached over and ran her fingers through Dustin’s messy hair.

“He growls you name,” Abbi said, nodding.

“A lot,” Dustin added with a matching nod.

“When?” Devin asked, wondering what they were talking about since he’d never raised his voice around his children only to feel his stomach drop seconds later.

“When you’re in the shower, Daddy. You yell Charlie’s name,” Dustin said with a shrug.

Oh, god…

“He sounds mad.”

“He really does.”

“He does it almost every night,” Abbi said as Devin stood there as a burning sensation crawled up his neck and he found Charlie staring at him and-

“He’s been doing it for a long time,” Dustin said as he selected another crayon.

“For a very loooooooong time,” Abbi said, only to open her mouth to say something else when Charlie reached over and placed her hand over his baby’s girls mouth with a, “Why don’t you guys show me what movie you picked out for tonight?” and a forced smile that had his stomach turning.

“That’s a good idea,” Devin murmured weakly, clearing his throat