Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,5
was very active on social media, keeping all two-hundred and fifty thousand followers engaged, and…
He needed to stop thinking about her, Devin reminded himself as he turned off his phone and slid it back in his pocket. That lasted for all of thirty seconds before he found himself thinking about how fucking adorable she’d looked this morning, sitting on her bed in her smiley face pajamas with a bowl of Fruit Loops on her lap, smiling at something Dustin said, and-
He really needed to have another talk with the kids about leaving her alone.
“Daddy?” Abbi said, dragging his attention down to find her staring up at him through innocent baby blue eyes.
“Yes, baby girl?” Devin asked as he crouched down so that he could talk to her.
“You remember that we love you, right?” she asked with the sweetest smile that he’d ever seen, making him narrow his eyes on her before he shifted his attention to find his son watching him with a devious smile that immediately turned innocent.
“Yes,” Devin said cautiously as he shifted his attention back to his daughter. “Why?”
“What did you do?” Devin asked even as he kissed her forehead simply because he couldn’t help himself. She was his baby girl…no matter how much she terrified him.
“Why do you think we did something bad, Daddy?” Abbi asked, blinking at him and-
“Oh, thank god, you’re here,” a woman said, drawing his attention to find their teacher standing in the doorway looking really fucking relieved and found himself frowning because he didn’t remember her having gray hair when he met her last month.
Then again, something told him that his children might have something to do with that, especially when Abbi said, “Just remember that we love you, Daddy,” with a nod that Dustin matched as he added, “A lot.”
Chapter 2
“What’s new?” Charlie asked absently as she double-checked to make sure that she’d put a new memory card in her camera.
“That armoire by the back wall,” T.J. said, gesturing to an incredibly beautiful armoire in the back as Charlie stepped out of the way as two men carried a dresser towards the shipment room.
“That’s so beautiful,” Charlie said, walking over to the armoire with an intricate Celtic design running down the side as she took in the large double-doors and the drawers and couldn’t help but wonder what this one hid.
Sometimes when she worked late at night, Charlie came down here and looked around, curious to see Devin’s latest designs, which usually led to her spending a few hours trying to figure out where the hidden compartments were until she finally gave up and looked at the cheat-sheet that came with every piece of furniture that left this building. Deciding that she would come back later to have a better look, Charlie took a few pictures for the website before she stepped back with a wistful sigh, wishing that she could justify the cost because she would love to own something this beautiful.
“Can you send me the specs?” Charlie asked, forcing her attention away from the beautiful armoire before she did something stupid like asking how much it was because she knew that even with her employee discount that she couldn’t afford it. She had to save her money, Charlie reminded herself even as she found herself looking back, unable to help but notice that it was the perfect size for her living room/bedroom.
“He’d probably sell it to you at a discount,” T.J. said with a pointed look at the armoire that she really didn’t need, but really, really, really wanted.
It was so beautiful, Charlie thought, biting back a groan because she had to be good and save her money. She wasn’t going to ask, she reminded herself.
Definitely wasn’t going to ask because she didn’t need to know.
She had to be good.
Stick to her plan and…
“How much is it?” Charlie found herself asking as she sent a hopeful look at the most beautiful thing that she’d ever seen in her life.
“Five thousand dollars,” T.J. said, before adding, “after our employee discount,” destroying what little hope she had that she could afford it.
One day, Charlie told herself as she forced herself to look away.
“Yeah, I’ll just go put that online,” Charlie said, earning a chuckle as she headed towards the back stairwell that led to the second floor and pouted every step of the way.
When she reached the second floor, Charlie bit back a curse and prayed that she made it to her office