Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,56

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