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  God, she loved family meals.

  She’d always wished that Grandma Bea had been able to take in more children, but she’d had her hands full with the two of them. So, Charlie had been forced to torment Ben, which sometimes late at night when she couldn’t fall asleep, she felt bad about, but then she would remember how much fun it had been and would fall asleep with a smile on her face.

  She planned on having a large family one day, four, maybe five children, a dog, and a husband that loved them as much as she did. She was in no rush to start her dream family yet, but every now and then, she found herself wondering what it would be like to finally belong to a family of her own. She’d loved growing up with Grandma Bea and Ben, but it was…different. It was hard to explain especially since Grandma Bea had treated them like they’d belonged with her, but she’d always felt like a part of her was missing.

  “Five years,” Charlie said, pulling out the chair next to her and helping Dustin, who’d disappeared to play with the baby along with his sister when they got here, climb onto it.

  “Five years…” Trevor, Devin’s other cousin who’d showed up to torment him, repeated, letting his words trail off with a curious glance aimed at Devin.

  “And how do you know our little Devin?” Kenzie, Devin’s cousin and a woman who looked like she could hold her own with her brothers and cousins, asked as she reached over and-

  “Please don’t make me hurt you,” Trevor said with a glare when she helped herself to the buttered biscuit on his plate. Without a word, Kenzie gestured towards the end of the table. Frowning, Trevor looked to his right to find Aidan and Lucifer watching his every move and looked like they were seconds away from tearing him apart.

  With a resigned sigh, Trevor grabbed the other biscuit off his plate and placed it on Kenzie’s plate with a mumbled, “Brat,” before focusing his attention back on Charlie.

  “You were saying,” Kenzie said around a mouthful of biscuit and a hopeful look.

  “How long have I known Devin?” Charlie said as a small tan hand reached over and placed a biscuit slathered in butter and jelly on her plate.

  “Mmmhmmm, and don’t leave out any details,” Jason said, gesturing for her to get on with it.

  “We need details,” Rebecca said, nodding solemnly.

  “We really do,” Melanie said, matching her best friend’s nod.

  “She works for Daddy,” Abbi said from where she sat on the other side of Devin.

  “This is true,” Charlie said, nodding solemnly as she picked up the biscuit that Dustin prepared for her and took a small bite.

  “She’s my lady,” Dustin said around a mouthful of meatloaf.

  “This is also true.” Charlie admitted.

  “She’s a pain in the ass,” Devin added, which had her sighing even as she murmured with a reluctant nod, “This is also true.”

  “What else can you tell us?” Melanie asked, looking hopeful.

  “She lives with us,” Dustin said, nodding as he reached for the bowl of homemade macaroni and cheese.

  “Technically, we’re neighbors,” Charlie said, bringing the bowl closer for him.

  “I see…” Jason said, looking thoughtful as he looked from her to Devin and back again as his lips slowly pulled up into a pleased smile.

  *-*-*-*

  “We need to talk,” Abbi announced as she walked into the bathroom and climbed into the tub with her brother.

  “I see and what do we need to talk about?” Devin asked, biting back a sigh as he finished getting his son’s hair wet.

  “Everything,” Abbi said with a firm nod while her brother handed her a rubber ducky.

  “And what does this ‘everything’ entail?” Devin asked with a mocking glare at his beautiful baby girl.

  “Fluffiness, Daddy,” Abbi said, matching his glare with one of her own as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to cave.

  Narrowing his eyes on her, Devin leaned over and kissed her forehead with a mumbled, “No,” and a chuckle that had her slowly nodding as he pulled away.

  “I will have my fluffiness, Daddy.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Devin murmured absently as he squeezed shampoo in his hand and began washing her hair, wondering if she had any idea just how adorable she really was.

  Probably, Devin thought, feeling his lips twitch as she continued glaring at him. Knowing that this could go on for a while, he turned his attention to Dustin to find his son staring down at the rubber ducky in his hands.

  “What’s wrong, buddy?” Devin asked, squeezing more shampoo in his hands.

  “I don’t like her,” Dustin said quietly.

  “Like who?” he asked, gently working the shampoo through his son’s hair.

  “That lady that hurt Charlie,” he said, shrugging.

  “It was an accident,” Devin said with a reassuring smile that had his son worrying his bottom lip.

  “She did it on purpose,” Abbi said, reaching for the rinsing cup only to sigh heavily when he beat her to it.

  “Why do you say that?” Devin asked as he filled the cup with water and gestured for her to tilt her head back.

  “Because she doesn’t like Charlie,” Dustin said, making him frown.

  “What makes you think she doesn’t like Charlie?” he asked, curious because he’d asked Charlie about what happened again when he’d helped her inside. She’d told him that it was an accident, but he didn’t believe her.

  He also couldn’t prove that it wasn’t, which meant that he couldn’t fire Kelly.

  “I just don’t trust her, Daddy,” Dustin said, shrugging as he selected another rubber ducky.

  He didn’t trust Kelly either and he wasn’t particularly fond of her, but as long as she stayed out of his way and did her job, he didn’t care. She was good at her job, which was the only reason that he hadn’t fired her. He would have fired her today, but Charlie told him that it was no big deal and…

  He couldn’t fire someone just because he didn’t like her. It wasn’t right to fuck with someone’s life like that. As long as she did her job and stayed away from Charlie, then he’d leave it alone, but if she ever made Charlie cry again, nothing would save her.

  Chapter 18

  December

  “I thought you were planning on moving back into your office,” the man that really needed to learn how to focus, said as he moved to hang her Indiana Jones poster on the wall by the window only to sigh and climb back off the stepladder when she pointed at the other wall.

  “I was, but then I decided that it would be in my best interest to stay here,” Charlie said as she slowly turned her chair around, looking for the perfect spot to hang her television.

  “Because Devin refused to let you leave and turned your office into a storage room so that you couldn’t go back up there?”

  Nodding, she said, “There is that, but I also realized that staying here made the most sense. I have a bigger office, two incredibly adorable part-time assistants, a shorter walk to my car, my mail is delivered right to my desk, and-”

  “And you don’t have to worry about the woman that you pissed off pushing you down a flight of stairs?” Ben correctly guessed as he carried the stepladder to the other side of the room.

  “That may have been a deciding factor,” Charlie murmured in agreement as she found herself watching Devin as he worked.

  “Does she still glare when she sees you?” Ben asked, climbing on the ladder and carefully hung the framed poster of Indiana Jones on one of the nails that she’d managed to talk Devin into putting up for her.

  “No, now she smiles,” she said, unable to help but notice just how good Devin looked in his Bradford Creations’ shirt today.

  “Oh, that’s not so bad,” Ben said, climbing back down the ladder only to sigh and carry the ladder back across the room when she absently pointed at the Slytherin poster that wasn’t going to hang itself.

  “It’s actually somehow more terrifying,” Charlie mumbled absently a
s she watched Devin work until she realized what she was doing and found herself sighing as she continued to turn around in her chair.

  “Tell me something,” Ben said as he adjusted the framed poster on the wall.

  “What’s that?” she asked, unable to help but notice that her television would go nicely on the wall to her right if she moved her computer monitor to the other side of her desk.

  “When are we going to finally have that talk?”

  “And what talk is that?” Charlie asked as she debated switching her desk with Devin’s so that she wouldn’t have to move her monitor to the other side only to decide against it since she liked watching the kids play while she was working. It also made it easier to help Dustin with his sight words and go over the alphabet while she kept on Abbi to make sure that she wasn’t trying to lure squirrels through the window so that she could have finally have some fluffiness in her life.

  “You have something that you want to tell me?” Ben said as he climbed off the ladder and grabbed her Iron Man poster.

  “I love you?” Charlie said as she reached down and released the hidden latch on her desk.

  “You worship me,” Ben said with a heartfelt sigh.

  “If that’s what you need to tell yourself at night so that you can sleep,” Charlie said as she perused the selection of candy bars in her secret stash and-

  What happened to her Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?

  “It really is,” Ben murmured in agreement as she selected a 3 Musketeers candy bar.

  “Is that what you wanted to talk about?” Charlie asked as she gestured with her candy bar towards the signed poster of Snape.

  Chuckling, Ben picked up her poster and hung it directly behind her desk. “No, I wanted to know if you had something to tell me.”

  “And what exactly do you think I need to tell you” Charlie asked as she carefully nibbled on the candy bar that was going to have to hold her over until Ben was finished so that they could have lunch.

  “I was thinking that we could talk about what’s going on with Devin,” Ben said, throwing her a questioning look over his shoulder.

  “What are you talking about?” Charlie asked, taking another bite as she found herself glancing towards the windows that could really use some blinds and at the man in question.

  “I’ve seen the way that he looks at you,” Ben said, drawing her attention back to find him watching her with a curious look in his eye.

  “And how exactly does he look at me?” she asked, spinning her chair around to face him.

  “The same way that you look at him,” he said with a pointed look as he picked up her Goonies’ poster.

  “There’s nothing going on with Devin,” Charlie said, sighing heavily as she gestured to the other side of the room where she’d promised the kids she’d put their favorite posters.

  “But you want there to be,” Ben guessed as she found herself turning her chair around and watching Devin.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, spinning her chair right back around as she absently toyed with the candy bar wrapper.

  “Why not?” Ben asked, hopping off the ladder.

  “Because it’s complicated,” Charlie said, hoping that he’d leave it at that.

  “Everything about you is complicated,” he said, chuckling as he grabbed her Hogwarts poster and brought it over to the kids’ side of the room.

  “This is true,” she murmured absently as she found herself glancing back towards the window and wondering what was wrong with her.

  She had a plan and it didn’t involve making her life more complicated on something that was definitely a bad idea, but sometimes, she wished it did. He was her boss, her landlord, father of her two favorite people in the world, one of her best friends, and the man that still had no idea that she was planning on leaving. She really wasn’t looking forward to that conversation, Charlie thought, tossing the rest of the candy bar on her desk.

  When did her life get so complicated? Charlie couldn’t help but wonder as she watched the man that was supposed to be helping her decorate her new office grab his bag and head for the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Back to work,” Ben said, shrugging.

  “Wait. What about lunch?” Charlie asked, gesturing towards the mini-fridge where the delicious lunch that she’d packed for him was waiting.

  “The fridge is empty,” Ben said, chuckling as he headed out the door, leaving her wondering what he was talking about as she walked over to her mini-fridge and-

  “That little bastard,” she said with a sad shake of her head as she closed the door, grabbed Devin’s Bradford Creations’ hoodie, pulled it on, and headed to the shop where she found the man that kept stealing her lunch working on a bookshelf.

  “You’re buying me lunch,” was all Charlie said before she turned around and walked away.

  Without bothering to look back, she walked over to the back stairs, stepped onto the second stair, turned around and waited. She didn’t have to wait long before Devin was pausing in front of the stairs. With a sigh, she reached over, grabbed onto his shoulders and jumped onto his back and said, “So, I’ve been thinking,” as she laid her chin on his shoulder while he grabbed hold of her legs and headed for the door.

  “What’s that?” he asked as he headed for the door.

  “I think I’m gonna have to put a lock on the mini-fridge,” Charlie said as he pushed the door open with his foot and carried her outside.

  “Wouldn’t help,” Devin pointed out.

  “I know,” she mumbled sadly. “I thought the decoy lunch would work.”

  “You thought wrong,” he said, carefully navigating the walkway covered in rock salt and ice to his work truck.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked as he lowered her to the ground.

  “Your choice,” Devin said as he opened the door for her.

  “And you’re paying?” she asked with a calculating look that had him biting back a smile.

  “Do I have to?” he asked, making sure to sound put-out.

  “Yes, you do,” she said with a sniffle and a nod as she climbed inside.

  “Then tell me where we’re going,” Devin said, climbing in after her.

  “Dixon’s,” Charlie said with a satisfied sigh as she buckled in.

  “Dixon’s it is,” he said, starting the truck and-

  “Can I ask you something?” she found herself asking as he pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Dixon’s Bakery.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Do you ever?” Charlie asked with a pitying look that had him chuckling.

  “What do you want to know, brat?” Devin asked, shooting her a questioning look.

  “Many things,” she said, nodding solemnly.

  “Anything in particular?” he asked, turning off the truck while she sat there, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she debated whether or not she should ask this and…

  Maybe it was a bad idea, she thought as she said, “Forget it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely,” Charlie said, nodding even though she wasn’t really sure of anything right now.

  “Are you going to tell me why you’re looking at me funny?” he asked, throwing her another curious look.

  “Not a chance in hell.”

  Chapter 19

  “You know the rules,” his baby girl said, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at him, daring him to try to get past her.

  “Are you going to let me in?” Devin asked, gesturing to the closed kitchen door that she was guarding.

  “Will you finally give into my needs for fluffiness?” Abbi countered, cocking her head to the side as she considered him.

  “Maybe…” he said, letting his words trail off.

  “Maybe?” she repeated, narrowing her eyes on him.

  “Well, it depends,” Devin said as he knelt down so that he could look his beautiful baby girl in the eye as they handled today�
��s negotiations.

  “On what, Daddy?” Abbi asked, frowning adorably as Devin reached over and gave her braid a gentle tug.

  “On whether or not you tell me what’s for dinner,” he said as the scent of fresh-baked bread teased him.

  “It’s not lima bean casserole,” she said with a rebellious smile that had him once again narrowing his eyes on the little traitor.

  “My lima bean casserole was delicious,” he bit out.

  “It really wasn’t, Daddy,” Abbi said with a sad shake of her head.

  “You’re a traitor, did you know that?” Devin asked her as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  “Yes,” she said, nodding with absolutely no shame.

  “You’re lucky I love you,” he said, chuckling as he stood up, taking the little traitor with him.

  “I know that too, Daddy,” Abbi said, nodding solemnly as he pushed the kitchen door open and damn near groaned at the sight that met him.

  Goddamn, she was killing him, Devin thought as he watched Charlie bend over to pull something out of the oven and-

  “He’s not supposed to be in here,” Dustin said as Charlie handed him a roll.

  “I came to help,” Devin said, giving Abbi one last kiss before putting her down.

  “It’s my turn to help,” Dustin said, taking a bite of his roll.

  “And you’re doing a wonderful job,” Charlie said with a warm smile as she grabbed the platter of rolls off the counter.

  Knowing that she wouldn’t let him help, mostly because the kids wanted to make sure that he didn’t try to make broccoli for them again, Devin pulled his phone out of his pocket and sat down at the table, moving the books that Charlie had been working on with Dustin out of the way before checking to make sure that there weren’t any problems with the orders that had been sent out today.

  “Thank you,” he said a moment later when a plate filled with spaghetti and meatballs was placed in front of him.

  “You’re welcome,” Charlie said as Dustin placed a bowl of salad by his plate before he headed back to the kitchen counter to get the rest of the bowls while Devin watched Charlie and…