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  He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

  Over the past two months, she’d become part of their family, someone that they could count on, who made the kids smile and was slowly destroying his will to live for one simple reason...

  She’d fucking friend-zoned him.

  It really just made his life extra fucking special, Devin thought, biting back a sigh as he watched the woman who had no fucking clue what she did to him when she touched him, hugged him, dropped down on his lap, and curled up in his arms like it was no big deal as she sat down across from him.

  He wanted her more with every passing day and there was nothing that he could do about it.

  *-*-*-*

  “That’s better,” Charlie said with a satisfied sigh as she ignored the pained groan coming from behind her as she settled between his legs to get more comfortable.

  “There’s another couch over there,” the man that made the best chair, said even as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

  “I like this one,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable as she reached over and grabbed one of the sugar cookies that she’d made earlier with the twins off the plate on the coffee table before she settled back against him with a satisfied sigh.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” Devin said as he plucked the cookie out of her hand and finished it off.

  “I tend to have that effect on people,” Charlie said, nodding in agreement as she reached over and selected another cookie, taking her time as she decided between a sugar cookie with green frosting and one with red frosting only to settle on a cookie with white frosting since it had green and red sugar sprinkles on it.

  “Tell me something,” Devin drawled softly as the twins settled in to watch The Santa Clause on their sleeping bags with a plate of cookies and the stack of books that they’d been using to teach them how to read, between them.

  “What’s that?” Charlie asked, nibbling on her cookie until that familiar large tan hand stole it.

  “Why are we watching another Christmas movie?” Devin asked as she sat up and grabbed the large blanket that she kept draped over the back of the couch and pulled it over their legs before lying back against him.

  “Tradition,” Dustin said around a bite of cookie, making her smile.

  “And when does this tradition end?” Devin asked as he placed his arm back around her.

  “The day after Christmas,” she informed him as she felt his hand slide over her stomach as he pulled her closer.

  “Any other traditions that I should know about?” he asked as he gently caressed her stomach.

  “Probably,” she murmured as she felt a trail of goosebumps race down her neck when his lips brushed against her ear.

  “Any chance that you’re going to tell me ahead of time so that I can prepare myself?”

  “And ruin the surprise?” Charlie asked with a sad shake of her head. “I would never do that.”

  “God, you’re evil,” he said, chuckling.

  “I really am,” Charlie readily agreed as she laid there, struggling to watch the movie while the thumb gently caressing her stomach found a patch of bare skin.

  The first swipe of his thumb had her breath catching, the second had her licking her lips, and the third…

  The third had her wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

  Chapter 20

  Christmas Eve

  “I thought you were trying to save money,” Devin said with a glare aimed at the small woman hogging the scissors.

  “And I am,” Charlie said as she finished cutting a large piece of Christmas wrapping paper that didn’t look like it was going to be big enough for the large box that she was trying to wrap.

  “Then explain all of this,” Devin said, absently gesturing to the shitload of new toys surrounding them.

  Blinking, Charlie said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “We had a deal, woman,” Devin said, narrowing his eyes on the woman that was spoiling his children.

  “You mean the one where you tried to limit my gift purchasing needs during the happiest time of the year?” she asked, blinking at him. “Is that what you’re talking about?”

  Instead of answering her, mostly because she was too fucking adorable to stay mad at, he simply reached over and grabbed the box with the dinosaur that was almost as big as Dustin and started wrapping it to the little bully’s strict wrapping guidelines. She was a demanding little thing, Devin thought, unable to help but smile because she was just so fucking adorable.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Charlie asked as she stole the tape from him.

  “Yes, brat,” Devin said with a mocking glare at the familiar demand.

  “It’s about the party,” she said with a curious look as she reached over and snagged the dinosaur from him so that she could take over.

  “What about it?” Devin asked, sighing as he reached over and grabbed the large teddy bear.

  “Why don’t you ever go?” she asked, sending him a questioning look.

  “Why would I?” he countered as 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 of his children covered from head to toe in flour, hugging each other as they smiled for the camera.

  “I took that when the kids were helping me make pies to take to your parents’ house for Thanksgiving,” Charlie said as she pulled the last picture out of the box before setting it aside.

  “I know how you’re always on the lookout for anything that your great-grandfather made, so I did a few searches, hoping to find something you’d like when I came across these online. They had some damage and the original glass was long gone, but the frames were still in good condition and more importantly…” she said, letting her words trail off as she ran her fingers along the bottom of the frame and pushed.

  “This still works,” Charlie explained as a small click sounded and a thin drawer slid free from the side, revealing a piece of paper with the words, “I love you, Daddy. Love, Dustin,” written in crayon that had the air in his lungs leaving him in a rush. For the past few months they’d been struggling with Dustin, trying to teach him how to read and write, hoping that they could help him catch up with the rest of the kids in time.

  Christ, he’d been terrified that he wouldn’t be able to help Dustin. His son was insanely bright when it came to pretty much anything else, but when it came to reading and writing…

  He’d struggled.

  They’d been working with him every day, going over his sight words, practicing his letters, going over sounds, the alphabet, finding apps on the iPad that could help, playing every word game and alphabet that they could come up with to help him and it had been working. Dustin was definitely making progress. He was doing great with his sight words, could read the books his teacher assigned him, and now, he was apparently learning to write as well.

  “You should have seen his face when he wrote it. He was so proud of himself. He wanted to surprise you,” Charlie said as Devin felt his lips pull up into a smile.

  “Thank you,” he said as he wrapped his arms around the best Christmas present that he’d ever received.

  *-*-*-*

  “Oh, that’s gonna leave a mark,” Charlie said, biting back a wince and a groan as she carefully rolled over onto her side and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the reason why she found herself sleeping on the edge of the bed, again.

  She’d never thought that it was possible to love someone this much, Charlie mused while she ran her fingers through Dustin’s messy hair as the other person who she loved more than anything stretched out in her sleep with a sigh and ended up throwing her legs across her brother’s. They were so damn cute, Charlie thought as she kissed Dustin’s forehead and reached down to tickle Abbi’s foot.

  With a grumble, Abbi pulled her feet back, rolled over onto her stomach, and promptly threw her legs back over her brother’s. Unable to help but smile, Charlie kissed Dustin’s forehead one last time before she rolled over and found herself looking at Devin. God, he was so handsome, she thought as she watched him sleep in the chair that he’d dragged in here sometime before Halloween for those nights that the kids demanded they have movie night in here, taking in his short hair that looked like he’d run his fingers through it, the light whiskers darkening his jaw, the way that his tan muscles shifted with each breath that he took, and the unsnapped jeans that made the pose incredibly sexy, and-

  He scared the hell out of her.

  No matter how many times she told herself that this wasn’t a good idea, Charlie couldn’t stop thinking about him and that was the problem. He was her boss, her landlord, one of her best friends, and…

  He was a complication, which was something that she definitely didn’t need right now, but as she laid there, watching him sleep, she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she walked over there and kissed him. Probably nothing, Charlie thought, biting back a sigh as she climbed out of bed, careful not to wake the twins. Devin wasn’t interested in more and-

  “Oh, my god…” Charlie whispered hollowly when she spotted the large armoire with Celtic designs that she’d fallen in love with next to him with a large red bow taped to the door.

  Unable to believe what she was seeing, Charlie walked over to the armoire that she’d found herself thinking about whenever she looked at this spot and ran her fingers down the intricately carved Celtic design. It was even more beautiful than she remembered.

  “Do you like it?” Devin asked, drawing her attention to find him watching her.

  “I love it,” she said softly as she looked back at the armoire, watching her fingers as they traced the Celtic design that must have taken days to create and amazed that anyone could create something this beautiful by hand. “I don’t understand. T.J. sent me an email telling me that it had sold so that I could take it off the featured page,” Charlie said, not mentioning that she’d drowned her sorrows in jelly donuts after that.

  “I canceled the order.”

  “Why?” she asked, throwing him a questioning look as she dropped her hand away from the armoire.

  “Because I wanted you to have it,” Devin murmured softly as he gestured towards the cabinet as he stood up. “I wasn’t sure where you wanted it. If you want me to move it, I can-”

  “It’s perfect. Thank you!” she said, cutting him off with an excited squeal as she rushed over to him and threw herself into his arms, eliciting a grunt as he fell back into the chair, taking her with him.

  “You’re welcome,” Devin said, chuckling as he reached up to push her hair back only to end up cupping her face in his hands. “Are you sure you like it?”

  “I love it,” she assured him as she found herself reaching up so that she could run her fingers along his jaw.

  “What about the bureau?” he asked, making her frown as she looked around her small apartment only to find her bureau in its usual spot.

  “What about it?” she asked only to feel her lips twitch when he said, “I hate it.”

  “What’s wrong with my bureau,” Charlie said with a mocking glare that he easily returned.

  “Besides the fact that I hate it?” Devin asked as she settled more comfortably on his lap.

  “Yes, besides that,” she murmured absently when she caught the faint hint of his aftershave and nearly groaned when she found herself moving closer.

  “It doesn’t match the armoire,” Devin said as his gaze locked with hers.

  “That’s probably because I bought it a couple of years ago,” Charlie said, unable to look away as she felt his thumbs gently caress her skin.

  “You should have told me that you needed a new one,” he said softly as she found herself moving even closer u
ntil only a few inches separated them and asked the only thing that mattered, “Why?”

  Instead of answering her, Devin slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead as she closed her eyes and released a shaky breath. After a slight hesitation, she felt his fingers slide down her neck, sending a shiver through her body and-

  Found herself moved off his lap with a murmured, “Happy Christmas, Charlie,” as she watched him walk away.

  Chapter 21

  “I really can’t tell you how happy I am that you decided to come,” Jason, the large bastard that had somehow managed to track her down and drag her here, said with a satisfied sigh as he reached over and patted her on the top of her head as Kenzie struggled against the rope stopping her from beating him with the chair they’d tied her to.

  “Me, too,” Trevor, the other bastard who’d helped drag her here, said, nodding in agreement as he reached over and pulled the duct tape they’d used to stop her from screaming for help off her mouth.

  “I’m going to kill y-” she calmly began explaining to her cousins before Jason shoved a brownie in her mouth.

  “I honestly don’t know why you’ve been avoiding us, pookie,” Jason said with a sad shake of his head as Kenzie sat there, quickly chewing the brownie as she glanced around her brother Reese’s living room, noting that more than half of their family was here and couldn’t help but sigh with relief when she didn’t see her father.

  “You know why,” she mumbled absently as she looked for something that she could use to get her out of here before it was too late.

  “Is it because you thought we would be mad that you kept the fact that you were married to the asshole from us?” Jason asked, shoving the rest of the brownie in her mouth as he asked, “Was that it, pookie?”

  “I haven’t been avoiding you,” she bit out evenly after she forced herself to swallow the brownie that was starting to make her thirsty.

  “No?” her brother Garret, who’d been glaring at her this entire time, drawled as he watched her. “What do you call changing your phone number and moving out of that shithole that you were living in without telling any of us where you went? Or the fact that you show up out of the blue just long enough so that we know you’re alive before disappearing again?”