Finally

by R. L. Mathewson

  “What about Abbi?” he asked, slowly exhaling as he tried to figure out how they were going to-

  “Will be in charge of the military,” Mrs. Haskins said with a pointed look at his son’s plans for world domination.

  “He put his sister in charge of the military?” he demanded.

  “Mmmhmm, and his grandparents in charge of the treasury,” she said, clearly fucking amused at his expense.

  “And did he mention someone named Charlie?” he asked, because he had to know.

  “Yes, I believe he set Charlie up in a mansion as well,” Mrs. Haskins said, somewhat appeasing him because at least he wasn’t the only one that his son found lacking. They’d have to share a mansion to save money, of course, Devin mused only to end up once again glaring when she added, “He gave her the mansion next to his so that she could run the communications department in comfort.”

  “Anything else?” he bit out evenly.

  “Your children terrify their teacher?” she added, sounding really fucking amused.

  “They terrify everyone,” Devin said, getting to his feet, deciding that he’d had his emotions played with enough for one day and headed for the door, but not before adding, “I would have been an invaluable resource to have!”

  “He put me in charge of education,” she said, looking really fucking smug.

  With one last glare, Devin left, deciding that he would get his revenge later by eating all the snacks in the playroom so that his son was left with nothing but fruit and-

  “What the hell?” he muttered as he glanced down at his phone and saw the text message that T.J. sent him earlier.

  Charlie called in sick.

  Shit!

  Maybe he shouldn’t have kept her up so late, Devin thought as he climbed into his car and headed to work only…

  He had to go check on her and make sure she was okay.

  After a quick stop at Dixon’s Bakery and twenty minutes of being stuck behind a school bus, Devin quietly let himself into her apartment and sighed. She was lying on her stomach, asleep. He should probably just go, he thought, moving to do just that when…did her ass just wiggle?

  Shaking his head, Devin pulled his phone out of his pocket to let T.J. know that he was on his way when movement drew his attention back to the bed to find the sheet pooled at her waist, revealing her bare back and-

  Another wiggle.

  Chuckling, Devin deleted his text and sent a new one, letting T.J. know that he was in charge today before he tossed his phone on the chair, reached down and pulled his boots off as he made his way to the bed, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside as he went. He had his belt pulled loose, his pants undone, and his cock pulled out by the time that he crawled onto the bed behind her. He managed to stroke his hard cock one time before Charlie moved back, placing her beautiful ass in the air and-

  Tore a groan from him as he slid home.

  Chapter 31

  “Do you want to go to Fire & Brimstone for lunch?” Devin asked as he opened the backdoor for her.

  “Can’t. Gotta catch up with work since someone decided to call in sick yesterday,” Charlie said with a sad shake of her head.

  “Someone, huh?” Devin said, chuckling as he took her hand in his and headed towards their office.

  “I felt that you could use some cheering up after your meeting with the twins’ teacher yesterday,” she said, deciding not to mention that she’d been exhausted since he’d probably figured that out when she’d convinced the kids that a nap party was fun after they came home from school yesterday.

  “That’s very considerate of you,” he said, sounding amused.

  “I’m a very considerate girlfriend,” she mumbled absently as a chime drew her attention to her phone.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Someone tried to hack into the Facebook account, again,” Charlie said, sighing heavily because this was the fourth, no, the fifth time in a week.

  “Any idea who’s doing it?” Devin asked as another chime alerted her to the fact that someone had just tried to hack into the Twitter account.

  “No, but they’re determined,” she said, making a note to change the passwords just in case as well as update the security on the website.

  “Is this something that I should be worried about? Devin asked as she bit back a groan when she realized that she was going to have to unlock the Instagram account as well.

  “Not unless the hacker can correctly guess my twenty-character password,” Charlie said, already deciding that it was time to change the login information since whoever was trying to break in knew her Bradford Creations’ email.

  For now, she would start using the Dabbi Digital Marketing email that she’d set up since it would make it harder for whoever was doing this to keep screwing with the accounts because she was honestly sick of getting locked out of the accounts every day. She would also set the accounts up with a secondary login in Devin’s name since he would need it when it was time for her to quit, which was something that she was trying not to think about at the moment.

  “What if I picked up lunch from Dixon’s? Would you have lunch with me then?” Devin asked as she slid her phone back in her pocket.

  “I brought lunch,” she said, giving her backpack a pointed jostle only to frown when she realized that her bag was suspiciously light this morning.

  “I got bored waiting for you,” Devin said, shrugging it off.

  “When?” she demanded, racking her brain trying to figure out when he had a chance to eat the lunch that she’d packed this morning.

  “When you ran back inside to grab your iPad,” he said around a yawn, sounding bored while she stood there unable to stop staring at him in horror.

  “I was only inside for thirty seconds, if that,” Charlie pointed out hollowly.

  “I was hungry,” Devin said as she narrowed her eyes on him.

  “There had better be jelly donuts with that lunch,” she said, turning to walk into their office only to turn around and playfully slap him on his arm. “And stop stealing my food.”

  “If I did, then you wouldn’t have lunch with me,” Devin said, pulling his bag off so that he could reach in and drop it on the office floor.

  “You could just eat lunch with me at my desk,” she pointed out.

  “I could do that,” he admitted before adding, “but I’d rather steal your lunch to hold me over.”

  Narrowing her eyes on him, she said, “I’m filing a complaint with the manager.”

  “Oh, yeah, and who’s that?” Devin asked, looking a little too cocky for her liking.

  “Dustin,” she said, taking an insane amount of pleasure in wiping that smile off his face.

  “I would have made a great fucking asset!” he snapped as he turned around to storm off, but she couldn’t let him leave like that, now could she?

  “I don’t get a goodbye kiss?” Charlie asked with the saddest sigh that she could manage.

  “No, you don’t,” Devin said in a huff as he folded his arms over his chest and pointedly looked away.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.

  “Very sure,” he said as she pulled her bag off her shoulder and dropped it on the floor next to his.

  “I’ll give you a goodbye kiss,” T.J. offered with a wink as he walked over and-

  “I was kidding!” T.J. said, chuckling as he held up his hands in surrender and backed away before Devin could make another grab for him.

  With one last glare shot at T.J., Devin leaned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he turned around and-

  Stopped when she released a long-suffering sigh that had him slowly turning around and cocking a brow in question.

  “It’s just that,” Charlie said, pausing so that she could release another sigh, this one softer, “it just doesn’t feel like that kiss properly conveyed your undying love for me, that’s all.”

  “That’s all, huh?” Devin murmured as his lips pulled up into a pleased smile
.

  “I’m afraid so,” she said, unable to help but smile when he reached for her.

  When he leaned down and took her mouth in a slow, deep kiss, Charlie found herself reaching up to wrap her arms around him and-

  Blinking when he suddenly stopped and she found herself turned around and gasping, “Hey!” when he gave her bottom a soft swat.

  “Get to work,” he said, chuckling as he turned around to walk off only to make her frown when he threw over his shoulder, “Don’t forget to see Patrick to get reimbursed for that convention.”

  “I’m sorry. What’s this now?” she couldn’t help but wonder.

  “Go upstairs and put in for the convention. You shouldn’t have to pay for something that helps you do your job,” Devin said firmly as he gestured for her to move her ass.

  She opened her mouth to argue only to close it with a sigh when he said, “Go,” with a look that told her that she better move her ass.

  Grumbling, Charlie reluctantly headed upstairs and made her way into the break-room, deciding that she’d kill some time in here before she headed back downstairs since she had absolutely no intention of trying to get reimbursed for this. She needed to tell Devin and she needed to tell him soon, Charlie realized as she tried to figure out how she was going to do that without making this awkward. Then again, maybe she should be more concerned with how pissed he was going to be when he found out that she was quitting. Maybe if she-

  “There are better ways to do your job, you know,” Kelly said with a pitying look as she walked past her and helped herself to the pot of coffee that Charlie was sure had been there since she started working here five years ago.

  “What’s that?” Charlie asked even as she couldn’t help but wonder if she would be better off leaving her lunch in here from now on to throw Devin off.

  “Sleeping with the boss,” Kelly said with a pointed look just as T.J. strolled into the room along with Scott and about half the upstairs staff, who were probably looking for their morning donut fix.

  When Kelly’s words sank in, there was an awkward silence and then…

  “There are?” Charlie asked, slowly blinking.

  “Mmmhmm,” Kelly said around a sip of the acidic coffee that she was using an as excuse to try to humiliate Charlie only to add in a conspiratorial whisper, “It’s kind of pathetic.”

  “Dating the hottest guy in town is pathetic?” Charlie said, earning a few chuckles and an outraged, “Hey!” from T.J.

  “No, thinking that he’s interested in more than a free babysitter is,” Kelly said with a pointed look at Charlie as she went to take another sip of coffee only to choke on it when Charlie said, “Whores don’t work for free.”

  “W-what?”

  “I mean, not that I’ve really put much thought into it or anything, but I’d like to think that if I was a whore that I’d be a high-classed one,” Charlie mumbled thoughtfully.

  “Wait. I didn’t say-”

  “I’d like to think so at least,” Charlie said, nodding solemnly as she struggled to remember that bizarre conversation that she’d had with Ben on her twenty-first birthday when they’d argued over who would make more money as a whore. She didn’t care what he said, she’d definitely make more money than him.

  “But I didn’t say-”

  “That I was a whore?” Charlie said, beating her to it with a sad shake of her head. “No, it’s okay. I need to learn to accept my new station in life. It will make things easier so that I don’t get my hopes up when Devin grows tired of me and it’s time for me to find someone else willing to pay for my services.”

  “This is so painful to watch,” T.J. mumbled as everyone nodded in agreement, watching as Kelly’s face turned an interesting shade of red.

  “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Kelly,” Charlie said with a sad shake of her head as she headed towards the door only to pause long enough to grab T.J.’s arm and drag him behind her as she threw over her shoulder, “He’s my ten o’clock.”

  Chapter 32

  “She called Charlie a whore?” Devin demanded, dropping his hammer as he turned around to-

  “No,” T.J. said around a bite of coffee roll as he stopped him with his free hand, “she tried to get into a battle of wits with Charlie and lost. What I really need you to focus on is the fact that your girlfriend dragged me to Dixon’s afterwards and made me buy her a dozen jelly donuts.”

  “Why didn’t you come get me?” Devin snapped, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced back at his office to find Charlie working at her desk as she nibbled on a donut.

  “Did you not just hear me? She dragged me downstairs and then tightened her hold on my arm when I tried to escape and dragged me all the way down the street to Dixon’s. I feared for my life every step of the way!”

  “What’s everyone saying about me dating Charlie?” Devin asked as he struggled against the urge to put his fist through something.

  He should have thought about this and kept their relationship a secret for Charlie’s sake so that-

  “Not much other than they’re pissed that Scott won the pool,” T.J. said, shrugging it off as he finished off the last bite of coffee roll before reaching for the white bakery bag that Devin decided was rightfully his.

  “What pool?” Devin snapped, snatching the bag off the table before T.J. could grab it.

  “The pool we’ve had going since Charlie started five years ago,” T.J. said with a “duh” look as he gestured for Devin to hand the bag back over. When Devin only glared, T.J. dropped his hand with a sigh and walked over to his locker and grabbed an identical bakery bag and helped himself to another coffee roll. Narrowing his eyes on the move, Devin grabbed the last coffee roll out of the bag he’d stolen even as he couldn’t help but stare at the other bag, wondering what else was in there.

  “Why would you have a pool on Charlie?” Devin asked, taking another bite as he found himself glancing back in time to watch Charlie grab her camera off her desk and head for the office door.

  “Because we all have a set of working eyes,” T.J. said with a pointed look as Charlie walked into the shop, ignoring the red line marking the floor, plucked the coffee roll out of Devin’s hands and gestured for him to get back to work as she said, “I need pictures.”

  When Devin continued to stand there, she locked eyes with him and finished off his coffee roll, making yummy sounds while she did it as he narrowed his eyes on her. “That was so good.”

  Nodding slowly, Devin said, “I want to see other people.”

  “And you can do that just as soon as I get my pictures,” Charlie said, gesturing for him to get on with it.

  “No,” Devin said evenly as he glared down at the evil woman who’d stolen his precious baked good.

  “You promised,” she pointed out, once again gesturing for him to get on with it.

  “Looks like I’m breaking my promise.”

  “Are you sure that you really want to do that?” she asked with a pitying look that had him grinding his teeth.

  “Abso-fucking-lutely,” Devin said, glaring down at the small woman as he waited for her to tell him what happened with Kelly.

  “Fine. I’ll get them later when the kids are here,” Charlie said, shrugging it off as she turned around and headed back to the office only to stop with a heavy sigh when he said, “Do you have something that you want to tell me?”

  “My ten o’clock has a big mouth?” Charlie offered as she turned around to face him.

  “You manhandled me, woman!” T.J. snapped in outrage.

  Blinking, she said, “And you should be thankful that I didn’t charge extra for that.”

  Sighing heavily, Devin ran his hands roughly down his face as he muttered, “You’re not a whore.”

  “Please don’t try to limit me,” the woman that was driving him crazy, said.

  “Don’t make me spank you,” he said, dropping his hands away.

  “That’ll cost extra,” Charlie pointed out with a nod, making hi
s lips twitch.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked, reaching over and cupped her face in his hands.

  “And ruin my street cred? I don’t think so,” Charlie said, sighing heavily as she stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss before once again heading back to their office.

  Devin watched her walk away as he asked, “Should I fire her?”

  “Who?” T.J. asked, walking over to check out the designs for the kitchen cart that Devin had been working on since he saw that she’d bookmarked a page on kitchen cats in one of his magazines.

  He was building this one for Charlie, but it had given him an idea. He was curious to see what he could do with kitchen furniture, something that he’d been toying with doing for a few years now. His cousin Reese was coming in next week to show him a few of his designs so that Devin could see what he could do with them. It should be interesting, he thought as he said, “Kelly.”

  “I wouldn’t. Charlie handled herself and she doesn’t really seem all that upset about it,” T.J. pointed out.

  True, but…

  He really wasn’t sure that it was a good idea to let this go.

  *-*-*-*

  “Your father’s going to kill me,” Charlie said hollowly, wondering if it had always been this difficult to breathe.

  “We’ll miss you,” Abbi said with the biggest smile that Charlie had ever seen as she carefully cuddled the rabbit that Devin was going to kill her for.

  She still wasn’t sure how it happened.

  One minute, she was telling the kids that she had to stop by the post office to drop something off and the next…

  “Your father’s going to kill me,” Charlie mumbled again, hoping that one of the kids would tell her that she was worrying over nothing.

  They didn’t.

  No, what they did was continue snuggling and pet the bunny that was going to get her killed. This was bad. This was very bad, Charlie thought even as she glanced around her apartment, looking for somewhere to hide the large cage that the pet store owner had managed to talk her into buying and-