“I would have fired you,” Ben said, nodding solemnly.
“I know you would have,” Charlie said, watching as Devin headed for the door.
“I really would have,” Ben said as they stepped up to the counter and-
“All set,” the cashier said with a smile as she placed a large brown bag on the counter in front of Charlie.
“We haven’t ordered yet,” Charlie said, only to frown when cashier said, “The gentleman in front of you took the liberty of buying you lunch.”
“He bought us lunch?” Ben asked, sounding just as confused as she was only to chuckle when the cashier said, “No, he only bought lunch for her.”
“He did?” Charlie asked only to once again find her lips twitching when the cashier turned the bag around and she saw “The desk goes,” written across the back.
Chapter 5
“Don’t you love us anymore, Daddy?” Abbi asked, her bottom lip trembling as she glanced up from her plate to look at him.
“Are you mad at us, Daddy?” Dustin asked with the saddest fucking expression that Devin had ever seen as he pushed a broccoli spear off his plate with his fork.
Sighing, Devin reached over and scooped more broccoli onto his son’s plate. “It’s good for you,” he promised his son as he glanced over to find Abbi dumping the fish that he’d baked for dinner, into her napkin. When she saw him watching her, she dropped the napkin on the floor, cleared her throat, shifted, cleared her throat again, tried to discreetly kick the napkin filled with fish away from her chair all while trying to appear innocent.
Narrowing his eyes on her, Devin pushed his chair back and-
“I don’t know how that got there, Daddy,” Abbi said, making his lips twitch as he picked up the balled-up napkin filled with fish that he’d accidentally left in the oven too long and tossed it in the trash.
“I bet you don’t,” Devin murmured, scooping more fish onto his daughter’s plate as she narrowed her eyes on him.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Abbi demanded, folding her arms over her chest as she sat back in her chair.
“Because I love you and I want you to be healthy,” Devin said, gesturing for her to eat.
“I see,” she murmured, looking from her untouched plate to his with a pointed look.
Eyes narrowing on his daughter, he took a bite of fish and forced himself to keep chewing the tasteless dry flakes and swallow before he popped a lukewarm piece of broccoli in his mouth as he kept his gaze locked on his daughter. “Delicious,” Devin said, popping another piece of broccoli in his mouth.
“Why must you lie to us?” Abbi demanded as she reached over and pushed her plate away.
“Why must you make everything so difficult?” Devin countered back as he pushed her plate back in front of her.
“Because it’s my job,” she said, pushing her plate away again and then for good measure, she reached over and pushed her brother’s plate away as well.
“I thought you said Blackjack’s wouldn’t deliver here,” Dustin said, drawing his attention to find his son watching a kid wearing a Blackjack’s tee-shirt and carrying a large delivery bag walk up their driveway before cutting down the small walkway that would take him to the in-law apartment where the woman that he refused to think about, lived.
“Another lie?” Abbi said with a sad shake of her head.
Narrowing his eyes on the little troublemaker, Devin reached over and added another spoonful of broccoli onto her plate.
“Please don’t make me call Grandma,” Abbi said, which earned her another piece of the fish that he was probably going to end up throwing out after dinner.
“Daddy, I have to go potty,” Dustin said, worrying his bottom lip as he shifted in his chair.
“Go, but be quick or your food will get cold,” Devin said, biting back a sigh as he reached over and pulled Dustin’s seat out for him.
“Thank you, Daddy!” Dustin said as he raced for the door, leaving Devin with his daughter as she narrowed her eyes on him.
“I’m not eating that,” Abbi informed him.
“Then I guess I won’t be able to check your room for monsters tonight,” Devin drawled, watching as a look of pure panic took over before she managed to pull it back with a shrug.
“I guess you won’t.”
“Good,” he said, nodding as he forced himself to eat more fish.
“Good,” she said, keeping those beautiful baby blue eyes locked on him.
“Can I have the salt, Daddy?” Dustin asked as he climbed back onto his chair and reached for the saltshaker.
“Just a tiny bit,” Devin said, keeping his gaze locked on the stubborn little girl glaring at him, knowing better than to look away first. He’d learned that lesson well during potty training and it wasn’t something that he was going to forget anytime soon.
“Thank you, Daddy!” Dustin said as he wrapped his small hand around the saltshaker, carefully climbed off his chair, and quickly made his way back out of the kitchen, making Devin frown as he pushed his chair back, wondering what his son was up to and-
“Ooops!” Abbi said, making him realize his mistake as he glanced back to find his baby girl standing next to the trashcan, dumping the rest of her dinner in the trash.
When he narrowed his eyes back on her, she dropped her plate in the trash, and-
“Don’t do it!”
Grabbed her brother’s plate, dumping it in the trash before he managed to grab her.
“Oh, you’re in big trouble now,” Devin said, shifting his baby girl in his arms as he went after his son to see what he was up to.
“Worth it,” Abbi said, making him sigh as he pushed the kitchen door open and found himself drawn to the sounds of SpongeBob SquarePants annoying the shit out of Squidward.
Really hoping that he was wrong, Devin headed towards the half-open door that led to the in-law apartment and sighed, just fucking sighed when he spotted Dustin sitting next to Charlie on her bed with a plate of pizza on his lap.
“You’re supposed to knock,” Dustin said as he picked up the large slice of cheese pizza and took a bite.
“And you’re supposed to be eating dinner,” Devin pointed out with a sigh as he put Abbi down only to groan when she took that as an invitation to climb onto the bed and help herself to a slice of pizza.
Frowning, Dustin said, “I am eating dinner, Daddy. See?” as he held up his slice of pizza as Devin’s attention shifted to Charlie and stayed there.
Eyes narrowing on him, she finished her bite of pizza with a look that told him exactly what would happen if he mentioned touching her desk again. She was so fucking adorable, Devin thought, taking in her curly dark hair pulled up into a messy bun, the Team Slytherin tee-shirt that made it very clear that she wasn’t wearing a bra, the plaid cotton shorts that ended mid-thigh and gave him one hell of a view of short, curvy golden legs, tiny feet, and cute little toes with the toenails painted baby pink.
When he found his gaze running back up her legs, Devin cleared his throat and forced himself to focus on getting his children to move their little butts so that he could start the long process of getting them tucked in for the night that was one day going to lead to a nervous breakdown. With that in mind, he picked Dustin up and-
Sighed, just fucking sighed when his son shoved the slice of pizza in his hand into his mouth and grabbed another slice before Devin could stop him. He shifted his son under one arm and reached for his baby girl only to have her grab another slice of pizza and a chicken tender out of the box that he’d somehow missed, ducked out of his reach and made a run for it.
“I love pizza,” Dustin said with a dreamy sigh as he took a bite of his pizza, making Charlie’s lips twitch.
“I know you do,” Devin said, shifting his son in his arms as he risked one last glance at Charlie to find her smiling as she watched Dustin.