Zero Expectations

By M.E. Clayton

What do you get when you don’t trust the opposite sex?

The worst idea ever.

Roman
Roman Scott didn’t have time for nonsense. As the owner of a very successful landscaping business and a single father of two five-year-old twins, the man was busy. Though he still managed to make time for his family and a guys’ night out every now and again, free time was still a luxury that didn’t come along his way very often. Still, he wouldn’t trade his life for anything in the world.

So, when he finds himself forced to meet his across-the-street neighbor because the woman dared to bring puppies into the neighborhood, he’s not happy about it. He doesn’t have time for the sexy woman and her puppies, though his children don’t seem to care in the least. However, the more that he gets to know her, the more he believes that she just might be the perfect solution to his...uh, problems.

Haven
Haven Oslind didn’t have any complaints in life. The woman got to work from home, and if being able to work in your pajamas wasn’t a goal in life, then she didn’t know what was. With a great family and awesome friends, the only thing missing from her life was love. Still, that problem is quickly solved when she adopts two shelter dogs, and she couldn’t be happier about it.

So, when she finds herself ambushed by two of the most adorable kids that she’s ever met, she’s more than happy to let them play with her puppies, even if their father looks like he’s got a stick up his ass. Still, even if he looks like a smile might make him expire on the spot, there’s no denying that the twins have themselves a sexy as hell father. I mean...the man works with his hands for a living.

When best-laid plans are the stupidest thing ever...
Refusing to let a woman disrupt his life more than it already has been, Roman suggests the perfect arrangement for him and Haven Oslind, and he really sees it as a win/win. After all, she’s been very clear about how relationships weren’t exactly a selling point in her life’s book, either.

Refusing to let a man get in the way of her easy life, when Roman Scott suggests that they become friends-with-benefits, though they’re nowhere close to being friends, Haven weighs the pros and cons, deciding that it might not be a bad idea after all. Anything not to have to pick up his dirty underwear.

As Roman and Haven embark on their hookup journey, things become complicated when Roman finds himself wanting more. Yep. He wants more, not her. However, Haven starts seeing him in a new light when he doesn’t blink an eye at the candles, crystals, or spell book, though most normal people would.

NOTE: This book contains adult language, adult situations, explicit sexual encounters, two adorable puppies, The Secret of NIMH, a strip club as acceptable therapy, and possibly a spell or two. If sensitive to any of the aforementioned issues, please do not purchase.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E. Clayton
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215219461

M.E. Clayton

M.E. Clayton works fulltime and writes as a hobby only. She is also an avid reader and Pinterest addict. When she's not working, reading, writing, or on Pinterest, she is spending time with her family and friends, or her dog, Boy, or her cat, Seatbelt. She lives in California with her husband and enjoys doing nothing but reading. Seriously. She does nothing but read. However, that's how she likes it.

Book preview

Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.

That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are probably not for you.

Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have to wait for the additional books to come out. So, because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting here…LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.

Thank you, for everything!

Contact Me

I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job and one part-time job, plus a family that I love spending time with, I’m not very active on social media. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:

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Dedication

For –

Anyone still trying to find ‘The One’.

Prologue

I stared at the two children that were sound asleep in their baby carriers, and all I could think about was how neither of them looked anything like me. Now, I wasn’t sure if it was all men or just me, but I had always envisioned that, one day, my kids would resemble me a bit. Well, more specifically, I had always imagined that my son would look like me and that my daughter would look like her mother, something that I hadn’t minded. I mean, why wouldn’t I want a replica of the woman that I loved running around my house? Granted, in that scenario, I was supposed to be madly in love with my wife, so that’s why it’d made sense at the time.

However, I wasn’t in love with these children’s mother.

In fact, I hated the woman.

I despised her.

I loathed her.

I abhorred her.

I reviled her.

I detested the fact that she breathed oxygen meant for decent people.

I couldn’t stand the woman so much that an unfortunate accident wouldn’t put a dent in my day. I’d never met a woman as manipulative, calculating, deceiving, and unscrupulous as these children’s mother. I’d never met an individual as narcissistic as Naomi Feldman, and the world would be better off without her; that’s how much I despised the woman.

Yet, the babies looked just like her with their blonde hair and blue eyes.

Studying their faces, it was too early to see if Naomi’s facial features would also be noticeable, but the kids definitely didn’t have my brown hair or light brown eyes. Yeah, their hair was a darker shade of blonde and could get darker as they grew up, but I was pretty sure that they were going to be classified as blondes after it was all said and done.

It was also quiet as a tomb in my house, and I was man enough to admit that it was because I was terrified to move a muscle. After what had felt like hours, their crying and screaming had finally stopped, and they were both sounds that I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing again, though I knew that was an impossibility. I was going to be hearing their crying and screaming for a while before they moved onto throwing tantrums and sassing back at me.

This wasn’t the way that I’d had planned on bringing children into the world, but in the heart of all this temporary silence, I’d made a decision, and I wasn’t one to change my mind once I’d made it up. It was all about commitment and consistency for me. It was all about structure, stability, and all that other stuff that too many children lived without.

When Naomi had dropped these children off on my doorstep, telling me that they were my problem now because I’d refused to do the right thing by her, at first, I’d been shellshocked as hell. Second, I’d been angrier than I’d ever been at another human being. Third, I had panicked when she had stormed off, proving that she’d been serious.

With only one diaper bag to get me through, Naomi had dumped the children and their stuff at my feet, then had walked off, not caring that she was leaving her children without a mother. I mean, who fucking did that? What kind of monster abandoned her children for whatever reason?

Finally moving from my spot, I glanced around the living room, and I knew that I was going to have to get moving on making room for these babies. Right now, they were young enough that I could stuff them both in one room, but that wasn’t going to last long. I was going to have to do a lot of rearranging, maybe even move into a bigger house. In fact, I knew that I was going to have to move into a bigger house. Children needed room to play and be themselves, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what twins needed. I mean, were they going to be okay with being separated, or were they going to go live their lives stuck to each other like glue?

Not knowing the answers to any of these questions, I did the only thing that I could do. Luckily for me, my mother hadn’t dropped me off on someone’s doorstep before vanishing into the night.

Hey, Mom, I said after she answered my call.

Hey, honey, she greeted cheerfully.

Mom?

Yes?

I need your help.

Chapter 1

Roman~

Looking at me, no one would think that I was freaking out like an idiot. Looking at me, no one would think that I didn’t have my shit together. I mean, I was a thirty-six-year-old man with a thriving landscaping business, one that did way more than just mow people’s lawns. I had a degree and was technically considered a landscaping architect, not that fancy titles were my thing. Nevertheless, Scott’s Redesigning had been contracted many times over the years to create some of the loveliest residential and commercial landscapes in town. I wasn’t bragging, either. That was just a fact.

There was also the fact that my parents were as respectable as they came, and they’d raised me to be reasonable, rational, responsible, and all kinds of other r-related adjectives. My father, Jeff Scott, was a retired police officer, and he’d been the one to teach me how to assess before I reacted. Dad had to be one of the most level-headed people that I’d ever met, and he had the patience of a saint.

Now, my mother, Christine Scott, still worked as a school secretary, and since she worked at one of the two local high schools in town, she was another paragon of patience. I mean, you had to have patience to deal with a hoard of teenagers that knew everything, right? Stern, yet understanding, Mom was the perfect combination of sweet and sour.

Together, my parents had done their best to raise me and my brother to act like we had some sense. Growing up, my parents hadn’t been shy with the belt, but they also hadn’t been shy with their love. In all honesty, whenever things had gotten to the belts stage, Alec and I had deserved it.

As for my brother, Alec was two years younger than I was, and he was a high school basketball coach, teaching at the same place that Mom worked. Maybe that’s why Mom didn’t get too much static at work. Everyone knew that Christine Scott was Coach Scott’s mother, and Coach Scott was no joke when his temper came out. All you had to do was ask his students and athletes to know that.

The both of us had taken after Dad with our dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and height. I was six-foot-two and in shape because of what I did for a living, but also because of Dad’s good genes. Alec was six-foot-one and coaching kept him looking like he was still in his twenties, though he was thirty-four. He was also single with no kids, not looking to rush anything. Basketball and his players really were Alec’s life, and a parent couldn’t ask for a better coach or mentor than my little brother.

So, if you took a good look at my life, how could you assume anything other than perfection? I had a great family, good friends, lived in a nice, safe neighborhood, owned my own home and business, and I wasn’t bad to look at when I made the effort, which wasn’t often, admittedly. While I spent a lot of time at the office because I was my own secretary, I spent a lot of time out at the jobsites as well, so looking my best wasn’t always a priority. Contracting meetings were about as dolled-up as I got.

Nevertheless, here I was, sitting in the parking lot of Clementine Elementary, doing my best not to freak the fuck out because I’d just dropped off the twins for their first day of kindergarten. Things had been overwhelming, hectic, loud, and a tad scary-for me-but Zach and Zoey had been so damn excited to be going to school that I’d done my best to save my meltdown for later. As twins, they hadn’t had to suffer that anxiousness of walking into the classroom alone or wondering if they’d make any friends. My kids loved being together, so they were lucky in that regard.

Since the second that they’d been dropped off on my doorstep, I’d done them the disservice of overcompensating for them not having a mother, and every minute of my free time had been spent with my children. Sure, Mom had been a godsend that first year, but because she and Dad weren’t spring chickens anymore, it hadn’t been fair or reasonable for her to upend her life to help with my fuckup. Besides, she still had a job that she felt very dedicated to, and she’d already raised her children.

Now, Dad had been a bit of a different chapter, though still the same book. Though he was retired and was readily available in a way that my mother wasn’t, he was still retired, and he had also raised his children. While they had both helped way more than I had probably deserved, Zach and Zoey were my children. They were my responsibility.

Even Alec had helped a lot while I’d been trying to get my bearings that first year, but I’d been the one to make the decision to do this on my own. I’d also been the one to make sure that my children couldn’t legally be taken away from me. I’d made the decision to keep them with me, raise them the best that I could, and forget all about their fucked-up mother. So, that first year had been filled with a lot of paperwork and lawyer appointments. When two years had gone by with still no word from Naomi, I had moved forward to strip her of all her parental rights, and there was no way in hell that she could ever show up and try to take my kids from me at this point.

So, with no mother in the picture, I’d done my best to show them so much love that they wouldn’t miss her. I went out of my way to never forget anything and to always show up on time for whatever it was that we had going on. Naomi had abandoned them, and I’d be