Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“You were sleeping so well.” He kisses my cheek and down to my chin. “And you had to work this morning.”
“Always wake me up.” I cup his face. “Always. We need this.”
“Agreed.” He kisses me so tenderly, so softly that my heart catches before he pulls out of me and reaches for a box of tissues to clean us up.
When our clothes are righted, Bridger tugs me to him again.
“I don’t want to say goodbye yet. Come out and eat with me.”
“Okay. I’d like that.” He opens the door of his office and leads me down the hallway. “Has the arsonist stopped his shenanigans? You haven’t mentioned it in a while.”
Bridger blows out a breath and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t trust it, and I don’t want to jinx it by saying too much, but there hasn’t been any activity in a while.”
“That’s good.”
When we walk back into the small kitchen and eating area for the firefighters, we find Birdie sitting on the table, with a big plate of chocolate cake on her lap.
“Whoa,” I say, stepping forward. “Who gave you that huge piece of cake?”
“Him.” She points to Diego, the guy she was flirting with earlier, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“She’s a master at getting what she wants,” he says, with his hands up. “I just do her bidding.”
“Yeah, well, that’s way too much cake.” I take the plate from her and don’t miss the way her face falls as I cut it into thirds and give her back her share. Then I send Bridger a horrified look. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t my place, and I should have checked with you.”
“Bull.” He kisses my lips and then walks over to the pan of lasagna where he dishes us both a helping. “Don’t second-guess us now, kitten.”
Pressing my lips together, I sit next to my guy at the table, and we dig into our food as Birdie eats her cake.
I’m so glad we did this today. I needed time with Bridger, even if he hadn’t swept me back to his office. I just enjoy being near him.
“This is really good. Birdie, did you make this?”
“Yep,” the little girl says. “But Miss Dani helped.”
I wink at Bridger and notice that most of the other firefighters have finished their food and have dispersed to other places.
“Will you be home late again tonight?” I ask Bridger.
“My shift ends at ten,” he says and reaches over to tuck my hair behind my ear. “So, unless something catastrophic happens, not too late.”
“I’ll wait up.” I take his hand and kiss his palm. “And tomorrow, we’re all going to Ryan Wild’s for Thanksgiving. Like, all three families.”
“Yep.” Bridger grabs the empty plate from his daughter. “It’s going to be a shit ton of people, but luckily, Ryan’s a billionaire and built a huge house, so there’s room.”
“I should be baking today to take something over.”
Bridger frowns and shakes his head. “No. Stupidly rich, remember? Ryan’s having it all catered, and they won’t forget anything. He doesn’t want anyone to have to do any of the work. It’ll be nice.”
“It’ll be overwhelming.” I shrug a shoulder. “But yes, it’ll be nice. Well, Birdie, should we get home and start settling in for the night?”
“Okay.” Birdie crawls into her dad’s lap and gives him a hug. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, too, peanut. Be good tonight, okay?”
“I will.”
He walks us out to the car and makes sure Birdie gets secured into her seat before he opens the driver’s door for me. Before I can get in, he cups my face and kisses me sweetly.
“Thank you for this. I really needed it. All of it.”
Grinning, I rub a circle on his chest. “Me, too. It was my pleasure. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I get in and start the car, waving to Bridger as he shoves his hands into his pockets and watches us pull away.
I’ve just pulled out onto the street when I see who I’m sure is Angela coming in the opposite direction, and she’s signaling to turn into the fire station.
I quickly shoot Bridger a text.
Me: Just saw Angela turning into your parking lot. Heads-up.
Biting my lip, I do my best to set that aside and get us home safely.
His text comes in immediately.
My Love: Thank you. I got this, don’t worry. I love you.
Chapter Twenty-Three
BRIDGER
Seeing my girls today, after the longest work week I’ve had for a while, was the best. Taking Dani into my office and sinking inside of her? Nothing beats that. It was a fantastic couple of hours.
And then Dani’s text came through.
I’m swinging from best day ever to you have got to be fucking kidding me in the span of two minutes.
So, it’s no surprise when the outdoor doorbell rings, and one of my guys calls out to me.