Page 124 of When We Burn

“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 otherfirefighters 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.

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