Page 74 of When We Burn

“Okay.”

It’s as simple as that. She goes back to eating her breakfast and presses play on her tablet to watch her cartoon, not seeming concerned about anything else. But then, she hits pause again and looks stricken.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her.

“What about Pickles? If Miss Dani stays here at night, Pickles will be alone and scared.”

I laugh and walk around the island to kiss her head. “We’ll bring Pickles, too.”

“And she can sleep inmybed,” she announces. “So she’s not alone.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Now, finish your breakfast so we can get you to school.”

Birdie seems to be feeling even more like herself when we reach the school, and I walk her to the door, where she hurries in without hardly giving me a second glance.

Dani’s standing on the sidewalk, as usual, and she’s smiling at me as I cross to her. I’m in my uniform today because I have to go to the office from here, and her gaze eats me up, from head to toe.

“Are you salivating, kitten?”

She laughs and doesn’t flinch or try to pull away when I drag my knuckle down her cheek and then lean in to press my lips to hers, just for a moment.

“You have a big head,” she says, and when I simply smirk at her, those eyes go wide and her cheeks burn up. “You know I didn’t meanthat.”

“Later, I’ll ask you to be more specific.” I chuckle and take her hand in mine, threading our fingers together. “Birdie had a sniffle this morning, but I gave her some meds, and she seems to be better.”

Dani frowns. “Oh, no. I’ll keep an eye on her. Hopefully, the medicine lasts until the end of the school day. Poor little thing.”

“Sometimes, it can lead to an asthma attack. Like Isaid, she was fine just now. You’d never know anything was wrong, but she shouldn’t run around at recess, just to be safe.”

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t,” Dani assures me. “Her inhaler is locked in my desk. I’ll put it in my pocket and carry it on me today, just in case.”

“Thank you.” My eyes drift down to the crisp white button-down she’s wearing, those black buttons undone at the top, revealing the top of her cleavage, and the only reason I can see that much is because I’m so much taller than she is. The shirt is tucked into black slacks that hug her curves in all the right places.

I know that Dani mentioned that she’s self-conscious about her curves, but I wouldn’t have her any other way. She fits against me like she was made for me. She’s absolutely perfect.

“I should go in,” she says, pulling me out of my reverie. “You must be working today.”

“I am, but I’ll have my phone on me, so if you need me, just reach out.”

She smiles and nods. “I will, but we won’t need you. We’re good here. Have a good day at work.”

“You, too.” I lean in for one more kiss, and then I walk away toward my truck.

“Holy cow, girl, you andBridger?”

I glance back to see another teacher talking to my girl. Dani’s smiling wide and nodding, and pride fills my chest.

Day one of public affectionwas a success.

“We’ll have medical tents set up,” a man in a suit on the video call tells us.

We’re in a conference room at the police station, with a large screen on the wall showing everyone in Seattle who is in on this call, as well as those of us in this room. It’s a relief that everyone’s taking this as seriously as I had hoped.

“With how many personnel to man those tents?” I ask him.

“There will be six tents with two doctors and four nurses in each one.”

“Twelve doctors and twenty-four nurses,” I mutter. “For ten thousand people.”

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