Page 122 of When We Burn

“Come on, pumpkin, we’re heading over to see your dad.”

Birdie comes running down the hall from her room, ready to go, and I shoot off one last text.

Me: There’s a lot here. We could use some help with it when we get there.

Once Birdie is secure in her seat, I head out, driving over to the fire station across town. When I pull into the parking lot, I’m stunned to find eight firefighters waiting for us. Bridger’s smile lights me up inside.

“Hey,” I say, climbing out of the car as Birdie jumps out, too.

“We’re here to help,” Bridger says as he wraps his armaround my waist and kisses me before he lifts Birdie into his arms, hugging her close.

The others are already pulling things out of the back of the SUV and heading inside with it.

“This smells good.”

“I’m freaking starving.”

I grin at Bridger. “This is fun. We’ll have to do it more often.”

“You’ll spoil my guys,” he says as he leads us inside, his fingers laced with mine, palm to palm, and it feels so good to be close to him.

“Andmyguy, so it’s totally worth it.”

Birdie is already flirting with one of the men who’s helping her scoop up a small slice of lasagna for herself while everyone else digs in.

But Bridger hasn’t left my side.

“Don’t you want to eat?” I ask him, enjoying the way it feels to be tucked up against his side, his hand on my hip. I’ve missed him just as much as his daughter has.

“I will. There’s plenty. But I haven’t seen you awake in days, so I’d rather just stand here, holding you for as long as I can.”

I turn fully into him and wrap my arms around him, holding on tight. “Do you still have tomorrow off?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow and Friday, back at it Saturday.”

“At least we get you for two whole days.” I grin up at him, and he bends down to kiss me softly.

No one comments. They all act like they don’t even see us.

“Hey, Diego, are you and Birdie okay? I need to talk to Dani in my office for a minute.”

“Sure, we are.” The man, so big and tanned with tons of tattoos, grins at Birdie, who, if I’m not mistaken, just batted her eyelashes at him. “You wanna hang with me for a bit, beautiful?”

“Yeah.” Birdie nods, and I can’t help but smirk.

“We’ll be back,” Bridger says as he takes my hand and leads me down a hallway to his office, then closes and locks the door.

“Did you see your daughter flirting with that guy?”

“What?” He stops dead in his tracks. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Nothing. Forget I said anything. What’s up? What do we need to talk about?”

But he doesn’t answer me with words. He frames my face in his hands, backs me against the wall, and kisses me, setting my entire body on fire. His mouth feels like heaven, and then he licks my lips, and I open for him, and he sinks into me, letting out a soft moan that I feel all the way to my core.

I grip his sides, my hands fisted in his shirt, and then his hands are on my ass and he’s carrying me across the room to his desk. The door is locked, the blinds pulled, and Bridger is on a mission.

“I’m hungry for you,” he growls against my neck as his fingers dive into the waistband of my leggings, tugging them down over my hips, to my ankles, where they get stuck at my shoes. With a chuckle, I toe off the shoes, and Bridger manages to get my bottomsall the way off. Then he’s spreading me wide and kneeling before me. “This is the only thing I want to eat right now.”

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