Page 62 of When We Burn

She starts to say something and then pauses. “I guess that’s right, yeah.”

“Baby.” I brush my thumb back and forth over her skin. “No.We’re notjustanything. This week was a shit show, and that might be the case until we catch the fucker that’s decided to play with fire, literally, and there’s not much I can do about that.”

“I know, I just?—”

“My turn, remember?” I lean in and kiss her cheek, nuzzling it with the tip of my nose. “If you need me to keep reassuring you, I will. I have no problem with that. Because eventually, you’ll believe me and the doubts won’t fuck with you anymore. You are all I see, Dani. Just you. I hate that I had to say goodbye to you on Sunday, and then I barely saw or spoke to you until today. It was fucking torture. Last weekend was a big deal, right?”

“I thought so,” she whispers, and that earns her another kiss, this time on the lips.

“Yeah, me, too. This isn’t just sex for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the best fucking sex of my life, and I planto be inside you as much as humanly possible, but that’s not all it is. Every minute with you is the best part of my day.”

She smiles and reaches up to cup my face. “Aww. Same here, Chief.”

“Nope.” I roll closer and nip at her chin. “That’s still a no-go.”

“Come on, it’s cute.”

“No. It’s my job, and you arenotmy job. Not even close.”

She sighs, and her eyes are happy, the insecurities I saw earlier wiped away.

“Eventually, I’m going to come up with a nickname for you.”

I move my hand up farther on her stomach, ghosting over the skin, and then narrow my eyes at her. “No bra.”

“It’s late, Bridger. Of course, I’m not wearing a bra. The girls need to breathe a little.”

My fingers graze over one nipple, and it’s satisfying as fuck when the nub puckers right up for me, making Dani sigh in that sexy way she does that makes my dick twitch.

“If you want labels on what we’re doing,” I tell her softly, “that’s fine with me. I want the world to know that you’re mine. You’remine, sweetheart. I’ll make that perfectly clear, right here and now. You want to call me your boyfriend? Go right ahead.”

“Wow, we’re really clearing the air.” She pushes her hand into my hair and uses her nails to lightly scratch myscalp, and it makes my eyes roll back into my head. “You like that.”

“You can do that for a million years. Holy shit.”

She giggles, and I pull my hand out from under the hoodie. I like having free rein to touch her, but this isn’t the time to get us worked up.

I need to make sure she’s okay.All the way okay. I hate that this woman has so many doubts, especially about us. That’s unacceptable, and we’re going to permanently squash it right now. If I’m honest with myself, I’ve always considered Dani to be mine. Even when I was living in a nightmare marriage to Angela, she was never far from my mind.Except back then, I thought I’d never get to kiss her, let alone have her in my arms.Fuck, I’m not sorry Angela bailed on us either.

“I need to veto one of your rules, by the way,” I inform her and roll back a bit.

“Which rule?”

“The no touching you at your job rule.”

She shakes her head and starts to talk, but I interrupt her.

“There’s no rule with the school that says you can’t date a parent. We’re both single, consenting adults who aren’t doing anything wrong. Jesus, I’m not going to make out with you in front of five hundred students, but I need to be able to cup your cheek or kiss your lips. Simple touches, Dani. I need them, just like you needed to know what’s going on with us tonight.”

That makes her bite that lip, and she finallynods.

“Yeah?” I rub my nose over hers. “You can live with me stealing a kiss at the drop-off line at school?”

“I can live with it,” she confirms. “I want the world to know that you’re mine, too, you know. You’re a smoke show. See what I did there?”

I can’t help it. I bust up laughing and bury my face in her neck, pulling her closer.

“We’re going to have to invest in some kind of mat or foam or something for out here because this is not comfortable for long, intimate talks.”

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