Page 9 of Fireman Daddy’s Tempestuous Little

“Keep pushing,” he rejoined. “Get your ass in the squad room and get dressed for duty.”

The duty that day was only a twelve-hour shift, most of which would be spent filling out paperwork and attending official debriefings and press conferences, so dressing for duty would mean wearing the suit I had tailored specifically for occasions like this. I would rather swim in full fire gear than wear a damn suit but duty called, so I just nodded and headed to the squad room, bracing myself for a day of monotony.

As soon as I walked into the squad room, the room erupted in cheers. Several of the men pumped their fists in the air and chanted my name and soon the whole room was calling, “Bridger! Bridger! Bridger!”

I turned to see Brick standing behind me in perfect parade rest. His ever-present scowl still covered his face but there was a hint of a smile underneath. Coming from Brick, that was the equivalent of the raucous cheers the other firefighters gave me.

I spent several minutes enjoying congratulations and ribbing from the other men, then headed to the locker room to change.

“Bet you get all the pussy, don’t you?” Jonah said.

I turned around and smiled. “You jealous?”

“Hey, I do okay,” he retorted.

“I mean of the girls. You followed me into the locker room, you trying to sneak a peek?”

“I’ve seen bigger,” he said. “You up for today?”

“Oh, absolutely not,” I replied.

He laughed. “That’s what you get for being a celebrity. Besides, this is your fault. No one told you to run into a burning house in your skivvies.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still going to give me a hard time about that.”

“I’ll give you the hardest time you’ve ever had, sweetheart,” he said with a grin.

“You are jealous,” I said.

“Positively green,” he replied.

The day was precisely as boring and frustrating as I predicted and though I appreciated the congratulations and admiration, I practically sprinted out of the station when it was time to go home. I still wore the suit so I could have it dry-cleaned tomorrow and when I walked into the house, Miri looked me up and down and I could tell she was affected by the sight of me in the perfectly tailored silk.

So, when she looked at me and said, “Don’t think that what happened yesterday will ever happen again,” I knew she was lying.

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