When We Burn (The Blackwells of Montana #1)

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

DANI

“ O kay, guys, did you get your hand traced?” I’m walking around my classroom, guiding my students through an art project for Thanksgiving. It’s the standard, trace the hand and turn it into a turkey craft. One that’s been done for generations.

And, since it’s a half day of school today because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we’re having fun.

“Good job, Ariel,” I say, patting a little blond-haired girl on the shoulder.

We only have a half hour left of classtime today, and that’s about how long it takes for my kids to glue their projects together.

“I hope you all have a good long weekend,” I say to my class. “Have lots of fun, okay?”

The bell rings, and the kids gather their bags and papers and coats and start to file out of my classroom.

A little boy named Mason approaches me with pink cheeks and shy, downcast eyes.

“Hey, Mason. Do you need something?”

“Um, Miss Dani? Could I maybe take some food home with me?”

And just like that, my heart breaks for this little boy. He’s so thin, and more times than not, his clothes are dirty. His parents didn’t come to parent-teacher conferences, and he rides the bus to and from school, so I’ve never met them.

It’s pretty plain to see that Mason has a rough life at home, even if that means neglect.

And I completely relate to him.

“Of course, you can. Let’s go shopping in the closet, shall we?”

He nods and slips his sweet little hand into mine as we walk to the treat cabinet. For ten minutes, we fill a reusable bag that I keep on hand, just for these occasions, and he chooses some soups and other nonperishable meals that he can heat up at home, along with some snacks.

I want to take him home with me and feed him anything he wants.

“Thank you,” he says with a smile before he leaves to catch his bus.

With a sigh, I turn to find Birdie still sitting at her desk. Bridger’s been working extra hours this week because one of his guys just welcomed a new baby and is on paternity leave. Needless to say, Birdie and I haven’t seen much of him lately, and we miss him .

“Are you about ready to go home, pumpkin?” I rub Birdie’s back soothingly.

“I guess.”

“What’s wrong, honey? Are you feeling okay?”

“I miss Daddy.”

I squat beside her and kiss her cheek. “I know you do. I do, too. I have an idea. Your dad and his guys have been working extra hard this week, right?”

She nods, watching me.

“What if you and I go home and make them something super delicious for dinner, and then we take it to them at the fire station?”

Birdie’s eyes brighten at the idea. “Okay.”

“Let’s FaceTime your dad right now, to make sure it’s okay with him. What do you think?”

“Yes. Let’s do it.”

I walk to my desk and gesture for Birdie to follow me, and we sit in my chair, my sweet girl in my lap, and FaceTime Bridger.

He answers on the second ring.

“Hey, it’s my girls. Is school finished already?”

“Hi, Daddy,” Birdie says and blows him a kiss.

“Hi, peanut. Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, we made a turkey out of our hand. It was weird.”

Bridger laughs. “You still do that?”

“We do,” I confirm. “Hey, Birdie and I have a question. Would it be okay if she and I make a ton of food for you and your guys for dinner and bring it by later? If something comes up and there’s an emergency, just let me know, but otherwise, would that be okay?”

“Are you kidding me?” He looks exhausted as he sighs. “Nothing would be better than seeing you two. We’d love that, and thanks for letting me know. We won’t cook anything.”

“Good. Are there any allergies or anything I need to know about?”

“Nope. We’ll eat anything, and lots of it. There are eight of us here today.”

“Awesome. Birdie and I better get to work, then. I’ll text you when we’re on our way.”

“I love you guys,” Bridger says to both of us. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“We love you, too, Daddy,” Birdie says, and we both blow him another kiss before I end the call and slip my phone into my purse.

“It’s settled, then. Let’s go make some delicious food for everyone, shall we?”

“Yes! Can we make lasagna? With bread and salad and stuff?”

“I think that’s a great idea. Absolutely. Come on, let’s go to the store and then get to work.”

Less than an hour later, we’re standing in the kitchen, assembling a lasagna and getting it ready for the oven.

“It’s going to be so delicious ,” Birdie says.

“I think so, too. Now, while this bakes, let’s you and I grab a little lunch. What do you say?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry. ”

After I get Birdie set up with some scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit, I make myself a quick sandwich and then get to work on the garlic bread. Of course, then I decide to be extra and make a cake.

Because everyone needs dessert.

Finally, when I have two pans of lasagna, three loaves of garlic bread, a huge green salad, and a chocolate cake wrapped up and secure in my car—after many trips back and forth—I text my man.

Me: Your dinner is ready. Is this still okay?

My Love: We’re all excited. Ready when you are.

“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 arm around 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.

“And my guy, 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 bottoms all the way off. Then he’s spreading me wide and kneeling before me. “This is the only thing I want to eat right now.”

“Holy cow.” My hand dives into his hair and holds on as he lowers his face and licks me along my entire slit.

“Fuck, babe, you’re so wet. So fucking beautiful.”

He’s lapping at me as if he’s starving, and I have to cover my mouth with my hand so I don’t make too much noise.

What is it with this man making me crazy where I can’t make noise?

“Bridge.” I’m panting, reaching for him. “Please, I need you inside of me. Please.”

“God, I love it when you ask me for it.” He plants a wet kiss on my inner thigh, then stands and unfastens his pants, unleashes his already hard cock, and immediately pushes inside of me, filling me up and making me groan. “There’s nothing like this. Nothing in the world makes me feel like you do.”

“Nothing,” I echo. He pushes in and presses against my clit, making me clench around him. His face is in my neck, his mouth on me, licking and nibbling, as he moves quickly, in and out of me in the most delicious rhythm. “God, I love it.”

“Love what, kitten?”

I grin, secretly loving this game. “When you fuck me like this. With your big, hard—” I gasp because his thumb is pressed to my clit, making all the words in my head disintegrate.

“Go on.”

“Cock. ”

“That’s right.” He crushes his mouth to mine now, and cups his hand around my ass, pulling me even tighter against him, and I can’t take it. My muscles start to clench even tighter around him. “Come on me, sweetheart.”

“Bridge.” I can’t catch my breath. “Shit.”

“Yes, my love. Let go.”

I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to, and Bridger bites my shoulder and lets go with me, following me over with a climax that shudders through him.

“Fuck,” he whispers. “I’ll never look at this desk the same way again.”

I lean my face into his chest and let out a little laugh. “Well, that was fun. I’ve missed you. Missed this. You didn’t wake me up when you got home last night.”

“You were sleeping so well.” He kisses my cheek and down to my chin. “And you had to work this morning.”

“Always wake me up.” I cup his face. “Always. We need this.”

“Agreed.” He kisses me so tenderly, so softly that my heart catches before he pulls out of me and reaches for a box of tissues to clean us up.

When our clothes are righted, Bridger tugs me to him again.

“I don’t want to say goodbye yet. Come out and eat with me.”

“Okay. I’d like that.” He opens the door of his office and leads me down the hallway. “Has the arsonist stopped his shenanigans? You haven’t mentioned it in a while. ”

Bridger blows out a breath and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t trust it, and I don’t want to jinx it by saying too much, but there hasn’t been any activity in a while.”

“That’s good.”

When we walk back into the small kitchen and eating area for the firefighters, we find Birdie sitting on the table, with a big plate of chocolate cake on her lap.

“Whoa,” I say, stepping forward. “Who gave you that huge piece of cake?”

“Him.” She points to Diego, the guy she was flirting with earlier, and I narrow my eyes at him.

“She’s a master at getting what she wants,” he says, with his hands up. “I just do her bidding.”

“Yeah, well, that’s way too much cake.” I take the plate from her and don’t miss the way her face falls as I cut it into thirds and give her back her share. Then I send Bridger a horrified look. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t my place, and I should have checked with you.”

“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 other firefighters 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.