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“Good,” she says with satisfaction. But only a few seconds of silence pass before she pipes up with another question. “Can we go see Daddy after this?”
I’m not surprised at my daughter’s request. She’ssucha daddy’s girl.
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” I say.
As I drive the kids over to the fire station, I remind Valentina that her dad might be out on a call, or busy with other important work. But as we pull up and park outside the station, I spot Thorne and a few other firefighters outside the station, all gathered around a nearby tree.
“Look! Daddy’s saving a cat!” Valentina cries.
I help her out of her car seat, then get Teddy out of his. As I approach the crew, I see that Valentina was right: her father is up in the tree, coaxing a stray cat from one of the branches.
I watch in awe as my husband grabs the cat and makes his way back down to the ground. When he sees us, he laughs and says, “Hey. You got here at the perfect time.”
“Look at you, being such a cliché,” I tease Thorne, giving his gruff cheek a kiss. When I look at the scrawny cat in his arms, my heart squeezes tight. “Aww. That poor little thing.”
“What do you think?” Thorne asks. “Should we keep it?”
Valentina answers for me. “Yes! You saved it, Daddy! That means wehaveto keep it!”
Thorne raises an eyebrow at his daughter. “Oh, that’s how it works, huh?”
“Mm-hmm,” says Valentina confidently.
“Well, guess that’s that,” Thorne says.
We go inside the station with Thorne to get the cat cleaned up and give it some food. While the cat is eating and the kids are busy cooing over it, Thorne slips a hand around my waist and pulls me aside.
“I’ve got something for you,” he says, taking me toward his room.
Knowing the crew will keep a close eye on our kids, I happily sneak away with my husband for whatever surprise he has for me. And it is, indeed, a surprise: when we get into Thorne’s room, he hands me an oversized valentine.
“Did you…make this?” I ask, stunned as I look at the big paper heart.
“I know it’s pretty lame compared to that one you made me all those years ago, but I tried my best,” he says.
“It’s not lame at all.” I press it to my chest. “I love it, Thorne.”
He smiles one of those slow, sexy smiles of his, then leans down to give me a warm kiss.
“Think we have time for a quickie?” he asks.
“Always,” I say, already undoing his belt. And when he growls with happiness, pulling me over to his bed, I laugh with a full and happy heart.
