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“Wow is right,” he replied, taking her hand and kissing it. “Don’t be nervous about that. It was wonderful.”
“Was it for you? I’m afraid I conked out.”
“You’ll have to catch up on your sleep tonight. With any luck I won’t be out fighting a fire some jackass started by throwing his cigarette out the window.”
“So what is this we have going on?” Bridget asked, switching her finger between the two of them.
“You don’t know?” He acted shocked, teasing her.
“Well, I guess because I’ve had my share of one-night stands, or one-week stands more accurately, I’m hoping it’s not that.”
“Never,” he said, taking her hand to his lips to kiss. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Flynn.”
“Wow. Now that’s intense.”
They laughed together. “The new keyword iswow.”
To avoid an early morning confrontation with the parents after all, she had Tony pull his truck up around a little bend in the road. He helped her get the baby out of his seat and strapped into his fancy new stroller. Someday it would be clear to the grandparents, he hoped, that Flynn was cherished and would have only the best of everything from his hand.
Conversation was kept to a minimum on the way to the station, both getting into work mode. He pulled into his usual spot. They were a little later than usual, about five to seven, and no one else was around.
“I want a kiss before anyone else shows up.”
“They’re probably already inside,” she said, laughing.
He pulled her over, smoothing his hands over her body. “I love you, Bridget.”
“You do?”
With her arms around his shoulders, she ran her fingers through his hair, kissing him. She shivered a little bit.
“I do. I’ll do the best I can to slow down if that scares you.”
“Ha! I think it’s too late for that, Tony. Let’s just take it one day at a time for now, okay?”
“One day at a time it is.”
They separated and grabbed their bags.
“Yikes, how am I going to get home now?” she asked, looking around like it had just occurred to her that she didn’t have her car.
“You’ll take the truck. No problem. I’m not going to need it.”
“Getting through the next three days without you is not going to be easy,” she said.
“Tell me about it. At least we’ll see each other here. And we can have breaks together if it’s quiet.”
He went inside to get the flag, and they did that ritual together. They walked to the station with his arm slung around her shoulder like it was always meant to be there. The staff took note. Tony and Bridget were a couple.
It didn’t register right away, but Katherine, with a polishing rag in her hand, stopped working after a minute and watched them, letting the scene before her sink in. Tony was with the new EMT and not with his old girlfriend, whom he’d gone back to after breaking Katherine’s heart. They were perfect together, too. Tony, big and muscular, olive complexion, black curly hair like a Greek God, and Bridget, tall, model thin but curvy, ivory skin, huge blue eyes and shiny, straight black hair pulled back into a classic bun.
Perfect together and obviously happy and, unbelievably because it had only been a week, in love! She could see it from across the garage; their body language was that of lovers.
Heat pulsed through her body, ridiculous though it seemed. She knew when she went out with him that it was temporary. The way it happened was an embarrassment. The annual summer party at the firehouse was the scene of the crime. After coming off her three-day stint, she was ready to party. Everyone drank too much. It was no excuse. She knew he was upset about Patty cheating on him, and she’d taken advantage of it.
“Dance with me,” she whispered in Tony’s ear.
He stumbled out to the dance floor with her, and they rocked together, her arms around his neck, and she kissed him in front of everyone, a passionate kiss with her tongue in between his lips. Kissing her back, he was in a fog triggered by too much beer and too many emotions. When the music stopped, he took her arms from around him and excused himself, walking to the restrooms.
