“Remember I told you I received a Thomas Webster Award?”
Her forehead wrinkles as she thinks back to the conversation we had in Mexico. “Oh, yeah. You said it was like the bronze medal of the department or something, right? You earned it for saving that little boy.”
“I didn’t save him.”
“Yeah, but—”
“He still died,” I say gloomily. “I pulled out his mother and baby sister first, and had to go back in to search for him. By the time we got out, it was too late for Jackson. I received the Thomas Webster foracts of braveryas they call it. It was supposed to be a symbol of excellence on the job but it didn’t feel that way.”
Her hand moves up to cup my face. “But you saved that family.”
Turning, I kiss the inside of her palm. “Still. It felt like a loss. Jackson is my one.”
“Your one?”
I explain to her what that means and she raises up on her tiptoes, planting a soft kiss to my lips.
“His family came by earlier this week. To thank me, of all things.”
“Of course they did. They lost their little boy but that father would’ve lost his wife and both of his children if it hadn’t of been for you. As hard as it sounds to hear, you can’t save everybody.”
My lips pinch. Logically, I know what she says is true but I hate hearing it. “I didn’t get into this career not to save people.”
This time she cups my face with both of her hands, and gives me a small smile as she reaches up, kissing my lips again.
“If I’m ever in a fire I’d let you save me,” she grins.
“Don’t joke like that,” I insist, my hands covering her wrist.
Her smile fades. “I was just ki—”
“I know, but you’re too important to me to even imagine something like that happening to you and I can’t get to you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Our lips meet somewhere in the middle. I pour all of my emotions into the kiss, telling her without words how important she is to me. My base instincts take over as I pull back.
“You still haven’t shown me the color of the panties that’ll be laying on the floor in a minute.” I don’t wait for her to move. My hands go to the waistband of the pink pants she’s wearing, undoing the bow that holds the belt in place. I get a glimpse of the yellow lace panties she’s wearing underneath.
“Yellow looks damn good on you.”
“You haven’t even seen the bra yet.” Her eyebrows wiggle.
“They’re matching?”
She nods and my lips form a frown.
“You wore these to work?” The jealousy bubbles up in my chest just thinking of her wearing a matching lace bra and panty set all day while away from me.
“I put them on this morning with you in mind,” she whispers.
“You better have.” I fuse our lips together and move to push her pants the hell out of the way when—
“Janine! Are you in there?” The yelling is followed by a loud pounding on my door. “Girl, I know you’re there!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Janine sighs. She looks to me with wide eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Reluctantly, I let her pull away and quickly redo her clothing so she can open the door for her mother, who’s still banging on the door.
