Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49258 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49258 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
After escorting her to the table, Koa helped her sit down. The diaper bunched under her bottom. It was a constant reminder that she could be little here. Giana played happily with her stuffies as he brought everything to the table.
“That’s everything,” he announced, setting the last dish down.
“Daddy. I can’t eat without a shirt,” she told him seriously. Her mother had always required her brother and dad to be fully covered at the table.
“I’ve got you, Flame.” He gently tugged a towel-like item with a circle opening in the middle over her head. It draped over her chest and back, concealing her skin.
She ran her hand over the fabric and smiled. It was soft and fluffy against her skin. “I like this.”
“I’m glad.” Koa dropped a kiss on the top of her head. He plucked her stuffies from her hands and drew another chair close to her for her friends before sitting down.
He filled a divided plate for her that kept all her food from touching. He even stopped and cut her chicken into bite-size pieces before setting it in front of her. “Eat, Flame. I know you’re hungry.”
Giana picked up her fork immediately and stabbed a piece of the diced fruit. Popping it into her mouth, she discovered it was a piece of apple, not the pear she’d expected. “This isn’t from a can, is it?” she mumbled as she crunched the tidbit.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, little girl. And, yes. It is fresh. I won’t eat that mushy processed stuff. Do you like it?”
She swallowed carefully and answered, “It’s yummy. And you put all sorts of fruit in here. Look. Here’s a pear. I thought that’s what I put in my mouth.”
Poking around at the fruit salad as she chewed her newest find, Giana scrunched her nose up. A cherry. She didn’t like cherries. Did she have to eat it?
“You don’t like those?” he guessed.
Giana shook her head and answered, “Not at all.”
“Perfect. More for me. Want to feed me that one and I’ll avoid dishing anymore up for you?”
Happily, Giana stabbed the offending fruit and held it out to her daddy. He made everything so much better. As he playfully gobbled it off her fork, her heart skipped a beat. She’d never cared this much about anyone. She loved him.
Smiling down at her plate, she took a second to savor that realization. She loved Koa.
“Are you okay, Flame?” he asked, covering her hand with his.
“The absolute best I’ve ever been. Thank you, Daddy, for saving me from the red yucky monster.”
“Any time, little girl. Any time.”
CHAPTER 13
By the time she finished work the next day, Giana felt awful. The scratchy throat she’d attributed to the smoke from yesterday’s major fire had gotten worse as the day progressed. Now each time she swallowed, her throat felt like broken glass. Her hoarse cough wasn’t helping it.
“Captain, you don’t sound good,” Tom said from her doorway.
“I’m fine,” she assured the firefighter who frequently wanted to hang out in her office.
“Maybe you should go to the doctor. I could take you,” he offered, coming in to sit in the chair in front of her desk.
“I’m busy, Tom. I can’t stop to talk,” she croaked. “Go check on the supplies in the medical cabinet.” She’d already asked him twice to do the inventory. The job would take several hours and keep the man out of her hair for the rest of her shift. He couldn’t be done.
“The other guys can do it. I’ve been trying to talk to you all day,” Tom said, appearing peeved.
“Emergency?” she snapped.
“Well, no. I thought we needed to get to know each other better. I’d love to take you…”
“I don’t date firefighters, Tom. I’ve told you this before. If you ask me one more time, I’m going to write you up for harassment. No means no.”
“Women change their minds all the time. I think we’d be a good match. You just have to give me a chance.”
Giana straightened her spine and shot him a stern look. “Get out of my office. Pack your things and report to station four within the hour. That will be your new home base effective immediately.”
“You can’t do that!”
She stared at him. When Tom didn’t leave, she glanced at her watch. “You’re down to fifty-seven minutes before you’re considered late for your shift at station four.”
Tom glared at her, holding her gaze to challenge her authority. Giana didn’t address him again. She turned to pick up her phone and called the fire captain at his new station.
“Good news, Robert. I’m permanently transferring an employee to station four.” Ignoring Tom, she listened to the other captain’s response. “I noticed this morning in the district meeting that you were down two firefighters while we had one extra. That should help balance out the numbers.”