Page 53 of Protected By Duval
His gaze was fixed on Noelle’s little girl who wanted one more slide with him standing by.
Ciela’s foot slipped on the platform and he whipped his arm out, putting his hand between her head at the plastic tunnel at the top of the slide.
She giggled and slid down again, laughing out loud.
He let out a shaky exhale.
That was close.
“Quick reflexes, Duval. Nice.”
He resisted the urge to slam an elbow into Dally’s middle.
Barely.
He wasn’t about to do something like that in front of Ciela, but he was going to do it… some time.
Ciela came off of the slide and skidded to a stop, looking at Dally with slightly widened eyes.
Duval looked his teammate over and saw that he’d removed his badge.
He blew out a breath and reached out, clapping a hand on Dally’s shoulder. “This is my friend, Dally.”
“Dally?” Ciela frowned in confusion and Duval was struck by how much her expression reminded him over her mother. “What’s a Dally?”
Duval gave Dally a little shake. “He is.”
“Okay.” She grinned up at Duval and pointed off to the side. “Who are they?”
He looked in that direction and barely managed to hold back a groan. “That’s Jack and Blue.”
“Jack and Blue.” Ciela repeated. She looked at one and then the other and finally announced. "Blue’s the guy, right?”
Blue looked a little taken aback by her identification. “Yeah.”
Ciela giggled. “Your eyes are pretty.”
“She’s got you pegged.” Jack laughed and gave Blue a smack on the arm. “Your eyes are pretty.”
Duval shook his head. “Y’all better watch out. She’ll be after your jobs soon.”
Ciela stopped a few steps from the swings and turned her head up to look at him. “What kind of job?”
He felt his heart stop in his chest.
He’d opened his damn mouth and shoved his big damn boots in.
Fuck.
How was he going to get out of this predicament.
“Us?” Jack moved closer and tousled Ciela’s hair. “We help people.”
“Help?”
Jack nodded and Duval could tell she was picking her words carefully. “Yeah, we protect people.”
Ciela beamed up at Jack. “I want to protect people, too!”
