Page 39 of Wilde In His Arms

He parked outside the barn and made his way inside.

Aria was in a stall with a big bay horse, brushing him down.She looked amazing in tight, worn jeans, and a pink and dark blue plaid flannel, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“Hey, sweetheart.God, I’ve missed you.”

Aria’s head snapped up and her eyes went round with surprise.“Nick.What are you doing here?”

“I told you.I missed you.”He opened the stall gate and caught her in his arms when she launched herself at him.He held her close and breathed her in.Leather, hay, and peaches from her body wash.He stared into her pretty blue eyes.“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it over the weekend for the wedding.I’ve got until eight tonight, so I thought we could spend the day together before I have to get back to work tomorrow.”

“You came all this way for like eight hours?”

“I wish it were more, but I’ll take every second I can get with you.I should have done this more often in the past.I don’t want to make the same mistakes I made before.”

Her eyes went soft.“I really appreciate the effort and that you came all this way.But you could have asked me to come to you.I could have stayed until Wednesday morning.”

“One, I wanted to surprise you.Two, I thought we could go see the new house.And three, I wanted you to know I’m putting in the effort because you matter to me.”

Her smile brightened.“Yeah.You mentioned something about how much I mean to you.”

“You mean everything to me.I love you.”He finally kissed her, sinking into her mouth, his tongue caressing hers.He flattened his hands on her back, pulling her in closer.He slid his hands down over her ass and squeezed, letting her feel his rock-hard length pressed to her soft belly.She felt so good against him.He didn’t want to let her go.He didn’t want to leave here without her.

Aria pulled back and stared up at him, her eyes filled with lust and something more.“I love you, too.”

His heart beat faster and expanded three sizes.He crushed his mouth to hers again.

Someone cleared their throat nearby.

Aria released the grip she had on his shirt and gently pushed back from him.“Uh, Dad.Look who’s here.”

Nick quickly removed his hands from Aria’s ass and turned to her father.“Afternoon, Wade.”

“I see you made it okay.”

Nick nodded.“Thank you for finding someone to take over the chores for Aria so I can steal her away for the day.”

“Looks like she was happy to see you.”

Nick was more than relieved by how happy she seemed to be to see him.Especially since she’d gone on a couple dates while they were apart.While she told him about seeing some guy, she refused to give him any details about what happened.It couldn’t have turned out well if she was jumping into his arms the way she did.

“Nick and I have some things to discuss.”Aria untied the horse and took off his bridle, then collected the grooming tools and stepped out of the stall.“We’re going to look at Nick’s new place.”

“I heard.”Her father held out his hand.

Nick took it.

“It’s good to see her smile like that again.”Wade released him.“It’s a big thing you’re doing, moving here.You ready for that?”

“I am.I let work consume my life and I lost something I desperately need.I won’t make that mistake again.”Nick wanted Aria and her family to know he meant it.

He hated making Aria unhappy.He loved that his presence in her life mattered.After he’d nearly been gunned down in the street, he appreciated her love all the more and that he got this second chance.

“I’m ready to go if you are.”Aria laced her fingers with his.

He squeezed her hand.“Let’s go check out our place.”

Wade raised a brow at the “our” but didn’t comment.“Have fun.”

Nick led Aria to his rental car and they both climbed in.He drove away from the ranch and out to the main road.

---