Page 83 of Wilde In His Arms

Nick walked into the office Monroe pointed him to and immediately hated the way the desk had been positioned facing the door, his back to the windows.That wouldn’t do.

So he rearranged the credenza on the right-side wall, shifted the desk in front of it, then put the two chairs in front of his desk.It left quite a bit of space on the other side of the room, but at least now he had the wall of windows on his right, the office to his left, and plenty of room to add a table or cabinet, something where they could spread out documents or maps or whatever to go over when needed.Maybe a magnetic whiteboard where they could put up pictures and notes about a case on the wall.

Yeah, this was going to work out well.

He sat behind the desk, checking out his new chair.Comfortable.That was good, because he’d be here a lot.

He picked up the phone and called Aria at home.

“Hey there.You left before I got up.Should I be worried?”

“Why?”

“Because the guy who doesn’t have time to date, let alone ever live with someone, left me sleeping alone when he didn’t have to go to work.So either there was an emergency, or you’re already regretting asking me to move in.”

Fuck me.I suck at this.

“No.That’s not it at all.In fact, it couldn’t be farther from the truth.I wanted to wake you up this morning.I almost did.In the good kind of way.But you looked so peaceful sleeping there.Inourbed.”

“Tell me the truth.Were you watching me sleep?”Her teasing tone let him know she’d let go of her upset.

“Maybe.But not in a creepy way.More like in a,I can’t believe she’s here and minekind of way.”

“Okay.But if you’re having second thoughts…”

“I’m not.Put that out of your mind.”In fact, he’d like to fast-track a few things.“With our schedules kind of opposite, we’ll have to get used to missing each other sometimes so the other can sleep.”

“True.I just didn’t expect you to be gone this morning after you were so excited to have me in your bed.”

“Ourbed.Ourhouse.Ourlife together.”

“I like the sound of all that.”It wasn’t hard at all to hear the smile in her voice.

“Good.Me, too.And, hey, I’m at the new office.Save this number, so you can call me here, too.”

“Okay.So how is it?Do you like it?”

“It’s nice.I was just thinking this is going to be a good change of pace.Less people to manage, more time to be with you.”It would be an adjustment.And he’d need to let go of some of his control over everything he was leaving behind at his old job.But he’d do it.He was ready for it.Plus he’d have more time to settle in with Aria and find a new routine, which he hoped included more family time with his brother and the Wilde family, too.He didn’t want to keep missing out on events and celebrations.

“Hey, I just saw your text about the threat from Javier Lopez.Do you want to tell me more about it?”

He hated the anger and worry in her voice.“You don’t need to know the details.”He didn’t want to scare her more by telling her Javier had been at the house.Or that there were double the agents there protecting her.“Just be careful.Keep the agent assigned to you close.”There would be others she didn’t see.

“Two are walking the perimeter of the house as we speak.”

The other two were probably doing a wider sweep.“Good.How’d you sleep?”Having her in bed with him made his night.

“Better than I have in ages.”

That’s what he liked to hear.“Then you’ll be well rested for what I have in store for you later.”

“I can’t wait.Um…”

He didn’t like her hesitant tone.“What is it?”He wanted her to know she could tell him anything.

“If I send you a pic of the grocery list, could you do the shopping while you’re in town and save me a trip?I need a few things.”

He grinned and got a light feeling in his stomach.“Sure.I’d love to do the grocery shopping for us.”

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