Page 93 of Wilde In His Arms

Nick kissed her on the head.“I’m in.”He held up his phone.“Are you up for a serious talk?”

She gave him her full attention.“Of course.What is it?”

“I just got an email letting me know that Stacy is being moved out of protective custody today.”

Her heart beat faster.“Where are they sending her?”She wanted Stacy safe.

“To a foster home.I have the details.We can check in on her later.”

“Okay.That’s good.She might be scared in a new place with new strangers.”Aria wished she had family who could take her in, someone who cared.

Nick took her hand.“So I was thinking about her situation.This foster home might be temporary.She could be moved again.”

“They might even put her in a group home because of her age.Finding adoptive parents for a ten-year-old won’t be easy.”

“Unless…” Nick held her stare.

She tried to read his face.“Are you thinking we should take her?”

“We could give her a good life.A mom.A dad.A big-ass family.”

Aria grinned.“You don’t mean foster her.You want to adopt her?”

“Why not?I saved her.I feel responsible for her.And…I really want to do this.With you.”

Her heart couldn’t take how compassionate and kind he could be.“You know I adore her.”

“Are you sure though?You said you wanted to wait a year before we tried for a baby…”

“Stacy is special.You saved her.She’s ours.”

“I just can’t get that feeling out of my chest.”Nick rubbed his hand over his heart.

“Because she’s a piece of you already.”She wrapped her arms around him.“She needs us.I’m in.”

He brushed his fingers along the side of her face.“You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

“Thank you.”Really, her heart couldn’t take much more.

“After all that’s happened on this case, the too many close calls we’ve had, I don’t want to waste any more time.”

She gripped his sides tighter and smiled up at him, excitement fluttering in her belly.“Well then, let’s not leave her with strangers longer than she has to be there.”

“You’re sure.You want to adopt her and make her ours?”Hope filled his eyes.

“She’s already ours.”The relief in his eyes made her grin even wider.“We can be her safe place.”

Nick cupped her face and kissed her with such tenderness, it brought tears to her eyes.“You’ve always been mine.”

“She needs us.We can give her a good life.Certainly better than the one she’s had so far.Between your family and mine, she’d have all the help and support she needs to grow into a new version of herself that looks nothing like the girl she was.”

He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks.“With a role model like you to show her how to be a strong, independent, loving, and amazing woman… Yeah.She couldn’t do better than you.”

“Nick.”His praise set off a love bomb in her heart.He made her feel all of those things.

He touched his forehead to hers.“I mean it.”

They held each other for a long moment.

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