Page 6 of Wilde In His Arms

“Fuck!I don’t know.”His job was his life.

She’d gotten that right.

But he loved being with Aria.She fit him.Understood him.

“The job is the job.But it’s not everything.It’s not the same as having someone in your life who sees you, knows you, loves you.It’s nothing compared to really living.”

Mason would know.He’d been undercover and alone for years until Lyric brought him back to life.Back into the family.

He was a new man because of her.A better man.

Nick wanted to be the man for Aria.“You think I should quit my job to be with her?”

“Is that the answer that feels right to you?Or, my brilliant brother, is there another solution?One you haven’t considered.One that would mean you were fulfilled and allowed you to be with her.If that’s even what you really want.”

“Of course I want to be with her.She’s fucking amazing.”

“Yeah.These Wilde women are something.”

Nick heard Lyric’s muffled voice, then his brother’s soft groan.He bet they were kissing.They were always kissing.

And Nick had that same chemistry with Aria.

He understood that she wanted more.She was the oldest, the one who looked out for all her siblings.And yeah, maybe it stung to see them all happily settling down and starting families.He sometimes got jealous when he watched Mason and Lyric together.He envied their connection, the easy way they were together, the lightness that came over his brother when Lyric was in the room with him.Mason smiled more now than he had in the last five years.It was because of her.

They were a family now.

Nick wanted that, too.He just let other things get in the way.

While his job was based in Montana, that didn’t mean he couldn’t figure something out.Mason did when he quit undercover work and started training other agents and overseeing cases.

“I can’t lose her.”

“Then don’t.And for what it’s worth, I don’t think she wants to lose you either.”

“She wants more, and I get that because it’s what I want, too.I just thought I had more time to figure this out.”Which was why he had put it off, thinking he and Aria would eventually make plans.Instead he focused on work and lost track of how many months he’d delayed making plans with her.Or even letting her know he wanted to make plans with her.

Nick rubbed his hand against his chest.“I can’t believe she ended things.”

Mason sighed.“Bro, I know you haven’t gotten any sleep, so you’re not thinking clearly.But you need to get your head in the game.Start with figuring out how to spend more time here with her.If this is really a forever thing, you’ve got to make her believe in that and you before you pop the question.And, hey, if we both end up having kids, they’ll grow up with each other and be as close as us.”

The picture Mason painted was everything he wanted.He loved all the Wildes.They always made him feel like he belonged.With all the shit he saw on the job, he’d love to come home to his gorgeous wife and kids and have the kind of normal Mason found with Lyric.

He didn’t want work to be his whole life, even if that’s how he’d been living for the past decade.He’d worked hard to achieve his goals in the FBI.He was proud of his accomplishments and record.

He turned into the airport and spotted the helicopter waiting for him.“I have to go.Thanks for the ear and advice.”

Mason chuckled.“Yeah, no problem.Just fix this fast before my wife sends me after your ass for hurting her sister.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do.Tell Lyric I’m sorry I didn’t get to see her.And kiss her.”

Mason growled.

It was something their cousin Hawk had started with his brothers and Nick had joined in just to rile Mason.Every time they saw Lyric, they kissed her on the forehead.It drove Mason nuts.He was so possessive, but he took it all in stride because he loved them.He knew they loved her for loving Mason.

And Lyric was a good sport.Especially because she’d declared herself Hawk’s best friend.She spoke to him more than any of them and they appreciated her tenacity with their ex-military, gruff, intense, broody cousin.

Oh, Hawk had every reason to be the way he was, but nothing they said or did seemed to help.More often than not, he simply didn’t show up; instead he’d hide away in his house.Alone.Lost in the horrific memories of the past and the crash that left him scarred, body and soul.

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