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“I missed you so much.” I breathed. “I’m sorry for the way I left.”
“Nico.” He sighed. “I’m sorry too. You have no idea how much I missed you, sweetheart.”
My heart did a double take at the endearment, and my arms squeezed him even tighter. I wouldn’t let him go again. I just couldn’t.
I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes.
“I love you,” I said, expecting to feel abject terror at the words. Or embarrassment about saying something so personal in front of my employees. But I didn’t. I felt relief. It bubbled up, pushing a laugh out of me. “I love you, you big dumb jerk. Why are you here?”
West’s face had morphed from shock to happiness, and his smile was like the sun on a hot, Texas day.
“I’m here because I love you too. I came to bring you home with me. With us.”
I felt my throat constrict as I realized what he was saying. “Really? You came to get me?”
“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t give Pippa up when she was my last link to you. You and I can love her more than anyone else in the world. Come home.”
“You came to get me?” I asked again, feeling light-headed. “To bring me home?”
“Someone should have done it a long time ago, Nico,” West said gently. “I came to get you, and I’m not leaving here without you. If you’re not ready to go or if you don’t see yourself in Hobie, we’ll move here.”
“But what about your practice? Your big Wilde family? Xavier?” I asked without thinking.
“I can practice medicine anywhere. My big Wilde family knows how to use the airport. And why the hell are you asking me about my ex-boyfriend?”
“He moved back. Everyone knows you two would be perfect together,” I said stupidly, sounding like a petulant child. Apparently, I couldn’t stop myself.
West’s eyes sparkled. “Nicolas Salerno, has anyone ever told you that opposites attract? Plus, been there, done that with Xavier. He has no fire or passion. I don’t want perfect. I want you. And you have to admit, you’re about as fiery and passionate as they come.” He winked at me before leaning down to seal my mouth with his.
The kiss was possessive and meaningful, rife with promises and beginnings. I didn’t want it to end, but the catcalls from my employees seeped into my awareness, causing me to pull back, cheeks flaming at the realization all that shit had happened in front of their noses.
Coco jutted out a hip. I noticed Jax had snuck Pippa out of her stroller and was making faces at her.
“You gonna introduce us to your new sugar daddy or just put us on a show?” Coco teased. “Not that I’m complaining.”
I sighed, feeling myself begin to let go of the weight I’d been carrying around for so long. My hand reached out for West’s, threading our fingers together with a gentle squeeze.
“Yeah, okay. Guys, this is West Wilde. West, this is Mike, Jax, Coco. They make this place run,” I explained, waving to the crew and then the shop. While he shook hands, I looked around at the result of my years of hard work and dedication in that tattoo shop. The memories, the ups and downs. I’d lived and worked there for almost a decade.
But it was time to take the Nico I’d become in San Francisco and join it with the Nico I’d always been in Hobie. I wasn’t all of one or the other. I was a combination of the two, and I was ready to find my new normal.
“Give me that baby,” I told Jax with a grin. He handed her over reluctantly, and I pulled her in close, sniffing the baby wash smell of her and nuzzling her hair. “Did your daddy pick out your outfit today? Because, girl, we need to talk,” I murmured into her ear. “From now on, I’m the one you come to for fashion, not Dr. Boring Khaki Pants over there.”
“I heard that,” West said. “Don’t even think about putting her in leather, Nico.”
I ignored him and kept talking to Pippa. “Come here and let me show you some cute little tattoos you’ll like when you get a little older. Surely he’ll let us give you at least one.”
“Nico…,” he warned.
“And piercings, just think of all the tender skin we can put holes in when you—”
West’s arms came around me from behind, and he took my earlobe between his teeth. “Don’t even think about it, beautiful. All your piercings do is make me hornier for you. I don’t want a single piercing on her body. Everyone will want to get into her pants.”
I smiled and turned to kiss him. “Which one of those three clowns should we leave in charge of Pippa for the next hour while we run upstairs?”
