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“I know this was totally random. Thank you. Now I have to go exercise a bunch of horses.” She paused again. “Do you ride?”

“Yeah. But not in a long time.” Too long. He missed the ranch in Montana, his family, everything about having a normal life.

“Hmm. Okay.” She sounded like she didn’t know what to say anymore.

“What’s the dinner special tonight?” He often ate at the bar. She was the best cook. And if his mother ever heard him say that, she’d kill him, but it was true.

“Are you back in town?” She’d noticed his absence.

That gave him hope, even if he couldn’t do anything with it. “I got back last night.”

“Were you hoping for something?”

Her. But he remembered they were talking about food. “Pot roast with those garlic mashed potatoes.” His stomach grumbled because all he’d had this morning was coffee.

Nick picked up Viper’s shirt and threw it in his face.

He glared back at his brother.

“I could make you that.”

He didn’t expect that answer because pot roast wasn’t really on the menu at the Dark Horse Dive Bar. He just really wanted it on this cold January day.

“See you tonight.” She hung up.

He didn’t mind. He was too stunned by her response and that she’d called him at all.

“Care to share?” Nick asked.

“Call Hunt Wilde. I want to know who he’s doing a background check on for his cousin Lyric. I want to know everything and more on whoever this guy is.”

“Why? She’s not your concern. Let Hunt handle it. You have other business to finish.”

He pulled his shirt on over his head and bit back the pain in his shoulder. “I can do both.” Back to his usual irritated self, he dared his brother with a look to contradict him.

Nick frowned. “This isn’t smart.”

“I have stayed away from her for months.”

“You got involved with her cousin and the baby. You shot the guy who went after her other cousin and his girlfriend.”

He didn’t need the reminder of the shooting. “Then, keeping one more Wilde safe isn’t exactly beyond the scope of my job here.”

Nick’s stare didn’t waver. “She’s different. Isn’t she?”

“She’s not a part of the other stuff, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You know exactly what I’m asking. Why her? Why now? You know better than to lose focus.”

He held his arms out, then let them drop. “I have been nothing but focused on the job for years. What has it gotten me?”

“You know the payoff has always been worth the risk. That’s the job.”

“And what about my life?” he snapped, then realized he’d revealed too much.

Nick took a seat and stared up at him. “I’ve felt this coming for the last several months. Talk to me. Tell me where your head is at, so I can help.”

“I don’t need help. I need something that’s mine. That’s real.” The need for it clawed at him.