Page 25 of Snow

As she passed the executive wing, her steps slowed. She saw that her father’s office door was closed, but the blinds weren’t. And inside, she saw Rick’s parents and her mom and dad. They were all seated like they were attending a goddamn strategy meeting, most likely discussing her.

Disgusting. She thought to herself.

And then, as if he sensed her presence, her father looked up. Their eyes locked, and she didn’t blink. Instead, she gave him a small, knowing smirk.

He narrowed his eyes, and her smirk grew wider. Let him stew in the uncertainty, because Nova Hart was done being the pawn.

She held her head up high, turned the corner, and walked out.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The plane’s wheels hit the runway with a hard jolt, causing Nova to jerk forward in her seat. Thank goodness for seat belts.

As the plane taxied to the gate, she looked out the window. It was dreary outside with thick grey clouds and rain. She smirked, thinking how the weather was perfectly in sync with her mood.

Once they reached the gate, she stayed seated as the seatbelt signs dinged off and the rows in front of her sprang to life. She laughed to herself as she watched people pulling their bags from the overhead and jockeying for position to get off the plane. The worst were the impatient ones who tried to force their way to the front of the plane.

Considering she was in the last row and wasn’t in a hurry, she sat back in her seat, took out her phone, and powered it on.

She had five missed calls and seven text messages. Three of the missed calls were from Rick, and the other two were from her mother. She wouldn’t be returning their calls because she had nothing to say to them.

She scrolled through the text messages and answered her sister’s text. Sophia had sent her a few condo listings nearby that she wanted Nova to check out.

She looked through the other messages. Four were from people at work. One was from Rick telling her that they needed to talk, which she deleted. And the last one was from her mother telling her that she needed to call her to discuss things. Yep, that wasn’t happening either, and she deleted her message.

With a sigh, she tucked her phone into her backpack and stood up since her row was next.

Reaching up toward the overhead bin, she pushed the latch open and stood on her toes as her arms stretched to grab her carry-on bag. But all she got was air.

What the hell? Unless the bag had suddenly sprouted legs, it should have been right there.

She backed up a little, stood on her tiptoes, and saw that the bag had shifted during the flight and had slid all the way to the back of the overhead, completely out of her reach.

She tried again, leaning further, but her fingertips barely grazed the edge of the handle. Being five-foot-three did have its disadvantages.

She was just about to ask the tall flight attendant who was standing nearby for assistance when a large, muscular arm reached over her shoulder and snagged the bag with ease.

Nova’s eyes darted upward, only to meet a pair of striking, light blue eyes framed by thick black lashes and a chiseled jaw dusted with dark stubble.

Holy hell, she thought. Her breath caught as the tall, broad-shouldered man handed the bag to her like it weighed nothing.

“I think this was what you were searching for,” he stated, his tone sounding slightly amused.

It took a few seconds for Nova to stop eye fucking Mr. Sexy Blue Eyes and to form a sentence.

“Umm. Yes, that’s mine. Thank you.”

She cringed inwardly at how awkward that sounded, but recovered with a small, professional smile as she took the bag from his hands. “Appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he said with a casual shrug, his voice low and easy.

With that, he turned toward the aisle, slinging his own backpack over his shoulder as the line of passengers started to inch forward again.

Nova remained rooted for a moment, staring at the back of his head. His dark hair was cut short, but not military short. His T-shirt stretched across his back and shoulders, hinting at more of the sculpted muscle that had just made her carry-on situation look like childs play.

She shook her head quickly and followed after him. What the hell was that? She never reacted to men like that. Maybe because you never allowed yourself to see the world around you, the little voice inside her head said.

The comment wasn’t far off. She had been blind to a lot of things thanks to her parents. She and Rick had been together for the last two and a half years, and before that, she had been too busy with law school even to consider dating.