Page 38 of Snow

CHAPTER TWELVE

Nova wrapped both hands around the cold beer bottle as she sat alone in the corner of the hotel bar and restaurant, staring down at the half-destroyed plate of nachos in front of her. A drink and her favorite snack would normally have been enough to improve her mood at least a little, but tonight, even chips, melted cheese, and beer weren’t cutting it.

The only positive was that she was caught up on work. After leaving the team earlier, she had locked herself in her hotel room for nearly three hours, finishing everything Mr. Silverman needed before she headed offshore tomorrow. So, if the world decided to implode while she was stranded on an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf, at least her client wouldn’t be able to say she had left loose ends behind.

Unfortunately, her personal life was an entirely different story.

Her conversation with Sophia earlier kept replaying in her mind.

“This has Dad and Rick’s father written all over it,” her sister had said without hesitation. Nova had agreed. The entire thing felt too calculated and too convenient.

While Nova had a mini meltdown on the phone with her sister, Sophia had tried to calm her down.

“Don’t stress yourself out over it tonight,” she had told her. “If there’s no engagement announcement, people will eventually start asking questions. Then that will be their mess to explain, not yours.”

Nova wished it were that easy. But knowing who she was dealing with, the situation would be anything but easy.

She had just reached for another nacho when a shadow fell over the table. She looked up and nearly choked on her own breath when she saw Snow standing there.

◆◆◆

Snow walked through the sliding glass doors of the hotel, laughing as he read his mom’s latest text.

“What’s so funny?” Nails asked.

“My mom. I finally told her the real reason why Yvette and I broke up all those years ago. Now she can’t stop feeling bad.” He held up his phone and showed him the text. “I can’t believe I defended that girl. I even blamed you! You know how hard it is for a mother to admit she was wrong? She owes me an apology too.”

Nails barked out a laugh. “Your mom apologized to you because your ex cheated on you?”

“Apparently.” Snow slipped his phone into his pocket. “She also informed me she’s removing Yvette from every family photo in her house.”

Bear grinned. “Your mom knows Photoshop?”

“No,” Snow deadpanned. “She owns scissors.”

“Remind me not to piss your mom off,” Aussie joked.

“Well, if Yvette doesn’t stop calling, I’m afraid that my mom is going to do more than just remove her from photos.”

“She’s still calling? Even after you told her to move on?”

“Yup. But I just ignore the calls.”

He wanted to laugh at himself. He had spent years learning how to de-escalate dangerous situations. Unfortunately, nobody had ever taught him how to de-escalate an ex-girlfriend who resurfaced with what seemed to be professional-grade stalking capabilities.

He ran his hand through his hair out of frustration. Christ, he really didn’t need to be dealing with this crap. He had enough on his plate at the moment.

“Come on, man, it isn’t that bad,” Nails joked.

Snow just glared at him. Yeah, it was easy for him to say that because he wasn’t having to deal with that type of crap anymore. He had Riley now.

Tomorrow he would begin a mission that already had enough unknowns attached to it. The last thing he needed to deal with was an ex-girlfriend who suddenly resurfaced after years of silence and didn’t understand what the phrase “move on” meant.

Then there was the situation with Nova. Just thinking her name made his jaw tighten. His feelings for her were becoming increasingly complicated, and he didn’t like it. The smart move would be to keep things professional and maintain some distance between them. End of story. But the problem was that somewhere between laying eyes on her on the plane and the present, she had managed to get under his skin.

He barely knew anything about her, yet he found himself wanting to know more. It was a dangerous train of thought, one he had no business entertaining. Still, after spending the last day fighting the assignment, he had finally accepted that Nova wasn’t going anywhere. And whether he liked it or not, they were partners on this operation, and he needed to quit wasting energy resisting it and focus on the mission ahead.

A sharp elbow nudged him in the ribs, dragging him from his thoughts.