Page 57 of Dream Chaser

A determined fire burned in her eyes when she lifted them to mine. I recognized it, the hunger. Hunger to prove herself. To show she could do more and choose who she wanted to be.

I’d been hungry too, back when I left my hometown at eighteen to make sure my future held more than the fear of not having enough to pay the bills or provide for my family.

“Your skill is the reason you’re at the agency,” I said in case she had doubts. “You’re great at your job.”

She exhaled. “Thank you. I promise I’m not always this desperate for validation.”

“You’re not desperate.” Especially when her doubts were caused by someone’s unfair words. I grabbed my phone. “I’m going to order dinner. I’d rather you didn’t work on an empty stomach.”

The grateful smile Nova gave me was the highlight of my day.

***

Nova set her plastic fork in the empty lasagna container and pushed it aside. “I think the opening isn’t gripping enough. We need to open with an action photo of John. Do we have one?”

I rubbed my chin. “Probably something from his former agency. Guess we’ll need something else. They might not want to share their work with the competition.”

“I can take some pictures tomorrow and Photoshop his helmet, so it seems like Iron Core.”

“That works.”

Nova’s eyes lit up. “And I’d tweak the positioning line. Quote his recent biggest achievement. Oh, and here”—she clicked through the presentation slides—“we could talk about why he fits their values. The audience overlap is a huge advantage. His fans are mostly guys in their early twenties, and that’s who the brand will attract. Plus, their price range makes some of the helmets affordable for amateur riders.”

“Do you think the social reach part of the pitch is okay?”

She skimmed my notes. “Could be expanded. Same as the brand visibility part. I can make mockups like I did for NitroFlow with Asher. They loved those.” She paused, catching herself. “I think they did, anyway. They still haven’t gotten back to us.”

“They will.”

She laughed. “Must be nice to be so sure of everything.”

“It’s a skill that can be developed,” I said, jotting down her suggestions on a notepad. I wasn’t ashamed to admit I would’ve gotten twice as many sponsorship deals for athletes if Nova had joined the agency sooner. She had the vision and the drive, and while the factual, measurable part was my strong suit, hers was creativity. She was convincing in a subtle way, which worked way better than aggressive insistence.

“Okay.” I set the pen down.

Nova picked it up and twirled it. The light from the desk lamp caught on the silver script. “Alejandro Guerrero. A personalized pen. Fitting for a boss.”

Nostalgia tugged at my chest. “My father gave it to me when I opened my agency in Spain. Said he could see me signing lots of important things with it.”

“He wasn’t wrong.” Nova put the pen on the notepad carefully. “Do you miss your family?”

“I try to see them as often as I can, but yes, I do. What about yours?”

She clasped her hands on the desk. “It’s complicated. My mother won’t accept that I want a divorce, so it makes things hard.”

I couldn’t imagine how anyone would want their daughter to stay with the kind of man Nova had married, but not everyone was as lucky as I was when it came to family. After being a front-row witness to Asher’s family drama, I was even more grateful for the family I had—not perfect, but one I could always count on.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

Nova’s gaze had turned sad, and I didn’t want to spoil the evening with uncomfortable conversations.

She waved me off. “Don’t be. I’m choosing to believe she’ll come around once the divorce is finalized. I’m her only child. She can’t stay mad at me forever.”

“There’s nothing to be mad about, anyway. You’re an adult who makes her own choices.”

“She’d disagree. May I?” Nova reached for my notepad.

I handed it to her. She picked up a pen—not mine—and scribbled a few lines under my notes in her neat handwriting. Fuck, was there anything about her I didn’t like?