12. Jax
Jax
There were at least a dozen things I could think of blocking my and Nova’s relationship from moving forward. None of them had to do with working together.
Fear wasn’t something that normally held me back in life. When it came to Nova, however, fear always won out. Maybe because it mattered more than anything else in life?
Over the next few weeks, we continued to hide our relationship from everyone.
At one point, I was pretty sure Nova had told Sofia.
She had explained that she’d taken Sofia to lunch one day and had changed her mind when Sofia confided in her that my brother had suddenly pulled away from her.
They’d spent the entire lunch talking about that failing relationship instead.
We had finally decided I would tell Rick, just to make things official with him and the board.
I was going to tell my brother after work, but before I could meet with him, the snow had started.
An hour before quitting time, Rick sent out an email telling everyone to go home due to the weather.
I took it as a sign to skip the conversation.
Nova knocked on my office door and leaned against the frame. “Want to head up to your place and wait out the storm?”
I shut my computer down in record time.
We had just settled down in front of the fireplace, eating some leftover lasagna, when Rick called.
“I can’t get a hold of Sofia. I’m heading down to the brewery now to check on her.” He sounded worried.
“Want us to meet you there?” I suggested.
“No, I’ll… keep you posted,” he said and hung up.
“What’s wrong?” Nova leaned up to look at me.
“Rick can’t get ahold of Sofia,” I said, frowning at my phone. “He sounds worried.”
She shifted and pulled out her phone, calling her best friend. “It went to voicemail.” She sent a text.
I tried calling Rick back a half hour later, after Sofia had sent several more messages.
We were just getting dressed in warmer clothes to head down there ourselves when he finally called me back and filled us in on how Sofia had been kidnapped by Leonard Whistler.
He assured us that she was okay, but Nova demanded to talk to her.
When she got off the phone, she confirmed that her friend was in good hands and that she was going to be staying at Rick’s for the night.
“I really want to go and check up on her,” she said as we settled back down as the storm raged outside the windows. “But she was adamant that she didn’t even have a scratch on her.”
“I’m sure my brother is going to take really good care of her,” I added, pulling her back into my arms.
“I can’t believe Leonard kidnapped her. From what she told me, he showed up after her meeting at the brewery.”
She relayed the entire story to me, and when I talked briefly with Rick, he’d filled me in on the rest. How the police had shown up and how Sofia had escaped the madman herself.
“Maybe now they’ll get back together,” she said with a yawn.
I thought about that for a moment, what I would do if something like that had happened to Nova, and my gut twisted.
I’d been in love with her for as long as I could remember. Yet, to this date, I hadn’t told her. Hadn’t really shown her how I feel.
“I’ll call him in the morning and tell him about us,” I said out of the blue.
“No, give them the weekend.” She sighed and snuggled closer. “Let them enjoy being together and the first snow of the season.”
I nodded and held onto her as the movie continued on the screen.
The next afternoon, the snow was gone, leaving behind the crisp bite of cold air flowing down from the mountains.
Sofia had called and talked to Nova for over an hour. After, Nova explained that her best friend had guessed that we had been hiding our relationship.
“She said it was obvious because I’d been over at your place last night and I’m still here today.” She rolled her eyes. “I just couldn’t lie to her, not knowing what she’d gone through yesterday.”
“It’s okay. At least now they know. How is she doing?”
“She’s fine.” Her smile grew. “Your brother confessed his love for her and is going to stay in Golden.”
I frowned. “What about his company in California?”
“He’s selling it to his partner.” She shrugged, then asked, “What’s wrong?”
I realized I had stiffened slightly. “Nothing.”
She put her hands on her hips. I rolled my eyes.
“Fine.” I threw up my hands after a moment of her silent treatment. “I was hoping he’d decide to go back to Cali so I could step up at GSM.”
“You complained enough when Rick left you in charge for one week,” she teased me.
I smiled. “I did, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be in charge.”
“Ah, men and their desperate need for power,” she joked. Then she sobered. “You deserve to at least share the power with Rick. You stayed. All these years, you stayed.” She walked over and sat on my lap, holding onto me.
I thought about her words for the next week. We had a few more days before Nova and I were due back in Vegas. This time, the trip was four days filled with meetings.
Nova and I worked on our last ditch effort to gain favor from Kit. If this didn’t work, I seriously doubted anything short of Nova falling at the man’s feet would. Of course, there was no way in hell that was happening.
Three more times that week, flowers or fruit baskets had showed up at the office from Kit. Rick had contacted the man directly and in not so subtle ways told him that if anything was delivered to an employee’s home, they would break off any negotiations.
I just knew there was trouble waiting for us in Vegas. We did everything we could to prepare for the trip. This time, we booked our own hotel room. Singular.
I was determined to show Kit that Nova was off the negotiation table.
“Got a sec?” Rick knocked on my work door shortly after I got into work the day before we left.
“Sure.” I was waiting for my computer to boot up anyway so I turned toward him. “What’s up?” He shut my office door, then walked over.
“I got this from Mom last night.” He held out a small green box.
“It was grandma’s.” He opened it, and I saw the sky blue diamond my dad’s mother used to have on her finger.
The ring was always going to go to Rick.
It was left in my grandmother’s will that he should use it as a wedding ring, if he so desired one day.
“Wow.” I looked up at Rick. “So I guess you and Sofia are really serious?”
Rick smiled and looked at the diamond. “Yeah. I have this whole dinner planned tomorrow night.” He snapped the box shut and put it back in his pocket.
“Well, congratulations.” I stood and shook his hand. I meant it.
“Also, when you get back from this trip, just to let you know, I plan on having the board make a few changes around here too.” He shook my hand.
“Such as?” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Dad was wrong.” He leaned on the edge of my desk.
“About?” I frowned.
“He should have put you in charge,” he said softly.
“I don’t—” I started, but Rick held up his hand to stop me.
“I’m not stepping aside completely, but I do think we can share the burden.” He held out his hand. “If you want to split it with me, that is?”
I laughed, stood up, and shook his hand. “Partners?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “We can figure out the logistics when you get back, but I think Dad would like it. After all, he taught you everything he knows. I just picked up a few tricks in California on my own.”
“I think I can handle that. Do I get the big office?” I joked.
He laughed. “Hell no, but we’ll see what we can come up with.” He glanced around my smaller space. “If you get this contract,” he teased.
“Sounds good.” I laughed and hugged him.
“I guess it’s a good thing Chris never followed in Dad’s footsteps. I doubt we’d have room for three of us around here.”
The day flew by quickly as I rode on that high. I didn’t even have time to talk to Nova, let alone tell her the exciting news, either of Rick proposing to her best friend or that I’d be a fifty-fifty CEO with my brother.
I knew the board would go for it. Hell, I’d golfed with a few of the members last weekend and they’d questioned why Dad hadn’t left me in charge and let Rick go back to California.
Still, my brother was doing great in charge, and they had no real complaints. Going into this trip knowing he’d realized my importance was rewarding. It somehow freed up my mind to focus on getting the account.
When I finally clocked out of my computer and headed toward Nova’s desk, Sofia was in the office, laughing with her.
“So, this is where the party is?” I joked, leaning against the doorframe. When they saw me, they both burst out laughing even more, like they had done when they’d been teenagers. “So I’m still the joke then?”
“No,” Nova said, standing up and rushing to my side, then planting a kiss on my cheek. “We were remembering the summer you took us to the lake.”
I frowned, then held in a groan remembering the one time I’d tried my hand at cliff diving off a few larger rocks. “I was wearing my brother’s swim trunks. They were big,” I countered, causing them to laugh even more.
“When you came up for air, they were just…” Sofia motioned with her hands. “Right there, floating next to you.”
I smiled. “I do know how to put on a show.” I wiggled my eyebrows and had the pair laughing harder.
“I’m ready,” Nova said after wiping the happy tears from her face. “See you when we get back from Vegas.” She sang the last word and waved her hands in the air.
“Have fun. Remember, not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” Sofia said as she walked out the office door.
“Thanks for that, Mom!” Nova called after her.
“I was thinking Chinese takeout?” I suggested as we walked out of the building.
“Sounds perfect. I still have some packing to do,” Nova said with a half groan.
“You’ve unpacked and repacked like six times already,” I teased.
“It’s really hard to know what to bring.
” She tucked her arm in mine as we stepped out onto the sidewalk, which was covered with fresh snow.
It was just a dusting, but the air had a bite to it, and Nova tucked her body next to mine.
“If Kit invites us to another party, I’ll need a few more cocktail dresses than last time.
Plus, I need business attire, something that is in no way provocative. ”
I smiled. “But the cocktail dresses can be?”
“Should be,” she corrected. “Now do you see my dilemma?” I chuckled. “Oh, it’s really easy for you men. I mean, pack a couple suits, some dress pants, ties, and nice shirts, then your toiletry items, and you’re done.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“You suppose? Have you ever tried putting five different pairs of heels, three pairs of flats, and at least one pair of walking shoes into two small bags? Besides the shoes, you need several cocktail dresses, which can’t arrive wrinkled, along with dress pants, skirts, shirts, and all your undergarments.
Oh, and don’t get me started on all the hair and makeup products I have to squish into my bags as well. ” She rolled her eyes.
I thought for a moment. “What if I put all my things into one bag and carried another bag with your shoes in it?”
She stopped walking and looked at me for a moment. “You’d… do that?”
“Sure, why not?”
She lifted on her toes and kissed me. “You are my hero.”
I wrapped my arms around her and enjoyed her lips running over mine.
When we got home, I realized that, without making it official in any way, Nova had moved in with me. Her shoes were by the door in the shoe rack. Her coats hung by mine in the mud room.
Over the years, the three-bedroom place had undergone a few changes.
Now things were more organized than ever before.
Nova had a knack for making spaces for everything.
It wasn’t as if she’d moved out of her small apartment, not yet, but there were signs she was staying here at least five nights a week.
I kept thinking about our living situations as we watched a game and ate dinner. By the time we had moved into the bedroom to pack, I was determined to ask Nova to make the move permanent.
When we had our four bags completely packed, her things in the three largest of them and my things in my normal carry-on bag, I finally got up enough courage to ask her.
“What do you say to moving in here when we get back from this trip?”
She blinked at me a few times. “My things are already here.”
“I mean, fully, permanently.”
Her smile was slow at first. “You mean, get rid of my apartment?”
I nodded as she moved closer to me. “Move in with me, officially.” I brushed my lips across hers.
“Okay.” She laughed and held onto me. “When we get back, you can help me move the rest of my things here.”
“We should tell your folks,” I suggested.
She let out a soft groan. “Dad is going to want you to get security cameras and new locks on your doors.”
“Okay,” I said easily. I knew Brian Clark’s love for his daughter ran to security. After all, the man ran a very successful business selling security hardware. Hell, I had one of his security cameras at my front door. I could do with a few more around the place.
“He’s going to demand we purchase the elite package,” she warned, and I laughed. “I only got a pass because I was living in an approved building.”
“I know your dad’s quirks,” I said, rubbing her arm. “I have known the man for as long as I’ve known you.” I kissed her.
“Mom’s going to want to help me repaint every room in this place. Besides her normal job, she fancies herself an interior-decorating genius.”
I groaned. “Just talk her out of pinks or pastel colors.”
“Deal.” She smiled and kissed me again.