CHAPTER TWELVE #2
She quirked one of her eyebrows. “Well, that’s certainly a start.”
He huffed out a laugh. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.
“The truth is, when Derek told us we were bringing a civilian onto this operation, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.
This mission already has enough unknowns attached to it, and I made the mistake of deciding what kind of person you were before I ever got to know you. ”
Nova stayed quiet, letting him continue.
“I treated you like you didn’t belong here. Like you weren’t capable of contributing and were just something the team had to babysit.” He shook his head. “That wasn’t fair to you.”
For a moment, he studied the table before meeting her eyes again.
“You didn’t deserve the attitude, being talked down to, or acting like you were somehow less important than everyone else involved in this operation.” He let out a breath. “So, I’m sorry. For all of it.”
He held her gaze for a moment. “I swear to you that it wasn’t personal,” he admitted honestly.
Her expression softened slightly, though there was still caution there.
Snow exhaled slowly and glanced toward the bar before looking back at her.
“The way I was trained, you learn to look at every situation and every person as a possible threat first. It’s how my brain works.
” He rubbed a hand across his jaw before continuing.
“But honestly? The bigger issue is probably that I’m worried about you. ”
Nova’s eyebrows pinched together. “Why would you be worried about me?”
“I know how fast things can go sideways in situations like this. My focus has to stay on the mission, and I guess part of me has been worried that I’ll be too busy handling whatever comes our way and miss something, or that you could be in trouble.”
For a moment she just looked at him, and then unexpectedly she smiled.
“Well, I appreciate the honesty, and I accept your apology,” she said. “But I’m not exactly the damsel in distress type.”
A teasing look danced in her eyes, and Snow found himself relaxing for the first time around her.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She took a sip of her beer. “I can assure you that I can defend myself.”
Snow looked genuinely surprised. “You know self-defense?”
Nova laughed softly. “Trust me, when I say that, I’m more than qualified when it comes to self-defense.”
“Care to elaborate?”
A grin spread across her face. “I’ve been kickboxing for years.”
“Seriously?” he asked before he could stop himself.
She narrowed her eyes immediately. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Snow laughed, shaking his head. “Nothing, that just wasn’t what I expected.”
“Is that because you judged me before you actually knew me?”
Snow felt the heat hit his cheeks, and he laughed. “Honestly? Yeah. I did.”
She snorted. “Well, surprise. I’ve been kickboxing since I was fourteen.”
Damn, he really had her all wrong.
“I apologize again for underestimating you,” he said with a grin.
“Apology accepted, again,” she said with a smile.
“Truce?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Nova looked at his hand as if she were debating it. But then she shook it. “Truce.”
The second their hands met, Snow felt something that he couldn’t quite explain. It was like an energy traveling through him. Her fingers were soft but firm against his, and for the briefest moment he could have sworn he felt the same look of awareness from her too before she pulled her hand back.
She pointed to her beer. “Would you like one? My treat.”
Snow glanced at the bottle in front of her. “I have to admit, I didn’t see you as a beer drinker.”
She looked offended, though he saw a slight smile mixed in. “Are you judging me again?”
He chuckled. “No. Yes. I don’t know. I just had you pegged as a fancy wine girl.”
She cutely crinkled her nose. “I hate wine.”
That made him laugh again because apparently every assumption he had made about her was wrong. A waitress came over, and Nova ordered him a beer before settling back into the booth.
Snow debated asking about the text she got earlier, but he wasn’t sure how to bring it up without sounding nosy. Instead, he settled for, “You look a little better than you did earlier.”
“Huh?” Nova asked, looking confused.
“Earlier, when we were wrapping up the meeting, and you were looking at your phone, you looked upset.”
An annoyed look briefly crossed her face before she waved it off. “It’s just something I need to deal with when I get home.”
Not exactly an answer, but enough to tell him she didn’t want to talk about it. Then she changed the topic.
“Oh, I meant to let Derek know, but I called my sister and told her that I would be buried in meetings this week and probably wouldn’t be very responsive.
And I also extended my reservation here at the hotel for an extra week.
I figured it wouldn’t hurt in case someone called the hotel looking for me. At least they had a room for me.”
“You thought to do all that?” Snow asked, looking impressed.
She gave him a small shrug, a smile tugging at her lips. “I have elite-level spy instincts.”
He chuckled again, shaking his head. “We might have to get you on a few more missions after this.”
Nova smirked. “Let’s see if I survive this one first.”
That earned a grin from him. Jesus, he had seriously underestimated her.
The waitress returned with his beer, and he took a sip.
“You mentioned a sister. Tell me about your family.”
Nova scrunched up her nose slightly before telling him about her two older brothers who were back in Salt Lake City, and her older sister who lived in Maryland.
But Snow noticed she barely mentioned her parents at all, which immediately struck him as odd considering she worked for her father’s law firm.
Still, he didn’t press. Everybody had things they didn’t want to talk about with strangers.
Then before he could stop himself, he asked, “Anyone special back home?”
Nova barked out a sarcastic laugh. “No.”
The answer came so quickly and bluntly that it immediately confirmed their intel had been wrong. Oddly enough, that realization brought a sense of relief he really didn’t want to examine too closely.
Their conversation became easier after that, flowing naturally in a way he hadn’t expected. Snow found himself telling her things he normally didn’t share with people outside the team, including growing up in a small town in New Mexico as the middle kid between three brothers and three sisters.
Nova’s eyes widened. “Seven kids? Your poor mother.”
He laughed. “She survived somehow.”