CHAPTER THIRTEEN #3
“Is that what I am? A study?” She tilted her head, a small smile playing at her lips. “Though there’s not much worth studying. I’m pretty much an open book.”
Shit, I’m in serious trouble, he thought to himself.
“What was your first impression of Clint?” he asked, keeping his voice casual. Yes, he was desperate for a change in topic, but he was curious what her opinion was.
Nova looked up at him. “You mean, Captain Creepy.”
Snow barked out a laugh. “Captain Creepy?”
Nova shrugged her shoulders. “It was that or Rig Rat.”
Snow laughed again. “You are just full of surprises,” he told her. “I haven’t met a ton of lawyers, but you definitely do not fit the stereotype. And yes, I’m judging again, but my statement is a compliment, as most lawyers I know are stuffy and have a very dry sense of humor.”
Nova grinned. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to enter your statement into evidence should you ever try to deny it.”
Snow shook his head. “You know, I’m starting to think you’re a lot more dangerous with words than I am with a rifle.”
Nova’s smile turned mischievous. “Lucky for you, I only fire when provoked.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’d rather not find myself in your crosshairs.”
“But back to your question, I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy vibe from him. I felt as if he were playing a role. You know, friendly on the outside, but hiding something calculating underneath. And that whole thing about us being lucky to have the floor to ourselves is total bullshit.”
Snow nodded, relieved she saw it too. “I agree.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Nova’s lips twitched.
“So,” she said, gesturing to the room. “Should we set some roommate rules?”
“Roommate rules?” his brows furrowed.
Nova smirked. “Yep. Rule number one, keep the room tidy. That includes no leaving clothes on the floor. Rule number two,” she glanced at the coffee maker sitting on the mini fridge.
“First one up makes a pot of coffee. Rule number three: no stinking up the bathroom. If you have to go number two, use another bathroom. Rule number four: if I start talking in my sleep, anything you hear is protected by attorney-client privilege.”
Snow folded his arms across his chest as she rattled off her list with all the seriousness of a judge delivering a court order.
The longer she went, the harder it became to keep a straight face.
But when she declared that “number two” belonged in any bathroom but theirs, the corners of his mouth had given up the fight entirely.
This woman was completely captivating. From the beginning, he had expected a polished corporate attorney who’d be buttoned-up, all business, humorless, and armed with enough legal jargon to put an insomniac to sleep.
Instead, he had gotten a woman who nicknamed suspicious people, negotiated coffee rights like an international treaty, and considered bathroom etiquette worthy of its own official clause.
What he respected most about her was that she wasn’t trying to impress him. She was just being herself—quick-witted, unapologetically quirky, and far more entertaining than he had ever expected.
By the time she reached the attorney-client privilege clause, he was openly grinning.
And the crazy part was that he didn’t mind following every last one of them. In fact, if this was what sharing a room with Nova Hart was going to be like, the week had suddenly become a whole lot more interesting.
Once she was finished, he smiled. “Noted. And if you snore—”
“I don’t snore,” she interrupted, laughing. “I sleep like a perfectly silent angel. Well, besides the occasional talking-in-your-sleep thing I mentioned.”
Before he could respond, his phone vibrated, and he pulled it from his pocket. It was a message from Bear checking in.
Bear: How’s life on the floating island of steel?
Snow: Just settling in with my roommate.
Bear: Roommate?
Snow smirked as he typed out his message. The guys were going to have a field day when they heard about the rooming situation.
Snow: I’ll explain when I check in after dinner.
Bear: Copy.
Snow pocketed the phone and looked at Nova, who was now sitting on the bed watching him. She caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Just the guys checking in.”
Snow reached into his duffel and pulled out a tactical knife. He sat on the edge of his cot, lifted his pant leg, and strapped the sheath to his ankle.
Nova watched, her hand covering her mouth but her eyes bright with amusement. A giggle escaped.
“What?” he asked, securing the strap.
“Nothing.” She dropped her hand, but her grin remained. “Umm…what else can you pull out of that Mary Poppins bag of yours?”
Snow paused and looked at her. “My what?”
“Your Mary Poppins bag. Could you produce a lamp or a potted plant or a full living room set if we needed it?”
He stared at her for a moment, then barked out a deep laugh.
Shaking his head, he stood, grabbed the duffel, and crossed to the closet.
Compared to the amount of tactical equipment to start a small war, the cameras were practically the least suspicious thing in the bag.
He shoved the bag deep into the closet and clicked the padlock shut.
He then handed her a key.
“What’s this for?” she asked, taking it.
“It’s a spare for the closet. Just in case something happens and I can’t get to the closet.”
“In all seriousness, what else is in there?” she asked.
“A few things I hope we will never need,” he admitted. “Some additional surveillance equipment, a couple of knives, a few extra handguns, extra ammunition, medical supplies—the kind of gear you carry when there’s a chance things could go sideways.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Do you have a gun on you right now?”
Snow nodded. “I have two.”
“Two!?” Nova exclaimed, her eyes wide as saucers.
Snow smirked and showed her. He lifted the other pant leg, showing the one on his other ankle. Then he lifted the back of his T-shirt, revealing the one tucked in his waistband.
“Holy shit! You’re like Batman. Well, if Batman skipped the utility belt and just shoved everything into his pants.”
Snow looked down at himself. “That sounded less impressive than I was hoping.”
Nova grinned. “I’m just saying that I wasn’t expecting you to be smuggling half a sporting goods store under your clothes.”
Snow smirked. “Have you ever shot a gun?” he asked, turning back to her.
“Once. Joaquin, my kickboxing trainer, and his wife took me to the shooting range.”
“Did you like it?”
“I did. I wanted to take lessons. You know, to learn properly. But life got in the way.”
At least she didn’t seem afraid to use a weapon.
Snow walked over to the bed where she sat and stood in front of her. “I’ll make you a deal. After we’re done here, if you still want to learn, I’ll teach you.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
There it was again—that smile of hers. Her entire face seemed to brighten in an instant. Why the hell does she have to look so damn beautiful when she smiles?
He had seen plenty of gorgeous women before.
But there was something about Nova that kept catching him off guard.
It wasn’t just the way her dark blue eyes sparkled whenever she got excited or how the corners of her lips curled into a smile that looked completely unforced.
It was that everything about her felt genuine.
She didn’t put on an act and wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
Every emotion she felt flashed across her face without apology, and somehow that made her even more stunning.
He found himself wanting to keep that smile there. To be the reason it appeared.
Easy there, Romeo, he thought to himself.
He opened his mouth, not entirely sure what he was about to say, only that he wanted to keep the conversation going a little longer. But then a sharp knock echoed through the room.
Snow’s head turned toward the door, every instinct he had spent years honing snapping immediately back into place.
Snow let out a quiet breath and looked back at Nova.
“That’s probably Clint.”
He reached for the small remote on the nightstand and, with a practiced click, activated the camera system that would record everything while they were gone. Satisfied the feeds were running, he slipped the remote into his pocket before giving Nova a subtle nod.
“Ready?”
When she returned the nod, Snow crossed the room, every trace of the man who had been distracted by her smile tucked neatly away behind the calm, controlled professional he needed to be. He unlocked the door and pulled it open.
Clint stood there with that same fake-ass smile on his face.
“You guys ready for the tour?” he asked.
Snow nodded. “Lead the way.”
As Nova closed the door behind them, Snow noticed her pause for half a second near the frame before he heard the click of the door locking into place.
When she turned and followed Clint down the hallway, Snow looked back toward the door and immediately spotted the nearly invisible yellow string she had wedged carefully into place.
I’ll be damned. If that string had moved when they returned to the room, they would have known someone had entered before he even checked the camera feed.
A slow grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, impressed as hell by her instincts.
Nova caught his eyes a second later and gave him a quick, almost mischievous wink, and instead of calling attention to it, he gave her a subtle nod, letting her know he saw exactly what she had done.