CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
He pushed through the kitchen door and was immediately stopped in his tracks by the sight standing before him.
Nova stood at the stove with her back to him.
Her hips were swaying in time with some pop song cranked so loud it covered his footsteps.
She wore jeans that fit her like a second skin and a fitted short-sleeved T-shirt that left nothing to the imagination, and she was working both of them to full advantage as she stirred something in the pan, her ass bouncing with the beat.
She was completely lost in her own world.
He probably should have announced himself. Instead, he stood there like a pervert, watching her dance. He felt his body respond before his brain caught up as his jeans suddenly felt tighter than they had been thirty seconds ago.
She shook her hips again, and he was fairly certain he would have his zipper branded on his dick for the next month.
He couldn’t take it anymore, and he pushed off the doorway.
“Nice moves, Hart.”
Nova shrieked and spun around, the spatula in her hand whipping through the air like a weapon. Snow jerked his head back just in time to avoid taking it across the face. At the same time, her elbow nearly clipped the pan off the stove.
Good thing she had a spatula and not one of the kitchen knives.
Snow couldn’t stop the laugh that burst out of his mouth. Getting ambushed with kitchen utensils wasn’t exactly how he had pictured the evening. He lifted both hands in surrender. “I’m so sorry,” he said, still laughing.
Nova slumped against the nearby counter, her hand pressed to her chest. “Christ on a flipping cracker. You scared the ever-living shit out of me. You gotta quit using your stealthy operator skills on me.” She shot him a playful glare. “And you aren’t sorry, or you wouldn’t be laughing.”
That just made him laugh harder.
After a second, a grin broke out on her face, and she started laughing too.
He reached over and tapped her phone to turn the music down.
Nova turned back to the stove and continued stirring whatever was in the pan.
“That smells incredible,” he said, walking up behind her.
He was so close that his chest nearly touched her shoulder blades as he looked over her shoulder. “Is that shrimp scampi?”
He felt it when she noticed him, the way her breath caught, and her hand paused on the spatula for half a second. Her reaction brought a smile to his face. He liked knowing he wasn’t the only one fighting a losing battle with his self-control.
She glanced up over her shoulder at him, her dark blue eyes wide, mouth slightly open, and then seemed to catch herself.
“Uh, yeah. Scampi. Do you want a taste?” She scrambled for a fork and speared a shrimp from the pan with the focus of someone defusing a bomb. “Here. Try one, and tell me if it needs anything,” she told him as she turned and held out the fork for him.
Instead of taking the fork, he gently grabbed her wrist. Their eyes were locked.
He slowly leaned in and took the fork into his mouth.
As he slid the shrimp from the fork and took a bite, he caught the faint hitch in her breathing.
Her lips parted ever so slightly as her gaze drifted to his mouth before slowly lifting to meet his eyes again.
The blue of her irises had darkened, her pupils widening just enough to betray what she was trying so hard to hide.
He still held her wrist, her pulse fluttering wildly beneath his fingertips, matching the thud of his own heartbeat.
There was no mistaking it anymore. Whatever was happening between them definitely wasn’t one-sided.
Before he could think better of it, he found himself leaning closer. The space between them disappeared inch by inch, his attention fixed entirely on her. She didn’t pull away. If anything, she leaned in too, her eyes closing as his gaze dropped to her lips.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
The shrill alarm from Nova’s phone shattered the moment like a grenade.
Snow froze as reality came crashing back. With a reluctant sigh, he released her wrist.
Nova let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like disappointment before reaching for her phone on the counter and silencing the alarm.
“Well,” he muttered with a grin, rubbing the back of his neck, “your phone has impeccable timing.”
Nova’s cheeks went pink, and she quickly turned back to the stove, her attention on the Scampi that luckily hadn’t burned while they had been completely distracted by each other.
Stepping back, he asked. “What can I help with?”
“Nothing. It’s ready.” She pulled two plates from the shelf and started dishing up the scampi, generous portions of linguine tangled with shrimp and a creamy sauce. “Just grab some silverware.”
He did, and they carried their plates out to the dining area. They sat down next to each other at one of the long tables.
Snow didn’t wait. He scooped up a forkful of scampi and took a bite. As soon as that sauce hit his taste buds, he closed his eyes and nearly groaned. The entire meal was perfect.
“Damn, Nova. Where the hell did you learn to cook like this?”
She smiled. “You really like it?”
“Like it? I think I found my new favorite food. You’ve got some mad cooking skills.”
“I pretty much taught myself to cook. I watched a lot of cooking shows and have a ton of recipe books. I just don’t get to do it much.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s pointless to make a full meal for just myself. Plus, with the hours I put in at the office, I normally get home late. It’s just easier to pick up something or get delivery.”
Snow studied her for a moment before taking another bite. She had said it so matter-of-factly, as though spending her evenings alone with takeout and paperwork was normal. For someone surrounded by people every day, she sounded remarkably alone.
He then bumped her shoulder playfully. “Well, if you ever want to cook, I’ll gladly be your taste tester.”
She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
A few minutes later, Snow took his last bite and then set his fork down. “You mentioned there was something you wanted to tell me.”
She wiped her mouth with her napkin and then turned to face him.
“Yeah. So, earlier today, I overheard Brett asking Clint if he had seen any patrols. Clint said he hadn’t seen any since last week. Then Brett asked Clint if Delilah was fixed because he wanted to take her out.”
Snow tapped his fingers against the table, thinking.
Out here, patrols meant Coast Guard, maybe a Navy vessel running the shipping lanes, possibly even a customs flyover.
Legitimate operations like the rig they were on tracked weather, currents, and supply runs. They didn’t track who might be watching, not unless they had something worth hiding.
Then there was Delilah. Take her out. That phrasing mattered.
Considering there were no other females on the rig besides Nova, Snow would bet money that Delilah was a boat.
But he had walked Platforms One and Two from top to bottom, and he hadn’t seen any vessel moored alongside that wasn’t a lifeboat, which were required.
But that didn’t mean Delilah was being kept somewhere he hadn’t been, like Platform Three.
“I think you might have found us our first clue,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“Really?” Nova asked, her eyebrows raised.
Snow grinned. “Yeah. You see, the Coast Guard and other military branches or agencies conduct patrols in international waters. But out here, rig crews couldn’t care less about patrols.
At least, not if they aren’t hiding something or doing something illegal.
And Delilah, sounds like it could be a boat.
Only I haven’t seen any boats other than lifeboats. ”
Nova scrunched her eyebrows together. “So what, you think there’s a boat we don’t know about?”
“I think I’d like to find out. Tomorrow, can you get into Gulf Tide’s asset registry and see if there is a vessel named Delilah registered to the company?”
“I can try. The corporate records access I have for the audit should cover it.”
Snow smiled. “Good. And I also need you to pull a personnel file. Last name Capperson.”
“Who’s that?”
“A name that came up in a conversation between Dalton and Voss.” He paused.
“And one more thing. This afternoon I watched Brett coming back from Platform Three. Can you see if you can get into the key card database? I’m curious as to how often he goes over there, and whether anyone else is making that trip with him. ”
“The key card is on a different system. I don’t know if I have access, but I’ll check.”
He put his hand gently on her shoulder. “If you can’t, don’t worry about that right now. No need to take any risks right now. Start with Capperson and Delilah.”
She nodded and smiled. “Okay.”
Before he could tell her thank you, his phone buzzed. He looked at it lying on the table and grinned when he saw Jocelyn’s name. She was trying to FaceTime him.
He picked the phone up and hit accept. “Hey Joce!”
“Hey! I hope I’m not bothering you. Bear said you were in a place you could accept calls.”
“Yeah. No worries. What’s up?”
“I’m so sorry to call you out of nowhere, but I’m trying to get the headcount to the party planner for Amira’s birthday next month, and I need to lock it in by tomorrow.
The whole thing’s at that trampoline park, and they need a final number, or they’ll bump us out of the time slot.
I just need to know if you were coming.”
Snow laughed. “You’re really calling me to pin down a trampoline park reservation?”
“I am a woman on the edge, Snow. Don’t test me.”
He laughed again. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Okay. Good.”
Nova stood up and gathered their plates and cups. She caught his eye and tilted her head toward the kitchen before turning and carrying the dishes out, leaving him to his video call.
Jocelyn’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, a minute. Is someone with you?”
Snow chuckled. “What?”
“I just saw somebody walk behind you.”