“Fancy seeing you here.” Nova’s voice catches me off guard as I spot her leaning against the hallway wall.
“Thought I’d give you a ride home.” I snag the bag at her feet and direct her to the parking lot. Once she’s seating in the passenger seat, I grab the seatbelt and click it in before shutting her door and moving to the driver’s side.
Her mouth is wide open, and so are her eyes.
“What?”
“Umm, nothing.” She closes her mouth and shakes her head. “What warrants the surprise drop-in?”
“We need to finalize everything, and we need it ASAP.”
“A drop-off?”
“In the next couple of days, and our hands in this hang in the balance of making sure our system is foolproof.”
She looks out the windshield before turning to me. “So, let’s drive around and brainstorm.”
She points in a direction, so I wordlessly turn. It’s mostly residential ahead, so I break the silence until we get to a better area.
“Why were you shocked earlier?”
“When?” she asks, brows furrowed.
“When we got into the car.”
“I just didn’t know there were men out there who buckled women into a car. I thought chivalry was well and truly dead.” Her head shakes as she smiles.
“Guess you’ve been hanging out with the wrong ones.” I cringe internally because she’s been hanging out with cartel members. Of course they are assholes.
“Dating and men haven’t been a huge priority for me. Turn here.” She points to the left.
“How old were you when all this stuff with your brother happened?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Your brother was just starting out in life. Barely started his career and had everything ahead of him,” I say softly.
“So did I.” The sadness in her voice is unmistakable.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re caught up in all this shit too. And I have a hard time, based on your general treatment of me, believing that you are really Team Cano.”
My back stiffens. “Why’s that?”
“Because you’re kind. You protected me when I got involved in all of this.” Her hands wave around frantically. “I just think there’s more to the story here. I know you won’t tell me, but deep down … it feels like I can trust you. At least with all of this.”
“But not anything more personal,” I counter. I don’t know why I even go there. There’s no need to even consider anything more than helping her get out of this shithole.
“Take this road to the tree line,” she says softly, ignoring my statement. I make it all the way to the tree line before her voice pulls my focus. “It’s not that I don’t want anything more … personal. It’s that the world we’re in makes it too dangerous. You know this.”
“I do.” It doesn’t make me think about her in any other way than with attraction, but I do know we aren’t in a position to focus on anything other than nailing Oscar.
“Pull over here.” Nova gestures off to the side. It’s the perfect spot for any of our needs, off the beaten path but easy to get to. We could plan and talk without worry of being overheard.
“How’d you find this place?” I hold my hand up to stop her from getting out so I’m able to walk around and help her out of the SUV.
“You confuse me,” she whispers as soon as I open her door.
