Page 134 of Snow

With those parting words, Nova walked out and closed the conference room door behind her.

She made it three steps before a familiar voice stopped her.

“So...I’m guessing that went well.”

Her head snapped up and found Snow leaning against the wall near the elevators.

She stared at him. He looked good. Really good. There was still a faint mark near his temple from where Brett had hit him, and he hadn’t been cleared to return to active duty yet. But compared to the last time she had seen him in person, lying in a hospital bed while complaining about nurses waking him up every twenty minutes, he looked pretty damn perfect to her.

“What are you doing here?”

His mouth curved into that smile she had missed far more than she wanted to admit. “Hello to you too.”

Nova was already moving. Snow barely had time to straighten before she reached him and wrapped her arms around his waist. His arms came around her immediately, pulling her close, and the second Nova breathed in the familiar scent of him, something inside her finally relaxed.

She had missed him so much.

FaceTime didn’t count. They had talked every night since she had returned to Salt Lake City, sometimes for hours, learning all the little things about each other that there hadn’t been time for on the rig or in the hospital. But a screen wasn’t this.

Gabe kissed her, slow and sweet, before pulling back.

“God, I’ve missed you.”

Nova smiled. “You’ve literally seen me every day.”

“Your face on my phone isn’t the same thing.”

“No,” she admitted. “It’s not.”

She touched the fading mark near his temple. “Seriously. Why are you here?”

His hands settled on her hips. “Sophia told me what was happening today. And I knew this might be tough, even if you were pretending it wasn’t.” He shrugged as if flying to Salt Lake City to wait outside a conference room was no big deal. “I figured you shouldn’t have to walk out of here alone.”

Nova stared at him. There were probably a dozen clever things she could have said. But instead she lifted up on her toes and kissed him.

Snow laughed against her mouth before kissing her back.

When they finally headed toward the elevators, he took her hand. “So what happens now?”

Nova smiled as she pressed the button. For the immediate future, she was moving in with Sophia while she figured out exactly where she wanted to land. Her sister was only about three and a half hours from Snow, which suddenly didn’t seem far at all.

Beyond that, Nova had deliberately left the page blank.

“Well, first I have a competition to get ready for.”

Snow groaned. “I should’ve known.”

“What?”

“I was hoping the near-death experience might’ve made you reconsider willingly letting people kick you.”

“It’s kickboxing.”

“I know what it is.”

Nova grinned as the elevator doors opened.

“Oh, Mom says hi,” Snow said.