Page 42 of Snow

“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.”

“You’re lucky to have a big supportive family,” she said.

Something about the way she said it told him she didn’t necessarily feel the same way about her own family situation, but again, he let it go. Eventually the conversation shifted toward the rig itself, and Nova admitted she had stayed up in bed the night before researching offshore platforms because she had no idea what to expect.

Snow smiled slightly at that. “It’s basically a floating industrial city.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

“It’s actually pretty impressive.” He took another sip of beer before continuing. “The good news is that the rig isn’t fully operational yet. So, that means fewer people to deal with. According to the blueprints, Platform Three isn’t being used. It’s just a wide-open development space for future expansion, so that’ll probably be the easiest area to clear first.”

“Derek and Mr. Silverman mentioned that the offices where I’ll be spending most of my time are on Platform One.”

Snow nodded. “Yeah. The offices, sleeping quarters, dining hall, gym, library, laundry room, rec room, basketball court, movie room are all on that main platform.”

Nova shook her head. “I still can’t get over all of the amenities oil rigs have. I honestly pictured steel floors and oil everywhere,” she said, laughing.

“There’s still plenty of that too. Plus, every rig is different.”

“Well, at least there’s a gym,” she said. “That part I can work with.”

Snow found himself smiling as he watched her reactions to everything. She looked genuinely fascinated hearing about the platform, and for some reason he enjoyed being the one explaining it to her.