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Was it because of the pregnancy? Nova was in a vulnerable state, and while she might try to act tough, no amount of bravado could change the fact the woman was seven months pregnant.
In some way, it was easier to excuse this concern for her by placing it squarely on the pregnancy. It felt detached in some way, like the baby was the only reason he was helping her.
Even if it really wasn’t.
Why was he anxious to take care of her?
Pretty women were a dime a dozen. Yes, she was beautiful and he felt some base attraction to her, but that wasn’t the reason. And yes, he admired her strength and personal fortitude that had gotten her all the way to Arizona. But that didn’t explain why he felt the way he did, either.
No, there was something indefinable that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Something that had kept him highly aware of her while he was in her presence and continuously curious about what she might be doing now that she’d gone out on her own.
Something that also made him wonder when she’d be back.
He was already anticipating seeing her again.
On a confused sigh he shut down his computer, vowing to keep up the search for clues to Ace’s actions and current whereabouts tomorrow. Tucking his computer into the slim leather attaché case he carried each day, he thought about heading out to look for Nova.
It was only in that moment that he realized he didn’t have a way to contact her. No cell phone number.
How had he missed that?
Because she hasn’t given you one.
That thought struck loud and clear, yet another example of the interesting way she seemed to float around personal details.
Who didn’t have a phone?
Only even as he considered it, Nikolas realized he had never seen her pull one out, in all the time they’d spent together that day. Not in his office. Not at lunch. Not even while he’d told her about Marlowe and Ainsley, a search program open on his screen.
Based on the timing of Ace and her mother’s affair, he’d calculated Nova must be about twenty-three. No one in their age range lived without a phone in reaching distance. A sort of perpetual appendage to the world around them.
And even if you dismissed needing to be so attached for everyday life, she’d spoken of being a stylist before heading west to Arizona. Wouldn’t a mobile phone be core to her success in the field?
Nikolas was nearly out the door when Nova came bustling in. Tension he hadn’t been aware of faded away as he took in that petite frame and sweet baby bump. Although he’d watched her run through a variety of emotions today, there was something almost scared in the way she held herself. She wasn’t shaking, but it seemed as if she could blow away in a strong wind.
“Nikolas,” she exhaled heavily. “You’re still here.”
“Of course. I said I would wait for you.”
She shook her head. “Yes. Yes, you did.”
“Are you okay?”
“I was. I mean, I thought I was.”
“Did something happen while you were looking for work?”
“No, not really. But I guess it sort of did.”
Something had obviously shaken her, so he pulled her over to the large couch that sat in his outer office. “Come over here and sit down. Let me get you some water and then you can tell me.”
He ran back into his office to get a bottle of water out of his fridge and couldn’t easily dismiss the protective feelings that had sprung to life once again in her presence.
Had someone hurt her?
Although she looked well and whole, it had to have been something. And if not physically hurt, had someone threatened her?
