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Only now wasn’t the time to push it. So he simply gestured toward the elevators. “After you.”
The trip up to his apartment was quick, and in moments he had his key in the lock, opening the door. “I’ll get you a key, as well, so you can come and go as you please. The parking garage is a little bit trickier, but there’s guest parking outside the gate and I can get you a key fob tomorrow from the building manager.”
“I don’t want to be trouble.”
“Nova. You’re not trouble. I’m happy to help you and you can stay here as long as you need.”
She rolled her bag to a corner, pushing it out of the way, before she turned back to face him. “Why are you being so nice to me? Please don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help. More than I can say really. But I just don’t see why you’re going to all the effort.”
“You came to me for help this morning. I’m going to give it to you.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I’ve seen all I need to know.”
Although he didn’t expect her to magically open up, he was losing his patience when he came to the discussion of why he was helping her. Which was proof it had been a long day and it was time to focus on dinner. “If you follow me down the hall, I can show you where the guest room is.”
The wheels of her suitcase bumped lightly over the hardwood floor as she followed him down the hall. “Your place is beautiful. How long have you lived here?”
Nikolas gestured to the open door of his spare bedroom. Flipping on the light, he walked the rest of the way into the room and settled her shoulder bag on the edge of the bed. “About three years. After my business started to take off, I decided I wanted a place in town. My dad and I got along well enough with each other at the house, but it was time to go it on my own.”
“I know what you mean. I love my mother and I miss her every day, but I didn’t want to live with her. As an adult.”
“Exactly.”
The talk of her mother seemed to put her at ease and after a few more moments looking around the room she sat down on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful before. I am so thankful to you and I appreciate you having me here in your home.”
His earlier frustration faded. She was all alone and trying to navigate a truly unique set of circumstances. It wasn’t every day a person you’d just met that day was suddenly opening their home and giving you a place to stay.
“Look, Nova. I get it. I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I do know it can be hard to depend on someone else.”
“It is.” Her voice gentled. “But it’s nice, too. I hope you know that.”
“Know you can depend on me. This room’s yours as long as you need it.”
He took her in as she sat there. Just like when she’d sat on the overstuffed couch in his outer office, the queen-size bed seemed to swallow her petite frame. Even with the unmistakable signs of her pregnancy, she was still a tiny little thing. There was something about her that made him want to protect her, yet even as he thought it, he knew those feelings weren’t actually due to her size.
Because there was also something about Nova Ellis—likely Colton—that screamed warrior. The way she was determined to do right by her child. The way she insisted on going after a job. Even in the way she stubbornly resisted taking too much of his offer to help, he saw that strength.
And in it, he understood what it was to feel beholden to somebody else.
“Why don’t you rest for a few minutes? I’m going to go ahead and order us some dinner. I was thinking Italian. Does that work for you?”
“Does it work for me?” Sparks of humor lit her eyes and he saw a few more glimpses of the woman he’d welcomed that morning in his office. “Yeah, I think I’ll manage.”
“Lasagna? Garlic bread? Side of meatballs?”
“I hate to break it to you, Slater, but you’re talking to a pregnant woman. That’s pretty much the hormonal equivalent of talking dirty.”
Her green eyes popped open as she realized what she’d said, and Nikolas could only laugh at the reaction. “I had no idea tomato sauce was an aphrodisiac. But I’ll consider myself warned.”
She smiled then, before a big rush of laughter spilled from her throat.
Nikolas smiled back, then pulled the door closed behind him. Even if it hadn’t been intentional, her comment about the food had reset the playing field between them.
He could only hope that dinner might get him the rest of the answers he sought.
* * *
