Page 17 of Prickly Romance

Adam grabs Nova’s hand before she can storm away. While her face is to the door, a small smile flickers across her lips.

Adam does not see it. Though I believe that even if he did, he would not have understood it.

The push and pull between Adam and his assistant is a mystery to me. I would blame it on the looseness of American culture but, from what I have seen, westerners tend to be much more upfront in their romantic pursuits.

Adam and Nova have chosen the route of playing cat and mouse. I wonder if either of them will ever tire of the game.

“Put this back on.” Adam turns Nova by the shoulders and slips the lanyard over her head.

She grabs his wrist. “What time should you be asleep before a big meeting?”

“Nine thirty,” he answers dutifully.

“If this happens again…” She threatens.

“I’ll get your severance package ready.”

She scowls at him.

His lips twitch. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Nova arches an eyebrow. “Let’s go. You’re going to be late as is.”

I catch Adam’s eye and lift my tea in salute. He sighs heavily, looking both amused and resigned to his fate.

The man’s inventions have become billion-dollar products. Right time. Right place. Right industry. It has been said that he keeps falling into money. But Nova is the one who manages that wealth, running his company like a well-oiled machine while he tinkers in his lab.

On some days, she acts more like his business partner than his assistant.

Other days still, she acts more like a wife than an assistant.

And, strangely enough, there are times when Adam seems to forget which she is as well.

“Sorry to cut your meeting short, Sazuki.” Nova nods at me. “We have somewhere to be.”

“Of course.”

Adam gathers his baseball hat and smashes it backwards on his head. He looks like he belongs on a dusty road with a dog and a pickup truck rather than in a board meeting.

“Remember our deal, Sazuki,” he says, placing a hundred on the table.

I nod.

“Oh,” Nova turns back, “I saw Akira outside. Looked like she wanted to go in, but couldn’t make herself do it.” Nova arches an eyebrow. “Might want to see what that’s about.”

I look through the window and notice a black SUV parked outside. A woman is sitting in the driver’s seat.

Akira.

She comes from a line of distant relatives who have been serving my family for generations.

How long has she been waiting there?

The bells above the door jangle, signaling that Nova and Adam have left. I slide out of my chair to follow them when my phone rings.

Ashanti.

A familiar mixture of guilt and weariness collide in my chest.

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