Page 52 of Second First Kiss

He went through assistants like most men went through underwear. He was such a demanding boss that this was his third assistant this year—and it was only April. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Nolan, there’s someone here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment, but said you’d be expecting her. Should I take a message?”

“No.” A stupid grin slipped out before he could stop it. “We were just finishing up.”

“We’ve only tackled item one on the agenda,” Lucas said sternly, like if they postponed the meeting, he’d have a coronary.

“Tell her I’ll be there in a minute. Please bring her to my office.” The last thing he needed was his family’s face plastered to the conference room window watching on as he tells Kat about the job and that she should submit her résumé.

“Now when she thinks of you, she’ll think that you’re the minute man. Smooth,” Harris said, and again they all burst out laughing.

“We’re done here.” Nolan stood and headed toward the exit.

“Oh, we’re just getting started,” Jax said, still laughing like this was all some big game.

Nolan spun around and, puffing out to his two-twenty, six-foot-three frame, he eyeballed each and every one of them. “You can tease me, but don’t do it in front of Kat. She’s going to have a hard enough time accepting help and applying for the job, you assholes will only make it worse.”

With that he slammed the door and made his way down the hallway. He must have been wearing his resting death face because every assistant and employee he passed looked up at him and directly away, as if afraid to make eye contact with the big bad bear. Which was why when he got to his office, he let out a big breath and thought about all the reasons Kat could have come to see him.

He smoothed down his hair, did a quick breath check, and by the time he opened the door he was feeling giddy and light. Like the sun had finally come out and he was basking in it.

Okay, so maybe she was the sun with a category 5 hurricane that ripped his hair from his scalp as it blew past, but he’d always liked a good bluster.

“Hey, you,” the woman in the chair said, and his smile faded as she turned to face him.

“Nina?”

“Hey, Nolan.” She stood and gave him a hug. He was too shocked and angry to really hug her back.

“I thought you were in Montana. Is everything okay?” he asked, his heart pounding with fear.

“No, it’s not.” Her voice was rough like she’d been holding back intense emotions.

He ushered her back to the chair and when she sat, he rested a hip against the front of his desk. “Talk to me.”

“It’s Tommy.”

His heart fell and he took her hands. “Is he okay?”

“He’s in one of his stubborn phases, you know the one.” Nolan did, that kid could outlast wet paint drying if someone told him it was a waste of time. “He is going to ask you to be his partner in the navigation part of his junior Search and Rescue badge.”

A hopeful bump ricocheted off his ribs. “He is?

“Yes. And you have to say no. I told you we’d moved to Montana to make a clean break, but we’ve been nearby.”

The next bump knocked him back a step. “What? Why?”

She studied her clasped hands as she spoke. “We had an agreement, Nolan.”

“I never agreed to anything. You just said that I was out, then you cut off all contact.”

“It’s called breaking up and moving on.” This time when she spoke, it was directly at him, with tears in her eyes, like he was the one who left her life in tatters.

Normally Nolan would have put his feelings aside to be there for Nina, tell her that Tommy would be okay. But he remembered what Kat had said about knowing he’d figure out the right thing to do.

“It’s called cruel. To me and Tommy.”

She clasped her heart as if he’d shot it with a bullet. “You know I had to. It was just too confusing?—”

“I call bullshit. It just pissed off your husband and you caved. He was like my kid, Nina. My kid. Three years together like a family and then one day, poof, he’s taken from me.”

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