Page 24 of Just My Luck

“What game is this?” he said, catching up with me.

“Game?” I glanced over at him.

“I just get off a flight and stop for some coffee to see you…” He motioned behind him. “Who was that?”

I stopped and he almost bumped into me, spilling some of his coffee on his shoes.

Tilting my head, I shrugged. “Just a distraction,” I answered, then I turned and marched into the building, leaving him on the sidewalk with coffee stains on his shoes.

Chapter 10

Jax

I wanted to throttle Nova for the games she was playing. Instead, I chased after her like a freaking puppy chasing after a ball.

“Fine,” I said as we stepped into the elevator, “you win. You’re not a distraction.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not doing this.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Listen, I just needed…” I shut my mouth when she gave me the look, one I knew all too well.

“Space,” she finished for me with another nod. “You have it. So do I.”

Before I could respond, she stepped out into an oddly busy lobby and disappeared as Rick appeared and pulled me into his office for an update on my trip.

After I updated my brother, I was pulled into a board meeting, followed by a very long call from another client. By the time I looked up from my emails, the whole office was dark. I logged out of my system, left the empty office, and drove home.

I wanted to call Nova or at least send her a text message. Instead, I spent the night brooding alone in an empty bed.

The next morning, I was in an even worse mood. I barked at the barista when she got my order wrong, then immediately apologized and tipped her a twenty dollar bill. Thankfully, she just smiled and told me that we all have bad days.

From there, I tried—really, I did—not to think about Nova out on a date with another man. But it had hit me hard, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Over the years, I’d watched her gush over other men. She’d had a relationship with a guy named Levi back in college. The four and a half months she’d been with the football player had been pure torture.

Thankfully, her infatuation with the jock had ended quickly enough when she’d found out that he was cheating on her. She’d sat on my sofa downing the rest of his ice cream just hours after finding out, telling me that she wasn’t really heartbroken over it.

I’d dealt with her heartbreaks before. Those looked completely different.

I stopped in my tracks the next morning as I walked into the building, my hand reaching for the door handle as realization slapped me in the face.

Nova’s heartbreaks looked very much like this. Lashing out. Making rash decisions while locking herself away and crying in private.

Damn.

I hadn’t meant to break her heart. All I’d needed was to keep Kit away from her while I tried to convince the man to sign on with the company. Nova was too much of a distraction to obtaining that goal.

The two trips I’d taken to Vegas without her had been more beneficial in moving the account forward than the ones where she’d tagged along. When Nova was around, all Kit wanted to do was wine and dine her and push any discussion of business to the side.

“Going in?” someone said behind me. I stepped aside as a few employees shuffled into the building.

When my cell phone rang, I answered it, and for the next two hours I focused on my work. By lunchtime, I had a headache and was desperate to spend time with Nova. When I strolled past her office, however, it was dark and the door was locked.

Hunting down Sofia, I tried to act casual as I asked if she knew where Nova was.

“She had to run to Aurora for a meeting. She’s not scheduled to be back until after three,” she tossed over her shoulder as she typed an email.

I leaned against the doorframe of her new office and held in a sigh.