She steps closer, reaching up to smooth my hair where her hands had tangled in it. "I don't want to make your job harder."
"Too late for that," I say with a wry smile. "But I'll manage. But I'd rather not explain this to Cade just yet."
"This?" She raises an eyebrow. "You still can't name it?"
I study her for a moment, this woman who has somehow breached every defense I've built over the years with nothing more than her smile and her stubborn refusal to let me hide behind professional distance.
"Us," I say finally. "I'd rather not explain us to him yet."
Her smile is worth the admission. "Us. I like the sound of that."
"So do I," I admit, surprising myself with the truth of it. "More than I should."
"Good." She straightens her clothes and runs a hand through her hair, composing herself. "Because I'm not going anywhere, Finn. Not until we figure out exactly what this is between us."
"First, we need to make sure you stay alive to do that figuring."
"Always so practical." She sighs dramatically, but the smile doesn't leave her eyes. "Fine. Safety first, scandalous affair with my bodyguard second."
Despite everything, I laugh. "Scandalous affair, huh?"
"Would you prefer 'torrid romance'? 'Star-crossed lovers'? 'Beauty and the brooding mountain man'?"
"I'd prefer to avoid labels altogether." I open the door, gesturing for her to precede me. "At least until we're not actively being hunted by a lunatic."
"Fair enough." She pauses at the doorway, her expression turning serious. "But Finn? When this is over, when I'm safe and we don't have the excuse of adrenaline or proximity or professional boundaries... I'm still going to want this. Want you."
The simple declaration hits me square in the chest. Because I believe her. Because I want the same thing. Because for the first time since I returned to this mountain, I'm thinking about a future that involves someone else in my carefully constructed solitude.
"Let's get through this first," I say, not trusting myself to promise more. "One day at a time."
She nods, accepting this for now as she turns down the hall for the stairs. I follow, watching her descend with the natural grace that's as much a part of her as her stubborn determination or her uncanny ability to see through my defenses.
Nova Wilde. Pop sensation. America's sweetheart. My client. My impossible desire.
And possibly, if we survive what's coming, something I never expected to find on this mountain or anywhere else.
Something real.
6
NOVA
My body still hums with the memory of Finn's touch as I wake.
The empty space beside me is cold, the sheets long since losing his warmth. I run my fingers over the pillow where his head rested briefly after we made love, before he slipped away to resume his duties as my protector rather than my lover.
Last night changed everything. Crossed a line we'd been dancing around since the moment we met. The way he looked at me as he moved inside me, like I was something precious and dangerous all at once. The way he whispered my name against my skin like a prayer. The way he held me afterward, his body curled protectively around mine, if only for those few stolen moments.
But this morning, his side of the bed is empty. As if he's already retreating from what happened between us.
I slip from the bed, wrapping a robe around myself before padding to the window. Outside, the mountain is shrouded in early morning mist, beautiful and mysterious in equal measure. Somewhere out there, Finn is likely checking the perimeter,fulfilling his professional obligations with the dedication that's so fundamental to who he is.
The same dedication that's now at war with whatever is growing between us.
A soft knock at the door interrupts my thoughts.
"Nova?" Finn's voice, uncharacteristically hesitant. "You awake?"
