Bossy Romance: Chapter 8

I set my phone down and motion Rowan into the lab. He gazes eagerly at the gadgets in various states of deconstruction.

The lab is huge, but it seems small because of all the clutter. There’s a burnt metal smell baked into the walls. A few years back, Nova forced me to install a vent.

Between the large cabinets overflowing with random parts of machinery and the long, cold metal tables, I’m pretty sure this lab looks more like a torture chamber than anything else.

But at least Rowan seems dazzled.

“Careful where you walk,” I warn him as he approaches me.

I have a tendency of leaving discarded projects on the ground. The only reason I have a cleared path to the desk is because I didn’t want Nova to trip when she visits me.

Rowan steps lightly over a box of metal rods and joins me at my worktable. I push my goggles away from my face.

“You ever use a blow torch before?”

His eyes light up. “No.”

“Well, you’re not going to use one now.” I put the torch away, far from his reach.

He pouts, but it’s not like I’m dumb enough to feel sorry for him. The kid caused an explosion just by pressing a few buttons in the lab. He might blow up half the neighborhood if I give him a real weapon.

“What is this place?” Rowan mutters, shoving a hand into his pocket and looking around.

“It’s my lab. I come up with inventions and work on prototypes here.”

He squints at me as if I’m talking another language.

“Want to help me build this thing?” I motion to the hover-bag.

He shakes his head.

“It’ll be fun,” I coax.

He doesn’t seem that interested.

“Are you any good at science?” I ask, hoping to drum up a conversation.

“No.”

“Like not at all? I’m open to medical science too.”

He sticks out his tongue. “Blood makes me woozy.”

My hope withers to ashes.

Since I’ve decided to try and get to know Rowan better, I was hoping to take a shortcut and find some common ground. It’ll be much easier to connect with him if we can talk shop.

“What about construction?” I ask hesitantly. “Woodwork? You any good with your hands?”

“Nope.” He shakes his head.

“Come on,” I insist. “You must have some kind of inventor bone in your body.” My tone is brushing on desperate.

He shakes his head.

Would a son of mine be interested in science? If he keeps this up, Rowan’s on his way to being demoted back to ‘definitely not my kid’ territory.

I cringe inside, but outside, I plaster a smile on my face. “That’s fine. You might grow into it.”

“Science is boring.”

He touches my robot arm like ET, one finger pointed out and connecting with the metal digit.

My eyes are twitching, but I take a moment to absorb the fact that the kid just spit on science.

“Well, what are you into then?” I croak.

He shrugs.

“You don’t know?”

He shrugs again.

So we’re back to communicating via body movements? I feel like I’m in a game of “What was your favorite subject in school?” I prod.

He just looks at me.

“English?”

“No.”

“Math?”

He makes a disgusted face.

Guess he’s not a mathematician.

“Why are you asking so many questions?” Rowan asks suspiciously.

I narrow my eyes in response. It seems like the guilt Rowan felt for the exploding goo incident is rubbing off.

Man, I wish I could go back to that night when the kid obediently got ready for bed and went to sleep without so much as a grunt in response.

“Uh…”

“What do you watch on your phone all the time?”

“Stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“YouTube.”

“Interesting,” I mutter. “Just YouTube?”

“Yeah.”

I’m running out of patience.

And things to say.

That’s not his fault though. I’m currently not in the best mood thanks to witnessing Nova and that intern guy Henry in the elevator today.

I’ve seen Nova brush off flirtations before and it’s always a good time, but I’ve never seen her accept an invitation.

Any kind of invitation.

Ever.

She’s as amazing at drawing lines in the sand as she is at commanding the company.

But today, she didn’t draw a line. She let that Henry guy waltz right into territory he doesn’t belong in.

And he knew it too.

He saw an opening and he went for it. Watching Henry’s eyes light up with hope made me want to punch him into the next floor.

Do I have a right to feel jealous?

No.

Not even a little.

But will that stop me from feeling protective of Nova and wanting her for myself?

Absolutely not.

There’s no way I’m letting Nova pair up with at that sports event.

Especially a kid throwing moon eyes at her.

Especially when she’s not telling that kid to keep his stupid moon eyes to himself.

“Can I go now?” Rowan asks.

I notice the impatience in his voice and it gives me pause. “Are you angry about something?”

He glances away.

I stare at him as if I can scan his brain with my eyes alone. Rowan seemed fine during breakfast this morning. Maybe he’s angry that I had to run after Nova and leave him alone today?

“Did something happen when I left you with Mariana?” I ask. “Did you want to come with me and Nova instead?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Mom called,” Rowan admits.

“What did she say?”

“Did you tell her about the lab thing?”

“What lab thing?”

“You know.” He makes a poof sound and motions an explosion with his hands.

I lean one elbow against the desk. “Yeah, I told her.”

Rowan’s eyes turn heated. “You said you wouldn’t rat me out.”

“When it comes to your health, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep secrets from Alexa.”

“You don’t understand.” Rowan folds his arms over his chest. “She shouldn’t be worrying about me right now.”

I watch him carefully. “Why not?”

“No reason.” He shakes his head. “Are we done here?”

I want to follow that thread of conversation, but if there’s one thing I’ve observed about Rowan in the short time he’s been staying with me, it’s that he’s got legendary stubbornness.

Rather than pushing it, I try to keep him in the lab with me. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see my drawings? I’ve got a whole cabinet of them in here. You’re free to check them out.”

He turns slightly.

“They’re over there.” I point to the locker.

Rowan pauses as if he’s trying to decide whether this is a trap or not. Finally, he traipses over to the cabinets. I guess he must have decided that seeing my drawings was worth the risk.

My phone rings.

It’s my development team.

I keep an eye on Rowan, who’s rummaging around in the cabinets, and answer the video call.

“Carmicheal, what’s up?”

The lab tech shows me a close-up video of a singed memory board.

I frown at the burn marks. “What happened?”

“We hit a snag with the kinetic batteries. No matter what, we can’t get a chip of this size to respond well to electromagnets.”

“Walk me through it,” I say firmly.

I listen to the issue.

After a few minutes, I’ve heard enough. “You can’t solder the memory chip down or it’ll damage the transmitters. Get someone who knows computer chip installation and let them handle it.”

My tone is brusque and to the point. When it comes to running the company, Nova’s got that locked down. But when it comes to engineering, I take control and I’m not afraid to be particular about what I expect.

“You need some help?” A voice mumbles from the background.

The camera swings and I see the guy who was flirting with Nova swaggering into the lab.

My hackles rise. I instantly dislike everything about him, from his big eyes to his lanky frame to his annoying, youthful confidence in pursuing his own boss.

“I’m on a video chat,” the lab tech whispers.

“Turn the phone around,” I demand.

“Sir?”

“Turn it around.”

The technician does what I ask.

Henry peers into the phone and sees me. “You!” He points. “You’re Adam Harrison, right?”

I lift my chin.

“Hey, man. I thought I recognized you. I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks,” I answer dryly. “What are you doing in the new development lab? We don’t allow anyone without clearance.”

“I have clearance.”

“From who?”

“Nova.” A goofy grin crosses his face.

“Nova?” I hiss. He calls her “Her name is Miss Delaney.”

“And I wasn’t informed about you joining the team.”

“Nova’s busy right now. I guess she forgot.”

I let out a puff of laughter. A snarky comment springs to the edge of my lips. It takes great effort to swallow it down.

Since I’m working in an official capacity, I have an obligation to keep my composure, but it’s getting kind of tough.

I ask tightly, “Why did Nova assign you to the kinetic battery team?”

“I major in computer engineering and minored in physics. She said my talents would be best served here.” He gets that goofy grin again.

Is he thinking about Nova My fingers close into fists.

How much time would I serve if I drove all the way to Vision Tech just to smack that smirk off his face?

Henry waves at the camera. “I’ll work on the memory chips, Mr. Harrison. Don’t worry. I won’t let you or Nova down.”

I grit my teeth.

“We’ll keep you updated, sir,” the lab tech says.

The screen goes dead a moment later.

I take deep breaths to calm my anger. It’s fine. The kid is cocky because he has no idea how the world works. How works. I have nothing to worry about.

Nova’s going to crush his dreams of getting with her. All I have to do is grab my popcorn and watch.

Feeling assured, I pocket my phone and turn around. “Rowan, did you find the drawings…

” I bark.

The kid is surrounded by my blueprints. There’s a pencil in his hand and he’s on a sheet. I barrel over, my heart in my throat and my eyes bulging.

Rowan recoils when I get close as if he expects me to hit him.

I find that mildly offensive. I haven’t laid a hand on the kid, even when he had everyone stampeding out of Vision Tech like extras in a disaster movie as he totally destroyed a hundred-thousand-dollar lab.

“What’s this?” I yank the blueprint from the ground, relieved to find that he didn’t sketch on the side with the actual prototype design.

Then I look closer at the design and my anger shifts into awe.

“Rowan…” My voice cracks a bit. “Did you draw this?”

He shrugs and looks down at his sneakers.

I spin the blueprint around. It’s one of my earliest inventions—a life raft in the shape of a cube. I was passionate about getting it into retail, but Nova took that idea behind the barn and shot it.

It was a good thing too. Listening to her made me way more money than I ever thought I’d earn in a lifetime, much less a few months.

I study the sketch closely. Rowan made a miniature version of the design. Not only that, he drew characters in the frame, so it’s a lot more lively and visually appealing.

“You didn’t tell me you could ,” I say, startled.

“I was just doodling,” he replies, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Kid, if I could doodle like this, my first draft sketches wouldn’t need to be reprogrammed on the computer.” I let out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re really talented.”

His cheeks get ruddy. “It’s whatever.”

I’m going to assume that’s adolescent speech for: thanks but I’m uncomfortable with receiving compliments.

Planting myself on the floor, I pull out another blueprint—the bacon alarm clock. It never got manufactured thanks to Nova, rightly, pointing out the fire hazard that it presented.

I hand it over to Rowan. “This one is tricky.”

“Why is there bacon on it?”

“It’s a bacon alarm clock.”

He scrunches his nose. “A what?”

“Imagine you’re a heavy sleeper and it’s hard to get up in the morning. You’ve bought multiple alarm clocks, but they all scream into your ears while you’re dead to the world. What’s more effective than smelling frying meat in the morning when it’s time to wake up?”

Rowan laughs.

I freeze in shock.

That’s the first time he’s ever laughed with me.

Okay, maybe he’s laughing me, but it still counts.

“Let me see.” He takes the pencil, eyes my invention and then starts sketching on the back. As he works, his tongue darts out slightly and he seems to get lost in what he’s doing.

I’m amazed at his confidence. When I’m sketching a prototype, I need to be totally alone for a few hours. I turn off my phone, seal all the windows and lock myself in a vacuum of my own thoughts. If someone interrupts me, even if it’s Nova, I get thrown off.

But Rowan doesn’t seem to mind that I’m peering over his shoulder. He completes the design and hands it to me.

This time, the timer is the one with the visual upgrade. The ‘doodles’ that Rowan printed on the machine all have a similar cartoonish style. I’ve never seen animations like that before.

“Did you come up with these characters?” I ask, comparing the two sketches.

He nods and then shows me his sneakers. I glance at the toe and notice the resemblance to the characters on the blueprint.

“Mom used to read me storybooks about fairytale animals. They all had this weird look to them. I kept sketching and sketching what I thought they’d look like in a cartoon and I started liking how they turned out.”

It’s the most he’s ever said to me.

I want to ply him with more questions.

I clear my throat and keep my expression neutral. “Is it just drawings or do you paint too?”

“I’m not as good at painting as I am at sketching,” Rowan admits.

“Do you want to learn how to paint?”

He eyes me suspiciously. “

know how to paint?”

“Of course not.” I snort. “As you can see by those blueprints, I’m barely good enough to get my point across.”

He smirks.

“My friend Sazuki has his daughter enrolled in an art program for the summer. The school offers sketching, sculpting, and painting classes.” I chuck my chin at the blueprints. “I heard one of the teachers is a famous social media artist.”

“Yeah, right. I bet they’re not that famous.”

“Let me check.” I fish my phone out of my pocket and scroll to the flyer Dejonae sent me. “I’m not sure if you’d be interested, but this is the guy.”

“

” Rowan pounces on the phone. If he opens his eyes any wider, they’re going to roll right out of their sockets.

“You know him?”

“I sub his channel and I’m signed up for his Discord.”

Refusing to look un-cool, I nod like I understand everything that’s coming out of his mouth.

“So you’d be interested in going to the program?” I clarify.

“Yes!” Rowan’s face beams with so much light he could power my kinetic battery.

I stare at him, shocked by that bright smile. For a while there, I thought his face was incapable of making such happy expressions.

“I’ll sign you up tomorrow.”

Rowan grins wider. “Do you want me to draw another one?”

“Yeah, kid.” I ruffle his hair. “I’d like that.”

“When are you going to get a new truck, Adam?” Nova asks when I pop the front door open for her at six o’clock on the dot.

The rusted door creaks as if it wants to alert everyone in a five-mile radius that it’s still alive. I’ve gotten used to it, but Nova cringes.

“This thing is falling apart at the seams.” She shakes her head.

I offer my hand to her. “Don’t talk about Lula like that. You’ll hurt her feelings.”

“I can’t believe you named this pile of junk on wheels.” Nova laughs. The sound is sweet and low and musical.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard Nova laugh with me recently. I wonder when she stopped?

“Lula gets me from Point A to Point B. She does her job well. Why should I trade her for something fancy when she works perfectly fine?”

“Not perfectly,” Nova corrects me. “Remember that time your precious Lula shut down in the middle of traffic?”

“She was having a bad day. That’s all.”

Nova laughs and sets her heels on the runner. She wobbles a bit as she loses her balance.

I wrap an arm around her waist to steady her. She’s soft against me and I want to keep holding her. Unfortunately, she gains her balance way too fast and swings into the passenger seat.

Disappointment is all that’s left in my arms when she’s gone.

I shouldn’t have held her this morning. If I keep the door locked with Nova, then it’s easier to ignore the pull between us. But once I crack that door open, it taunts me with the promise of everything I can’t have.

Holding her in my lap today blew up my carefully-poised restraint and now I’m struggling not to grab her hand as I get in the car.

“Hey, Rowan.” Nova waves to him.

He waves back brightly.

“You look handsome,” Nova teases.

Rowan flashes her a shy smile.

My jealousy is quick, like a cobra going in for a poisonous bite. I grab a stick and beat that jealous snake back as best as I can. How pathetic would I be if I were envious of my own maybe-son?

“It’s not like he did anything fancy. He just showered,” I mumble.

Nova tilts her head back and groans. “I feel so grimy. A shower sounds right now.”

Picturing her in the shower incredible too.

I squeeze my fingers on the wheel and grit my teeth.

“Would you prefer not to go to the farmhouse today?” I ask Nova.

“Do you need me there?”

“That’s not an answer to the question, Nova,” I say with a hint of firmness in my tone.

“If you’re asking me to go as my boss, I’ll attend.”

“I’m not asking as your boss.”

“Then I’d prefer to go home and go to sleep early.”

“No problem. Whatever you want.” I flick the indicator. “Did you eat lunch?”

“Is that all you think about when you look at me? Food?”

I glance over and find her sitting with her eyes closed. There’s a hint of a smile on her lips.

She looks… satisfied.

It’s both a turn-on and slightly terrifying.

I’ve learned that Nova has a toxic love affair with crises. She challenges. She eats adversity for breakfast.

Whenever she’s finished battling a dragon at Vision Tech, she wears this sheen of bliss on her skin, as if she just unlocked another power level.

It’s impossible not to notice how gorgeous she looks right now.

But I also hate how tired she seems too.

When it comes to my investigation on why she wants to leave Vision Tech, I’m up to two conclusions.

The first is pure burn-out, which is easy enough to fix.

The second is her sister.

My gut feeling when I saw those two interact is that there’s more to the story. Nova would rather jump into a sea of hungry sharks than tell me about it, so I’ll have to get creative if I want to learn more.

“Rowan,” I glance at the kid in the rear-view mirror, “tell Nova what you’re doing tomorrow.”

Nova pokes one eye open. “What is he doing? And should I be concerned?”

“No.” I chuckle.

“I’m going to learn painting from TenTwo!” Rowan’s voice is loud and energetic. It feels like the real Rowan is slowly coming out.

“Wow,” Nova says with a hint of confusion, “that’s… great?”

“He’s a famous digital painter who takes videos of his creative process and posts them on the internet,” I explain.

“They’re not just videos. He makes his own background music too. And he does pranks sometimes,” Rowan informs us.

“Well, he certainly sounds like someone who has a fan base,” Nova says. “I wonder if he’d do a collab with Vision Tech?”

I laugh. “Is that all you think about? The company?”

She smiles a little sheepishly and hunkers lower in her chair.

I glance at her. “You still haven’t told me if you ate lunch, Nova.”

“What is everyone today? You and Henry keep bothering me about food. I ate, okay?”

I frown. “Henry?”

This guy is sniffing around her at lunch too?

“Oh, speaking of Henry,” Nova’s eyes flutter open, “I’m going to offer him a permanent position at Vision Tech.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I don’t like him,” I mutter, gripping the steering wheel like it’s Henry’s head.

“Why not? He’s an excellent contributor, always goes to work on time and he—”

“Is brilliant enough to work somewhere else. Send him to Yoon Technologies. We have contacts there, right?”

“Why would we give one of our best workers to the competition?” Nova frowns. “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“He sounds jealous to me,” Rowan says.

I whip around and give the kid a blistering stare. “Zip it or no TenTwo for you.”

He makes a face.

Nova studies me. “Are you jealous of Henry? Why?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not jealous.” I slow the car down in front of her apartment.

Nova doesn’t budge from her seat. “Do you really not want him at Vision Tech?”

I recognize the tone of her voice. She’s in full ‘executive assistant’ mode. Whatever I say next will be followed to a T.

Emotions roil in my gut and I struggle to separate my feelings from the business at hand.

Nova blinks, her expression unchanging.

I sigh. “If you like him then… I’ll trust your judgement.”

She breaks out into a smile and, even though I basically green-lit that kid bothering her for the foreseeable future, it feels worth it.

Just then, Nova’s phone rings.

She glances down and an annoyed look crosses her face. Tucking the phone toward herself, she reaches for the door. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow. See you, Rowan!”

“Bye!”

A new voice blasts out while Nova springs the door open.

At first, I look outside my window thinking the voice is coming from the sidewalk. But Nova freezes and glances down.

I realize the voice is coming from her phone.

”

My eyes widen.

Why is some guy asking to come over?

Nova looks guilty when she fumbles with the phone and taps the screen. It comes off speaker. Nervously, she puts the phone to her ear. “Jax, I told you. We’re over…” She gives me an apologetic nod before stumbling out of the car and hurrying up the stairs.

I remain in place, feeling like a giant elephant’s sitting on my chest.

Who’s Jax?

Does Nova have a boyfriend?

“I think she has a boyfriend,” Rowan says, as if he wants to pour salt in the open, pulsing, gaping wound that just tore apart my chest.

I frown. And then I grunt. And then I make more unintelligible noises while my brain spins.

“Adam, there’s a vein bulging out of your neck,” Rowan points out.

“Let’s go,” I growl. Hopefully, Lula can handle my need for speed because I plan on slamming my foot on the gas and ripping a hole down the road.

As I start the car and prepare to make my audition for the latest movie, Nova calls my phone.

I cut the engine and pounce eagerly on the cell. “Hey.”

“Adam, uh, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to stay home tonight.”

Is it because she’s running from that guy?

I scowl.

“Do you mind waiting for me to shower and change? I’ll be downstairs as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, we’ll wait.” I glance at Rowan who shrugs and nods.

“Thanks.”

The line goes dead.

I fold my arms over my chest and try to mentally page through all of the people I’ve seen around Nova. I don’t remember a Jax. When did she meet him? How long were they together?

And why the hell aren’t they together still?

Is it because he treated Nova badly?

I already hate this guy.

While I’m mentally MMA wrestling the mysterious Jax—complete with right hooks and sharp upper cuts, I notice someone slinking past my car and hustling toward Nova’s apartment.

Her short haircut and body shape look familiar.

I squint into the darkness and the woman turns her head at the same time.

She sees me.

And I recognize her.

It’s Lyra, Nova’s sister.

I watch Lyra shuffle her feet. Her eyes are locked on her open-toed sandals. I look down too and notice that some of her nail polish is chipping off.

She pulls her toes back as if she’s ashamed and I quickly avert my gaze.

The two sisters are as different as can be.

Nova is polished and elegant. Always put-together. Always composed. She favors business jackets and pencil skirts.

Lyra seems to be the more…artistic of the pair with her adventurous dyed hair, flair for animal print clothing, and… uh… casual form of speech.

“Don’t let me keep you from going upstairs,” I tell Lyra when she keeps staring at me without saying anything. “If you came to visit Nova—”

“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you.”

“Me?” I stuff a finger in my chest, uneasy.

Everything about this meeting with Lyra feels shady—from the way she urged me out of the car, to slinking into the shadows near the garbage can, to whispering so we’re not overheard despite no one being around. It feels like I’m betraying Nova, even if I’m not sure how.

Lyra stares up at me. “

Nova’s mysterious boss, aren’t you? The one she can’t tell anyone about?”

My cheeks get hot. “What makes you say that?”

“My sister don’t listen to , but I saw her with you that day. She was gonna listen to you if it was anybody but me in front of her.” Lyra narrows her eyes like she’s trying to see to my soul. “She respects you.”

I don’t know what she expects me to say to that, so I don’t reply.

Lyra faces me fully and squares her shoulders. “My sister’s got some issues. You probably know that. She don’t trust nobody and she keeps to herself. That’s my fault.” Tears start sprouting in Lyra’s eyes. “I made a lot of mistakes and Nova had to bail me out a couple times.”

“Hey, don’t cry.” I touch her shoulder.

She sniffs harder.

I fish around in my pocket for a handkerchief.

Lyra takes it and blows her nose loudly. The elephant that had been sitting on my chest earlier would probably be jealous.

“Do you know about our mama?”

I shake my head. Nova doesn’t mention anything about her family. At all. I only knew she’d taken the day off for her mother’s funeral because I overheard someone talking about it.

To say I’d been hurt that she kept such an occasion from me would be an understatement. But Nova simply told me that she preferred to keep her work and her personal life separate.

“She was a seamstress. She worked long hours for little pay and never could make it out of the hood. When Nova started working at Vision Tech, the first thing she did was buy our mama a house. She’s that kind of person. Always keeps her promises.”

I nod, resonating with that.

“But then I had some trouble,” Lyra clears her throat, “and mama had to sell the house to help me out. She went right back to the lousy neighborhood. Nova never forgave me or mama for that. It put a big dent in our family, ya know?”

I’m not sure why Lyra is telling me all this, but I’m gobbling up all the crumbs about Nova’s past that I can get. Anything to understand her better.

“Now that we’re older, I want to show Nova I’ve changed.” Lyra pats her chest and it sounds like she’s beating a drum. “And I have. I’m a completely new person, but Nova won’t give me a chance to prove that.”

“If you give her some time, I’m sure she’ll come around.”

“No.” Lyra firms her bottom lip. “The only way I can convince her is to her, but the only way to get close to her is by working with her.”

That’s an… interesting leap.

“Problem is she won’t let me into Vision Tech. She says she wanna avoid a ‘conflict of interest’, but I know it’s ‘cuz she hates me.”

I rub the back of my neck, sensing a request is about to be flung at me. And it’s not going to be an easy one.

“I just want to be close to my sister,” Lyra cries, dabbing at the tears falling from her eyes. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“It’s not,” I murmur.

Suddenly, Lyra grabs my hand and pulls it to her chest.

I squirm, trying to dislodge my arms, but she has a good grip.

Big brown eyes pointed at me, she begs. “You’re gonna help me, right? You gon’ help me make amends with my sista.”

“Uh…”

“Nova’s got nobody but me. Don’t you think we should be working together instead of fighting?”

“I do…”

“Then you’re gonna give me the job?” She grins brightly.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Thank you!” Lyra springs her arms around me and squishes me against her chest. “I’ll wait for your call.”

“But I didn’t—”

“You promised.” She points at me.

I watch her saunter down the sidewalk, feeling like I’ve just been bamboozled.