HH02 - A Reclusive Heart (19 page)

chuckling, which she probably wouldn't appreciate. Instead he shook his head and her shoulders slumped in defeat as she let

out a cute little sigh.

"Miss. Harris?" one of the production assistants said in greeting as she approached Jamie. "My name is Carla. Is there

anything I can get you?"

Jamie immediately perked up. "Yes, um, is there any chance that I could get some chocolate? It helps settle my nerves,"

his little recluse said, lying her adorable ass that he planned on focusing on tonight off.

Carla smiled. "I believe we can arrange that."

"No," Nick said, cutting the woman off before she did something they'd all regret later. "No chocolate for her

whatsoever," he said, earning a killing glare from Jamie, but he didn't care.

Chocolate was Jamie's drug of choice and unfortunately for her she didn't seem to handle the sugar very well. She got

wired, then cranky, then sleepy and when she woke up from her chocolate induced nap he usually had to wrestle more

chocolate out of the addict's grasp before she could make it to the toilet hugging phase, which was probably his least favorite

of the phases.

"Then can I have a Coke, please?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Sugar and caffeine? No, that would never work.

"She'll have a water," he said, thankful that the assistant knew better than to listen to Jamie.

When Jamie sulked in her chair he of course ignored her even as he made a mental note to order a huge ice cream sundae

for her later. The woman was a little sugar addict and thankfully could be bought easily. Actually, now that he thought of it he

should probably hunt down something sweet to give her once her interview was over. He could give her the chocolate in her

handbag, but judging by the looks she was shooting the bag the little junkie had already reached her limit for the day.

"So what do you say, Nick?" Margaret asked, making him realize that he'd missed everything she said while he'd been

smiling like a fool at his little recluse.

"Hmm?" he asked, barely able to take his eyes away from Jamie as Margaret fussed with Jamie's hair and makeup.

"She wanted to know if you'd like to go over to her house after this so that she could cook for you," Jamie explained

casually, not sounding upset at all, but judging by the hurt expression on her face she didn't like the idea one bit. Why that made

him happy he didn't know, but it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one that got jeal-

"Actually," Jamie said brightly as she sat straighter in her chair, "why don't the two of you go discuss your dinner plans,"

she said smoothly as she reached out and snagged her bag out of his hand, "and I'll just sit here and wait to be called for my

interview."

His eyes narrowed on her as he felt a tick start beneath his left eye. "You'd sell me out like that? Over
chocolate
?" he said

with obvious disgust.

She shrugged as she held the bag tightly to her chest and let out another cute little sigh. "It's Belgium chocolate," she said

as if that explained it all. That explained nothing. It also pissed him off that she clearly chose chocolate over him.

He reached over and tore the bag away from her, earning a little gasp of horror that he refused to find adorably sexy. "Just

for that you aren't getting this chocolate back until tomorrow."

"B-b-b-but," she stuttered, reaching for it but he simply stepped back.

When she realized that she wasn't getting it back she went back to slumping in her chair. He thought he heard her mutter,

"Big jerk," but he decided to ignore it since that was most likely the chocolate withdrawal talking.

"Are you busy tonight, Nick?" Margaret asked as if the little odd conversation hadn't just happened. Then again she was

probably used to weird conversations in this line of work.

He should take the woman up on her invitation. She wouldn't drive him crazy or have him drooling after her like some kid.

In fact, he was pretty sure he'd have her out of her panties and beneath him within two minutes of walking through her front

door, but unfortunately for him the thought of touching her left him cold. The only woman he wanted was coming down from a

sugar high and would probably require some babying later tonight when the stomach ache hit. What the hell happened to him

when he'd rather spend the night cuddling a cranky woman than fucking a willing one?

"That's a very sweet offer, but unfortunately we have to work tonight and then catch an early flight in the morning," he

said, giving the woman his most charming smile and hoping it was enough.

"Maybe next time you're in town," she said, giving him that coy smile that promised all sorts of naughty things between the

sheets. Since this thing with Jamie would be over by the next time he swung through Virginia for work he didn't see any reason

why he shouldn't accept.

"That sounds like a great idea, sweetheart. How about you give me your number so I can give you a call the next time I'm

in the area," he said, forcing his eyes away from his little recluse as he told himself that he had no reason to feel guilty. He

never felt guilty for living his life and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now.

********

on stage.

She decided not to keep her promise to Nick and hunt him down for last minute advice since he'd just given her the kiss

off and joined Andrew on stage. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nick try to discretely gesture for her to walk over to him,

but she ignored him and plastered what she hoped was a friendly smile on her face and sat down in the small leather chair next

to Andrew.

The man was mid-thirties, handsome and the look he gave her slightly appeased the hurt Nick had caused not even twenty

minutes ago. She still couldn't believe that he'd hurt her like that. She knew that they'd never have a lifetime together, but the

last few days had been wonderful, especially yesterday when they spent all day in his bed, but apparently she'd been wrong.

Well, she'd enjoyed it but obviously he had not.

If he had he wouldn't have been making plans to meet up with another woman right in front of her. The least he could have

done was taken her aside beforehand and given her the brush off. Finding out like that hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"It's so nice to meet you, Miss. Harris," Andrew said warmly as he reached over to take one of her hands into both of his.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Jameson," she said, easily returning the smile.

"Please call me Andrew. From what I gather this is your first on camera interview. Just relax and pretend the camera's not

there and you'll be fine. I'm also assuming that you would prefer to be called J.L. Lewis during the interview?" he asked, still

holding her hand she might note.

She risked a quick glance over to where she'd last seen Nick and was a little surprised to find him glaring at their hands.

Considering he'd just basically made plans to have sex with another woman she thought he had a heck of a nerve to look pissed

that another man was touching her. After this they were going back to a strictly professional relationship. She didn't even want

help with her list and come to think of it maybe it was time just to bite the bullet and have sex. It sure as heck would stop her

from pinning after him and it would help shred a little more of the old Jamie away for good.

"If you're ready?" Andrew asked, reluctantly releasing her hand as he sat back in his chair.

Was she?

Yes, she was and not only for this interview. It was probably childish, but tonight when she found a man to take to bed she

was going to make darn sure that Nick knew that she was doing it. Not that he'd care since he'd probably be having sex with

another woman and couldn't care less that she moved on and she had. It was just a few days. Nothing major. She could move on

just as easily as he had.

"Thank you for joining us this evening, J.L. Lewis," Andrew said, letting her know that they'd begun recording the

interview.

"Thank you for having me," she returned easily, surprising herself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterwards.

After a few minutes of basic questions he moved smoothly into her personal life. "So tell me, is there a Mr. Lewis in the

picture?"

With a soft chuckle she shook her head, "No, I'm not married yet."

"Is there any special man in your life?" he asked and she wondered if that was interest she noted in his expression.

She couldn't help watching Nick out of the corner of her eye as she answered, "No, there's no special man in my life." The

area Nick stood in was dark, but she could have sworn he made a move to come closer, but stopped himself at the last moment.

Wishful thinking on her part, she realized.

"I wanted to tell you how profoundly sorry I was about the news that came out this morning. I'm sure it was a bit of a

shock that your family came forward and shared the rather personal information. I'm actually flattered that you chose KJK to

share your thoughts on the matter," Andrew said, confusing the heck out of her.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about," she admitted.

He frowned at the admission as he sent someone to the side a questioning look. Seconds later a young man wearing large

headphones came halfway onto the stage and handed Andrew a thick newspaper before quickly scurrying away.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew," he said, sounding truly sorry as he handed the newspaper over to her.

Dread filled her stomach as she reached over and accepted the newspaper. When her eyes landed on the large black print

stamped across the top she felt the air in her lungs rush out of her as if she'd been hit with a two by four.

"You didn't know about this?" Andrew asked.

"No," she said hollowly as she ran her eyes over the article title once again.

At least now she knew why she'd always been treated differently and why she never felt like she belonged, at least where

her mother was concerned because the woman she believed to be her mother wasn't. According to the paper, she was the

product of an affair that her father had with his secretary and was of course deeply ashamed of. He had no knowledge of

Jamie's existence until she was dropped off at his door when Jamie was four years old.

Why?

Why would they do this to her? Why couldn't they have just told her this? Did they really need to make this a public

announcement? Then Nick's words came back to her and she realized that to her mother, well, really the woman who'd

tolerated her existence, hated that she was in the spotlight and wanted it for herself. Jamie could care less about that. The only

thing that mattered to her at the moment was that she was truly alone in this world.

Chapter 18

"Open the fucking door, Jamie!" he shouted, pounding on the door.

"Go to hell, Nick!" she snapped back, shocking the living hell out of him. There was no doubt that she wanted to tell him

off, but he hadn't expected her to actually do it. No matter how much he pissed her off, and he did that on a daily basis, she

usually mumbled her way around it. But not today.

Then again she did have liquid courage in her room right now. He was going to kill the bellhop for bringing it to her. It

was the last damn thing that she needed on a day like this and now that she had it and plenty of it apparently, she was probably

going to do something incredibly stupid and make the news that they'd only received hours earlier a hell of a lot worse.

He wasn't sure who he wanted to kill more right now, the asshole who pretended to be sympathetic as he captured Jamie's

reaction to the news on camera or her so called family who'd just shoved her to the wolves. Actually right now he was pretty

fucking pissed at the people working below him who should have been on top of this and given him a head's up.

They should never have walked into that mess. He should have known first thing this morning and been given all the

information so that he could have prepared Jamie. Instead they'd walked right into that little mess and by now the video clip of

Jamie finding out that she was the result of an illicit affair between her father and secretary was all over the web.

The only good thing from this nightmare was that Jamie somehow managed to keep it together during the rest of the

interview. Once it was over she was polite to the asshole he wanted to deck and walked out with her head held high.

Unfortunately she took off before he could talk to her and holed herself up in her hotel room and wouldn't let him in.

He wanted to hold her, comfort her, shake her for not letting him do all those things when the interview was over, but most

of all he wanted to know that she was okay. He needed to feel her in his arms and know that she was all right.

"Let me in, Jamie," he said even as he pulled out the card he managed to talk the front clerk out of.

"Go away, Nick," she said, sounding stressed and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she was. He didn't think of her as

his little recluse for nothing. She didn't have many close friends in her life and now it seemed that she didn't have any family

either.

It took a few well placed phone calls but he discovered that they'd sold the story for a hefty sum and were already booked