HH02 - A Reclusive Heart (23 page)

morning to start his day off like this. He'd never had morning sex before, early noon sex yes, but not first thing in the morning

sex. That probably had something to do with the fact that he made it a point to leave as soon as he was done. Sticking around

usually sent the wrong impression to the woman he slept with like he cared or even remembered her name. With Jamie he more

than cared.

"You can go back to sleep if you want. I promise to be quiet," she said on a soft little moan that had his cock twitching

inside of her.

"But if I go back to sleep I won't be able to do this," he said, adjusting his hand so that his thumb was able to tease her

clit.

Jamie gasped as she laid one hand over his as she slowly rode him. "It would probably be best if you stayed awake then,"

she agreed as she did this little twist and drop thing that had him sucking in a breath and struggling not to throw her on her back

and fuck her until she couldn't move. When she did it again he arched his back and let out a loud groan.

As much as it killed him he decided to lay back and let his little recluse have her fun. Of course that didn't mean he

couldn't help her reach the point of screaming his name a little faster to put him out of his misery. He wasn't a masochist after

all.

********

too damn much to do. Well, he did. His little recluse needed to go over some things with Rick and work on her books. They

still had a month of tour dates to complete and there was so much that he wanted to show his little recluse. He couldn't wait to

get back on the road with her.

She walked over to him and lightly ran her fingers down his silk tie before standing on her toes to press a kiss against his

cheek. "I love your hair," she said, smiling as she walked passed him to her door.

He barely stopped himself from telling her that he knew that she liked it this way or that he'd given it a mused look for her

since it would just make him look like an idiot. Never before had he cared what a woman thought or wanted, but he found

himself eager to please his little recluse. It was funny how making her happy made him happy. Not that he was going to look

too far into that, because he wasn't.

As he headed for the door he grabbed his briefcase and the overnight bag he'd thrown together last night and followed

after his little recluse only to come an abrupt halt when he found her shifting nervously in front of some guy wearing cheap

cologne that smelled like Windex and the expression of a guy who hadn't gotten laid in decades.

"You can't do this," Jamie said, holding up a white piece of paper.

"I just did, lady. When you moved in I told you that I didn't want any problems and for almost two months I've had to deal

with crowds, people breaking in and weirdos. I'm done. I want you out by the end of the week!" the man snapped, moving to

walk away, but his little recluse scrambled to catch up and cut him off.

"A week? I won't be here. I have to go back on tour. Can't we make some sort of compromise?" she suggested, almost

desperately.

The man stubbornly shook his head as he walked past her. "I'm sorry, Miss. Harris. I really am, but I've put up with too

much nonsense over the past month and I've gotten one too many complaints about you," he said, surprising the hell out of him.

People complained about his little recluse? Bullshit.

"But I didn't do any of those things! You know Mrs. Brigs has a hearing problem and Mr. Ames thinks the government is

stealing his thoughts! Please don't do this!"

"A week, Miss. Harris, and I want you out," he said, getting the final word in before he disappeared through the stairwell

door, leaving his little recluse left standing in the hallway, looking defeated with her little shoulders slumped.

"I think you're going to have to move, Jamie," he said, switching his bag into his other hand so that he could put his arm

around her shoulders.

"I know," she muttered unhappily as he steered her towards the elevator. "Do you think Rick will let me out of a few

events so that I can find a place and move?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

He sighed heavily as he pushed the call button. "I'm sorry, Jamie, but we already pushed the dates as far back as we could

without breaching any contracts."

"Oh," she muttered, her shoulders slumping even further.

"I tell you what, sweetheart," he said, giving her a little nudge when the elevator doors slid open and she remained

standing there looking lost and so damn sad that he ached to pull her into his arms and hold her all day, but they needed to get to

work. "I can arrange for someone to rent a house for you and even hire movers to move all of yours things. How does that

sound?"

"Will it allow cats?" she asked, perking up at the idea.

"You have a cat?" he asked, wondering how he missed it.

"No."

"You want one?"

She scrunched up her face endearingly as she shook her head. "No, I can't stand them."

"Then why do you care if they allow cats?" he asked, fighting back a chuckle.

"I just like to keep my options open," she said, shrugging.

As he followed her onto the elevator he wondered why he loved it when she drove him crazy.

Chapter 21

"Oh my god, I can't do this," Jamie mumbled as she watched in horror as a large group of paparazzi descended on her

vehicle.

Why had she told Nick that she didn't need him to follow her to work? Because she hadn't wanted to come across as

clingy or needy that's why. Somehow she'd managed to escape the small group that waited for her outside of her apartment

building, but that was probably only because they knew exactly where she was going to end up. There was no way she was

going to survive this without sugar, she realized as a swarm of people surrounded her car and started taking pictures.

For a moment she considered calling Nick and begging him to come rescue her, but she decided that at some point she'd

have to figure out how to deal with this by herself and what better time than right now? She took a deep breath and when that

didn't give her the confidence that she needed to move her butt she took another one and grabbed her purse.

Trying to appear confident and relaxed, she slowly shut off her car and opened the door. Thankfully the paparazzi backed

up and gave her plenty of space to step out of her car, probably hoping that she'd do something really stupid or embarrassing,

but the joke was on them because she wasn't going to-

Oh, darn it
, she thought as her purse somehow tipped upside down and spilled its contents all over the black pavement,

leaving her with no choice but to drop to her knees and hurry to grab everything before they found anything embarrassing. Not

that she had anything embarrassing in her purse, she thought as she grabbed a handful of butterscotch discs and shoved them

back into her bag. She was pretty sure that she'd learned that lesson a month ago and cleaned out her purse. The only thing

they'd find now was a used paperback book, her wallet, candy, and-

"I see you believe in safe sex, Miss. Harris," a man said mockingly as he held up the box of condoms she'd bought weeks

ago and unfortunately forgot about.

She felt her cheeks burn as what had to be a hundred cameras clicked as the big jerk held the box of unopened condoms in

front of her face. Clearing her throat, she took the box back, trying not to wince when she heard more clicks, and shoved them

in her bag. "Yes, it's, um, very important," she mumbled pathetically, getting to her feet and fighting back the urge to make a run

for it.

When she made it to the front of the building she nearly sighed in relief. That is until the large security guard held up a

hand stopping her. "Employee pass or guest name," he said firmly.

"Oh," she muttered, trying to ignore the clicks as she searched through her bag for her employee pass only to come up

empty handed. "I...I think I lost it."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't let you in the building without a employee pass."

"Did you get fired?" one of the paparazzi demanded as Jamie struggled to figure out a way to get inside and away from the

cameras, but all their questions and the constant clicking of their cameras made it difficult to think at the moment.

"How did it feel to find out that your mother wasn't really your mother?"

"I hear your family couldn't wait to get rid of you," another one said, hitting a little too close to home.

"Please, I work for Rerum Publishing. If you call Rick Edwards or Nick Quinn they can vouch for me," she pleaded

quietly as the crowd began to close in tightly around her.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the guard said, gesturing for her to step away from the front door. "But I have strict orders not to let in

anyone without a pass or who isn't on the list," he said, holding up a clipboard.

She opened her mouth to ask him to check for her name, but realized that she wouldn't be on the guest list. If she wanted to

get in the building she was going to have to call Nick. She opened her purse even as the large man hurdled her away from the

building and the paparazzi descended on her. After a quick one minute search she realized that her phone wasn't in her bag.

"When did they fire you?"

"Probably after they realized your books sucked."

"Need help? Guess you can't call your family," someone shouted.

Jamie hugged her bag to her chest and tried to walk away, but they wouldn't let her. Anytime she tried to move away they

shifted to block her. When she tried to fake left and go right she was knocked down and before she could get back up she found

about a dozen people standing over her, yelling questions that she'd rather not think about as they documented her humiliation.

She tried to stand up, but no one would budge an inch, forcing her to curl up into herself and bury her face against her

knees as they continued shouting their questions and knocking into her as they shoved each other to get the perfect shot. As she

was stepped on, kicked, humiliated and screamed at she couldn't help but wish that she had some chocolate and Nick's arms

around her as the first embarrassing tear streamed down her cheek. Thankfully she had her face buried against her knees so the

cameras missed it, but that didn't stop them from trying to get some kind of a reaction from her.

*******

close for his comfort, forcing him to sit back in his chair and shift away from her as he shot the empty chair by Rick's side

another glance.

Where the hell was she?

She should have been here by now. In fact, she should have been here an hour ago, but the woman was a no show. He

called her apartment, thinking that she'd run back because she'd forgotten something, but she hadn't picked up. She wasn't

answering her cell phone either and now he was really starting to worry about her.

"Nick?" the woman said with a hint of a whine to her voice when he didn't answer her right away.

"I have to catch an early flight in the morning," he said absently as he turned to shoot another glance at the boardroom's

closed double doors.

"That's okay. I don't mind giving you a ride," she said in a husky whisper that left absolutely no doubt in his mind about

what she really meant.

"Not interested," he said, not even bothering to soften the blow as he sent another questioning look to Rick, who wore a

grim expression as he shook his head no. Great, his little recluse hadn't called Rick to let him know why she was running late.

"What do you mean you're not interested?" the woman demanded, but Nick was barely paying attention to her as he stood

up and headed for the door. He didn't need to look back to know that Rick was right behind him.

"The morning meeting is canceled. Please return to your duties," Rick said as Nick pulled his phone out and tried to call

Jamie one last time.

"Are you sure she was coming in today?" Rick asked as they stepped in front of the elevator.

"Positive," he said, hitting the call button repeatedly with a little too much force.

"Any idea what could be keeping her?" Rick asked.

"Not a clue," he said, regretting leaving her on her own. He should have insisted that she drive with him, but he hadn't

wanted to give the office gossips anything to talk about.

"Fuck this," he snapped when the elevator didn't move fast enough. He made his way to the stairwell, glaring at anyone

that got in his way. Three minutes later they were downstairs in the busy foyer, searching for her.

"Do you see her?" Rick asked.

"No," he said, barely biting back the urge to put his fist through a wall. Where the hell was she?

"Let's check outside," Rick said, already heading in the direction of the monitored glass doors. As they moved to step

outside the two large guards Rick had posted at the door stepped aside, revealing a large group of paparazzi going nuts not

twenty feet from the building.

"Police are on their way, sir," one of the guards informed Rick, but the man didn't seem to be listening as he moved