HH02 - A Reclusive Heart (27 page)

explaining the situation she took off like a shot towards the bathroom only to be intervened by none other than Holly.

"Where are you going?" Holly asked even though it really should be self-explanatory since she was heading straight for

the woman's room.

"I have to use the bathroom," Jamie explained as she tried to step around the woman.

"There's a bathroom set up for the authors," Holly explained, gesturing for Jamie to follow her. When she didn't

immediately move to follow the woman, who was giving off "Caitlyn vibes" as she liked to refer to bitchy vibes, Holly added,

"It's to make sure that you can use the bathroom in peace without having to worry about fans harassing you."

Oh, well that kind of made sense, Jamie decided as she followed the woman out of large convention room and through a

back door marked "Employees Only" and down a long hallway. By the time they took a right down another long hallway Jamie

couldn't help but wonder how exactly this was convenient for authors because she was finding it very inconvenient at the

moment.

When Holly suddenly stopped she nearly did a happy dance only to discover that none of the doors were marked in any

way indicating that they were restrooms. "I thought we should have a talk, woman to woman," Holly said as she faced her.

"Now?" Jamie asked, not bothering to hide her exasperation at the situation. "You can't wait until after I use the

bathroom?" she asked, moving to step past the woman, more than willing to hunt down a bathroom on her own at this point.

"It's about Nick," Holly said with a worried expression.

Yeah, she just bet it was, Jamie thought, moving once again to step past the infuriating woman when she added, "He's

going to get fired."

Now
that
had her attention.

She turned so that she could face the woman. "What are you talking about?"

Holly made a show of worrying her bottom lip as she wrung her hands together. "I really shouldn't say anything, but if I

don't I know Nick will get in a lot of trouble."

"What exactly would he get in trouble for?" she asked, already having a pretty good idea where this was going.

"For his relationship with you," the woman said, confirming her suspicions.

"I see," Jamie murmured as she looked around the long hallway again for any signs of a bathroom. It was close to

becoming an emergency.

"He's a really nice guy," Holly said on a broken sob. "I really don't want to see him get into any trouble, but if he

continues to see you then Rick will fire him."

Jamie kind of doubted that since Nick had hauled her onto his lap in front of Rick and even kissed her a few times. Rick

looked more amused than anything, which reminded her that she wanted to ask Nick about that.

"Is that all?" she asked when she moved past the woman to take up her search for a bathroom once again.

"He'll get fired!" Holly pleaded, cutting her off once again.

Normally Jamie would probably just mumble an apology and hear this woman's nonsense out but she really didn't have the

patience and according to her bladder she really didn't have the time. Instead of doing what she'd normally do she faced the

woman and decided to end this little game.

"Look, I get it. You're into Nick. You've probably been pinning after him since the moment you met him and I'm guessing

he hasn't exactly been receptive or your attention," she said, knowing that she'd guessed right when the woman's sympathetic

expression turned angry. "When you found out that you were joining this tour you probably thought that you finally had your

chance, but unfortunately your timing was off because Nick and I are dating and now-"

"You're not dating!" the woman cut her off. "He's fucking you, that's it. That's all that Nick is good for. He fucks anything

and everything with a pair of tits and the only reason he's with you is so that he can get ahead at work!"

"Um, he doesn't work for me," Jamie pointed out.

Holly spat out a cruel laugh. "No, but if you reach Dana Pierce's sales records he'll be able to pretty much do whatever he

wants. He's just using you. That's the only reason why he's with you," the woman said, destroying a huge piece of her newfound

confidence as old insecurities rushed to the surface.

"Look, I'm trying to give you a head's up because once this tour is over he'll be dropping you," Holly said, storming past

her to return to the convention.

"Because you want him for yourself," Jamie pointed out almost desperately.

Holly simply shrugged. "It will either happen during the tour or later. Nick's a man who likes to fuck and he'll eventually

come my way." With that she walked off leaving Jamie feeling like she'd just been kicked in the gut and unfortunately still

desperate for a bathroom. Instead of turning around and heading back the way she came she continued forward. She wasn't

ready to face Nick or the Holly's mocking sympathetic looks just yet.

She knew the woman would do and say anything to get Nick for herself, she wasn't an idiot after all. Thanks to Caitlyn she

knew exactly how vicious some women could be, but that didn't stop the words from having their desired effect.

This was only temporary. Nick had told her that. In fact he'd been very honest about that little fact. When this tour ended

then so did their relationship. Before this lovely little talk with Holly she assumed it was because the man couldn't commit, but

now she had to wonder if there was possibly a little more to the situation than she'd first realized.

Was it possible that Nick tricked her, okay so he didn't have to trick her, but could this whole thing just be a way to get

her to do what he wanted? As she continued her desperate search for a bathroom she had a hard time coming up with any other

reason why a man like Nick would even look twice at a woman like her.

It kind of figured that she was in love with a man who had an agenda.

********

"No, thank you," she murmured politely, not bothering to look up from her computer as she answered him.

He might be new to this whole relationship business, but he knew the signs very well since he used to use them to his own

advantage. Since she came back from her long bathroom break she wouldn't look at him, touch him, or speak to him unless it

was absolutely necessary. More importantly she wouldn't let him touch her. Every time he moved closer to her she found some

reason to move away. He knew he hadn't done anything to screw this up and he also knew the source of the problem.

Holly.

She was already packing her bags and heading home. The moment she came back without Jamie he knew she'd done

something. It wasn't until his sad little recluse came back and began greeting fans and looking close to tears that he knew the

woman had caused problems for him. When he explained how Jamie was acting and how the woman was beyond incompetent

since she couldn't seem to do anything without his help Rick had demanded that she be sent home.

He knew Rick wasn't pissed because a woman had put him in the doghouse with Jamie, but that the woman had screwed

with one of their clients. Their job was to ensure their clients were well represented, handled properly, looked after and were

presented in the best possible light to readers. Having an author who looked close to crying every time someone asked for her

autograph was the last thing any of them needed on this tour.

When he asked her what the hell she said to upset Jamie the woman tried to play innocent with him. She even had the

audacity to suggest that they talk things over in her room. It wasn't until he sent her packing that she lost that cool facade. She'd

glared at him before storming off, but still didn't tell him what the hell she said to Jamie.

There was no doubt in his mind that whatever she said to Jamie was making Jamie think twice about being with him. An

hour ago when he spotted her near the front desk he knew without a doubt that she was there to get her own room, but he wasn't

having that. He convinced her to come upstairs to work and then he'd been at a loss as to what to do. Thankfully he remembered

the chocolate he snuck in his bag for her and used it to confirm his suspicions.

She was leaving him, which normally wouldn't be a problem except that he didn't want her to leave him. He wanted her to

stay with him and he'd do whatever it took to make that happen.

"What the heck are you doing?" she demanded as he pulled her laptop away from her, yanked her to her feet and threw her

over his shoulder.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he demanded, standing perfectly still as he waited for her to make this easy for

him and just tell him what the hell was wrong so that he could fix it. Of course she didn't.

"Nothing's wrong," she said, wiggling in his arms.

"Then I guess I can't put you down," he said, heading for the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To check off another item on your list," he said with a shrug that unfortunately shifted her forward and scared the hell out

of her. He shifted her back to where she belonged as he made his way down the dimly lit hallway, relieved that she didn't start

screaming for help. Then again he probably should have known that she wouldn't make a sound. She did hate being the center of

attention after all.

He took the back elevator all the way down to the first floor and then followed the signs for the pool. When he came to the

locked door and peeked through the glass door he noted that this was also dimly lit and apparently off limits until tomorrow

morning. Not that it mattered to him since the manager had given him the master key for the pool area as a favor. He just hoped

the manager remembered to make sure that all of his employees stayed clear of this area or he was going to have one

embarrassed recluse on his hands.

"Why are we down here?" Jamie asked as he opened the door and made damn sure to lock it behind them.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

Since she was being so damn difficult he decided to do this the hard way. He walked over to the pool. "Do you by chance

have your cell phone on you at the moment?" he asked, walking towards the deep end.

"No, why?" she asked, sounding confused.

"No special reason," he said even he shifted her off his shoulder and tossed her into the pool.

Chapter 25

"What is wrong with you?" Jamie sputtered once she came to the surface.

"You wouldn't answer my question," Nick said accusingly as he gestured towards her with his leather shoe before he

tossed it over his shoulder.

"So that means that you have to throw me in the pool?" she asked in disbelief as she moved to swim to the other side and

climb out.

"Damn straight," Nick said, not bothering to try and stop her, she noted as she awkwardly climbed out of the pool and

stormed towards the door. She just made it past the corner of the pool when Nick came after her, naked, hard and determined.

For a second she was so stunned by the sight that she couldn't move and it cost her. Before she could make a run for it she

found herself thrown back over his shoulder, but this time he was pulling her shoes and socks off.

"What are you doing?" she demanded as he put her down.

In answer he practically ripped her slacks off. When she let out a surprised squeal and went to stop him she stumbled

back and fell in the water, sans pants. This time when she resurfaced she didn't hesitate in trying to make a run for it, but

unfortunately for her, Nick was quicker.

Just as she was moving to climb out of the water he yanked her back in and had her blouse off within seconds. Her bra

quickly followed after that. When he went for her panties she somehow managed to shift away and swim but not before she felt

her panties rip and then she was left naked in the pool, a
public
pool where anyone could see, she realized with dismay.

"What is wrong with you?" she practically screeched as she swam to the deep end and moved into the corner to hide.

"I'm just helping you with your list, Jamie," he said calmly as he swam after her.

"You could have asked!"

He shook his head as he continued towards her. "You would have said no," he explained as he stopped in front of her and

caged her in. "Now tell me what's going on."

"Nothing," she muttered, looking anywhere but at his beautiful green eyes.

"If nothing is wrong then why are you pulling away from me, Jamie," he asked softly as he gently cupped her chin between

his thumb and finger and raised her face until she found herself eye to eye with him.

"I'm not-" she started to lie, but he cut her off.

"Don't lie to me, Jamie," he said, pushing a strand of wet hair out of her face. "I know you're pulling away from me. I just

don't know why."

When all she could do was struggle not to cry he pulled her into his arms and held her. "Baby, what's wrong? What did I

do?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. "Look, I know Holly said something to upset you-"

"I don't like her," she mumbled against his damp warm skin.

He chuckled softly as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. "She's not my favorite person at the moment either, baby. Tell