A Reclusive Heart

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Really?” he asked with a cocky arch of his brow that she didn’t like, not one bit.

  “Really!” she snapped back.

  “Then how do you expect to get through your list without my help?” he asked, and judging by his smug grin she didn’t have to ask what list he was referring to.

  “Face it, Miss. Harris. You need me.”

  Chapter 8

  This was going to be too easy, he thought as his little recluse looked up at him through wide eyes as her mouth worked soundlessly. After her little rebellion last night he should have realized the odd little list he’d come across late last night would be the key to getting her under his control, but he’d still been angry that she hadn’t jumped when he told her to. That was fine because now it seemed that he could offer her what she desperately needed.

  Him.

  The only reason she agreed to come along on this tour was to try new things and apparently she desperately wanted to get out there and expand on that little goal, but there was only one problem with that. She was shy, painfully so. That was the reason she didn’t leave her barstool last night and the reason why she damn near bolted every time someone said hello to her today. If the only way to get her to stay and start behaving was to go through each item on her list with her then that’s what he would do.

  If it meant that she would listen to him then he’d do all the things on her list that had him rolling his eyes last night. Half the things on her list he’d done before and actually enjoyed so that wouldn’t bother him. Of course the only way to have time to do anything on her list was to get their work done. She’d realize that and work her cute little ass off and do what he told her to do. Then he’d help her get through her list, but only if she did everything that he wanted first.

  “I-I don’t need you to do that list,” she mumbled pathetically even as a bright red blush crept up her cheeks, painting her a liar.

  “So you’ll be able to do all of those things on your list?” he asked before adding, “by yourself?”

  She worried her bottom lip as she shifted nervously in front of him, but she didn’t say anything because they both knew the truth. Without him she wouldn’t have the balls to do anything on her list. There was a reason why she was a little recluse after all. She was too damn afraid to get out there and grab life by the balls.

  Without him she’d only be able to write about life instead of living it.

  He shook his head as he walked over to the hotel phone. “Face it, Miss.

  Harris, you need me more than I need you.”

  “No, I don’t,” she said weakly, probably some half ass attempt to stand up for herself, but he barely paid attention as he picked up the phone and ordered room service.

  When he was done he sat down on the small love seat and relaxed as he watched the little recluse struggle to come up with a decent argument. When a minute passed and she still hadn’t been able to say anything more than a mumble he decided to take pity on her.

  “Why don’t the two of us come to an understanding on the matter?” he suggested casually. “During this tour I will go with you and do anything that you would like to try. In return you will show up to book signings, interviews, conventions and anything that I need you to do on time and say more than two words to your fans. You will also make yourself available when I need you.”

  She licked her lips nervously and he knew he had her by that little calculating expression on her face. She wanted this, badly. Not that he could blame her, he thought with a tiny ounce of pity. One look at that list and it was more than obvious that the woman hadn’t truly lived. It was actually pathetic to think that last night had been her first visit to a nightclub or a bar for that matter since that was also on her list.

  He should probably feel bad for her and if he didn’t need her so damn badly he probably would. But the truth of the matter was this made his life easy. She would do exactly what he wanted and in return he’d help her with her little list. The only downside that he could see of course was that he would have to give up what little spare time he would have during this tour to see to this ridiculous list of hers.

  Then again if it worked to keep her in line and smiling on cue then he would suck it up and deal with it. Besides, her list was pretty simple and wouldn’t take long to go through. They’d finish it in two weeks, three tops, and then he’d have her undivided attention for the next several months. Actually, this could actually help him out in the long run as well. She’d learn to listen to him and trust his judgment and he could plan future events with J.L. Lewis without fear that she’d cause him any problems.

  “You’re willing to go with me and do whatever’s on my list?” she asked slowly as if she didn’t trust him.

  Smart girl.

  But as long as she did what she was asked he would fulfill his side of the bargain. It was a simple enough agreement.

  “Yes, but you have to do what I ask if you want me to go with you,” he clarified. Work came first and he needed to make sure that she understood that.

  She nodded slowly. “That sounds fair.”

  “But I’m warning you, Miss. Harris, the moment you stop doing as you’re asked you’re on your own with that little list of yours.”

  Another nod.

  “Okay then,” he said, getting to his feet and gesturing towards the door.

  “Let’s get some work done.”

  ******

  “I don’t remember this being on your list,” Nick said accusingly as he glared down at her.

  It took everything Jamie had not to cower beneath that glare, but somehow she managed it. Actually, she was quite proud of herself for that little move, but that didn’t exactly help with the man scowling down at her.

  She cleared her throat nervously. “Yes, it was,” she lied.

  His eyes practically narrowed to slits. “I don’t remember seeing going with you to a chocolate convention on the list.”

  “Well, it was a really long list. You probably just missed it,” she lamely explained as the man standing in front of her stepped back and bumped into her, almost knocking her down. “Sorry,” she mumbled pathetically before she could stop herself. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as Nick’s glare intensified for some reason.

  “It was a very short list,” Nick said as he put his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her out of the way as the man in front went to bang into her again. He moved her closer to his side and she was pretty sure she’d rather be rammed into by the rather rotund man in front of her than be this close to Nick. The man was too damn intimidating and being this close to him was making it kind of difficult to lie to him, but she was willing to give it a shot.

  “It was long, very, very long,” she said, nibbling her bottom lip as she averted her eyes.

  “It was one page, double spaced,” he bit out.

  “Um, no it wasn’t.” But it was. At least it had been until last night when he finally dismissed her for the night. After he shoved the laptop in her hands with the expectation that she was going to work for a few more hours even though it had been well past eleven at night by that point she revised the list……a little.

  She’d meant to work for at least an hour just to appease the big bully, but when she logged onto the computer and started to work all she could think about was her list and all the new possibilities that went along with their new agreement.

  Even though she fully planned on doing the things on her list, things that she’d been sure she could handle on her own she was now going to venture out and do everything that she’d always wanted to do but was always too chicken to even try.

  For three and a half hours she’d added things that she’d only dreamed of doing until she passed out at her hotel room desk. She was pretty sure she’d covered everything, but if she hadn’t she knew she could always add it later, well she hoped at least. Judging by the disgruntled look Nick was sending her she realized that she may have to find a way to sneak a few things onto the list, because righ
t now she had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going to be happy when he found out that the list went from one page to ten or twenty or so.

  Then again this chocolate convention hadn’t been on the list at all, but she’d overheard one of her fans talking about it earlier and mentally added it to the list.

  Nick had assumed that she’d want to try to go to the nightclub again tonight and had been shocked when she told him what she really wanted to do. She’d hit a nightclub again soon, especially if she had him by her side, but tonight she was all about the chocolate.

  Seriously, what kind of woman would be able to pass up a convention center filled with chocolate from all over the world? Okay, granted she’d almost passed it up, but only because she always felt like an oddball whenever she went to any event by herself, but then she remembered that she didn’t have to. While she was on this tour she had her own personal tag along buddy, a buddy that would help her do all those things that she’d always dreamed about doing, but didn’t have the guts to try.

  “Exactly how many items are on the list now, Miss. Harris?” he demanded as they moved forward in the line to enter the convention.

  She nearly rolled her eyes at the “Miss, Harris”. She knew they weren’t friends and knew this agreement had nothing to do with friendship and everything to do with getting what they both wanted, but if he continued to call her Miss.

  Harris other people would question why a handsome man was spending time with her. They’d probably assume she paid him and she really didn’t think she could deal with anymore unwanted attention.

  “The name is Jamie and I have no idea how many items are on the list,” she whispered, ignoring her burning cheeks.

  He sighed heavily as he grabbed her arm and practically dragged her along the moving line. “I suppose it would make things easier if we were on a first name basis,” he grudgingly agreed as they paid for their tickets. She considered paying for his ticket since he was doing her a favor, but then remembered that he wouldn’t allow her to order a hot fudge sundae last night after dinner because he considered it an interruption. So she didn’t feel bad when he had to dish out twenty bucks to get in.

  Once the man in front of her headed to the right and she could see what waited for her she gasped. It was just so darn beautiful. There were booths filled with chocolate and everywhere she looked she saw signs for free samples. She’d probably have a stomach ache later but she didn’t care. It would be worth it.

  “Okay, so go grab a few pieces of chocolate and let’s get out of here,” Nick said, gesturing for her to move her buns.

  “Are you insane?” she asked, surprising herself, but really he had to be. They were in a convention center that featured two levels of chocolate and if he really thought that any woman in her right mind would be able to choose just a few pieces of chocolate out of thousands and be satisfied then he was crazy. It was either that or he was on drugs.

  He rubbed his hands over his face before dropping them to his sides, looking annoyed. “You’re going to hit every vender, aren’t you?”

  She nodded solemnly as she headed to the first one in front of her. “At least twice,” she admitted as she accepted a chocolate dripped strawberry and nearly moaned in ecstasy as the tasty combination hit her tongue.

  “This is hell,” she thought she heard him mumble, but decided to ignore him as she moved on to a vender that hade creamy white chocolate.

  ******

  “Well, I hope you learned your lesson,” he said as he slapped a hot face cloth on the whimpering woman’s forehead and sat down at the small hotel room’s desk.

  “It was……worth it,” she said, turning over on the bed to move into the fetal position and hold her stomach.

  “Sure it was,” he agreed dryly as he logged onto his computer to check the next day’s itinerary. “You can hardly move without saying ‘oh, god’, but I’m sure the fifty pounds of chocolate you consumed that will probably be making a reappearance real soon was well worth it,” he said dryly.

  “It really was,” she agreed, groaning.

  He sent her a glare before returning his attention to his computer as he tried not to think about the four hours of his life that he’d never get back. He really couldn’t understand how anyone could get worked up over chocolate like that, but apparently his little recluse had. She’d dragged him from vender to vender to vender until he considered strangling her cute little neck. Finally when he didn’t think he could take another minute of someone shoving chocolate in his face she grabbed her stomach and muttered five of the sweetest words he’d ever heard, “I don’t feel so good.”

  Thankful that the hell was finally over he practically dragged her out of the convention, ignoring her sad little attempts to break free and go indulge in more free samples, threw her in a taxi, and hauled her ass back to the hotel where he fully planned on getting at least three hours of work out of her. He held up his end of the bargain and he fully expected her to do the same.

  Speaking of the agreement……

  He opened her folder, clicked on her “To do” list and nearly swore when he saw the insane number of pages she’d added. After sending her one last glare that she ignored because she was squeezing her eyes shut while mumbling, “Ow, ow, owie,” he returned his focus on the list that would no doubt make his life a living hell. He swore that if she had another convention on the damn list that he was going to spank her ass.

  What the hell………

  He hadn’t seen this coming, but hey if this was what she wanted he could do it. At least she’d made the list interesting, he thought as he went through each item as he tried to figure out which ones they could manage to do while on this tour and the ones that were impossible. By the time he was done going through it he had a newfound respect for the little recluse. He’d never thought the woman whimpering on his bed would be interested in some of the more interesting things, but he couldn’t deny that the list pleased him.

  This definitely just got a lot more interesting.

  Chapter 9

  “Faster!” Jamie practically squealed in his ear.

  He couldn’t help but chuckle as he squeezed the throttle of the rented bike and sped down the deserted highway. Jamie’s arms tightened around him even as the sound of her laughter reached his ears over the loud roar of the bike’s engine.

  This was her first time on a bike and he could already tell that the woman had fallen instantly in love. He’d chosen this item off her list because it was one of his favorite things to do. Whenever he felt stressed or just needed a break from it all he jumped on one of his bikes and hit the road. Granted, he didn’t do it as much as he would love to these days, but it was still one of the few things that made him relax, sex was the other.

  Since he hadn’t had sex in over a month and it didn’t look like he was going to be able to indulge in his favorite pastime, at least not while he was on this tour, then this was the next best thing. Thankfully the little recluse seemed to love it as much as him so he’d be able to do it a few more times while they were on this tour.

  That would definitely help since Rick contacted him that morning and told him that Rerum Publishing House wanted to extend the already long tour.

  They’d only been on tour for two weeks, but it seemed that every city they visited had a huge surge in J.L. Lewis sales that more than made up for the cost of this promotional tour. It seemed that J.L. Lewis was well on her way to setting new sales records for Rerum Publishing House and Nick couldn’t be happier. He knew this woman was the key to his success and so far she’d proved him right.

  A week ago several of her books managed to make it to number one on all the important book lists and even some that weren’t. It seemed as though everyone had J.L. Lewis fever and he knew that it was only going to get better. There was already talk from networks about making several of her books into television series and a few major boys in Hollywood were hinting at a movie deal. That would mean more exposure and even higher sales and Ni
ck couldn’t wait.

  It wasn’t necessarily his job to influence the little recluse on what she should do, but he’d talk her into whatever deal best benefitted him. The more exposure she had the better he would make out in the deal. Hell, he was already toying with a European tour after this. For most authors he’d force himself to step back even though everything in him screamed to move his ass, but this was Jamie he was talking about here.

  She had no life or real friends to rush back to so he knew it wouldn’t take much to convince her to keep going. Tours normally could become tiresome and stressful for authors, but he knew that Jamie actually enjoyed traveling, sleeping in different hotels and trying new things. Even when she was exhausted and they had to travel late at night she still had a smile on her face.

  He’d be able to keep her happy. As long as they had the list he owned her happiness. They’d been doing this for two weeks and he knew she was addicted to that damn list. She loved trying new things and with him there she seemed relaxed and able to go through with her little list. The two times he had to put off the list she’d tried to do things on her own only to end up stressed and intimidated. That of course pleased him because it meant that he hadn’t outlived his usefulness. She needed him for this list and he needed her for this tour and possibly a European tour immediately afterwards. It really depended on what Rick could come up with.

  “Do you want to head back to the hotel?” he asked when he noticed the setting sun.

  “No!” she said, sounding close to pouting, which actually pleased him.

  He loved riding and wasn’t ready to call it a night either. This was one of his favorite things in the world to do. Normally he