A Reclusive Heart

by R. L. Mathewson

  to lose Jamie.

  Not yet.

  “It’s not that simple and you know it, Nick. We have that particular policy for a reason and I’m afraid I can’t look the other way. You’re going to have to end things with her and I’m afraid I can’t allow you to continue overseeing this tour,”

  Rick said grimly.

  He would still have the job he busted his ass to get, but he would lose Jamie, he realized. They were never going to last past this tour. This had been a fling, a wonderful, earth shattering fling, but nothing more. They could still be friends and he’d see her whenever she worked in the office and he was in town, but that was all.

  He would no longer be allowed to touch her, kiss her or hold her ever again because she would be off limits to him.

  As he stood up he couldn’t believe how easily the decision came to him. For years he wanted nothing more than to get his name out there and make a better life for himself and erase every last memory of his childhood. When the best opportunity of his life came he fucked it up by sleeping with his little recluse. He could either keep his job and he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he came across another chance to make a name for himself or he could keep the best thing that ever happened to him.

  It really surprised him that he didn’t have to think about it. “Then I quit,” he said, walking towards the door with every intention of grabbing his little recluse and taking her home where he planned on losing himself in her arms for the rest of the day.

  “You’re serious?” Rick said, coming to his feet.

  “Deadly,” Nick said without any hesitation.

  “She really means that much to you?” Rick asked, sounding more than just a little curious.

  “She means everything to me,” Nick said, closing in on the door. “I’ll be out within the hour and just so you know, I plan on going with her for the rest of the tour. I’ll stay out of whoever’s way that you send to take over for me, but I’m not leaving her.”

  Rick’s chuckle brought him up short. He turned around to glare at the man.

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  “I can’t believe the day when the mighty Nick Quinn got brought to his knees by a woman finally came,” he said, shaking his head ruefully even as the bastard continued to grin.

  “She didn’t bring me to my knees,” Nick ground out. “I care about her and want to keep her safe.”

  Rick waved his comments of which actually pissed him off more than the man’s laughter. “Relax you’re not fired.”

  “I quit,” he pointed out.

  “I chose to ignore it,” Rick said with a simple shrug. “But you should know that I’ve decided to send someone with you for the rest of the tour.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter, Rick,” he said, shocked at how relieved he was to still have a job.

  “I know you don’t. Even though I’m not entirely comfortable with this situation I’m going to trust that you know what you’re doing,” he explained and Nick just barely bit back his wince.

  He had no idea in hell what he was doing. For god sake’s he’d just tried to quit his job for a woman he didn’t plan on seeing past next month. What the hell was wrong with him? This wasn’t like him and he couldn’t help but blame his little recluse for it. If she hadn’t made him fall inNo, no, no, he was not in love with her. He liked her a lot, but it sure as hell wasn’t love. It was great sex and he enjoyed her company, nothing more. Maybe he’d been spending too much time with her. It might be best if he stepped back from her, but then he realized that he didn’t much care for the idea.

  Maybe this didn’t have to end once the tour was done. They could be friends, good friends and when the need arose they could have no strings attached sex, often. It wouldn’t be anything permanent, just two good friends who had great sex whenever they wanted, wherever. This could work, he realized as he walked back over to the large sitting area and sat down.

  The only problem as far as he could see was convincing Jamie that this was a good idea. He really didn’t see a problem with that. She loved spending time with him, had an insatiable appetite for sex and didn’t expect anything from him. Of course there would probably come a time when she started to date and when that time came……

  No, that wouldn’t work for him either, because the thought of his little recluse being touched by another man didn’t sit well with him so they were going to have to figure out something else. He liked being with her and actually liked thinking of himself as her boyfriend so maybe they’d continue with that for a year or two until they worked each other out their systems or got bored. That really did make more sense than torturing himself by allowing another man to get near her.

  “I’m sending Holy to help. J.L. Lewis’ popularity is skyrocketing. Thanks to her family’s antics more people are curious about her. We’ve already had calls from venders demanding more books as well as interviews. Your already tight schedule is about to become a little tighter to accommodate this demand and to make sure that everything goes smoothly I’m sending you help,” Rick explained as he took the chair across from him and damn if he couldn’t see the logic in what the man was saying.

  Of course there was just one thing that he wasn’t sure about.

  Who the hell was Holy?

  Before he could ask, Rick’s door swung open and his little recluse came storming into the room, holding a cardboard box in front of her. She didn’t look too happy, but when her eyes landed on him she looked decidedly less than pleased.

  “Is everything okay, Jamie?” Rick asked, getting to his feet when she approached them.

  Instead of answering him she shoved the box onto his lap and glared accusingly at him. “You promised me chocolate, you big jerk,” she snapped and hell if he couldn’t help but grin. The woman was a sexy little thing that entertained him on so many levels.

  “I got you chocolate and some Coke, Jamie, but Rick ate it,” he said with a helpless shrug.

  “Wait, what?” Rick asked, looking like a deer caught in headlights as Jamie turned her cute little temper on him.

  “You ate my chocolate?” Jamie asked as she glared up at the much taller man. It was actually interesting that his little recluse couldn’t stop apologizing to people for screwing her over, but mess with her sugar obsession and she’d rip someone’s throat out.

  “I-I-,” Rick stammered helplessly as Jamie’s lower lip began to tremble.

  Ah, shit.

  His little recluse needed a fix and soon. He knew the signs quite well at this point. As he stood up he wondered if perhaps they should look into a chocolate rehab center for her, but he knew she wouldn’t last twenty-four hours without something sweet.

  “I tell you what, Jamie,” he said, shifting the box under his arm as he put his other arm around her shoulders, “why don’t we take you out for a nice big hot fudge sundae and you can tell us what’s in this box,” he said in a soothing voice.

  “You’re patronizing my needs again,” she sighed, but thankfully that lower lip stopped trembling.

  “Are you trying to tell me that you don’t want a nice big ice cream sundae?”

  he asked, already knowing his little recluse would never be able to say refuse sugar.

  “That’s not what I’m saying and you know it, but I don’t think you should bring that box with us,” she said, moving away from him and towards the door.

  “Why not?” Rick asked, stepping up next to him to peer down at the box with him.

  “Because half of those letters contain explicit sexual content and the other half are death threats.”

  Chapter 23

  “Come on, Jamie. It’s time to get up,” Nick said in a soothing tone even as he pulled her to her feet.

  “Go away. I’m tired and I hate you,” she muttered, trying to pull away from him so that she could cuddle back up in her seat and go back to sleep, but he wouldn’t have it. In seconds he had her back on her feet and was nudging her off the plane.

  “We’ll be a
t the hotel in a half an hour and then you can go to sleep, okay?”

  Nick said in that same tone that he probably thought would make her nod and do whatever he asked when it just made her want to nod off.

  “Mr. Quinn is right, Miss. Harris. Once we get to the hotel you can rest until the book signing this afternoon,” Holly, the woman who now made them a trio for the rest of the tour said from somewhere ahead of her, but she was too busy struggling to keep her eyes open to try and look for the woman.

  Not that she thought the woman would be very hard to find. With stunning red hair, exotic style, and way too much perfume she was kind of hard to miss.

  Since her ticket was a last minute booking, Holly had been forced to sit several rows away from them, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough. The woman’s perfume invaded the cabin space and within minutes a lot of people, including her, were complaining about having a headache.

  Of course it reminded her that if Nick tried to force her to share a room with the woman she was going to revolt. She’d pay for her own room because there was no way she could stay in the same with the woman and that perfume. She could be the nicest woman in the world for all Jamie knew, but she just couldn’t take being trapped in a room with that tear stinging perfume. It was not happening.

  “You’re doing great, Jamie. Just hang in there and we’ll be at the hotel soon,”

  Nick said after they collected their luggage and headed for the front entrance.

  “I don’t need a pep talk,” she muttered, biting back a yawn as she readjusted the duffle bag over her shoulder, “I need sugar, lots and lots of sugar,” she grumbled, wishing that he would at least let her get some before they left, but the infuriating man decided about twelve hours ago that he was going to turn into Super Overprotective Man, which of course meant keeping an eye on her and depriving her of her beautiful much needed beloved sugar.

  Then again she couldn’t really blame him since those letters had freaked her out pretty badly. She still couldn’t believe someone who didn’t know her could hate her so much. When she showed the letters to him and Rick she’d been kind of hoping that they’d laugh it off and tell her that it was a joke, but the looks on their faces when they read the first one told her that it was anything but a joke.

  Within minutes Rick had been on the phone with the police and Nick wouldn’t let her out of his sight even to use the bathroom and when she couldn’t hold it a minute longer he made her use the men’s room so that he could stand guard. He thought she was kidding when she told him to sing so that she could use the bathroom. She hadn’t been. Besides learning that the men’s bathroom was surprisingly cleaner than the women’s room she also learned that Nick had a very sexy singing voice.

  That of course didn’t make up for the fact that she hadn’t had sugar in nearly twenty-four hours. She wasn’t hypoglycemic or anything, but very much addicted to sugar at this point in her life and if she went too long without something sweet she got cranky, very cranky. This morning Nick had been sweet enough to make her breakfast, a straightforward breakfast of eggs, bacon and wheat toast that didn’t fulfill her sugary needs. She meant to pick something up on the way to work but never got the chance. Of course once the guys saw the letters she never got her hot fudge sundae either or any food for that matter.

  “She’s going to fall over,” she mumbled just as her poor stomach growled viciously for a little attention. As soon as they reached the hotel she was going to order some food and grab some sleep. Her new game plan was to sleep until the very last minute possible instead of spending the customary hour with Nick going over things. If he didn’t like that then that was too bad. She was a tired cranky woman in need of sugar and he was the big jerk denying her her fix.

  “How much shit does she need?” Nick asked even as he reached over and grabbed the duffle bag that was giving Jamie so much trouble and threw it over his already occupied shoulder before reaching back over and taking her now free hand into his.

  They watched as Holly directed the man carting all eight of her bags towards the waiting line of taxis. She realized that they wouldn’t be heading home for four weeks, but eight bags was a bit of an overkill, especially since they would be moving around a lot. While Holly’s bags were loaded into a taxi, Nick signaled for a different taxi and had their things thrown in the back.

  “Nick!” Holly said brightly, waving to get Nick’s attention.

  With a small groan that had her smiling he looked over at the woman. “I thought that it might be a good idea if you and I shared a taxi so that we could go over a few things,” Holly said casually, but there was no doubt in Jamie’s mind that talking was the last thing the woman wanted to do with Nick.

  It wasn’t too difficult to figure out that the woman was interested in Nick.

  What heterosexual woman in her right mind wouldn’t be? He was incredibly sexy, handsome and charming and it seemed that she wasn’t the only woman to notice.

  He opened the taxi door and gestured for her to get inside and barely held back her disappointed sigh as she resigned herself to riding to the hotel alone.

  “We’ll meet you at the hotel,” Nick said as she closed her eyes and settled in for what she hoped was a short ride.

  “Okay,” she said around a loud yawn.

  “Okay, what?” Nick asked as he sat down next to her and took her hand into his.

  She opened her mouth to explain that she thought that he was riding with Holly, but she was too damn exhausted to try. Instead, she curled up next to him and forced her eyes to stay open during the blessedly short ride.

  It seemed like minutes later she was leaning against the wall near their things while she watched Nick check them all in. She was waiting to see how many rooms they had before telling him that she was getting her own room. She didn’t want to hurt Holly’s feelings unnecessarily by flat-out refusing to bunk with her.

  Holly just stepped into the hotel foyer followed by a man pushing her bags on a trolley when Nick walked over to her. He handed her a keycard and one to Holly as she joined them.

  “So we get our own rooms,” Jamie said, hoping that she didn’t sound too hopeful.

  Nick shook his head as he reached down and grabbed his bags. “No, I’m afraid all of our original reservations still stand. Two of us are going to have to double bunk,” he announced and she wasn’t too busy trying to find a tactful way around it to notice the look Holly sent Nick. She knew the minute she was out of earshot that the woman was going to offer to share a room with Nick.

  That wasn’t happening. She might be a pushover, but that didn’t mean that she was going to stand by quietly while some woman made a play for her boyfriend, she wasUtterly shocked that she thought of him as her boyfriend.

  Even though he’d referred to her himself as her boyfriend a few times she hadn’t given it much thought mostly because she didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she realized that it was true. For the first time in her life she had a boyfriend.

  She ignored the fact that that little bit of information was kind of pathetic and focused on the here and now and right now there was another woman interested in her man.

  Although she wasn’t the down and dirty cat fight over a guy kind of girl that didn’t mean she was going to stand back while another woman made a play for Nick. She’d simply take the woman aside and explain to her that”Miss. Harris and I will be sharing a room,” Nick announced, shocking the woman and putting the matter to rest as far as she was concerned, which was a good thing since she really didn’t think she would have had much energy to explain anything to the woman at the moment. “We’ll see you in the morning. Have a good night, Holly,” Nick said, grabbing Jamie’s bag and throwing it over his shoulder once he had all of his things.

  “Wait! You can’t do that!” Holly yelled after them.

  “Goodnight,” was all Nick said as he ushered her onto the elevator. Just before the elevator doors closed she saw the look of fury on the woman’s face and thanks to growing
up with Caitlyn, knew the woman was going to make her life a living hell.

  Great, she thought dryly as the elevator doors closed. That’s all she needed to make her life perfect.

  ******

  “I could have rented my own room,” Jamie mumbled as she stepped out of the bathroom, drying her damp her off and wearing a pair of light pink flannel pajama pants and a tiny white tee shirt that had his blood simmering.

  “They were sold out for the night,” he lied. “It was either share a room with me or with Holy,” he explained, noting the pinched look on Jamie’s face at the suggestion. Not that he could blame her. The woman was incredibly annoying and that perfume of hers was strong enough to peel paint. She was also the last person that he wanted to tag along on this tour.

  When he realized who Holly was he took Rick aside and told him to pick someone else. Unfortunately there was no one else. Correction, he could have had her replaced for this tour if he’d been willing to wait another couple of days but he hadn’t been.

  After seeing those letters he wanted to get his little recluse the hell out of there as soon as possible and for damn good reason too. The reason of course was the death threats. It wasn’t uncommon for celebrities and authors to receive death threats from unhappy fans and psychos and he knew that she’d no doubt receive more over the years, but these letters were alarming.

  Not only did they go into graphic detail about how the psycho wanted to kill Jamie, but the letters were all addressed to Jamie, not J.L. Lewis. That probably wouldn’t have been entirely alarming since her family took it upon themselves to give away her real name, but that had only been a few days ago. The letters dated back