Page 2 of A Reclusive Heart

Rick looked at the long line of men being ignored and sighed heavily. “Guess I’m going to have to do something about that.”

“It’s your party. Go nuts. I’m going home to my liquor cabinet and bed,” Nick said, sighing heavily as he pushed away from the bar.

“Going home alone?” Rick asked, sounding surprised.

“All these women are looking for Mr. Right,” Nick said with a bored sigh.

Rick looked thoughtful for a moment. “You never know, that could be you.”

Nick shot him a wink. “I don’t have any plans to change my name from Mr. Wrong anytime soon.”

CHAPTER 2

“Don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke,” Jamie chanted, pressing her forehead against the faux leather cover encasing her steering wheel.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Everything was fine. This was just a job, a new job, the start of her new life, but nothing to worry about. It was just a new stage in her life because of-

Her stomach turned just thinking about her ex-almost-boyfriend. Make that her new brother-in-law, thanks to her sister Caitlyn. That fun surprise was the reason why she was here. She needed this desperately.

This was going to be the start of the new Jamie.

Not that she hated herself. She didn’t. She just wasn’t particularly in love with herself. She was boring, shy, and plain. On top of that, she was pretty darn sure that she was the world’s biggest pushover. Everyone knew that she didn’t have a backbone and had no problem taking advantage of that little fault.

But no more.

That was the old Jamie. The new Jamie was going to start saying no. She was going to take charge of her life. It was thereason why she’d sold her internet publishing company and took this job. She wanted, no,neededto get out into the world and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. This job would force her out of her shell and into the world that, up to this point, she’d been avoiding like the plague.

“I’m good,” Jamie mumbled to herself, not really sounding all that confident, but it was a start. She pushed her glasses back up her nose as she did her best not to vomit.

Taking one last fortifying breath, Jamie grabbed her oversized purse, which looked more like a bag, and reached for the door handle. After catching the small heel of her shoe on the floor mat and fighting her way to freedom, she was finally able to open her car door and climb out.

Satisfied that she hadn’t vomited or passed out, Jamie closed her car door behind her, hit the alarm, and took a step forward only to come to a halt and stumble back against her car.

“What the...”

She turned around and couldn’t help but sigh. Of course, this would happen. She’d somehow managed to shut the car door on her bag. Her cheeks burned as the sound of laughter reached her ears. She didn’t need to look back to know that they were laughing at her.

Keeping her face averted so that no one would be able to identify her later and point and laugh at her as they reminisced about this soul-crushing moment, Jamie disarmed the car alarm and removed her bag. This time, when she closed the car door, she made sure to remain a safe distance away.

Clutching the shoulder strap tightly in her hands, Jamie headed for the front entrance of Rerum Publishing House, praying that nothing else went wrong. She kept her breathing even as she walked up the sidewalk, stepped into the main lobby, and headed towards the elevator. When she stepped inside, she pressed the button for the fifth floor and slowly exhaled,ignoring the curious looks thrown her way as she focused on not passing out.

She ran her sweaty palms down the front of her charcoal gray wool skirt and frowned even as she inwardly groaned. Why hadn’t she taken the time to try on her clothes yesterday before she bought them? Oh, that’s right, because Caitlyn and her trio of bullies came into the store, forcing Jamie to grab the first suit off the rack that looked like it would fit, pay, and get the heck out of there before they spotted her.

It was either that or endure the pitying looks, catty comments, and Caitlyn reminiscing about how Jamie could never keep any man’s attention once they met her. So yeah, she ran for it and apparently bought a suit that was at least four sizes too big for her.

The elevator dinged and people looked at her expectantly. It took a moment before Jamie realized that they’d reached the fifth floor. With a murmured apology, she hefted her bag,erpurse, and stepped out of the elevator and into an introvert’s nightmare.

“Excuse me,” a woman in a much better suit than hers said in a crisp tone as she rushed past Jamie.

With another murmured apology, Jamie pressed herself back against the wall and watched the chaos for several minutes before the panic that she’d been fighting since she’d signed the contract finally hit.

Oh, God, she couldn’t do this.

Swallowing hard, Jamie quickly stumbled back to the elevator and hit the call button, and then pressed it again and again. Where the heck was it? She pushed her glasses back up her nose to get a better look at the elevator lights. It was on the ninth floor and she didn’t have time to wait.

Clutching her bag tightly against her chest, Jamie averted her gaze as she turned around and followed the exit signs tothe stairwell. Halfway there, she spotted signs for the women’s restroom. After taking a quick glance up to confirm its location, Jamie took another deep breath and scurried through the swarm of people. She didn’t release that breath until she was in the bathroom and safely locked away in the last stall.

After placing five paper barriers on the toilet, Jamie carefully sat down, dropped her bag between her feet, and cradled her head in her hands. This had been a huge mistake. She should have kept her company and just resigned herself to being the strange woman with twenty cats that all the kids would point and laugh at in twenty years. The fact that she didn’t like cats shouldn’t factor into her decision.

---