Page 24 of A Reclusive Heart

“I’m sorry, sir. The seats have been overbooked. I’m afraid that we only have one seat available. One of you will have to stand,” the conductor said with a helpless shrug.

If they hadn’t already checked their bags, they’d be getting off the train and hauling ass to the nearest airport, but they couldn’t. The airport in South Carolina was two hours away from their hotel while the train station was only a ten-minute drive away. They’d lose too much time switching now and would miss the book signing.

With a heavy sigh, Nick gestured for Jamie to take the seat while he found a spot to stand near the bathroom. She looked like she was going to argue when he sent her a glare that told her to sit her cute little ass down before he spanked it. After a slight hesitation, Jamie nodded and sat down in the aisle seat.

He was just resigning himself to cramped legs and boredom when he watched a middle-aged man stop in front of her. While Jamie was looking out the window, the man was looking at her, looking rather pleased as he quickly slipped his wedding ring off his finger and into his pocket. Nick watched as the manran his fingers through his hair and straightened his tie before approaching Jamie and gesturing to the seat next to her with his train ticket.

Oversold train his ass. He was going to have a word with Beth or whatever the hell her name was in transportation, Nick told himself as he watched the asshole strike up a conversation withhislittle recluse. She really was a naive little thing, Nick decided as he watched the asshole charm her. When she smiled and let out a small laugh that seemed to please the man and piss him off, Nick decided to intervene.

Clearly, she was in over her head and he was helping her. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d given away a smile so easily to the asshole when he had to work his ass off to earn one. It didn’t. She was his responsibility, and therefore, it was his job to make sure that no one but him took advantage of her. With that in mind, he walked over to her.

“Up,” Nick said, gesturing for her to stand. When she only stared up at him, looking adorably confused, he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick tug. Once she was on her feet, he moved in and sat down, throwing the asshole a smug grin as he gave Jamie’s hand another tug that had her falling onto his lap. He ignored her surprised gasp as he righted her on his lap and got comfortable.

“What are you doing?” Jamie whispered as another beautiful blush crept up her neck. It made him wonder if she blushed during sex. Before that thought left his mind, he was shifting her again and trying not to notice how warm and soft her ass was. Hell, he really needed to get laid.

“Getting comfortable in our seat. Why?” Nick asked as he closed his eyes and settled in for the ride.

She shifted again but didn’t say anything and neither did the guy next to him. He really hadn’t expected to fall asleep, so when he was suddenly jolted awake when the train came to a stop,he was surprised. He was even more surprised to find his little recluse fast asleep in his arms. She was curled up quite nicely in his arms with her head resting on his shoulder.

“Lucky bastard,” the guy next to him muttered as he stood up and squeezed past them.

Ignoring the asshole and just how good Jamie felt in his arms, Nick gently shook her awake. When she mumbled something and tried to turn over in his arms, he gave her another shake that thankfully did the trick. She slowly opened her eyes, looked at him sleepily for a moment before she blinked. He watched in utter fascination as her eyes widened almost comically a split second before she bolted from his lap.

As much as he hated to admit this, she’d felt damn good in his arms and he didn’t like that one goddamn bit. He was a man who liked his space and didn’t need a damn thing from anyone. Sex didn’t count. That was just a way to work out stress and get off. He sure as hell didn’t hold any of the women after he’d fucked them.

If a woman entertained him in bed, he’d consider her for a second bout of sex, but nothing more than that. Then again, if she’d been too needy, brought any drama into his life, or displeased him in any way, he was out the door before she was done screaming his name. He liked his sex bullshit-free and without all that relationship crap.

Some women got pissed about his view on sex, but he didn’t care. If they even hinted at any drama, he lost interest and moved on to the next woman. He liked to deal with women who knew the score before he fucked them. There was no future with him and he made damn sure they all knew it.

“What doyou want to do after this?” Nick asked as he looked over some papers the bookstore manager gave him.

“Um,” Jamie said, clearing her throat and trying not to appear nervous, “I was thinking about looking around the mall for a laptop.”

He frowned at that but didn’t bother looking up from the papers in his hands. “I told you I’d find one for you.”

She stopped herself from pointing out that he’d promised to do that a few weeks ago, but she knew with their busy schedule and her list that he hadn’t had much time to look around. Well, tonight, she planned on rectifying that. Not only did she need her own computer to work, but she also needed it to-

“What’s with the sudden rush?” Nick asked, still reading through everything.

To watch porn, she almost blurted out but somehow managed to hold it back. Tonight, for the first time ever, she was going to watch porn. She’d never seen it before, always avoided it, but tonight, she was going to watch one and take notes.

It wasn’t as though she was completely oblivious to the act. She’d read romance novels and watched love scenes in movies, so she felt that she had a pretty good knowledge base of the act, but she’d never actually seen the act before, but tonight she would. She’d pay attention, learn what men liked and what she could expect when it came time to have sex. She might be a virgin, but that didn’t mean she wanted the first guy she slept with to know that. That was her business.

Granted, she’d didn’t necessarily need to shell out a lot of money to watch porn, but she didn’t want to use Nick’s computer in case it left evidence behind and she really didn’t want to haveto order one of those movies she’d seen advertised in some of the hotels and have anyone find out that she was doing this. She also didn’t understand why anyone would pay thirty bucks to watch one.

“I’ll take you after this,” Nick said, not sounding particularly happy about it, but then again, he had been spending all of his time with her. She imagined a man like him wasn’t used to going without sex and probably needed a night off. Then another thought occurred to her, one that made her curious, could men get cranky if they went too long without sex? If so, was it like PMS? Could she expect mood swings and sudden urges for chocolate from him?

She really didn’t think she could deal with a cranky Nick. An irritated Nick was bad enough. No, if he got worse, she was going to grab the first bimbo she saw and throw her his way. She’d do anything to avoid Nick getting crankier.

“Jamie?”

“Huh?”

“I said we could go after this if you want to,” Nick said, looking up long enough to send her a frown.

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” Jamie mumbled, feeling giddy.

Who knows, maybe by this time next week, she wouldn’t be a virgin. That would be fantastic. She was also sure that having experienced the act first-hand would probably benefit her writing. If anything, she should have sex for her job. Yes, she definitely owed it to her readers to go out and have sex.

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