Page 33 of A Reclusive Heart

“No.”

There was a brief pause before she said, “If you do, I’ll tell you about the new book I’m writing and the big surprise,” she said brightly, probably hoping to lure him into letting her in.

“I don’t care,” Nick said, surprising even himself. As her agent, he should care. The woman’s books were a goldmine and he’d be an idiot not to find out what she was working on so that he could prepare a marketing campaign, but at the moment, he simply didn’t care.

The only thing he cared about was getting his head clear, perhaps getting drunk as he tried to figure out how he was going to explain this to Rick in the morning when he called to chew Nick’s ass out for the pictures that were no doubt already making the rounds on the internet.

“You’re really not going to let me in?” she asked, sounding disappointed.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“Fine,” she said, sighing unhappily. “I guess I’ll just go without you.”

He didn’t bother responding as he took a sip of his beer. She could go out on her own for one night. She’d be more than fine. Besides, he doubted that she was doing anything dangerous. Knowing his little recluse, she was probably getting around to the karaoke item on her to-do list that had made him want to cry. Actually, if she was hitting a karaoke bar, then he definitely wasn’t going with her, he decided, taking another sip of his beer.

“Okay, but if you need me, I’ll be at Extreme Tattoo on Elm Street. I’ll be back later!” Jamie said brightly as he choked on his beer.

“What doyou think about that one?” Jamie asked, pointing to a skull with snakes coming out of its eyes to make Nick laugh, but he only glared down at her.

He’d been doing that for the past hour. Well, actually, for the first twenty minutes, he’d argued against her going through with this, but this was something that she wanted to do and wouldn’t let anyone talk her out of. For years, she’d toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, but knowing how her family would react and her inability to stick up for herself held her back. After the phone call from her mother, she’d decided that she was done letting her family dictate her life. This was her life and she was going to start living it.

It also didn’t hurt that over the past month, she’d learned to take chances and enjoy her life. Before this tour, she’d only dreamed of doing things like riding a motorcycle or trying paintball, but now that she did them, she couldn’t help but wantto do all of those other things that she’d been curious about over the years. She was still nervous. Not that she’d admit that to Nick, but she was glad that he came with her tonight. She only wished that he’d lighten up a bit.

“This is permanent, Jamie,” he reminded her again.

“That’s the whole point, Nick,” Jamie said, walking over to the picture of the tribal tattoo that she’d chosen ten minutes ago. It was black, intricate, and beautiful and she couldn’t wait to have it on her body.

“I really think that you should take some time and think this over,” he said as he ran his eyes over the artwork on the wall.

“I’ve been thinking about doing this for years, Nick. It’s not like I’m making some drunken, impulsive decision,” she pointed out.

“Then, what would one more week hurt?” Nick asked, still not looking at her. She’d noticed that since he’d opened his door to try and stop her from doing this that he wouldn’t look her in the eye. She didn’t know what was wrong and wasn’t going to stress herself out by trying to figure it out.

“Are you ready?” Bret asked as he gestured for her to come with him.

She didn’t even hesitate when she said, “Yes,” and followed him. She ignored Nick’s muttered curses and focused on getting something she’d always wanted.

This was going to be great!

“Ow! Owie!”Jamie cried out, but thankfully, didn’t move.

It was bad enough that she was going through with this asinine plan, she didn’t need a fucked-up tattoo on top of everything. He really wished she’d listened to him, but thestubborn woman wouldn’t listen to reason. Tattoos on women were tacky and he hated the idea of her marring her body with one. It didn’t matter how sexy the woman was, tattoos always turned him off. Then again, maybe it was for the best that she was getting something done that would repulse him, Nick decided as Jamie squeezed his hands tightly.

“I think he’s almost done,” Nick said soothingly even as he prayed that it was the truth. His damn legs were cramping up, but he refused to let her hands go out of fear that she would bolt and screw up the tattoo.

“That’s what you said an hour ago!” Jamie said accusingly as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“It was ten minutes ago, Jamie. It only seems like an hour ago because you’re in pain,” Nick explained as gently as he could while Jamie continued to mutter a combination of “ow” and “owie,” to herself.

“Almost done,” Bret said.

Nick didn’t bother looking at her tattoo as it was being drawn on. He’d still been too upset that she was doing something this stupid. He still couldn’t believe she was getting it on her lower back, right above her ass and yeah, when the guy had her drop her pants and panties halfway down her ass, he’d looked and damn near groaned.

She really had a beautiful ass. It was round, soft, and groan-worthy, but the damn woman decided to ruin the scenery with a tramp stamp of all things. No doubt by next week, he was going to have to take her to have the damn thing removed.

---