Page 55 of A Reclusive Heart

Nick closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “We’ll finish this later, Jamie, but right now, we have to haul ass so that we don’t disappoint your fans.”

She watchedas Nick headed her way only to have Holly step in front of him, blocking his path and grabbing his attention once again. This had been going on since they’d arrived five hours ago. Every time that she needed to speak with Nick, Holly intervened and whenever he finished with one problem and started to make his way back to her, Holly would catch his attention and point out another problem that he needed to handle.

What was the point of having Holly here if she needed Nick to handle everything? Jamie wondered as she shot another hopeful look towards the bathroom. For the past two hours, she’d been in desperate need of a bathroom, but she couldn’t seem to get anyone’s attention. Every time she tried to get Holly to manage the line of people waiting to speak to her so that she could use the bathroom, she got distracted.

By Nick.

Holly was constantly hovering around him, watching his every move and looking for any excuse to get him alone. Unfortunately for Holly, she didn’t seem to realize that she was pissing Nick off. If Jamie didn’t have to pee so badly, she’d probably find the whole thing entertaining.

Okay, so the whole thing actually did amuse her, but she really needed to find a bathroom and soon. Trying not to think about all the water she drank today, Jamie got to her feet and, thankfully, spotted Pat, the really nice event coordinator that she’d met earlier. After quickly explaining the situation, she quickly made her way to the bathroom only to find herself cut off by none other than Holly.

“Where are you going?” Holly asked, even though it really should have been more than obvious by this point, considering that she was struggling not to do the “pee-pee dance.”

“I have to use the bathroom,” Jamie explained as she tried to step around Holly.

“There’s a bathroom set up for authors in the back,” Holly explained, gesturing for Jamie to follow her. When Jamie didn’t immediately move to follow the woman who was giving off “Caitlyn vibes,” Holly grabbed hold of her arm and dragged her in the opposite direction, taking the decision out of her hands. “It’s to make sure that you can use the bathroom in peace without having to worry about fans harassing you.”

Oh, well, that kind of made sense, Jamie thought as she reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged out of the large convention hall through a back door marked “Employees Only” and down a long hallway. By the time they took a right down another long hallway, Jamie couldn’t help but wonder how this was supposed to be convenient for authors because she was finding it very inconvenient at the moment.

When Holly suddenly stopped, Jamie nearly did a happy dance only to discover that none of the doors around them were marked “women’s restroom.” “I thought we should have a talk,” Holly said as she turned around to face her.

“Now?” Jamie asked, not bothering to hide her frustration. “This couldn’t wait until after I used the bathroom?” she asked, moving to step around her, more than willing to hunt down a bathroom on her own at this point, only to have Holly block her.

“It’s about Nick,” Holly said with a worried expression.

Yeah, she just bet it was, Jamie thought, turning around to go back the way they came when Holly’s next words had her going still.

“He’s going to get fired.”

Now,thathad her attention.

Jamie turned back around as she demanded, “What are you talking about?”

Holly made a show of worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she wrung her hands together. “I really shouldn’t say anything, but if I don’t, I know that Nick will get in a lot of trouble.”

“What exactly would he get in trouble for?” Jamie asked, already having a pretty good idea where this was going.

“For sleeping with you,” Holly said, confirming her suspicions.

“I see,” Jamie murmured as she looked around the long hallway again for any signs of a bathroom, knowing that it was close to becoming an emergency.

“He’s a really nice guy,” Holly said on a broken sob. “I really don’t want to see him get into trouble, but if he continues to see you, then Rick will have no choice but to fire him.”

Jamie kind of doubted that since Nick had pulled her onto his lap in front of Rick and even kissed her a few times in front of him. Rick looked amused more than anything, which reminded her that she needed to ask Nick about that.

“Is that all?” Jamie asked when she moved to turn around again.

“He’ll get fired!” Holly snapped, making her sigh.

Normally, Jamie would probably just mumble an apology and force herself to stand there, but she really didn’t have the patience for this game today.

“Look, I get it. You’re into Nick. You’ve probably been pining after him since the moment you met him and I’m guessing that he hasn’t exactly been receptive to your advances,” Jamie said, knowing that she’d guessed right when Holly’s sympathetic expression turned angry. “When you found out that you were joining this tour, you probably thought that you were finally going to get your chance, but unfortunately for you, your timing was off because Nick and I are dating, and now-”

“You’re not dating,” Holly said, cutting her off with a pitying look. “He’s fucking you, that’s it. That’s all that Nick is good for. He fucks anything and everything with a pair of tits and the only reason that he’s with you now is because he’s using you.”

“He doesn’t need me for anything,” Jamie pointed out.

Holly chuckled. “Yes, he does. You’re close to reaching Dana Pierce’s sales records and once that happens, he’ll make partner. That’s the only reason he’s with you,” she said, making Jamieswallow hard as she tried to tell herself that Holly was lying, but…

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