Page 56 of A Reclusive Heart

“Look, I’m trying to give you a heads-up because once this tour is over, he won’t need you anymore,” Holly said with a bored sigh.

“Because you want him for yourself,” Jamie pointed out almost desperately.

Holly simply shrugged. “It will happen sooner or later. Nick’s a man who likes to fuck and he’ll eventually come my way.” With that, she walked off, leaving Jamie feeling like she’d just been kicked in the stomach, and, unfortunately, still desperate for a bathroom. Instead of turning around and heading back the way she came, Jamie continued making her way down the long hallway. She wasn’t ready to deal with this.

Not yet.

She knew that Holly was toying with her. She wasn’t an idiot, after all. Thanks to Caitlyn, she knew exactly how vicious some women could be, but that didn’t stop the words from having their desired effect.

This was only temporary.

Nick made sure that she knew that from the start. She’d been the one to stupidly allow herself to believe that it could be anything more. When this tour ended, then so did their relationship. She’d assumed that it was because Nick couldn’t commit, but now, she had to wonder if there was more to the situation than she’d first realized.

Was it possible that Nick tricked her? Okay, so he didn’t have to trick her, but she couldn’t help but wonder if sleeping with her made it easier to get what he wanted from her. As she continued her desperate search for a bathroom, Jamie found herself wondering why a man like Nick would even look twice at someone like her.

“Here,”Nick said as he went to hand over several bars of Swiss chocolate to Jamie.

“No, thank you,” Jamie mumbled sadly, not bothering to look up from her computer.

He might be new to this whole relationship business, but he knew that he’d fucked up. Since she came back from the bathroom, Jamie wouldn’t look at him, touch him, or speak to him unless it was absolutely necessary. More importantly, she wouldn’t let him touch her. Every time he tried, she found an excuse to move away from him and he had a good idea why.

Holly.

She was already packing her bags and heading home. The moment she came back without Jamie, he knew something was wrong. It wasn’t until his little recluse came back looking close to tears that he knew that Holly had fucked him over. When he explained to Rick how Jamie was acting and how Holly was beyond fucking incompetent, Rick decided that it was time for her to leave.

Their job was to ensure that their clients were well represented, handled properly, looked after and were presented in the best possible light to readers. Having an author who looked close to crying every time someone asked for her autograph was the last thing any of them needed on this tour.

When he asked Holly what she said to upset Jamie, she’d tried to play dumb. She even had the audacity to suggest that they talk things over in her room. It wasn’t until he sent her packing that she lost that cool facade. She’d glared at him before storming off and leaving him wondering just how badly she’dfucked him over. Whatever it was had Jamie thinking twice about being with him.

An hour ago, he found Jamie trying to get her own room. Thankfully, the hotel didn’t have any available rooms for the night. He’d managed to convince her to come back upstairs to work while he tried to figure out how to fix this. That’s when he remembered the chocolate he’d snuck into his bag and used it to confirm his suspicions.

She was done.

“What are you doing?” Jamie demanded when he pulled her laptop away from her, yanked her to her feet, and threw her over his shoulder.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Nick asked as he waited for her to make this easy for him and just tell him what was wrong so that he could fix it.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she mumbled sadly against his back.

“Then, I guess I can’t put you down,” Nick said as he headed for the door.

“Where are we going?”

“To check another item off your list,” Nick said as he made his way down the dimly lit hallway, relieved when she didn’t start screaming for help. Then again, he probably should have known that she wouldn’t make a sound. She hated being the center of attention, after all.

He took the back elevator all the way down to the first floor and then followed the signs for the pool. When he came to the locked door, Nick looked through the glass door and noted that the lights were off. Not that it mattered since the manager gave him the key as a favor. He just hoped the manager remembered to make sure that all of his employees stayed clear of this area or he was going to have one embarrassed recluse on his hands.

“Why are we down here?” Jamie asked as he opened the door.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Nick asked as he locked the door behind them and turned on the lights.

“Nothing’s wrong,” came the answer that had him biting back a sigh and leaving him with no choice but to do this the hard way.

“Do you have your cellphone on you?” Nick asked as he made his way to the large pool.

“No, why?” Jamie asked as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“No special reason,” Nick said as he pulled her off his shoulder and tossed her into the pool.

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