Page 63 of A Reclusive Heart

“You’re staying here until this asshole is caught,” Nick bit out.

“I can take care of myself,” Jamie said with a firm nod that had his eyes narrowing.

“No,” he simply said, pushing away from the counter and made his way back into the living room.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Jamie demanded as he grabbed her bags and made his way upstairs. He didn’t have to look back to know that she was following him. For a moment, he considered putting her in the guest room only to decide against it and made his way to his room, where he found her boxes stacked neatly against the wall.

“You didn’t answer me,” Jamie pointed out as he placed her bags by the door.

“And I’m not going to. You’re staying here and that’s final,” Nick said, refusing to take any chances.

“That’s not your decision,” she snapped, pissing him off.

“Yes, it is,” Nick said more calmly than he felt as he headed for the door. “This is your room while you’re here. Make yourself comfortable.”

“I’m not staying, Nick,” Jamie said firmly.

“Yes, you are, Jamie. If you try to leave, I’ll just drag your cute little ass right back here.”

“Are you seriously threatening to kidnap me?” she asked, looking absolutely fucking lost as she swallowed hard.

“Call it whatever you want, Jamie, but you’re not going anywhere right now,” Nick said, heading for the door only to have his little recluse quickly move to cut him off.

When he moved to step past her, Jamie held up her hands in a playacting motion. “Look, I appreciate your concern. I reallydo, but I can’t stay here. I just can’t. So, if you could just tell me where my car is, I can call a taxi and make arrangements to have my things moved, and then, I’ll never bother you again.”

“No,” Nick said firmly, once again moving to walk past her, but the damn woman wasn’t having it. It actually surprised him that she wasn’t backing down.

“I really need to leave, Nick. Please just-”

Something in him snapped. While he couldn’t get enough of her, she wanted nothing to do with him. Worse, she couldn’t seem to get away from him fast enough. He moved forward, crowding her until she had no choice but to back up. When her back hit the wall, Nick caged her in by slapping his palms against the wall as he leaned down.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Jamie asked, licking her lips nervously as her gaze flickered towards the door.

“Why the hell are you so eager to get away from me, Jamie? Tell me exactly what I did to set this off,” Nick demanded as he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

“You didn’t do anything, Nick. It was just time. Please just let me go,” Jamie said, putting her hands on his shoulders, moving to push him away only to hold onto him tightly.

“Why the hell are you doing this to me?” Nick whispered hoarsely as his hands clenched tightly into fists.

“I’m not doing anything to you. I-”

“Bullshit!” Nick snapped, slamming his fists against the wall, damaging the drywall and scaring the hell out of his little recluse.

“I’m not doing anything to you!”

“Yes, you are!” Nick snapped, opening his eyes so that he could glare down at her.

“What exactly am I doing to you? You’re the one who decided that this wasn’t going to continue past the tour. It ended early and so did we. I accepted it, so why can’t you?”

“Because I fucking love you!” Nick shouted.

As soon as the words were out, he wanted to take them back. He opened his mouth to do just that, but he realized that he couldn’t. He loved her. He was head over heels in love with this woman and he knew that it was pointless to deny it. Where other women had failed, his little recluse had not only succeeded in bringing him to his knees, but once he was down, she’d fucking destroyed him.

This hurt so fucking bad, Nick thought as he struggled for control. She didn’t love him, didn’t want him. She wasn’t the pathetic one, he was. He’d only loved two women in his life and they both broke his fucking heart, first his mother and now Jamie.

He didn’t want to love her, Nick thought bitterly as he reached for her and how fucked up was that? He knew that she didn’t love him, but he couldn’t help but hope, pray, that she cared enough to put him out of his fucking misery.

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