Page 64 of A Reclusive Heart

“No, you don’t!” she cried, shoving him away.

“Yes, I do!” Nick shouted, reaching for her again only to have her weakly slap his hands away.

“You can’t!”

“Why the hell not?” he demanded.

“Because you’ll get yourself killed, you jackass!” Jamie shouted back.

“What did you just say?” Nick asked, stepping in front of her when she tried to leave.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, trying to get past him, but he refused to move.

“It didn’t sound like nothing to me, Jamie. What the hell did you say?” Nick demanded, not allowing himself to hope that maybe, just maybe, she loved him.

“Please just let me go, Nick.”

Let her go? There was no way in hell that he was going to let her go. Not now. Not when there was a possibility that for once, someone loved him back. She folded her arms over her chest defensively and turned away from him.

“Tell me that you don’t care about me, Jamie, and you can go,” he said softly as he stepped up behind her.

“I don’t!” she cried, but he didn’t believe her.

“You’re lying,” Nick said tightly, keeping his voice low as he somehow resisted the urge to take her into his arms and fucking beg her to say the words.

“No, I’m not, Nick. We’re over. I don’t care about you and I never want to see you again,” Jamie said, her voice breaking as she reached up and frantically wiped her eyes.

“Look me in the eye and say that,” Nick said, praying like hell that he wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t be wrong, not about her. She was his little recluse, his sweet Jamie and he knew that she loved him.

Slowly, so damn slowly that he thought his legs were about to give out, she turned around. When she looked up at him and didn’t quite meet his eyes, he had his answer.

“I don’t love you, Nick. Please just let me go,” Jamie said, keeping her gaze averted as her chin trembled while she struggled to hold back the tears that he knew were coming.

“Liar,” Nick said softly as he reached over and gently cupped her face in his hands.

“No, I’m not!” Jamie cried as tears began to stream down her beautiful face. She tried to step away from him, but he refused to let her go. He was done playing this game and wanted to know why she was so damn willing to break his heart.

“Look me in the eye, Jamie, and tell me that you don’t love me,” Nick demanded softly as he carefully wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

“I did,” she mumbled, sounding absolutely miserable.

“No, you didn’t, baby. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t love me and I will let you go, Jamie,” he promised, knowing that it would probably kill him.

Beautiful, glimmering, caramel eyes looked up and locked with his. He watched her mouth work soundlessly for several seconds before finally closing as she let her shoulders drop in defeat.

“If you can’t tell me that you don’t love me, then why don’t you tell me why you’re willing to lie to me, Jamie?” Nick said, leaning down and kissed her forehead. “Tell me why you’re willing to break my heart.”

Instead of answering him, Jamie shook her head, but thankfully, didn’t try to push him away. He dropped his hands, and without a word, swept her up into his arms and carried her downstairs. When she still didn’t speak, he started to become a little nervous. He sat down on the leather loveseat and adjusted her in his arms until she was straddling his lap. Once he was done, he took both of her trembling hands in his and pressed a kiss against each palm.

“Are you upset about the video?” Nick asked, feeling like an idiot. Of course, she was up about the video, but he didn’t know if that was the reason why she was pulling away from him. “If I’d known that someone was there, I-”

“It’s not the video,” she whispered.

“Then, what is it?”

“I shouldn’t be around you.”

“Why? Because I’m a bad influence?” he asked teasingly, hoping to get her to smile. When her lips twitched, he damn near sighed with relief.

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