Page 15 of A Reclusive Heart

“Do you mind if I get some work done?” Nick asked so she passed the computer over, but not before she quickly closed the Scrabble window and erased the web browser’s history. No need to poke the bear, she mused.

Deciding this was probably the best time to use the bathroom, she stood up. “Excuse me,” Jamie said as she flattened herself against the back of the seat in front of her. There was more room in first class, but she liked to put as much space between herself and the man watching her with an amused expression as she could.

“Where are you going?” Nick asked, looking back at the screen.

“Bathroom.”

He nodded as though she’d asked for permission. She almost snorted. She might be a pushover, but she wasn’t that pathetic. She quickly made her way to the first-class lavatory and sighed when she spotted the “Occupied” sign. Deciding that it was better to wait here instead of in her seat, Jamie leaned back against the wall and prepared for the long wait ahead.

“Excuse me, is this the line for the bathroom?” a deeply masculine voice asked, drawing Jamie’s attention.

She looked over to answer the man and found herself speechless. He simply smiled at what was probably her impression of a dying goldfish while she tried not to drool. This man was GQ-level handsome, not as handsome as Nick or Edward Pierce, but close enough to turn her into a blubbering idiot, which she was seconds away from becoming.

He held out his hand expectantly. “Since it looks like we’re going to be line neighbors, I thought I should introduce myself. I’m Sean.”

Was this man flirting? Oh, he definitely was, judging by the glint in his eyes. Jamie barely stopped herself from looking behind her to search for the beautiful woman that obviously had his attention. It took her a few seconds to realize that he was flirting withher.

She forced herself to take a calming breath as she shook his hand. This was so unexpected. Men did not flirt with her.

They just didn’t.

“Jamie,” she said quickly when she realized that she was still holding his hand and staring at him like an idiot.

Oh, she so sucked at this! He probably thought that she was the biggest freak on earth. Any second now, he’d give her a polite smile and step back. Obviously, he couldn’t walk away completely. There were no other bathrooms available. The poor man was stuck in line with her. Even she felt bad for him. Why couldn’t-

“Is that your husband?” Sean asked, still holding her hand, she’d like to point out, as he nodded towards Nick who was now glaring down at his computer.

She laughed. She really couldn’t help it. The idea of Nick Quinn being interested in her was truly laughable.

“You have a very pretty laugh,” Sean said, giving her a boyish grin.

Jamie took her hand back and pushed an errant strand of hair back behind her ear. “Thank you.”

“So, I take it he’s not your husband,” Sean concluded, sounding pleased.

She was about to tell him that Nick was her agent but didn’t, mostly because she still wasn’t comfortable letting people know who she was. So instead, she said, “We work together.”

“Ah, I see,” Sean said, leaning in closely but not close enough to make her feel uncomfortable. “Is this your first time going to Boston?” he murmured in a rather sexy tone.

Jamie couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, I’ve been meaning to go for years but never had a chance,” she said, thinking that she also never had anyone to go with or any reason to go. She had friends, but no one she really wanted to go on a trip with. Her eyes darted to Nick. She didn’t really want to do this with him either, but he was giving her an excuse to try something new.Also, having him around made her feel a little safer and more confident to take a chance.

“There are a lot of new experiences to be had,” Sean said as though he could read her mind. “In fact,” he said, leaning closer, “those experiences can start right now if you want. There’s nothing stopping you from doing whatever you want.”

She was just about to open her mouth and ask what sort of new experiences could be had on an airplane when the bathroom door opened. Jamie was barely aware of the middle age man smiling sheepishly as he stepped past them, her mind was suddenly racing with ideas.

“Excuse me,” Jamie said absently as she stepped around Sean. “It was nice to meet you. Um, it’s all yours,” she said, gesturing awkwardly to the bathroom.

He simply shrugged. “I didn’t really have to use it. I just wanted an excuse to meet you.”

“Oh,” Jamie murmured shyly as she practically raced back to her seat, eager to start working on a list as ideas suddenly began racing through her head. Could she really do this? she wondered.

There was only one way to find out, Jamie thought as she quickly, but carefully, moved past Nick to get back to her seat. She sat down, looked at Nick, fidgeted and fidgeted some more as he typed. Finally, he let out an annoyed sigh.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a piece of paper and a pen handy, would you?” she asked quietly. She really did not like the idea of putting this down on paper, mostly because it was private, but there was also her tendency to lose things.

He sighed heavily before asking, “Do you need to work?”

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