Page 17 of A Reclusive Heart

“I can’t. I have plans,” Jamie said as her gaze landed on a sign for Duck Tours.

That actually sounded like fun, Jamie decided with a satisfied sigh as she headed towards the sign.

“Well, break them. I need you to work.”

“Sorry. Can’t,” Jamie said distractedly as her eyes landed on a large boat/car shaped like a duck. Now, that definitely looked like fun.

“Jamie,” Nick said tightly in warning, but she wasn’t really listening as she handed money to the friendly cashier.

“Gotta go!” Jamie said excitedly as she stepped in line for the tour.

“Don’t you dare hang up. I need to-”

She hung up as a cute guy in his early twenties helped her onboard. As she sat down, all thoughts of her overbearing boss disappeared as she released a satisfied sigh.

She had a feeling that she was going to love the new Jamie.

He was goingto strangle Jamie.

When she hung up on him earlier, he thought it was an accident until he tried calling her back and was sent straight to voicemail along with the next ten phone calls. When she didn’t show up within the hour like he’d fully expected her to, he’d decided to wait for her.

Either he was losing his hearing, or she was the quietest fucking woman in the world, because she’d somehow managed to sneak into her room, shower, change, and sneak out, all without him knowing. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. When he stepped out of the shower, he heard her door click shut and realized that she was back.

At that point, he’d been willing to forgive her for ignoring his summons and quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants before he’d stepped into the hall to knock on her door only to catch a glimpse of her as she stepped into the elevator, wearing a black cocktail dress and further pissing him off.

After he got dressed, bribed a bellhop to tell him where Jamie was headed, he hunted her down at a nightclub of all places. He’d scanned the long line, hoping to find her only to realize that she wasn’t there. Somehow, Jamie managed to get into the club while he’d been forced to wait in line for more than an hour to get in.

Now, he had her in his sights and it was taking everything he had not to go over there and spank the little recluse. For the past half-hour, he’d bided his time as he’d watched her, hoping his damn temper would go down. It hadn’t. So, he’d watched as she sat at the crowded bar, sipping her drink as she cast wary glances towards the dance floor. Every now and then, someone would bang into her as they signaled for the bartender and he knew even twenty feet away that she’d apologized each and every time.

Whenever a man approached her, the little recluse would blush bright red, mumble something, fidget in her seat, and send the guy away. Then, she’d watch him walk away, looking defeated, making him wonder why she was here in the first place. Since he’d spotted her, she hadn’t left the stool.

Well, that was fine with him since it would make this a hell of a lot easier. He didn’t know why she was here, didn’t care, and he sure as hell didn’t care that she looked sad. The only thing that mattered to him at the moment was that she’d fucked with his night. With that in mind, Nick made his way through the crowd.

A minute later, he glared at the asshole standing next to her until he moved out of the way and Nick could take his place. She didn’t realize that he was there at first. She was too busy watching the dance floor to notice anything going on around her.

When a whole minute went by and she still hadn’t noticed him, he signaled for the bartender, a hot blonde with an inviting smile. One look at him had her ignoring the customers vying for her attention.

“What can I get for you?” she asked as she ran her eyes over him. As she dragged her eyes up his chest to meet his gaze, she licked her lips. She’d been obvious about her perusal of him, he hadn’t. In under ten seconds flat, he knew if she was fuck-worthy, she was.

Maybe he’d pick her up as a treat for himself for all the bullshit his little recluse had caused him tonight, but then he remembered the shitload of work that waited for him back at the hotel. Oh, well, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be able to find a willing woman or two during the tour. When everything calmed down and he got his little recluse in line, he’d allow himself to indulge, but not before then.

“Scotch on the rocks,” he said, noting the way his little recluse went still at the sound of his voice. He kept an eye on her in case she decided to make a run for it as he picked up her drink. He took a sip and nearly winced. Who the hell came to a bar to drink soda? Apparently, his little recluse did, which was fine with him since it meant that she’d still be able to work tonight.

“Another Coke for the lady,” Nick said, gesturing to Jamie and not really caring about the ice-cold glare the bartender threw her way.

Nick leaned against the bar and waited for Jamie to turn around. When she only continued to sit there, rigid as a board, he sighed heavily as he grabbed hold of her seat, ignoring that beautiful ass of hers, and turned her around. When her eyes widened and she noticeably swallowed, he felt somewhat satisfied. The moment he had her under his thumb, he’d feel a hell of a lot better.

“What are you doing here?” Jamie asked, trying to shift back on her stool.

“I came to help you,” Nick said absently while he watched the bartender move on to another customer. Well, it looked like he wasn’t getting his drink tonight.

“Help me?” Jamie asked, frowning, not adorably, he decided.

He didn’t find a damn thing adorable or sexy about her. Not at all. He especially didn’t like the way her dress pulled up mid-thigh, giving him a glimpse of beautiful light golden legs that probably had other men groaning. He was not one of them and didn’t care if she looked good, really fucking good, in that dress, Nick decided absently a second later as he ran his eyes over her legs one more time.

“Mmmhmm,” Nick said, forcing his eyes over the sinfully tight, short, black cocktail dress covering her body. Much better than that frumpy suit she wore the other day, he decided. “You obviously got lost on your way to my room, so I came to help you,” he explained tightly, mentally daring her to argue.

He wasn’t having it. Not tonight. He had too much shit to do and not enough time to do it in. If this tour was going to work, then he needed to have her onboard and doing whatever he told her to do with minimal bullshit.

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