Page 47 of A Reclusive Heart

He barely stopped himself from telling her that he knew that she liked it this way or that he’d given it a mussed look for her since it would just make him look like an idiot. He’d never cared what a woman thought or wanted before, but he found himself eager to please his little recluse. It was funny how making her happy made him happy. Not that he was going to look too far into that because he wasn’t.

As he headed for the door, Nick grabbed his briefcase and the overnight bag he’d thrown together last night. He followed after his little recluse only to come to an abrupt halt when he found her shifting nervously in front of some guy wearing cheap cologne that smelled like Windex and the expression of someone who hadn’t gotten laid in over a decade.

“You can’t do this,” Jamie said, holding up a piece of paper.

“I just did, lady. When you moved in, I told you that I didn’t want any problems, and for last two months, I’ve had to deal with crowds, people breaking in, and weirdoes. I’m done. I wantyou out by the end of the week!” the man snapped, moving to walk away, but his little recluse scrambled to catch up with him.

“A week? I won’t be here. I have to go back on tour. Can’t we make some sort of compromise?” Jamie pleaded.

The man stubbornly shook his head as he walked past her. “I’m sorry, Miss Harris. I really am, but I’ve put up with too much nonsense over the past month and I’ve gotten one too many complaints about you,” he said, surprising the hell out of Nick. People complained about his little recluse? Bullshit.

“But I didn’t do any of those things! You know Mrs. Briggs has a hearing problem and Mr. Ames thinks the government is stealing his thoughts! Please don’t do this!”

“A week, Miss Harris, and I want you out,” he said, getting the final word in before he disappeared through the stairwell door, leaving Jamie standing in the hallway, looking defeated with her little shoulders slumped.

“I think you’re going to have to move, Jamie,” Nick said, switching his bag into his other hand so that he could put his arm around her.

“I know,” Jamie muttered sadly as he steered her towards the elevator. “Do you think Rick will let me out of a few events so that I can find a place?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

He sighed heavily as he pushed the call button. “I’m sorry, Jamie, but we already pushed the dates back as far as we could without breaking any contracts.”

“Oh,” Jamie muttered, her shoulders somehow managing to slump even further.

“I tell you what,” Nick said, giving her a little nudge when the elevator doors slid open and she remained standing there, looking lost and so damn sad that he ached to pull her into his arms and hold her, but they needed to get to work. “I can arrange for someone to rent a house for you and even hire movers. How does that sound?”

“Will it allow cats?” she asked, perking up at the idea.

“You have a cat?” he asked, wondering how he’d missed it.

“No.”

“You want one?”

She scrunched up her face adorably as she shook her head. “No, I can’t stand them.”

“Then, why do you care if they allow cats?” Nick asked, fighting back a smile.

“I just like to keep my options open,” Jamie said, shrugging.

As he followed her into the elevator, Nick wondered why he loved it when she drove him crazy.

CHAPTER 24

“Oh, my God, I can’t do this,” Jamie groaned as she watched in horror as a large group of reporters descended on her car.

Why did she tell Nick that she didn’t need him to follow her to work? Because she didn’t want to come across as clingy or needy that’s why. Somehow, she’d managed to escape the small group that waited for her outside of her apartment building, but that was probably only because they knew exactly where she was going to end up. There was no way that she was going to survive this without sugar, Jamie realized as a swarm of people surrounded her car and started taking pictures.

For a moment, she considered calling Nick and begging him to come rescue her, but she decided that at some point, she’d have to figure out how to deal with this by herself and what better time than right now? She took a deep breath and when that didn’t give her the confidence that she needed to move her butt, she took another one and grabbed her purse.

Trying to appear confident and relaxed, Jamie slowly shut off her car and opened the door. They backed up and gave her plenty of space to step out of her car, probably hoping that she’ddo something really stupid or embarrassing, but the joke was on them because she wasn’t going to-

Oh, darn it, Jamie thought as her purse somehow tipped upside down and spilled its contents all over the black pavement, leaving her with no choice but to drop to her knees and hurry to grab everything before they found anything embarrassing. Not that she had anything embarrassing in her purse, Jamie thought as she grabbed a handful of butterscotch discs and shoved them back into her bag. She was pretty sure she’d learned that lesson a few months ago. She’d also cleaned out her purse since that incident in the bathroom. The only thing they’d find now was a used paperback, her wallet, candy, and-

“I see you believe in safe sex, Miss Harris,” a man said mockingly as he held up the box of condoms she’d bought weeks ago and, had unfortunately, forgotten about.

Jamie felt her cheeks burn as what had to be a hundred cameras clicked as the big jerk held the box of unopened condoms in front of her face. Clearing her throat, she took the box back, trying not to wince when she heard more clicks, and shoved them in her bag. “Yes, it’s, um, very important,” Jamie mumbled pathetically, getting to her feet and fighting back the urge to make a run for it.

When she made it to the front entrance, she nearly sighed in relief. That is, until the large security guard held up a hand stopping her. “Employee pass or guest name,” he said firmly.

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