HH02 - A Reclusive Heart by R.L. Mathewson Read Free Book Online Page A

one of the junior editors.
    He'll make sure to keep things simple. You probably won't even have to leave the office." He paused to let his words sink in.
    No doubt she was feeling relieved at the reprieve.
    "If you don't mind, I need to make a lot of calls. I have to cancel flights, hotel rooms, conferences, book signings, and
    conventions." He sighed heavily for effect. "I guess I can wait for most of these calls until I get to the office since they'll take
    hours. I had you booked all over the country. The one in Hawaii will be kind of tough to get out of." He paused for a few
    seconds to allow that to sink in.
    "It's really a damn shame because I think you would have really enjoyed yourself. I know touring can be a lot of work, but
    it's also a lot of fun," he said as he opened his e-mail to make sure that all his travel confirmations were set. "But there's also a
    lot of fun, new experiences, trying new things, meeting new people. I think this could have been really good for you, but I'm not
    going to push you into something that you're clearly not ready for."
    Nick waited, watching the bathroom door like a hawk. He bit back a groan of frustration, knowing he had to remain cool
    and calm if this was going to work. His eyes darted back to her desk and he couldn't help but grin when he spotted the scratch
    ticket.
    "You wouldn't happen to know the area code for Vegas, would you? I booked you there next month and I need to let them
    know-"
    "Vegas?"
    "Yeah, I..." his words trailed off as he turned his head and found the little recluse standing in the bathroom doorway,
    fidgeting nervously with her fingers. She stood straight, but avoided looking at him.
    There were few things in life that left him speechless and this was one of them. The drab, frumpy little recluse that he'd
    left with his friends was gone. In her place was a very pretty and adorable woman. She wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd
    ever seen, she wasn't Dana Pierce level pretty, but she was definitely hot.
    He ran his eyes from her newly cut silky hair over beautiful caramel eyes, cute little nose, the bottom lip that was fuller
    than the top, small oval chin, slender neck, surprisingly full breasts accentuated by a baby pink top, a slender waist, nicely
    shaped hips and short, yet nicely shaped legs.
    One very important question came to mind, why in the hell had she been covering all that up? That thought was
    immediately followed by the realization that this new look would definitely work in his favor. Before all he had was her work
    to push the name. Now he had a beautiful face to back the work. This would be easier than he thought.
    "Where else would I be going?" her quiet voice tore him from his thoughts. He gave himself a mental shake and focused
    on the problem at hand, convincing her to take a chance with him.
    He moved to the end of the couch, gesturing to the computer on the table. "The whole itinerary is right there if you'd like to
    take a look," he said casually as if he wasn't nervous as hell.
    She looked close to bolting again, but curiosity clearly won out. She sat down on the couch, careful to keep her distance
    from him and scrolled down the list. He knew she liked what she saw by the way she was trying to bite back a smile.
    "And there would be time for me to do other things?" she asked hesitantly.
    Oh, he had her. J.L. Lewis was his.
    "Absolutely."
    Chapter 6
    "What are you doing?"
    Jamie quickly shifted the new laptop on her tray so that the monitor was now facing the airplane window.
    "Nothing," she said quickly.
    Nick frowned down at her. Even sitting down he towered over her, intimidating her. She inwardly sighed, wondering
    when she was going to catch a break. Thankfully, and much to her delighted surprise, first class seats really were spacious. All
    throughout her photo shoot and meetings this morning she feared being squished between Nick and some unknown, probably
    smelly person, during the six hour flight, but luckily the airline