HH02 - A Reclusive Heart (13 page)

system, but he did. J.L. Lewis was the key to his success. Once he was done with her no one would care that he was the bastard

raised by whores. He was going to make a name for himself, but he needed her to do it and sleeping with her would only screw

up his plans.

He was going to have to keep his damn hands to himself and his dick in his pants around her. It didn't matter how much he

wanted her, because he wanted what J.L. Lewis could give him a whole hell of a lot more.

Chapter 12

"You know what?" Jamie asked, trying to pull away from Nick, but the big jerk wouldn't let her go. "I've changed my

mind. Having sex is overrated. I'm more than happy to remain a virgin.
Very happy
," she stressed as he ignored her and

dragged her into the store.

As soon as the door closed behind him with a soft little chime he pushed her in front of him where she got her first look

inside a lingerie store. There was lace and silk in every color and style imaginable and she had absolutely no idea about what

to buy, how to figure out her size and in some cases how to wear the tiny contraptions. This was all wrong. She might be

passably pretty now, but she was in no way sexy enough to wear any of the pretty things in front of her. It was flannel pajamas

for her, she decided as she tried to make a run for the door, but the infuriating man wouldn't let her go.

"Behave," he whispered as a pretty redhead in a sexy silk camisole and short skirt walked over to them. She ran an

assessing eye over Jamie, barely biting back a frown before her eyes shifted to Nick and widened in pleasure right along with

a coy smile.

"May I help you?" she asked Jamie, but her eyes were on Nick.

"That would be great," Nick said in that deep sensual voice he used on everything female. Well, every female except for

her, she thought with a small sigh as she tried to make another run for it, but the darn man wouldn't let her go.

The woman's smile became knowing as she sent Nick a welcoming look. Did the woman not see her? For all the woman

knew she could be his girlfriend, his fiancé, or his wife. Okay, that was really pushing it, but it was still really rude.

"My friend could use some help if you have a moment?" Nick said, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders to keep her

in place. Why wouldn't he just let her run away?

The woman reluctantly looked at her and did a wonderful job of pulling back her frown. With a slight nod she gestured for

Jamie to follow her. When she just stood there Nick gave her a gentle shove in the woman's direction and forced her to move

her butt. She shot him a glare over her shoulder, but of course he just ignored her death glare and kept pushing her towards a

whole new level of embarrassment.

They followed the redhead into a back fitting room decorated in pastel colors, several oversized chairs, mirrors and three

changing rooms. She watched as Nick walked over to one of the chairs and sat down and thought that perhaps she should do the

same thing when the woman began manhandling her.

"Hey!" Jamie gasped when the woman wrapped a measuring tape around her chest. Before she could shove the woman's

hands away she measured Jamie's stomach, hips, and one thigh, leaving her blushing and irritated. Of course she decided to

take her irritation out on Nick by sending him a glare, but he was already busy reading a magazine so she gave up scowling and

tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this.

Apparently she wasn't.

"What are you interested in?" the saleswoman asked.

Jamie opened her mouth to tell her anything flannel when Nick answered for her. "Soft colors and nothing too bold," he

said in a bored tone.

"Virginal?" the woman asked, making Jamie gasp. How the heck did she know?

"Yes," Nick said in that same bored tone as he continued to read.

"I'll see what I have," the woman said, throwing Nick one last look of longing before she reluctantly left the room.

Jamie opened her mouth to tell the man that if he was bored then he could darn well go wait in the car while she did this,

but the saleswoman chose that moment to walk back into the room, carrying a huge selection of silk and lace. Something about

the woman's flushed cheeks told her that she probably ran around the store and grabbed anything and everything so that she

could come back to ogle Nick. For his part, Nick just sat there thumbing through a magazine on fashion.

"Try these on and we'll see what we have to work with," the woman said, shoving several items in Jamie's hands and

absently gesturing for her to go change.

Knowing there was probably no way to get out of this now, Jamie accepted her fate and walked to the first changing room.

She wasn't too surprised when she saw the saleswoman sit down in the chair next to Nick. Resigning herself to being ignored,

she walked into the changing room and decided just to get this over with. The sooner she picked out what she liked the faster

she could put this nightmare behind her.

The first one was white silk with lace trimming. It seemed harmless enough, so she quickly undressed, leaving her

underwear on and tried on the beautiful nightie. She turned to look in the mirror only to discover that there wasn't a single

mirror in the small room. Well, that was kind of dumb, she thought as she wondered how she was supposed to know what it

looked like.

"Have you tried something on yet?" Nick asked, sounding impatient, which was a little shocking since he was usually cool

as a cucumber whenever a woman was around, again not when it was just her. She didn't seem to count.

"Yes, but there isn't a mirror in here," she explained, looking down at herself and twisting and turning as she tried to see if

it looked okay.

There was a long suffering sigh that she knew all too well. "Use the mirrors out here," Nick said, well, more like ordered.

"With you out there?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip nervously.

"Of course. How else am I supposed to help you if I don't see what you're wearing?" he pointed out and she just barely

stopped herself from reminding him that she didn't in fact want his opinion about this.

In fact, she specifically told him that she didn't want his help with this matter. As soon as they finished the interview with

the local paper she'd told him that she was going to Wal-Mart to pick out some lingerie. For a moment he'd only been able to

stare down at her in that intense way that made her self-conscious and fight the urge to apologize to him. When the urge to

apologize to him became too much he grumbled something, grabbed her arm, and practically dragged her to their rental car.

"I'm waiting, Jamie," he reminded her and she was about to refuse when it occurred to her that having a man like Nick

help her pick out sexy lingerie would probably cut out half the stress. She wouldn't have to worry if it made her look fat or

frumpy because Nick would tell her. He would never hold anything back because he was afraid that he'd hurt her feelings

because he didn't care. How that was a good thing she wasn't sure, but it was an advantage, one she'd be foolish to ignore.

Taking a deep breath and praying that she didn't do something like pass out, she opened the door and walked out of the

room. She looked over at Nick to find him taking his time from looking up from his magazine. When he did, he placed the

magazine on his lap as he ran an assessing eye over her. He gestured for her to turn around and with a little sigh of annoyance

she did just that only to come to a sudden halt when she spotted herself in the mirror.

Wow........

The nightie looked so beautiful and delicate. It put her breasts and figure on display without being obscene. It was really

rather pretty, sweet and sexy all at once.

Nick cleared his throat. "It looks nice. Why don't you try on another one?" he suggested as she looked back to find him

grabbing another magazine and ignoring the one on his lap. Apparently he lost his interest in fashion and the saleswoman

wanted to kill her if that glare was any indication. Frowning, she returned to the dressing room.

Ten nighties later they were walking out the door and the damn stubborn man was holding her bags firmly in front of him

so that she couldn't take them and carry them. Every time she went to grab her bags he stepped away, glaring down at her as if

she'd slapped him or something. Finally she gave up and was content to ride in silence as he drove them back to the hotel.

"What's on the agenda tonight?" he asked as he pulled onto the highway.

"I thought I'd have a drink in the hotel bar and find a man to kiss," she said casually, shooting him a sideways look and

noting the way the back of his knuckles were turning white as he clenched the steering wheel tightly. She was just about to ask

him what was wrong when her cell phone rang.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sighed when she saw that it was her mother calling. Her mother didn't call

often, but when she did it was usually to brag about Caitlyn or whine about some injustice done to Caitlyn. As much as she'd

like to send the call to voice mail she couldn't. Her mother would have a fit and the call would be ten times worse for Jamie.

Resigning herself to a half hour rant about the perfection that was her sister, Jamie answered the phone.

"
Where do you get off humiliating us like this, young lady
?" her mother demanded before Jamie could say hello,

stunning her and leaving her a little confused.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, sure that her mother was mistaken since she hadn't done a single thing that should

humiliate her family.

"
You know darn well what I'm talking about, young lady! I'm talking about that smut that you publish! I have never

been more humiliate than I was today when Macy Powers showed me the magazine article that talked about your erotic

novels
," she said with open disgust and Jamie tried not to wince, but she couldn't help it.

Well aware of the man beside her, Jamie turned as far as she could away from him, almost huddling into herself as she

quickly explained, "They're not erotic novels, mom."

"
Don't you dare lie to me, young lady. I flipped through one of those horrible books that you write and I found

inappropriate material in it! Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was? Do you even care that you've humiliated your

poor sister, hmm
?"

"I-" she started to explain, but of course her mother cut her off.

"
I cannot believe this is how you wasted the college education we provided for you! Do you have any idea how hard

your father worked to send you to college and this is how you repay him
?" she demanded and it took everything she had not

to remind her mother that they hadn't paid a cent for her college education. That was Caitlyn and she hadn't even bothered to

graduate or really attend for that matter.

By the time it was her turn to go to college her parents told her there was no money for her because they had used up all

the money they set aside for Caitlyn to "find herself." When she flunked out of three private, expensive, colleges her parents

decided that Caitlyn had worked too hard and simply needed time off which they paid for. Jamie on the other hand had worked

her butt off and put herself through college. She graduated top of her class and never regretted one second of it because that

experience showed her that she could do anything even if no one else thought that she could.

"
I cannot believe you pulled this petty juvenile stunt. Was it for attention or just to embarrass your sister? Are you

really that petty that you can't be happy for your sister? You really felt it was necessary to humiliate her like this
?"

"Mom, this has nothing to do with-
hey
!" she gasped, startled when her phone was suddenly yanked from her hand. She

turned around in time to see Nick end the call and shut the phone off before he tossed it onto the backseat.

"You just hung up on my mother," she said, more shocked than anything.

"I know."

"She's going to be mad," Jamie said, worrying her bottom lip even as her stomach coiled tightly in guilt.

It didn't matter that she hadn't been the one to hang up or that she hadn't done anything wrong, she still felt guilty. Her

mother always made her feel bad about everything. When she was a kid it was so much worse because she truly believed

everything her mother said. She'd become so racked up with guilt that she'd end up making herself sick. When she moved out

things slowly got a little bit better and she realized that her mother was laying everything at her feet even things that she had no

control over and hadn't done.

Unfortunately knowing that her mother overreacted didn't help her stomach. She couldn't shove away the sense of dread

over what her mother would do now. Would she leave messages of her crying? Give Jamie the silent treatment? She wasn't

sure what passive aggressive nonsense her mother had in store for her and really shouldn't care, but she did. She couldn't help

it.

"Do you want to go see if we can rent a bike and hit the road for a few hours?" Nick asked.