A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts #2)(18)
Author: R.L. Mathewson

“Sure it was,” he agreed dryly as he logged onto his computer to check the next day’s itinerary. “You can hardly move without saying ‘oh, god’, but I’m sure the fifty pounds of chocolate you consumed that will probably be making a reappearance real soon was well worth it,” he said dryly.

“It really was,” she agreed, groaning.

He sent her a glare before returning his attention to his computer as he tried not to think about the four hours of his life that he’d never get back. He really couldn’t understand how anyone could get worked up over chocolate like that, but apparently his little recluse had. She’d dragged him from vender to vender to vender until he considered strangling her cute little neck. Finally when he didn’t think he could take another minute of someone shoving chocolate in his face she grabbed her stomach and muttered five of the sweetest words he’d ever heard, “I don’t feel so good.”

Thankful that the hell was finally over he practically dragged her out of the convention, ignoring her sad little attempts to break free and go indulge in more free samples, threw her in a taxi, and hauled her ass back to the hotel where he fully planned on getting at least three hours of work out of her. He held up his end of the bargain and he fully expected her to do the same.

Speaking of the agreement……

He opened her folder, clicked on her “To do” list and nearly swore when he saw the insane number of pages she’d added. After sending her one last glare that she ignored because she was squeezing her eyes shut while mumbling, “Ow, ow, owie,” he returned his focus on the list that would no doubt make his life a living hell. He swore that if she had another convention on the damn list that he was going to spank her ass.

What the hell………

He hadn’t seen this coming, but hey if this was what she wanted he could do it. At least she’d made the list interesting, he thought as he went through each item as he tried to figure out which ones they could manage to do while on this tour and the ones that were impossible. By the time he was done going through it he had a newfound respect for the little recluse. He’d never thought the woman whimpering on his bed would be interested in some of the more interesting things, but he couldn’t deny that the list pleased him.

This definitely just got a lot more interesting.

Chapter 9

“Faster!” Jamie practically squealed in his ear.

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he squeezed the throttle of the rented bike and sped down the deserted highway. Jamie’s arms tightened around him even as the sound of her laughter reached his ears over the loud roar of the bike’s engine.

This was her first time on a bike and he could already tell that the woman had fallen instantly in love. He’d chosen this item off her list because it was one of his favorite things to do. Whenever he felt stressed or just needed a break from it all he jumped on one of his bikes and hit the road. Granted, he didn’t do it as much as he would love to these days, but it was still one of the few things that made him relax, sex was the other.

Since he hadn’t had sex in over a month and it didn’t look like he was going to be able to indulge in his favorite pastime, at least not while he was on this tour, then this was the next best thing. Thankfully the little recluse seemed to love it as much as him so he’d be able to do it a few more times while they were on this tour.

That would definitely help since Rick contacted him that morning and told him that Rerum Publishing House wanted to extend the already long tour.

They’d only been on tour for two weeks, but it seemed that every city they visited had a huge surge in J.L. Lewis sales that more than made up for the cost of this promotional tour. It seemed that J.L. Lewis was well on her way to setting new sales records for Rerum Publishing House and Nick couldn’t be happier. He knew this woman was the key to his success and so far she’d proved him right.

A week ago several of her books managed to make it to number one on all the important book lists and even some that weren’t. It seemed as though everyone had J.L. Lewis fever and he knew that it was only going to get better. There was already talk from networks about making several of her books into television series and a few major boys in Hollywood were hinting at a movie deal. That would mean more exposure and even higher sales and Nick couldn’t wait.

It wasn’t necessarily his job to influence the little recluse on what she should do, but he’d talk her into whatever deal best benefitted him. The more exposure she had the better he would make out in the deal. Hell, he was already toying with a European tour after this. For most authors he’d force himself to step back even though everything in him screamed to move his ass, but this was Jamie he was talking about here.

She had no life or real friends to rush back to so he knew it wouldn’t take much to convince her to keep going. Tours normally could become tiresome and stressful for authors, but he knew that Jamie actually enjoyed traveling, sleeping in different hotels and trying new things. Even when she was exhausted and they had to travel late at night she still had a smile on her face.

He’d be able to keep her happy. As long as they had the list he owned her happiness. They’d been doing this for two weeks and he knew she was addicted to that damn list. She loved trying new things and with him there she seemed relaxed and able to go through with her little list. The two times he had to put off the list she’d tried to do things on her own only to end up stressed and intimidated. That of course pleased him because it meant that he hadn’t outlived his usefulness. She needed him for this list and he needed her for this tour and possibly a European tour immediately afterwards. It really depended on what Rick could come up with.

“Do you want to head back to the hotel?” he asked when he noticed the setting sun.

“No!” she said, sounding close to pouting, which actually pleased him.

He loved riding and wasn’t ready to call it a night either. This was one of his favorite things in the world to do. Normally he didn’t involve women in this activity because they bitched a lot, but surprisingly he didn’t mind bringing his little recluse with him. She loved this and couldn’t seem to be able to get enough. The only other woman that he’d enjoyed this with was Dana Pierce, except in her case she’d been on her own bike while trying to kick his ass racing.

They hadn’t ridden together in five years and he missed it. He missed spending the time with his friend, but she was married now and had a busy life. He understood that she had other things holding her attention these days, but he still missed that time with her. They still spent time together, but it wasn’t the same.