A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts #2)(20)

He should probably feel bad for her and if he didn’t need her so damn badly he probably would. But the truth of the matter was this made his life easy. She would do exactly what he wanted and in return he’d help her with her little list. The only downside that he could see of course was that he would have to give up what little spare time he would have during this tour to see to this ridiculous list of hers.

Then again if it worked to keep her in line and smiling on cue then he would suck it up and deal with it. Besides, her list was pretty simple and wouldn’t take long to go through. They’d finish it in two weeks, three tops, and then he’d have her undivided attention for the next several months. Actually, this could actually help him out in the long run as well. She’d learn to listen to him and trust his judgment and he could plan future events with J.L. Lewis without fear that she’d cause him any problems.

“You’re willing to go with me and do whatever’s on my list?” she asked slowly as if she didn’t trust him.

Smart girl.

But as long as she did what she was asked he would fulfill his side of the bargain. It was a simple enough agreement.

“Yes, but you have to do what I ask if you want me to go with you,” he clarified. Work came first and he needed to make sure that she understood that.

She nodded slowly. “That sounds fair.”

“But I’m warning you, Miss. Harris, the moment you stop doing as you’re asked you’re on your own with that little list of yours.”

Another nod.

“Okay then,” he said, getting to his feet and gesturing towards the door.

“Let’s get some work done.”

******

“I don’t remember this being on your list,” Nick said accusingly as he glared down at her.

It took everything Jamie had not to cower beneath that glare, but somehow she managed it. Actually, she was quite proud of herself for that little move, but that didn’t exactly help with the man scowling down at her.

She cleared her throat nervously. “Yes, it was,” she lied.

His eyes practically narrowed to slits. “I don’t remember seeing going with you to a chocolate convention on the list.”

“Well, it was a really long list. You probably just missed it,” she lamely explained as the man standing in front of her stepped back and bumped into her, almost knocking her down. “Sorry,” she mumbled pathetically before she could stop herself. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as Nick’s glare intensified for some reason.

“It was a very short list,” Nick said as he put his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her out of the way as the man in front went to bang into her again. He moved her closer to his side and she was pretty sure she’d rather be rammed into by the rather rotund man in front of her than be this close to Nick. The man was too damn intimidating and being this close to him was making it kind of difficult to lie to him, but she was willing to give it a shot.

“It was long, very, very long,” she said, nibbling her bottom lip as she averted her eyes.

“It was one page, double spaced,” he bit out.

“Um, no it wasn’t.” But it was. At least it had been until last night when he finally dismissed her for the night. After he shoved the laptop in her hands with the expectation that she was going to work for a few more hours even though it had been well past eleven at night by that point she revised the list……a little.

She’d meant to work for at least an hour just to appease the big bully, but when she logged onto the computer and started to work all she could think about was her list and all the new possibilities that went along with their new agreement.

Even though she fully planned on doing the things on her list, things that she’d been sure she could handle on her own she was now going to venture out and do everything that she’d always wanted to do but was always too chicken to even try.

For three and a half hours she’d added things that she’d only dreamed of doing until she passed out at her hotel room desk. She was pretty sure she’d covered everything, but if she hadn’t she knew she could always add it later, well she hoped at least. Judging by the disgruntled look Nick was sending her she realized that she may have to find a way to sneak a few things onto the list, because right now she had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going to be happy when he found out that the list went from one page to ten or twenty or so.

Then again this chocolate convention hadn’t been on the list at all, but she’d overheard one of her fans talking about it earlier and mentally added it to the list.

Nick had assumed that she’d want to try to go to the nightclub again tonight and had been shocked when she told him what she really wanted to do. She’d hit a nightclub again soon, especially if she had him by her side, but tonight she was all about the chocolate.

Seriously, what kind of woman would be able to pass up a convention center filled with chocolate from all over the world? Okay, granted she’d almost passed it up, but only because she always felt like an oddball whenever she went to any event by herself, but then she remembered that she didn’t have to. While she was on this tour she had her own personal tag along buddy, a buddy that would help her do all those things that she’d always dreamed about doing, but didn’t have the guts to try.

“Exactly how many items are on the list now, Miss. Harris?” he demanded as they moved forward in the line to enter the convention.