A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts #2)(22)

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.

Before Dana he’d never spent time with a woman just to spend time with her.

She made it easy to be with her and relax, somewhat. He’d never really been able to let his guard down with her and just enjoy her company, but it had been close.

Oddly enough he was able to do that with Jamie. It probably had something to do with the fact that they both knew what they wanted from this agreement. There were secret agendas and he didn’t have to work his ass off to flirt with her to get something out of her. He had the list and knew exactly what she needed.

For the first time since Dana, sex didn’t matter with a woman. Well, that wasn’t completely true. Much to his horror he was attracted to the little recluse. It was hard not to be. She was a cute little sexy thing with an infectious laugh and a genuine smile that pleased him. She never pretended around him and didn’t play some of the drama bullshit games that other women played. She was real, wholesome, and it didn’t hurt that he could now tell that she had a killer body. That was just a bonus.

Nothing would ever come of his attraction to her. She was his client and technically his employee. Besides, he had a two f**k limit and she wouldn’t understand. Jamie had relationship written all over her and wouldn’t understand that with him there would only ever be two nights. Sleeping with her, no correction, f**king her, because he never slept with a woman, would make continuing this tour impossible and sure as hell would make a European tour out of the question.

Sex would screw this agreement up real quick and when she realized that she couldn’t have him she’d be on the phone with Rick, demanding that he send someone else to take over Nick’s job. There was no way in hell he was risking losing J.L. Lewis for sex. If his attraction for her became a problem he’d find a willing woman to slate his lust and forget about it since one woman was just as good as another.