A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts 2)

“Well, if you’re done do you mind if I got some work done?” he asked calmly enough so she passed the computer over, but not before she quickly closed the Scrabble window and erased the web browser’s history. No need to poke the tiger, she thought.

Deciding this was probably the best time to use the bathroom, she stood up.

“Excuse me,” she said as she flattened herself against the back of the seat in front of her, there was more room in first class, but she liked to get as much space between herself and the man watching her with an amused expression as she could.

“Where are you going?” he asked, looking back at the screen.

“Bathroom.”

He nodded as if she’d asked for permission. She almost snorted. She might be a pushover, but she wasn’t that pathetic. She quickly made her way to the first class lavatory and sighed as she spotted the “Occupied” sign. Deciding that it was better to wait here instead of in her seat, she leaned back against the wall and prepared for the long haul.

“Excuse me, is this the line for the bathroom?” a deeply masculine voice said, drawing Jamie’s attention.

She looked over to answer the man and found herself speechless and probably blushing. He simply smiled at what was probably her impression of a dying goldfish while she tried not to drool. This man was GQ level handsome, not as handsome as Nick or Edward Pierce, but close enough to fray her weary nerves.

He held out his hand, expectantly. “Since it looks like we’re going to be line neighbors I thought I should introduce myself. I’m Sean.”

Was this man flirting? Oh, he definitely was, judging by the glint in his eyes.

Jamie barely stopped herself from looking behind her for the beautiful woman that obviously had his attention. It took her a few seconds to realize that he was flirting with her.

She forced herself to take a calming breath as she shook his hand. This was so new and unexpected. Men did not flirt with her. They simply didn’t.

“Jamie,” she said quickly when she realized she was only holding his hand and staring. Oh, she so sucked at this! He probably thought she was the biggest freak on earth. Any second now he’d give her a polite smile and step back.

Obviously he couldn’t walk away completely. There were no other bathrooms available. The poor man was stuck in line with her. Even she felt bad for him. Why couldn’t”Is that your husband?” he asked, still holding her hand she’d like to point out, as he nodded towards Nick who was now scowling at his computer.

She laughed. She really couldn’t help it. The very idea of Nick Quinn being interested in her never mind married to her was truly laughable.

“You have a very pretty laugh,” Sean said, giving her a boyish grin.

Jamie took her hand back and pushed an errant strand of hair back behind her ear. “Thank you.”

“So, I take it he’s not your husband,” he concluded, sounding pleased.

She was about to tell him that Nick was her editor, but didn’t mostly because she still wasn’t comfortable letting people know who she was. So instead she said, “We work together.”

“Ah, I see,” Sean said, leaning in closely, but not too close to make her feel uncomfortable. “Is this your first time going to Boston?” he murmured in a rather sexy tone.

Jamie couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, I’ve been meaning to go for years, but never had a chance,” she said, thinking she also never had anyone to go with or any reason to go. She had friends, but no one she really wanted to take an adventure with. Her eyes darted to Nick. She didn’t really want to do this with him, but he was giving her a good reason to try new things. Also, having him around made her feel a little safer and a little more confident to take a chance.

“There are a lot of new experiences to be had,” Sean said as if he could read her mind. “In fact,” he said leaning closer, “those experiences can start right now, if you want. There’s nothing stopping you from doing whatever you want.”

She was just about to open her mouth and ask what sort of new experiences could be had on an airplane when the bathroom door opened. Jamie was barely aware of the middle age man smiling sheepishly as he stepped past them. Her mind was suddenly racing with ideas.

“Excuse me,” she said absently as she stepped around Sean. “It was nice to meet you. Um, it’s all yours,” she said, gesturing awkwardly to the bathroom.

He simply shrugged. “I didn’t really have to use it. I just wanted an excuse to meet you.”

“Thank you,” she murmured shyly as she practically raced back to her seat, eager to start working on a list while crazy ideas raced through her head. Could she really do this? she wondered.

There was only one way to find out, she thought as she quickly, but carefully, moved past Nick to get back to her seat. She sat down, looked at Nick, fidgeted and fidgeted some more as he typed. Finally he let out an annoyed sigh.

“What is it?” he asked irritably.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a piece of paper and a pen handy, would you?”

she asked quietly. She really did not like the idea of putting this down on paper, mostly because it was private, but there was also her little tendency to lose things.

He sighed long and loud. “Do you need to work?”

She opened her mouth to tell him no, but then reconsidered it. “Yes, yes I have to work,” she lied.

“Fine,” he said, saving his work before passing over the laptop. “There’s a folder on the desktop with your name on it. I’d appreciate it if you kept everything you worked on in there.”

That would definitely make this easier, she thought as she shifted in her seat so he couldn’t see the screen. She opened a new word document and quickly titled it, “Things to Try List.”

******

Nick barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as the little recluse shifted in her seat so he couldn’t see what she was working on. As long as she worked he really didn’t care and judging by her focused expression and fingers tapping away at a rather impressive pace she was no doubt working on her next book.

A new book would be the perfect finishing touch to this little tour. Granted it would probably start a whole new tour, preferably a European tour, but he would deal with it. He thought about asking her what her new book was about, but decided that he’d ask in a couple of weeks. Right now he didn’t need to add plans to market a new book into his already hectic schedule.