Free HH02 - A Reclusive Heart by R.L. Mathewson Page B

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.
    She nearly rolled her eyes at the "Miss, Harris". She knew they weren't friends and knew this agreement had nothing to do
    with friendship and everything to do with getting what they both wanted, but if he continued to call her Miss. Harris other
    people would question why a handsome man was spending time with her. They'd probably assume she paid him and she really
    didn't think she could deal with anymore unwanted attention.
    "The name is Jamie and I have no idea how many items are on the list," she whispered, ignoring her burning cheeks.
    He sighed heavily as he grabbed her arm and practically dragged her along the moving line. "I suppose it would make
    things easier if we were on a first name basis," he grudgingly agreed as they paid for their tickets. She