Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
N ick didn’t even bother looking at the little recluse as he swiftly backed her up into her apartment. He had more important things to do, like get inside her apartment so that he could assess the damage and see what needed to be done in order to make this work for him.
Once he’d backed her in far enough, Nick stepped away from her, causing her to stumble as he turned around and closed the door before locking it. Satisfied that he had her where he wanted her, Nick placed the new laptop he’d picked up this morning on the table by the door and sighed.
Admittedly, he’d been a little pissed when the little recluse wouldn’t let him inside last night so he could do some damage control, but then he went home and regrouped. He went through the itinerary he’d worked his ass off yesterday to set up and added a few things, deciding that he could be generous and allow the little recluse a few hours to console herself after her failed makeover, but that time was over now.
He turned around to get his first glimpse of her failed makeover and frowned. Where the hell did she go now? He swore under his breath as he scanned the small living room and couldn’t find her.
“Miss Harris?” Nick said as he stepped past the couch and a half-dozen shopping bags so that he could take a look in the adjoining kitchen. Nope. No little recluse in there.
He wasn’t exactly surprised when she didn’t answer. No doubt she thought he’d eventually get bored and go away. There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening, Nick thought as he looked at his watch. They needed to go over a few things, pack, get to the photo shoot, pray for a miracle, go to Cole’s game, and then catch a flight to Boston. This was his chance to make his mark and he wasn’t about to fuck it up.
“I’m not going anywhere, Miss Harris. The sooner you get out here, the sooner we can get to work,” Nick announced as he put his hands on his hips in an effort to keep himself from tearing the apartment apart to find her.
Shaking his head in disgust, Nick walked back to the door and grabbed the laptop. He was pretty sure that Rick never had to go through this much bullshit with Dana. The reason for that was pretty simple, Dana had been motivated to do this.
She’d been trapped in a loveless marriage with a worthless piece of shit that cared more for his computer and girlfriend than he had for his family. Writing had been Dana’s only means of escape. She’d worked her ass off day and night to perfect her craft and it had paid off not only for her but for Rerum Publishing and definitely for Rick.
Nick wanted what Rick had.
He wanted to be a leader in the industry and, more importantly, he wanted to leave his mark on the world and Miss Harris was the key. If he couldn’t get her to cooperate and get in line with his plans, he would be royally fucked. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d be switched to another agent if he couldn’t pull this off quickly. His bosses were practically drooling at the idea of having another author of Dana Pierce’s caliber and they wouldn’t tolerate mistakes.
With that in mind, Nick knew that he had to entice the little recluse into doing what he wanted. He sat down and removed the laptop from the bag. As it powered up, he looked around the small room. Beyond the basics like furniture, a small television, and a computer, there really wasn’t anything special about this room.
The only wall decoration was a framed diploma. Other than that, there were no pictures of friends or family. No knick-knacks or keepsakes to be found. Now that he really took the time to look around, he couldn’t help but notice the computer desk was the only spot in the room that looked like she used it. While the rest of the room was spotless and bare, her desk wasn’t. It was piled high with papers, manuscripts, books, candy bar wrappers, a jar of hard candies, and a very old mouse pad.
Realization hit and he knew how he was going to get what he wanted. This little recluse was truly that, a recluse. She was a young woman with no life or experience outside her books.
That’s why she’d sold her successful internet company and taken a job when she didn’t need one. This little recluse wanted to experience life, to make changes, and take chances. All he had to do was offer her everything that she’d never had before and he’d own her reclusive ass.
He placed the computer on the coffee table and opened the document he’d been working on earlier.
“Miss Harris,” he said, trying to sound casual, “I’d like to apologize for upsetting you. I realize that this is all a bit sudden and overwhelming for you. I believe Rick made a mistake in assigning me to you.” He ignored the snort of agreement that came from somewhere in the vicinity of the tan door, probably the bathroom, and continued.
“I think this is all too much for you, too soon. I’m going to call Rick and have you switched to another agent. He’ll make sure to keep things simple. You probably won’t even have to leave the office.” He paused to let his words sink in. No doubt she was feeling relieved with the reprieve.
“If you don’t mind, I need to make a few calls. I have to cancel flights, hotel rooms, conferences, book signings, and conventions,” Nick said, pausing with a heavy sigh for effect. “I guess I can wait for most of these calls until I get to the office since they’ll take hours. I had you booked all over the country. The one in Hawaii will be kind of tough to get out of.” He paused for a few seconds to allow that to sink in.
“It’s really a damn shame because I think you would have really enjoyed yourself. I know touring can be a lot of work,” Nick said as he opened his email to make sure that all his travel confirmations were set. “But they’re also a lot of fun, new experiences, trying new things, meeting new people. I think this could have been really good for you, but I’m not going to push you into something that you’re clearly not ready for.”
Nick waited, watching the bathroom door like a hawk. He bit back a groan of frustration, knowing he had to remain calm if this was going to work. His eyes darted back to her desk and he couldn’t help but grin when he spotted the scratch ticket.
“You wouldn’t happen to know the area code for Vegas, would you? I booked you there next month and I need to let them know-”
“Vegas?”
“Yeah, I...” Nick’s words trailed off as he turned his head and found the little recluse standing in the bathroom doorway, fidgeting nervously with her fingers as she stared down at the floor.
There were few things in life that left him speechless and this was one of them. The drab, frumpy little recluse that he’d left with his friends was gone. In her place was a very pretty and adorable woman. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, she wasn’t Dana Pierce-level pretty, but she was definitely beyond fucking adorable.
He ran his eyes from her newly cut silky hair over beautiful caramel eyes, cute little nose, the bottom lip that was fuller than the top, small oval chin, slender neck, surprisingly full breasts accentuated by a baby pink top, a slender waist, nicely shaped hips and short, yet nicely shaped legs.
One very important question came to mind, why in the hell had she been covering all that up? That thought was immediately followed by the realization that this new look would definitely work in his favor. Before, all he had was her work to push the name. Now, he had a pretty face to back the work. This would be easier than he thought.
“Where else would I be going?” her quiet voice tore him from his thoughts. He gave himself a mental shake and focused on the problem at hand, convincing her to take a chance on him.
Nick moved to the end of the couch, gesturing to the computer on the table. “The whole itinerary is right there if you’d like to take a look,” he said casually.
She looked close to bolting again, but curiosity was clearly winning out. She sat down on the couch, careful to keep her distance, and scrolled down the list. He knew she liked what she saw by the way that she was trying to bite back a smile.
“And there would be time for me to do other things?” she asked, looking hopeful.
Oh, he had her.
J.L. Lewis was his.
“Absolutely.”