Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
“ O h, no, you don’t,” Nick said, swiping the large coffee roll with extra icing out of her hand.
“But I need that!” Jamie said as she tried to snatch it back, but Nick simply ignored her as he put the coffee roll back in the white bakery box and dropped the box in the top drawer of the black filing cabinet near his desk. When he closed the drawer and locked it, she considered kicking him in the shin and snatching the key out of his hand.
“No, you don’t,” Nick murmured as he pulled her into his arms and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. “You’ve already met your sugar quota this morning,” he reminded her before taking her hand in his and gave it a gentle pull as he made his way towards the door.
“You don’t get to set my sugar quota,” Jamie muttered pathetically as she threw a look of longing over her shoulder at the filing cabinet.
“I do when I wake up at three in the morning to discover a mound of empty candy bar wrappers-”
“It wasn’t a mound,” she muttered as he pulled her into the busy hallway.
“-on my bed and the bedroom light on so that you could tear through your boxes and bags in search of your next fix,” Nick continued, sounding amused as she kept her gaze locked on the hallway floor covered in fresh vacuum lines.
“Junk food soothes me,” she reminded him with a sad little sniffle as she thought about that box of baked goods waiting for her in his office.
After he’d spanked her, and she still couldn’t believe the big jerk spanked her or more importantly, her reaction to it, he’d taken her in what seemed like every room and every position that he could think of as though he was trying to prove something. The only thing he’d managed to prove was that the man was a god in bed, or rather, on the couch, the stairs, against the wall, and in the shower.
Every time she tried to explain that it wasn’t safe for him to stay with her ended with a murderous glare and her screaming his name. The man was too damn stubborn to think clearly. She knew that he felt protective of her, which was sweet, but she could take care of herself, and besides, the police were looking into it. Plus, she was planning on being careful, really careful, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about.
After a moment, she realized that the normally busy office that made her nervous was eerily quiet. Frowning, Jamie glanced up only to immediately regret that decision when she realized that everyone was watching them. She felt her cheeks burn as the realization that they’d watched her have sex made her stomach drop.
What she wouldn’t give to make a run for it.
Nick suddenly stopped, causing her to slam into his back, but he barely noticed as he leveled a glare at their audience. “Is there a problem?” he asked calmly, but there was no mistaking the fury in his tone as he silently dared someone to say something. When no one spoke, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze before they continued making their way down the long hallway.
A moment later, he pulled her into one of the boardrooms and-
“Dana, what the hell are you doing here?” Nick asked, drawing her attention to find Dana and Edward Pierce sitting at the table.
“I decided to attend this meeting since it affects my next book,” Dana explained, sending Jamie a discreet wink that had her biting her lip.
“Please have a seat,” Rick said, giving them a forced smile as he gestured for them to sit across from Dana and Edward while Jamie took in the men and women sitting around the large table and noted that none of them looked happy to see them.
Knowing that she really didn’t have a choice, Jamie slowly exhaled as she forced herself to cross the room and sat down. She needed to do this for Nick, Jamie reminded herself as the scent of cheap perfume hit her seconds before the sounds of high heels hitting the hardwood floor filled the room. Swallowing hard, Jamie looked up in time to watch Holly sit down across from them with an expression that had her stomach dropping.
“Why don’t we begin?” Nick suggested as he entwined their fingers and faced off against the men and women that were here to fire him.
But that was fine because she was ready for this.
As soon as they fired him, she was going to find the best lawyer that money could buy to get her out of the iron-clad contract that she’d signed. This wasn’t right. Nick didn’t deserve to be fired and she was going to make sure that he-
“Miss Harris,” the man sitting next to Rick said, drawing her attention to find him watching her with a pitying look, “you’re fired.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Jamie asked as the thumb that had been gently caressing the back of her hand went still.
“You’re fired, Miss Harris,” came the softly murmured words that had Jamie swallowing hard.
“You’re letting me out of my contract?” Jamie asked, making her wonder if it could really be this easy.
Thanks to her contract, she wasn’t allowed to start another publishing company, but Nick could. She could sign with him and help him-
“No, you’re still contracted through us for J.L. Lewis, but we’ve decided that as Jamie Harris, you will no longer be associated with Rerum Publishing House,” he explained before shifting his gaze to Nick. “I’m sorry, Mr. Quinn, but I’m afraid that you’re fired as well.”
“I understand,” Nick said while Jamie sat there, trying to figure out what she was supposed to say to fix this.
None of this would have happened if it weren’t for her and she wasn’t about to sit here while they destroyed Nick’s career. She opened her mouth to say, well, she really wasn’t sure what she was going to say, when Dana spoke first.
“I guess this is where I inform you that I decided not to renew my contract with Rerum Publishing,” Dana said quietly while Jamie watched every expression in the room turn panicked except for one. Eric looked relieved as he shared a look with Nick that she couldn’t quite figure out before he looked away.
“Let’s talk about this, Mrs. Pierce,” one of the men said, shifting nervously in his seat as he went for a hopeful smile that Dana simply ignored.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable signing with Rerum Publishing when you’re firing the man that’s always been there for me. Mr. Quinn has always double-checked my work for me, helped plan my tours, and if I can’t reach Rick, Nick’s the person I go to. If I can no longer count on having Mr. Quinn for support, then I don’t see any reason to continue working with Rerum Publishing.”
“Mrs. Pierce, any one of our agents can do that for you. They’d be more than happy to help you with any problems that you have,” a middle-aged woman with graying chestnut hair explained.
“Although I have the utmost respect for your employees, none of them are as dedicated as Mr. Quinn,” Dana pointed out.
“Our hands are tied on this matter, Mrs. Pierce. Not only did Mr. Quinn have an inappropriate relationship with his client and employee, but he also put Rerum in a very unpleasant situation by canceling dozens of interviews and personal appearances. That’s not something that we can simply-” she began arguing only to get cut off by Edward Pierce.
“I’ve known Mr. Quinn for several years now and I’ve never known him to act inappropriately with clients or employees, for that matter, which is pretty impressive given his personal reputation. I can understand that you’re not thrilled with the situation, but from what I saw on that video, this isn’t a simple fling nor did either one of them intend on making their relationship public. It appears to me that two people very much in love had a very personal moment stolen from them and exploited,” Edward said before throwing her a wink that left her struggling to remember how to breathe as the realization that everyone in this room saw that video.
Oh, God...
“With all due respect, Mr. Pierce, but this doesn’t concern you or your wife. If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your contract, we’d be more than happy to accommodate you, but for right now, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to-”
“I’m afraid it does concern us if you ever expect my wife to promote any of the books that you currently have her contracted for. If memory serves me correctly, she has the right to refuse any promotional event that makes her uncomfortable and I have to be honest,” Edward drawled, leaning back in his chair as he addressed the men and women who were visibly panicking, “having my wife work with a company that would place profit before her safety isn’t something that I’m comfortable with.”
“I support Mr. Quinn’s decision to cancel the rest of the tour, given the situation,” Rick said before anyone else could respond. “Between the video and the threats, I don’t think he had a choice.”
“It wasn’t his call to make,” one of the men said, making her frown.
“Nick didn’t cancel the rest of the tour. I-”
“I canceled the tour,” Nick said, cutting her off before she could fix this as he gave her hand a warning squeeze. “After speaking with the police, it was agreed that until they caught whoever was behind the threats, that it would be in Miss Harris’ best interest to cancel the rest of the tour.”
“You should have spoken with us before you made that decision,” the man sitting next to Holly said while Jamie sat there, noting the smug expression on Holly’s face.
“I apologize for that. However, time was a factor. So, I explained the situation and told them that the contracts would be honored as soon as the matter was cleared up,” Nick smoothly explained.
“Right now, my only concern is Miss Harris. There’s obviously a very disturbed person out there with a fixation on her. I don’t think it would be appropriate or fair to ask her to put herself in danger to fulfill the promises that we made. Until the matter is settled, other methods to promote her books should be utilized,” Nick suggested.
“Thank you, Mr. Quinn. We’ll look into it,” the man sitting across from them said with a resigned sigh.
“Just let me know where you end up and I’ll be more than happy to sign with you, Nick,” Dana said as she stood up.
“Please reconsider, Mrs. Pierce,” the man sitting at the end of the table murmured quietly as he shared a look with Eric while Jamie slowly exhaled and-
“This is probably where I should tell you that the last two books that I contracted with Rerum Publishing as well as the one that I was secretly working on with Dana are done and that I won’t be renewing my contract either,” Jamie said, forcing the words out of her mouth as she stood up.
With that announcement which seemed to have stunned everyone, including Nick, into silence, Jamie forced herself to walk out of the room. When she reached the hallway, she closed the door behind her, released a shaky breath and made her way to Nick’s office, needing that coffee roll now more than ever.