The message was clear, if she moved he’d drag her right back and probably staple her butt to the chair. Knowing it was useless to argue, she pasted that smile back on her face and forced herself to get through the rest of the signing.
For the next eight hours she put up with him shoving water at her as an excuse to remind her to keep her butt in the chair, forced to take pictures with fans even though the whole thing made her feel uncomfortable and four denials for a bathroom break. When she told him that she was hungry and asked for a break he handed her a stale package of crackers he’d bought out of the vending machine in the hall.
By the end of the whole thing she was mad, exhausted, humiliated and more than done with Nick Quinn. She might be stuck doing this because of her contract, which he reminded her of thirteen times throughout the day, but that didn’t mean she was going to be stuck with him.
“Where are you going?” he demanded as she walked past his room and headed for her own.
“We need to discuss our strategy for the interviews tomorrow,” he said, gesturing towards his room, but she ignored him and kept going.
She grabbed her room card, jammed it into the slot on her door’s electronic lock and kept jamming it until Nick took it out of her hand with a bored sigh.
“What the hell are you doing, Miss. Harris?” he asked as he opened her door and handed her back the keycard.
“First, I’m going to order the biggest steak this hotel has since you starved me,” she said, sending him a narrowed eye glare. “Then I’m going to call Rick and ask him to replace your psycho butt!” she snapped as she went to slam the door shut in his face.
He stopped the door with his foot and hand and shoved it open. Knowing it was pointless to try and shove him out of her room since he easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds she walked over to her bag, er purse, and dug through it.
“You signed a contract, Miss. Harris,” he reminded her tightly. “You have a contractual duty to finish this tour. You can call Rick up and complain all you want, but it won’t change a damn thing.”
“I already know that,” she bit out distractedly as she dumped her purse over and of course more than half of her belongings tumbled off the bed and onto the floor. “I made a promise and I intend to keep it,” she said, frowning when she didn’t spot her phone among the contents on the bed. With a small groan she dropped to her knees and began searching through the mess on the floor. She shoved aside a paperback, checkbook, tampons, half a roll of Lifesavers and still no cell phone. She blew a loose strand of hair out of her face as she looked around the beige rug. Where the heck was her phone?
“Then I see no reason why you need to call Rick,” he said.
She had to snort at that. “Of course you don’t.”
“If you’re upset about the amount of work that we have ahead there’s nothing that I can do about that. Those are the obligations we have and if we want your launch to be a success we have to do it,” he explained slowly as if he were talking to a child, further irritating her.
“I have no problem with the work,” she admitted as she peered under the bed and sighed. It wasn’t there either.
“Then what’s your problem?” he demanded.
“You,” she snapped, not even bothering to look up at him.
“You need me, Miss. Harris,” he explained, sounding pissed. “I’ll guide you through this process, get you into the best venues and make sure you’re a success.”
“Anyone from your company could do that,” she pointed out, wondering where her phone had run off to.
For a moment he didn’t say anything and she was glad. It gave her a chance to focus all of her attention on finding her phone and figuring out what the heck she was going to say to Rick. She didn’t want to get him in trouble despite how much he irritated her, but she didn’t see any way around it. If she didn’t say something he’d walk all over her and that’s the last thing she needed right now, especially after last night.
“Finally,” she mumbled when she spotted the sleek black phone peeking out from the corner of the light tan couch. She reached out to grab it only to gasp when a large tan hand swiped it up. She turned her glare up at him.
“You need me,” he said as he put her phone in his pocket, probably thinking that she wouldn’t make a grab for it.
He was right, darn it!
“No, I don’t,” she argued tightly as she came to her feet, holding her hand out expectantly.
“Really?” he asked with a cocky arch of his brow that she didn’t like, not one bit.
“Really!” she snapped back.
“Then how do you expect to get through your list without my help?” he asked, and judging by his smug grin she didn’t have to ask what list he was referring to.
“Face it, Miss. Harris. You need me.”
Chapter 8
This was going to be too easy, he thought as his little recluse looked up at him through wide eyes as her mouth worked soundlessly. After her little rebellion last night he should have realized the odd little list he’d come across late last night would be the key to getting her under his control, but he’d still been angry that she hadn’t jumped when he told her to. That was fine because now it seemed that he could offer her what she desperately needed.
Him.
The only reason she agreed to come along on this tour was to try new things and apparently she desperately wanted to get out there and expand on that little goal, but there was only one problem with that. She was shy, painfully so. That was the reason she didn’t leave her barstool last night and the reason why she damn near bolted every time someone said hello to her today. If the only way to get her to stay and start behaving was to go through each item on her list with her then that’s what he would do.
If it meant that she would listen to him then he’d do all the things on her list that had him rolling his eyes last night. Half the things on her list he’d done before and actually enjoyed so that wouldn’t bother him. Of course the only way to have time to do anything on her list was to get their work done. She’d realize that and work her cute little ass off and do what he told her to do. Then he’d help her get through her list, but only if she did everything that he wanted first.
“I-I don’t need you to do that list,” she mumbled pathetically even as a bright red blush crept up her cheeks, painting her a liar.
“So you’ll be able to do all of those things on your list?” he asked before adding, “by yourself?”
She worried her bottom lip as she shifted nervously in front of him, but she didn’t say anything because they both knew the truth. Without him she wouldn’t have the balls to do anything on her list. There was a reason why she was a little recluse after all. She was too damn afraid to get out there and grab life by the balls.
Without him she’d only be able to write about life instead of living it.
He shook his head as he walked over to the hotel phone. “Face it, Miss.
Harris, you need me more than I need you.”
“No, I don’t,” she said weakly, probably some half ass attempt to stand up for herself, but he barely paid attention as he picked up the phone and ordered room service.
When he was done he sat down on the small love seat and relaxed as he watched the little recluse struggle to come up with a decent argument. When a minute passed and she still hadn’t been able to say anything more than a mumble he decided to take pity on her.
“Why don’t the two of us come to an understanding on the matter?” he suggested casually. “During this tour I will go with you and do anything that you would like to try. In return you will show up to book signings, interviews, conventions and anything that I need you to do on time and say more than two words to your fans. You will also make yourself available when I need you.”
She licked her lips nervously and he knew he had her by that little calculating expression on her face. She wanted this, badly. Not that he could blame her, he thought with a tiny ounce of pity. One look at that list and it was more than obvious that the woman hadn’t truly lived. It was actually pathetic to think that last night had been her first visit to a nightclub or a bar for that matter since that was also on her list.
He should probably feel bad for her and if he didn’t need her so damn badly he probably would. But the truth of the matter was this made his life easy. She would do exactly what he wanted and in return he’d help her with her little list. The only downside that he could see of course was that he would have to give up what little spare time he would have during this tour to see to this ridiculous list of hers.
Then again if it worked to keep her in line and smiling on cue then he would suck it up and deal with it. Besides, her list was pretty simple and wouldn’t take long to go through. They’d finish it in two weeks, three tops, and then he’d have her undivided attention for the next several months. Actually, this could actually help him out in the long run as well. She’d learn to listen to him and trust his judgment and he could plan future events with J.L. Lewis without fear that she’d cause him any problems.
“You’re willing to go with me and do whatever’s on my list?” she asked slowly as if she didn’t trust him.
Smart girl.
But as long as she did what she was asked he would fulfill his side of the bargain. It was a simple enough agreement.
“Yes, but you have to do what I ask if you want me to go with you,” he clarified. Work came first and he needed to make sure that she understood that.
She nodded slowly. “That sounds fair.”
“But I’m warning you, Miss. Harris, the moment you stop doing as you’re asked you’re on your own with that little list of yours.”
Another nod.
“Okay then,” he said, getting to his feet and gesturing towards the door.
“Let’s get some work done.”
******
“I don’t remember this being on your list,” Nick said accusingly as he glared down at her.
It took everything Jamie had not to cower beneath that glare, but somehow she managed it. Actually, she was quite proud of herself for that little move, but that didn’t exactly help with the man scowling down at her.
She cleared her throat nervously. “Yes, it was,” she lied.
His eyes practically narrowed to slits. “I don’t remember seeing going with you to a chocolate convention on the list.”
“Well, it was a really long list. You probably just missed it,” she lamely explained as the man standing in front of her stepped 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.