A Reclusive Heart
Page 2
She ran her sweaty palms down the front of her charcoal gray wool skirt and frowned as she inwardly groaned. Why hadn’t she taken the time yesterday to try on her clothes? Oh, that’s right, because Caitlyn and her little trio came into the store. She’d been forced to grab the first suit off the rack that looked like it would fit, pay up, and get the heck out of there before they spotted her.
It was either that or endure the fake looks of pity, rude comments, and Caitlyn’s “little” stories about how Jamie never could keep any man’s attention once they met Caitlyn. So yeah, she ran for it and apparently bought a suit at least four sizes too big.
The elevator dinged and people looked at her expectantly. It took a moment before she realized they were at the fifth floor. With an embarrassed flush and a murmured apology she hefted her bag, er purse, and stepped out of the elevator into a beehive.
“Excuse me,” a woman in a much better suit than hers said in a crisp voice as she rushed past Jamie.
Another murmured apology came from Jamie before she stepped back against the wall. She stayed there watching the chaos for several minutes before she broke out into a sweat.
Oh god, she couldn’t do this.
She hurried the three feet back to the elevator and hit the call button, and then pressed it again and again. Where was it? She pushed her glasses back up her nose to get a better look at the elevator lights. It was on the ninth floor and she didn’t have time to wait here.
Clutching her bag tightly to her body and averting her eyes to the floor, she turned and followed the Exit signs to the stairwell. Halfway there she spotted signs for the restrooms. After taking a quick glance up to confirm their location she took another deep breath and scurried quickly through the swarm of people. She didn’t release that breath until she was in the bathroom safely locked in the end stall.
After placing five paper barriers on the toilet she carefully sat down, dropped her bag between her feet, and cradled her head in her hands. This had been such a huge mistake. She should have kept her company and resigned herself to being the strange woman with twenty cats that all the kids would point and laugh at in twenty years. The fact that she didn’t like cats shouldn’t factor into her decision.
Decision made, she just needed to come up with a plan to get herself out of here. She would just have to leave the bathroom and use the stairwell to leave the building. Then she’d go home and pack up her small apartment and find someplace where she could blend in and allowed cats. Maybe she’d use her new little fortune to buy a house and a new car. Wait, a house was too big for just for one person. Unless of course cats required their own rooms then she’d be all set. Then after she set up her house she’d start up another internet publishing company and everything would be peachy.
The only glitch in her plan as far as she could tell was that little issue of the signed contract stating that she was not allowed to start another internet publishing company and a few other factors that would keep her butt here working.
She needed an antacid or something. She looked down at her oversized purse and frowned. She wasn’t the antacid carrying type of woman. Although there was a good possibility that she had a half roll of spearmint Lifesavers or a few root beer barrels somewhere in her bag.
Deciding that a root beer barrel sounded great, she picked up her bag and nearly cried out in frustration as her bag tipped upside down, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem except that somehow at some point her bag had opened. The soft whir of the air conditioning unit was momentarily drowned out by a loud gasp and the clanking sounds as everything in her purse hit the tiled floor.
“Why me?” she mumbled pathetically as she grabbed her bag and started to shove things back in. Things started to look up when she found a twenty dollar bill that she’d forgotten about and her favorite pen that she thought she lost a few months back. Well, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all, she thought as she kneeled on the cool tile floor so she could reach several items that escaped the confines of the stall.
After a minute it became obvious that her arms were just too short to reach the items that escaped the stall. Sighing heavily, she opened the stall door and crawled out picking up items as she went. Two tampons and a quarter later she was frowning at a pair of very large black leather shoes.
Her first thought was one of sympathy for whatever woman had feet that large. That feeling slowly disappeared as her eyes traveled up a pair of men’s black slacks to a very masculine jacket, shirt and tie that in her opinion really looked good on the obviously fit torso. Slowly, ever so slowly, she looked all the way up and gulped when she saw beautiful laughing green eyes and perfectly combed short honey blond hair.
Why on earth did it have to be him? A month ago when she came in for a meeting he had been the reason why she nearly choked on her own tongue. It was really unfair that someone so shallow should look so gorgeous. Really, it wasn’t fair.
No one person should be blessed this much. He had everything going for him in life and he knew it. It was a constant reminder to people like her that life really was unfair and was kind of sucky sometimes.
His eyes lit up with amusement as he held out a tampon to her. Not just any tampon, but a purple tampon with the words “Super Super Heavy” written in clear bold letters.
“I believe this is yours, Miss. Harris,” he said, sounding close to laughing.
Jamie grabbed the tampon and shoved it back into her bag as she quickly got to her feet all while avoiding his gaze. When he tried to help her up she took a step back.
“T-this isn’t the women’s room, is it?” she asked, knowing someone up there was having a heck of a time with her today.
“No, no it’s not,” that deep smooth voice that wreaked havoc on her heart said.
She nodded. “Of course it’s not,” she muttered to herself. Really what else could she expect?
Still avoiding his eyes she said, “Well, ah,” she cleared her throat, “it’s ah, very nice. Spacious, clean and all that.”
He chuckled.
Darn it!
“I’ll ah, I’ll just go see what my desk looks like now. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Quinn.”
“Oh, the pleasure was all mine,” he said in an amused tone.
Another nod and she turned to leave only to have her escape halted.
“Miss. Harris?”
She froze mere inches from freedom. “Yes?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“You have a little something on the back of your skirt.”
Of course she did.
“Thank you,” she said, trying to decide whether she should duck back into one of the stalls or risk further embarrassment by looking for the woman’s room to remove whatever it was when Mr. Quinn took the decision out of her hands for her.
She heard the telltale sound of crinkling paper and gasped. Heat rushed up her neck to her face, leaving her to wonder if she could die from embarrassment.
“Got it,” he said, chuckling.
“Thank you,” she mumbled as she made her mad dash to the bathroom door, wondering what else could go wrong today.
Chapter 2
Nick was still laughing twenty minutes later as he took his seat in the conference room. Who knew hiring the little recluse would make his day? He certainly hadn’t expected this little bonus. She’d certainly made his morning.
Ah, good times……
“What has you in such a good mood?” Beth or Janet or whatever the hell her name was asked as she took the chair next to his.
“Good coffee,” he said, gesturing to his steamy cup of coffee. He wasn’t about to further embarrass the poor recluse. He was an ass**le yes, but a nice ass**le.
The poor thing was going to have a hard enough time here, he could just tell with that shy manner and frumpy clothes. There was no need to add to it. In fact, his plan was to stay away from the poor thing and sit back and watch. Maybe she’d provide him with another good laugh.
“So, Nick, I was wondering what you were doing tonight,” Beth or Janet or was it Marcy? said.
“Washing my hair,” he answered, hoping she’d take the hint and finally move on. For six months she’d been after him and not just for a good reason like hot sweaty sex. No this one had relationship written all over her. She wanted to “change” him.
It was either that or endure the fake looks of pity, rude comments, and Caitlyn’s “little” stories about how Jamie never could keep any man’s attention once they met Caitlyn. So yeah, she ran for it and apparently bought a suit at least four sizes too big.
The elevator dinged and people looked at her expectantly. It took a moment before she realized they were at the fifth floor. With an embarrassed flush and a murmured apology she hefted her bag, er purse, and stepped out of the elevator into a beehive.
“Excuse me,” a woman in a much better suit than hers said in a crisp voice as she rushed past Jamie.
Another murmured apology came from Jamie before she stepped back against the wall. She stayed there watching the chaos for several minutes before she broke out into a sweat.
Oh god, she couldn’t do this.
She hurried the three feet back to the elevator and hit the call button, and then pressed it again and again. Where was it? She pushed her glasses back up her nose to get a better look at the elevator lights. It was on the ninth floor and she didn’t have time to wait here.
Clutching her bag tightly to her body and averting her eyes to the floor, she turned and followed the Exit signs to the stairwell. Halfway there she spotted signs for the restrooms. After taking a quick glance up to confirm their location she took another deep breath and scurried quickly through the swarm of people. She didn’t release that breath until she was in the bathroom safely locked in the end stall.
After placing five paper barriers on the toilet she carefully sat down, dropped her bag between her feet, and cradled her head in her hands. This had been such a huge mistake. She should have kept her company and resigned herself to being the strange woman with twenty cats that all the kids would point and laugh at in twenty years. The fact that she didn’t like cats shouldn’t factor into her decision.
Decision made, she just needed to come up with a plan to get herself out of here. She would just have to leave the bathroom and use the stairwell to leave the building. Then she’d go home and pack up her small apartment and find someplace where she could blend in and allowed cats. Maybe she’d use her new little fortune to buy a house and a new car. Wait, a house was too big for just for one person. Unless of course cats required their own rooms then she’d be all set. Then after she set up her house she’d start up another internet publishing company and everything would be peachy.
The only glitch in her plan as far as she could tell was that little issue of the signed contract stating that she was not allowed to start another internet publishing company and a few other factors that would keep her butt here working.
She needed an antacid or something. She looked down at her oversized purse and frowned. She wasn’t the antacid carrying type of woman. Although there was a good possibility that she had a half roll of spearmint Lifesavers or a few root beer barrels somewhere in her bag.
Deciding that a root beer barrel sounded great, she picked up her bag and nearly cried out in frustration as her bag tipped upside down, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem except that somehow at some point her bag had opened. The soft whir of the air conditioning unit was momentarily drowned out by a loud gasp and the clanking sounds as everything in her purse hit the tiled floor.
“Why me?” she mumbled pathetically as she grabbed her bag and started to shove things back in. Things started to look up when she found a twenty dollar bill that she’d forgotten about and her favorite pen that she thought she lost a few months back. Well, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all, she thought as she kneeled on the cool tile floor so she could reach several items that escaped the confines of the stall.
After a minute it became obvious that her arms were just too short to reach the items that escaped the stall. Sighing heavily, she opened the stall door and crawled out picking up items as she went. Two tampons and a quarter later she was frowning at a pair of very large black leather shoes.
Her first thought was one of sympathy for whatever woman had feet that large. That feeling slowly disappeared as her eyes traveled up a pair of men’s black slacks to a very masculine jacket, shirt and tie that in her opinion really looked good on the obviously fit torso. Slowly, ever so slowly, she looked all the way up and gulped when she saw beautiful laughing green eyes and perfectly combed short honey blond hair.
Why on earth did it have to be him? A month ago when she came in for a meeting he had been the reason why she nearly choked on her own tongue. It was really unfair that someone so shallow should look so gorgeous. Really, it wasn’t fair.
No one person should be blessed this much. He had everything going for him in life and he knew it. It was a constant reminder to people like her that life really was unfair and was kind of sucky sometimes.
His eyes lit up with amusement as he held out a tampon to her. Not just any tampon, but a purple tampon with the words “Super Super Heavy” written in clear bold letters.
“I believe this is yours, Miss. Harris,” he said, sounding close to laughing.
Jamie grabbed the tampon and shoved it back into her bag as she quickly got to her feet all while avoiding his gaze. When he tried to help her up she took a step back.
“T-this isn’t the women’s room, is it?” she asked, knowing someone up there was having a heck of a time with her today.
“No, no it’s not,” that deep smooth voice that wreaked havoc on her heart said.
She nodded. “Of course it’s not,” she muttered to herself. Really what else could she expect?
Still avoiding his eyes she said, “Well, ah,” she cleared her throat, “it’s ah, very nice. Spacious, clean and all that.”
He chuckled.
Darn it!
“I’ll ah, I’ll just go see what my desk looks like now. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Quinn.”
“Oh, the pleasure was all mine,” he said in an amused tone.
Another nod and she turned to leave only to have her escape halted.
“Miss. Harris?”
She froze mere inches from freedom. “Yes?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“You have a little something on the back of your skirt.”
Of course she did.
“Thank you,” she said, trying to decide whether she should duck back into one of the stalls or risk further embarrassment by looking for the woman’s room to remove whatever it was when Mr. Quinn took the decision out of her hands for her.
She heard the telltale sound of crinkling paper and gasped. Heat rushed up her neck to her face, leaving her to wonder if she could die from embarrassment.
“Got it,” he said, chuckling.
“Thank you,” she mumbled as she made her mad dash to the bathroom door, wondering what else could go wrong today.
Chapter 2
Nick was still laughing twenty minutes later as he took his seat in the conference room. Who knew hiring the little recluse would make his day? He certainly hadn’t expected this little bonus. She’d certainly made his morning.
Ah, good times……
“What has you in such a good mood?” Beth or Janet or whatever the hell her name was asked as she took the chair next to his.
“Good coffee,” he said, gesturing to his steamy cup of coffee. He wasn’t about to further embarrass the poor recluse. He was an ass**le yes, but a nice ass**le.
The poor thing was going to have a hard enough time here, he could just tell with that shy manner and frumpy clothes. There was no need to add to it. In fact, his plan was to stay away from the poor thing and sit back and watch. Maybe she’d provide him with another good laugh.
“So, Nick, I was wondering what you were doing tonight,” Beth or Janet or was it Marcy? said.
“Washing my hair,” he answered, hoping she’d take the hint and finally move on. For six months she’d been after him and not just for a good reason like hot sweaty sex. No this one had relationship written all over her. She wanted to “change” him.
