A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts 2)

Before he got the chance to knock on the door it was pulled open. A disheveled looking Dana stood in the doorway with a silk pink robe wrapped around her body. Her lips were puffy and glistened from a recent kiss and her hair was mused.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Did I interrupt something?” he asked innocently.

Dana blew out an exasperated breath, sending a strand of hair out of her face. “You’re late.”

“Aw, were you waiting for me? Does Edward need some help?”

“I seemed to manage just fine on my own,” Edward said, walking into the large living room, wearing nothing but a pair of unbuttoned jeans and a shit eating grin.

Nick frowned as a thought occurred to him. As hot and heavy as Edward and Dana were for each other they would never ignore a guest to play mattress leap frog.

“Where’s Miss. Harris?” he asked.

Edward wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her back into his body.

“The girls dropped her off at her car a couple of hours ago.”

“Damn it! Why didn’t someone tell me? I need to see her tonight and see how things turned out so I know how we should proceed with press releases.”

Dana shrugged. “We did call you, but she wanted to go home and I don’t blame her. She was really upset.”

“Upset?” Crap. The makeover hadn’t helped one bit and the little recluse was heartbroken. No doubt she thought a snip here and there and a little blush was going to perform miracles. He could have told her not to expect much, but wouldn’t that have just been cruel?

“She had a big shock tonight, Nick. Just leave her alone and let her get used to it, okay?” Dana, always sweet, kind and considerate, said. If only he could listen to her, but he couldn’t. He had a job to do and that meant going over to Miss. Harris’

apartment and seeing how much damage control he had to do. If it was really bad he’d have the photographer do some touch ups after the photo shoot tomorrow.

Normally he’d invite himself in and make a nuisance of himself to mess with his friends, but tonight he had work to do. After thanking them for all their help, even though it probably hadn’t done much, then again he hadn’t expected much, he made his way over to Miss. Harris’ apartment.

He wasn’t entirely surprised to discover the little recluse lived in an average city neighborhood. There wasn’t much to set this place apart. It looked to have a convenient store, a package store and a small bakery that promised half off coffee rolls every Thursday with the purchase of a large coffee.

Even her building was average, a three level brick building with a basic security door and buzzer. There was absolutely nothing special about it. He walked up the two front steps and looked over the apartment listings. Not surprising that the little recluse lived on the third floor. It was out of the way and the perfect floor for a little hermit.

He pressed the button marked “J. Harris,” and waited. When no response came he hit the buzzer again.

“Hello?” Miss. Harris’ voice sounded from the raspy speakers.

“Miss. Harris, it’s Nick Quinn. You were supposed to wait for me so that we could go over your schedule for the next four weeks.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just-“

He cut her off. “It’s no problem, Miss. Harris. We can go over it now if you’d buzz me in.”

“It’s kinda of late,” she responded quickly.

“It won’t take that long. I promise. At the very least I need to go over tomorrow’s schedule.”

“Can’t we go over it tomorrow morning?” she asked, sounding hopeful.

He had to smile. Poor thing must be so humiliated. Well, it was best to get it over with and see what he had to work with.

“I’m afraid not. We’re not meeting at the office, Miss. Harris. I really need to speak with you.”

“You’re speaking to me now,” she pointed out.

Nick closed his eyes and prayed for patience. The first day wasn’t over and she was already causing him problems. He had no doubt that he could get the little recluse under his thumb. He’d use his charm, false flattery and if that failed, which it never had, he’d just use the little fact that she was a pushover to his advantage.

“I prefer to speak with you in person, Miss. Harris, instead of discussing Rerum Publishing business in public for the entire neighborhood to hear.”

“I’m, uh, tired. So, um, this will have to wait until tomorrow. So, um, goodnight,” she said. A small clicking sound followed, letting him know she turned off her intercom.

Why that little……

Did she really think she’d get rid of him so easily? She really had a lot to learn if she thought she could dismiss him.

He picked another buzzer at random.

“Hello?”

“Pizza delivery,” Nick said.

“I didn’t order any pizza,” the guy said.

“Are you sure? It’s all paid for.”

“Oh, wait. Um, yeah, I think my wife did,” the guy said obviously lying. A few seconds later he was buzzed in.

He walked through the paste white foyer to the stairs and took them two at a time. A few minutes later he was knocking on the little recluse’s door. No answer.

There was nothing but silence.

“I know you’re there, Miss. Harris. I can wait here all night if that’s what it takes,” he said in a bored tone as he leaned against the doorframe.

Her answer was a small gasp. He had to laugh. Yeah, his little recluse was going to do what he said when he said it. Then it was smooth sailing from there on out.

“Miss. Harris, please open up so we can talk.”

“No.”

“Miss. Harris, I can stay here all night. Why don’t you save us both some time and open up now? The sooner we get this over with the sooner you can go to bed,” he promised in a reassuring tone, but he really couldn’t help but wonder how bad the makeover was.

Did she look like Frankenstein or a drag queen?

“No.”

“Miss. Harris,” he said warningly. He was getting pretty aggravated now.

“You can stay out there as long as you want. I for one am going to bed.

Goodnight,” she said.

She wouldn’t……

She did!

The light beneath the door disappeared. A minute later he heard a door shut.

No doubt it was her bedroom door so she wouldn’t have to hear him.

“Son of a bitch!” He rapped on the door for a moment.