“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.

Nothing.

He waited another five minutes, feeling like an idiot. No woman ever made him wait. It was unheard of. The fact that this little recluse had pissed him off like nothing else.

“This isn’t over! I’ll be back!” he said to absolutely no one. Scowling at the door one last time he left. This was far from over.

Chapter 5

“This is Jamie Harris,” Jamie said in a hoarse voice, hoping she wasn’t overdoing it.

“Hello, Miss. Harris, how can I help you?” one of the office assistants asked cheerfully.

“Could you please tell Rick that I’m going to be working from home today? I’m afraid I caught something yesterday.”

“Miss. Harris, could you hold please?” she said before she placed Jamie on hold.

Jamie opened her mouth to say she couldn’t hold, but didn’t get the chance.

She suddenly felt like a kid playing hooky from school. Maybe she should just hang up and shut her phone off. As long as she edited a few books today they should be happy, right?

She paced her small bedroom, mentally berating herself for not just hanging up. It was easy. All she had to do was press the “End” button and then turn off the ringer. Then she could spend the rest of the day wrapping her mind around everything and make sense out of the little surprise she had yesterday.

Of course it all could have been a fluke yesterday brought on by a very vivid imagination. It was most likely a side effect of an overactive imagination, the two glasses of champagne she drank at the spa and the wishful thinking of the other woman affecting her eyesight. Not to mention the laser eye surgery. That probably altered her sight, making her see things that really weren’t there.

No doubt about it. Her mind played a trick on her, a mean trick, but a trick nonetheless. She’d been with two women she didn’t want to disappoint and she saw what she knew they wanted to see, but it wasn’t true. That woman wasn’t her.

She wasn’t………

She wasn’t beautiful, wasn’t cute, wasn’t that woman that stared back at her at the spa through the mirror. She just wasn’t. Jamie was the sensible, boring, quiet one. She was just background, wallpaper and nothing more. She didn’t draw attention unless it was to point and laugh at. Caitlyn was the natural beauty. She was the daughter her parents adored. The one her mother babied and pampered even though Caitlyn was the oldest. She was the one her mother brought to the beauty parlor when they were little, because she was a natural beauty, not Jamie.

Jamie paused midstride as she caught a glimpse of the surprising beauty in the mirror. She was beautiful. Her hair was shorter, ending just below the shoulder blades with a hint of soft curls. It flowed like silk with every movement. Jamie pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear and was somewhat startled as the beauty before her did the same.

It was so wrong. The woman before her was too beautiful. It couldn’t be. It definitely couldn’t be that simple. A day at a spa and a shopping trip and she looked like this? Impossible. If it was really that simple why hadn’t her mother done it for her years ago? Her mother loved to go to the spa, so wouldn’t she have brought Jamie along with Caitlyn if something like this was even possible?

Caitlyn was the favorite, everyone knew that, but wouldn’t her mother have been happy with two beautiful daughters? Shouldn’t she have tried for Jamie’s sake? A small sob escaped her before she could bite it back.

Why had her mother been so sure, so adamant that there was nothing to her?

Exactly when had Jamie been designated ugly, useless and nothing more than Caitlyn’s plain little sister? Why?

With a shaky hand she pushed her hair back and smiled nervously as the golden silky hair slid perfectly back into place. She traced her newly thinned arched brows down her face. With her glasses now permanently gone she could see her features better. They were softer than she thought they would be. Her skin was definitely softer and healthier looking thanks to the torture she endured yesterday.

She’d never done much for herself in the way of beauty. What was the point?

she thought. All those years and all those put downs from her family kept her in her place. She never ventured past the basics of self-care, never even considered that there might be more for her. Why would she?

All those years……

She’d been such a fool.

Was this the real her? she wondered as her eyes moved down the little pink tank top Dana picked out for her yesterday. She’d never worn anything that fit her so well before. Normally she picked clothes that were plain and way too big.

Anything that helped her blend in and not attract attention made her happy.

Now she couldn’t help but smile. As a child she’d always been stick thin. It wasn’t until college that she finally began to fill in. Not that anyone would notice thanks to her wardrobe. She never thought her body was anything special. Plenty of women had br**sts, h*ps and a nice figure, but the difference was that those women had a pretty face to go along with the package and now so did she.

She smiled as she looked down at the cute pink flannel pajama pants that hung low around her hips. They were a little bit baggy but in a complementary way.

They looked really good. It really surprised her how good she felt and how feminine these clothes made her feel.

For the first time in her life she’d enjoyed shopping. When they entered the store, out of habit she wondered over to the discount area, not because she was broke, but because that’s where the plain clothes were. Dana and Amy shared an amused look as they dragged her away.