DONALD WAS STANDING at the receptionist’s desk when they walked in. The art director took a look at Sadie, definitely not shocked to see her, then looked up at Danielle.

He was a small, compact man, fit and tanned, wearing an expression tuned to not happy. “Danielle…what a surprise.”

But it hadn’t been a surprise at all, she thought, taking his proffered hand. “I made an appointment.”

“Yes, I was just looking over my schedule.” He glanced at his receptionist. “Your name registered when I saw Sadie.”

He wasn’t thrilled to see her. Uncomfortable now, she glanced at Nick, who was watching Donald carefully. For a woman who prided herself on her newly-found independence, she didn’t question her relief at having him with her. “The last time I saw you,” she said, “you mentioned a possible commercial endorsement for Sadie.”

“Yes I did.” Donald leaned down and roughed up the top of the dog’s head, while Sadie glared at him. “But that was before.”

“Before?”

Donald looked at Nick, then back to Danielle. “Where’s Ted?”

“I don’t know,” she answered politely, then gestured to the man at her side. “This is Nick Cooper.” She watched the two shake hands, sizing each other up. “What did you mean before?”

“I don’t want to get in the middle.”

“The middle?”

“Between you and Ted.”

“There is no middle,” Danielle said carefully. “This is about Sadie. And me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Donald, just tell me. Yes or no. Are you interested in working with Sadie?”

“Let’s talk in here,” he said, and ushered them into his large, still mostly packed office, holding the door open for them. But as Sadie crossed the threshold, he stopped her. “People only,” he said pleasantly, reaching for her leash, smiling at Danielle. “She’ll be perfectly comfortable out here with Linda, my receptionist.”

Before either Danielle or Nick could reply, he’d shut the door, leaving them in the office. Alone.

Danielle bit her lip and looked at the door. “No, that’s not right. Something’s off.”

“I’ll say,” Nick said, reaching for the handle. “We keep Sadie with us, at all times.”

But Sadie wasn’t at the reception desk, and neither was Donald.

They were hurrying down a hallway as he punched numbers on his cell phone.

Nick whistled sharply, and unbelievably, Sadie halted in her tracks, craning her neck to look at him.

As her leash tightened, Donald jerked to a stop, the cell phone tumbling from his fingers, bouncing on the tile floor.

His smile was utterly forced, but before he could say a word, Nick scooped up the cell phone. With a look of thorough disgust, he turned to Danielle. “Take a wild guess.”

“Same number Emma was calling?”

“Bingo.” Nick grabbed Sadie’s leash and handed it to Danielle. “Here’s your prize. One dog, free for life. Or until she kills you, whichever comes first.”


THE PHONE RANG and Ted held it tight, certain it was the call. The one that would bring Danielle back to him.

“I didn’t want to get in the middle of this,” came Donald’s voice. “How did I get in the damn middle, Ted?”

“Money. It changed your mind quick enough. Now what’s up?”

“She’s with a Nick Cooper. I realize you wanted to know, but I feel funny telling you. As if I’m spying on Danielle.”

Yeah, yeah.

“They had the dog with them,” Donald continued reluctantly. “Look, Ted, I-”

“Thank you,” Ted said politely and hung up. Fury blinded him.

She’d left him, she’d really left him.

But it would be okay. He knew where Danielle would go next. She’d want the records only Sadie’s breeder could give her. The records that would possibly clear her.

Still, the cold rage ignited, flamed. She wouldn’t need clearing if she’d only come back. To him. He was tired of losing things. His house. His wealth.

Respect.

And with that thought, he pitched the phone across the room.


DANIELLE AND NICK DROVE back to the hotel in grim silence. Nick’s hands gripped the wheel with force, his expression edgy and dangerous.

No doubt, Danielle figured, he felt good and stuck with her.

What was she going to do? The only thing she knew was dogs, and while she was the best of the best of dog handlers, it didn’t matter. Even if she was somehow cleared of theft, the damage had been done. No one in their right mind would hire her now.

And how she’d managed to wrap up the most amazing, most gorgeous, most sexy man in the world in this mess with her was beyond her. She’d barged into his life, let him help her, protect her. Take care of her.

So much for self-sufficiency.

That was going to change.

“I’m turning myself in,” she said quietly as he pulled into the hotel and shut off the engine.

“Over my dead body,” he said, so gently, so kindly, it didn’t sink in at first.

“It’s my decision, Nick. This can’t go on.”

Pulling out the keys, he turned to her, his eyes shockingly full of protectiveness, belying that easygoing, almost lazy voice. “You’re right,” he said. “It can’t go on. Do you have a plan?”

“Not yet,” she admitted, hating that she didn’t. “But I can-”

“We can. Whatever it is, we can.”

Her heart stuttered. She wasn’t ready to accept a “we,” but having him there at her side had made her feel safe, secure. Two things sorely missing in her life. “You have your own life to get back to. You can’t keep doing this with me forever.”

“No one can do this forever.”

“Nick-”

“I’m not going to walk away, Danielle. Not until you’re okay. Don’t ask me to.”

“I have to.”

His eyes were dark. “Is that what you want?”

“I’m sure we both want that.”

“Don’t speak for me,” he said with his first hint of temper. “I’m asking you. Is that what you really want?”

“Yes,” she whispered, then covered her eyes. “Yes. God.” She looked at him again. He’d been so quick to mask his surprise and hurt, she wasn’t sure she’d even seen it. “It’s for the best, Nick, for you to go back to your life.”

“I never did like what was best for me,” he said, and just like that something inside her warmed. “You realize Ted knows you’re here, in the area.”

“Yes.” She was trying not to panic, not to look over her shoulder at every little sound.

“Let’s check out of the hotel, then find another place to go while we figure out what to do.”

“That’s a lot of ‘we’ stuff.”

“Yeah.” His eyes dared her to say more, and suddenly, she didn’t want to.

What she did want no longer shocked her. “Actually,” she said with a catch in her voice, “there are some pretty good uses for the word ‘we.”’

His brow raised, and he sent her that slow, sure, sexy smile that never failed to melt her as his strong, warm arms came around her. “Such as…?” His mouth nuzzled her ear, and light-headed already, she tipped her head to the side to give him more room.

“Such as this,” she practically purred. “This is good ‘we’ stuff.”

“Mmm.” His fingers danced up her ribs. “So the ‘we’ is working for you?”

“At the moment…” Good Lord, his mouth. “Only because I like the way you kiss,” she warned breathlessly.

Against her skin, he grinned. “I can live with that.”

“Just so you know…” She broke off with a moan as he’d found a spot on her collarbone that made her writhe. “Soon as I’m done letting you kiss me, I’m done with the ‘we.”’

Laughing, he pulled her even closer. “Give it your best shot, sweetheart. Give it your best shot.”


“SO WHAT’S THE PLAN? Drive as far as the tank will take us?”

Nick smiled as he drove. “You’re a planner. I didn’t know that about you.”

“You don’t know a lot about me.” Danielle smiled back at him from the passenger seat of his truck, though he knew her well enough now to see past the dazzling beauty to the nerves shimmering beneath.

What was it about her that made him want to soothe? Protect? He put a hand on her knee, needing the contact in a way that no longer surprised him. “Which reminds me, I’d like to know more about you.”

“Other than I’m a wanted woman?”

Her quip didn’t fool him. She was scared and unsettled and it infuriated him that her life had come to this. “What have you been doing since high school?” he asked, thinking to distract her. Hell, if she opened up to him in the process, so much the better. “Other than handling dogs, that is. College? Travel? What?”

“No college.” She looked out the window. “No money for that, and my grades weren’t the greatest. I had a hard time keeping up with school-work, with working odd jobs at night.”

He’d known that money had been tight and cursed himself for bringing up bad memories. “I’m surprised you stuck around.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve traveled. As a dog handler for the rich and bored, I’ve taken dogs all over the country to show them, and it’s been fun.”

“Been?”

She shot him a sad smile that stabbed right into his heart. “I’m not going to ever be a handler again, not after this.”

“Is there something else that would make you as happy?”

She studied the countryside whipping past them. “I’ll probably take any job for now, just because I’ve grown fond of eating.”

Nick contemplated that while his gut clenched. He wasn’t rich, but he’d never worried about things like having a roof over his head or food in his belly. He’d grown up with few worries and supportive parents who’d seen to it he had the confidence and skills to get through life on his own.

Danielle had the skills, she’d been on her own for far longer than he probably knew or really understood. But how many people had ever believed in her? Encouraged her?

“When I find a permanent place to settle down,” she said, “I’d like to save up, go to school.” She glanced at him for his reaction. As if maybe she expected him to discourage her. “I’m going to become a veterinarian.”