For The Love Of Nick

11

HAPPILY SATED BY SEX, Nick cruised the room service menu, contemplating how good life felt at the moment. “I could eat everything on here,” he said, and when Danielle didn’t respond, he looked over his shoulder.

She sat, pale as a ghost, staring at her computer screen.

“Danielle?” He moved toward her. “What’s the matter?”

When she only shook her head, he sank to her side and turned her computer so he could read the screen. What he read made his insides cold. “Ted?”

“He thinks I’m running.” She closed her eyes. “I am running. Damn it.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “I hate this. I hate being on the run, being scared. I’m going to turn this around, Nick. Somehow.”

“You will. We will. It’s too big to do alone.”

“Maybe I can just repay him for whatever he feels she’s worth.”

Nick knew enough about Ted to know that this problem wasn’t going to be resolved that easily. “I don’t think money is what he wants.”

“You’re just saying that because you know I don’t have any.” She grimaced, then touched his arm. “I’m going to pay you back, Nick, for all you’ve done. I’ll-”

“Now you’re going to make me mad,” he said mildly. “Look, let’s just see what Donald says. If it works out like you hope-”

“It will.”

“If it works out,” he repeated, “we’ll go from there.”

“There’s that we again,” she said, her eyes filling with that wariness he was getting damn tired of.

Get used to it, he wanted to respond, but as he didn’t fully understand the “we” thing himself, he kept quiet.

THEY PULLED UP to Donald’s new office, then parked and sat for a moment, studying it.

“Well,” Danielle said with false cheer, reaching for the door handle, not wanting Nick to see her nerves, but knowing they were all over her face. “Here I go.”

Nick put a hand on her arm. “How did you meet Donald?”

“Uh…” Tired of having made poor choice after poor choice, she hesitated to tell him. “Emma. We were at a show, but I really don’t think she’d…”

“Don’t you?”

“No,” she said firmly, meeting his fathomless gaze. “She thought she was doing the right thing. She really did. She won’t interfere again.”

Or would she?

Truth was, this industry was small, incestuous in that they all knew one another. It could come out in simple conversation.

“Just be prepared,” he said grimly.

They entered the building together. Danielle looked up at the tall, silent, almost unbearably sexy man at her side and marveled that he was there at all. With her.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, putting his hand on the small of her back as if touching her was the most natural thing in the world.

What was she thinking? Only that she’d like him to touch her like that always. “Nothing.”

“Uh-huh.”

She looked up into a smile that made her stumble.

He tightened his grip until she caught her step. “Thanks,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “But, Nick? Someday I want to be there when you need me.”

Surprise lit in his eyes, as if no one had ever offered that before. After a long beat he said, “I just might hold you to that.”

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.”

It wasn’t hard to smile at that. “You’d make a great vet.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah. You’ve got the right stuff.” His grin widened. “And a great bedside manner.”

She grinned back, looking relieved, and with far less nerves than before. “I think I’d make a great vet, too. You could get yourself a dog, you know, and then come see me once in a while for checkups.”

Well, if that didn’t bring reality crashing back, he didn’t know what did. Soon enough-and if she had her way it would be today-they would part ways.

He’d go back to the job he was no longer certain he wanted, and she would make a new life for herself.

A new life quite far away. Their paths might not cross for another fifteen years.

He didn’t like the way his stomach dropped at that thought. “I’m not big on dogs.” He glanced at Sadie in the rearview mirror, and oddly enough, felt a twinge at not seeing her again, either.

Oh boy, he was going soft. “When I’m working, I’m on the road. I couldn’t have a pet.” He felt her studying him intently and wondered what she saw when she looked at him like that. Turning his head he met her gaze. “What?”

“Do you miss your job?”

“Of course,” he said automatically, but even as the words left his mouth, they didn’t feel right. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ve been on the go for so long I’ve forgotten what it was like to slow down and smell the roses.”

“You haven’t slowed down since I walked in your door.”

“True.” He laughed. “But even this pace is practically resting compared to how it is when I’m working. To be honest, this relaxing thing, it’s…nice.”

“What would you do if you weren’t racing across the globe for the next story?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are we having a midlife crisis, Nick?”

“Bite your tongue. I’m not ready for middle age. Besides, I still have two weeks left on vacation to think about it.”

“I’m not taking up the rest of your two weeks. Maybe the rest of today…”

“Cooper’s Corner,” he said suddenly. “It’s where I want to take you.”

“Where?”

“It’s a couple of hours north of here, not too far. I have a couple of cousins there. They’re getting ready to open a bed-and-breakfast.”

She frowned. “I was thinking a lot farther away than that.”

Yeah, he knew that, but he didn’t like the thought of her far away, possibly in another state, completely on her own with no one to turn to.

She bit her lip and considered. “But I do want to go see the woman I got Sadie from. She lives north, too.”

“Okay, so we stay in Cooper’s Corner while you do that.”

“And then I’ll go.”

And then, from there, she’d go. God, how was he supposed to let her go? “Danielle…” He glanced over before taking his gaze back to the road. “My cousin Maureen, you’ll meet her. She used to be a cop.”

She stiffened. “Nick-”

“She’s good, Danielle.”

“No. No cops. Promise you won’t tell her.”

“Danielle-”

“Promise, Nick.”

“Fine. I won’t tell her until I have to.”

“You won’t have to.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. He’d never had such an obviously stress-related problem before.

Soon he’d be back to the job. Traveling. Hard news.

And no facial tics.

So why wasn’t he happy?