Jill Shalvis - For The Love Of Nick

A book in the Cooper's Corner series, 2002

Dear Reader,

I hope youve enjoyed reading about the Rhode Island branch of the Cooper family. I'm grateful to the COOPERS CORNER continuity for letting me live out fantasies that have no place in my reality. Being on the run, for instance. In my life? No, thank you.

But in For the Love of Nick, it works. Danielle Douglass is on the run from the law, with only her one-hundred-pound puppy and her wits to guide her. Thankfully she runs into one particular sexy memory from her past-Nick Cooper.

Tall, dark and slightly attitude-ridden, Nick is the answer to her prayersand her greatest nightmare, because Nick wants to show her what's missing in her life.

I hope you enjoy this prequel to the continuity series COOPERS CORNER. Look for my upcoming Duets titles in October-A Royal Mess and Her Knight To Remember.

Happy reading!

Jill Shalvis

AS IF SHE HADNT just broken the law, Danielle made a full stop at the red light before getting on the highway heading back toward Providence. Well. She glanced at her passenger. Its official, you know. Were on the run. Outlaws.

Sadie didnt answer; she was too busy enjoying the breeze from the open window.

At least the car isnt stolen, Danielle said. But we have to have it back to Emma tomorrow. She let out a laugh that sounded slightly more hysterical than humorous, and checked the rearview mirror for flashing lights. I wonder if theyll let us share a prison cell.

Sadie pulled her humongous head back inside and craned her thick neck toward Danielle. Her tongue hung out as she panted her hopeful agreement.

Danielle sighed at her best friend and loyal one-year-old bullmastiff, a dog shed raised with her boyfriend.

Ex-boyfriend.

Ex-psychotic-boyfriend.

Luckily Sadie wasnt psychotic. Just unsure of men.

That made two of them.

Danielle checked her rearview mirror again, grateful to see nothing but light traffic and the bright colors of spring in the Rhode Island countryside.

Apparently, shed truly gotten away with it. Stealing Sadie back. She had simply pulled up to Teds house-where hed had Sadie staked on the lawn in the sun without water-and released the grateful dog, whod been nearly beside herself at the sight of Danielle. I wish you could talk, she said, checking her rear mirror yet again. Or hug. I could really use a hug.

Sadie stopped panting and looked at Danielle with her heart in her eyes. As if Danielle was her hero.

Stop that. She glared out the windshield. Im not a hero. Her gut twisted. If she had been, shed have been smart enough to see this coming. Strong enough to protect Sadie.

Shed almost been too late. As it was the poor dog had been underfed in the time Ted had kept them separated. And given the heart-wrenching way Sadie was hanging on Danielles every movement, shed been neglected entirely. It was a crime, as Sadie was just a baby, really, albeit a one-hundred-fifty-pound one.

Okay, more like a brick of brawn than a baby, with a broad, well-padded head set on a thirty-four-inch neck sturdy as oak. But she was adorable, and she was Danielles. Well, half, anyway.

She had no idea how she could even put a roof over their heads, now that Ted had changed the locks on the house, stolen her car and emptied her checking account.

The police hadnt had time for the case. First of all, the house was Teds, leaving her with little legal recourse. Second, Ted had bought her the car hed taken back.

The money though, that had been all hers, hard earned from her job as a professional dog handler. Not that she had legal recourse there, either, as shed actually given Ted the PIN number for her bank card.

Danielle could handle her stupidity in letting herself get ripped off, but living with the fact shed nearly lost Sadie to a man who could, and would, hurt her had been untenable.

Sadie, restricted by the seat belt across her body, leaned on Danielle. Hard. Her hug.

The lump in Danielles throat was more from lingering stress than anything, but comfort was comfort. Thank you, she said, smiling when Sadie licked her from chin to cheekbone.

But even the superfluous slobber of a lovable bullmastiff couldnt mask the facts. She was truly on the run. She, a woman who followed the rules and was honest to a T, reduced to common criminal status with nothing more than approximately forty-nine dollars in her backpack, her laptop and a tank of gas in the car shed borrowed from her friend Emma. But I couldnt have done anything different, she murmured to Sadie. Not when Teds sudden and terrifying temper against the dog had become so clear.

How had she been so blind for so long?

But she knew the answer to that. Ted had been wealthy, intelligent, gorgeousand interested in her, Danielle Douglass, a nobody from the wrong side of the tracks, with no father and a distant-hearted mother whod had little to give her daughter.

In comparison, Ted had paid attention to her, hed made her his world.

God, that hurt, that shed been shallow enough to fall for a few good lines and a pretty smile. Only the smile hadnt lasted, as Ted gradually had reeled her in, absorbing her life into his, leaving her uncertain, unbalanced, and more alone than shed ever been, despite the fact shed been alone a lot.

His rage against Sadie had been the last straw.

Danielle knew he was reacting to the fact she loved the dog more than him, that his pride was hurt, and maybe also the fact Sadie had lost her last dog show, but it didnt matter.

She was out of his life. And God help her, so was Sadie.

She was so tired. The result of sleeping in the borrowed car for a week, using a friends shower when she dared, biding her time until she could steal her own dog back.

Not that the law would see it that way, as Ted held all of Sadies papers in his safe. With time and money, Danielle figured she could try to prove otherwise, that while they had shared physical custody of the dog, it had been her to provide the love and comfort.

But she had neither time nor money on her side. Ted wouldnt take lightly to her stealing Sadie from beneath his nose-never mind that hed done the same thing first. Disappearing, and fast, was her best plan. If she only had a good professional photo of Sadie, she could go to Donald Wutherspoon, a reputable art director shed been introduced to at a show a few months ago, and hopefully get Sadie a commercial endorsement.

That would mean money. Which would mean security. Stability. Two things Danielle most definitely needed in her life.

Determined, she got off the highway. First up, she bought two Big Macs, one for Sadie, one for her. Fortified, they found a phone, and two photograph studios listed in the Yellow Pages for Providence. Garnering some hope, she closed her eyes and blindly pointed to one.

Wish me luck, she said to Sadie, and dialed.

THE PHONE RANG. And rang and rang. But as he was sprawled in a hammock soaking up the rays, with a drink nicely balanced on his belly, Nick Cooper pretended not to hear it.

It wasnt his fault his sisters had jumped ship and deserted their photography studio to chase after the men in their lives.

Okay, so they hadnt jumped ship. Kim had gotten married and deserved her honeymoon. Her twin Kate deserved a break, too, which was why she was at this very moment far away from Rhode Island, all the way in Hollywood with her new stuntman boyfriend.

And after all, they had asked if he minded. He just hadnt known how to tell those four melting, pleading, expressive eyes no.