For the Love of Nick

He expected…well, he didn’t really know exactly what he expected, but it wasn’t the sight that greeted him.

Danielle had fallen asleep among a throng of stuffed animals his sisters used during photo shoots for kids.

But as the light fell on her, she sat straight up blinking sleepy eyes, looking dazed, rumpled and a little confused.

And sexy. Very sexy.

“Did you really fall asleep?” He refused to let his eyes soak in the very arousing sight of her lying stretched out over stuffed toys. She should have looked ridiculous, but instead, looked warm and…inviting, as though if he pressed in and joined her, she’d welcome him by leaning back and opening her arms. She’d wrap those bare arms and legs around him and—

“Was he looking for me?”

He looked into her eyes, the color of an approaching storm. “You know he was.”

With her hair falling over her shoulders, she set aside the stuffed teddy bear she’d been hugging. “I couldn’t hear what you were saying out there.”

“It’s hard to hear when you’re asleep.”

“I wasn’t.”

But she had been, and all he could think was, what kind of exhaustion could override being sought out by the police? “I think we should start at the beginning, Danielle.”

“The beginning?”

“Is Sadie that rare?”

She followed his finger to the blissfully sleeping Sadie. “Yes.”

“What makes her so?”

She stroked the dog. “She’s called a ‘typey’ dog.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, as I told you before, she shows all the characteristics of her breed to maximum effect. It’s her coloring, it’s as perfect as there’s been in a hundred years. Her marking, the black outlining, the stripes? It’s as the breed was originally intended. She wins shows on her appearance alone.”

“Lots of money involved with that winning?”

“No.” Her mouth twisted wryly. “Silly as it sounds to someone not in the business, it’s not about the money. It’s about prestige. Glory.”

“Ah.” Nick looked at Sadie and tried to imagine glory in running the dog around a ring filled with spectators and dog crap.

“Sadie has that prestige and glory, and she gives it to whoever has her.”

Nick rubbed his temples. “So what’s the story here? You haven’t murdered anyone, or physically hurt anyone. We got that far.”

Danielle climbed out of the closet. At the loss of her beloved master’s body heat, Sadie lifted her head, yawning so widely it seemed she could swallow a man’s head whole. Then, realizing she was alone in the closet, she scrambled to all fours, only to slip. Without breaking stride, she was up and trying again, her toenails scratching the floor as she clamored for purchase where there was none to be had.

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