The bell above the front door of the studio chimed. Danielle jerked to face him. “I thought you said you were closed.”
“We are.” Nick groaned at the thought of taking more pictures. Because bad as a dog was, it could get worse, far worse.
He could have to take a baby picture.
“Nick.” Danielle gripped his shirt when he turned to go out front. “I need to tell you—”
“Hang on, I’ll be right back.” But short of prying her fingers from him, he couldn’t budge her. Then he saw her face, which had gone colorless. “Hey.” Concern replaced everything else, and without thinking, he stroked her hair from her face, touching her cheek. “What is it?”
“If it’s the police—”
“The police?” He went very still. “Why would it be the police?”
“If it is,” she repeated, swallowing hard. “I—”
“Hello?” called a male voice from out front. “Sergeant Anderson. Anyone here?”
4
“OH MY GOD.” Danielle slapped a hand over her mouth. Her blood pounded in her ears as her heart dropped to her toes.
Sensing her distress, Sadie butted her big head into Danielle’s stomach, knocking her back a few feet. She dropped to her knees and hugged the dog close. “Shh,” she begged, pressing Sadie’s broad face against her chest. “They won’t take you back, I won’t let them.”
The promise was genuine, though she had no idea how to keep it. Above her, Nick swore under his breath, and she spared a second to feel incredibly stupid for getting into this situation. How had they found her?
And what would Nick do now? Turn her in?
Of course he would, anyone in his right mind would. He had no idea what was happening or what she’d done. No ties as distant as theirs were would warrant him getting in trouble with the law for her.
“I’ll be right out,” he called out to the waiting sergeant. He stared down at Danielle. “I’m in the darkroom, just give me another second.”
Then he dropped down beside her, forcing her chin up. Odd, but his long, warm fingers on her throat were the most comforting thing she’d felt in a very long time. So was the way he looked at her, as if he was deeply concerned. As if she mattered.
His body was close, so close she could have moved a fraction of an inch and let him support her. Tempting. God, so tempting.
But that would be weak, and one thing Danielle refused to be was weak.
Nick brushed up against her. He put his mouth to her ear, eliciting a shiver at the feel of his breath fluttering her hair. “I take it you’re in some deep shit?”
He smelled good, pure male, she thought inanely. His hair curled over his ear so that her breath disturbed the strands. He felt warm and solid, and she wanted to press closer.
Why was she noticing such things at a time like this?
“Danielle?”
“You…might say that I’m in a tad bit of trouble,” she whispered.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story.” She didn’t want to tell him how pathetic she’d been to have had her entire life taken away from her. Closing her eyes, she waited for him to call out and announce her presence. Any self-respecting citizen would.
“Did you hurt anyone?”
Her eyes flew open. “No!”
“Commit murder?”
“God, no!”
“Okay.” He put his mouth to her ear again. “Whatever they think you did do, are you innocent?”
This time his lips touched the sensitive skin just beneath her ear, and another shiver wracked her frame. A shiver he must have taken for fear because he ran a hand down her arm.
“No,” she managed, blinking up at him because he wasn’t betraying her. Why wasn’t he betraying her? “I’m not innocent. But I only did it to protect—”
“Hello?” the officer called out again, sounding unmistakably annoyed.
“Coming!” Nick looked at her for another long heartbeat before closing his eyes briefly, muttering something about being a damn, sentimental fool. “Where did you park your car?”
“It’s not mine, it’s my friend’s. Down the street and around the corner. There wasn’t any free parking out front and I didn’t have change—”
“Thank God for small favors. Get in the closet. Sadie, too.” He opened it, put those hands of his on her hips to guide her in.
“Wait.” She resisted his hands when she really wanted to close her eyes and whimper at the feel of them on her. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“I do fine in that area all on my own, thanks. Now get in.”
“I don’t need your help, Nick.”
“I hate to argue, but it would appear you do. Again.”
Yeah. Again. God, that burned. Especially when her pride was all she had left. For a moment, she almost wished he was a perfect stranger, that they had nothing in their past to give them this odd, inexplicable connection she didn’t understand and didn’t want. “I can do this myself.”
“How? By running out the back door and hoping they don’t hear you? Get in,” he urged, pushing her in the closet. Leaning in after her, he squinted into the dark. “You okay in here for a few?”
That he would take the time to ask nearly broke her. But she gathered up every last dollop of inner strength she had and nodded as if she did this every day.
Nick turned to Sadie. “You too, dog.” Apparently unwilling to push the dog in, he waited to be obeyed.
Drooling, Sadie studied the wall.
“Get in,” he repeated, cautiously reaching out with his foot to gently shoo her in.
Sadie leapt as if he’d tried to kill her.
Nick looked as startled as the dog. “Hey, just get in the damn closet.”
“Here,” Danielle said quickly, pulling Sadie in herself, letting out an oomph as the nervous dog sat her considerable weight in Danielle’s lap.
“Don’t make any noise,” Nick commanded in a hushed tone. And then he was gone.
Danielle sat there in the dark with her one-hundred-fifty-pound baby. In her life she’d been in some pretty tight and uncomfortable situations, but this…this definitely took the cake. “We’ll be okay,” she said softly.
Sadie turned in her lap, nearly breaking her legs in the process, pressing her warm, wet nose into Danielle’s neck. Four paws shifted up and down in nervous excitement, wondering when the games began.
“This isn’t fun time,” Danielle whispered. “Shh, now.”
But Sadie was convinced it was a game, and got herself all wound up, which meant more drooling, more rustling, more frantic maneuvers on Danielle’s part to calm down the young dog. “I know,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around Sadie’s bulky neck. “I know, I know. You want to play, but hang on.”
Her legs were killing her, strained with the weight of the heavy, overgrown puppy, but there was little room to shift in the loaded closet. Still, she managed to lay back, scooting over to give Sadie enough room so that she could get off her lap.
Marginally better. She had no idea what she was stretched out over, but it was