Still the One by Jill Shalvis
“She only has three legs. And the owner doesn’t want to ruin his rep by selling her— I know,” he said when he saw Darcy about to lose her collective shit. “I know. But his shortsightedness is your gain. He’s willing to let her go for two hundred and seventy-five bucks. I told him to consider her sold. I’ll cover you on this one.”
Her throat tightened at the generosity. “I want her, absolutely. And I have just the right someone for her, too. But I’ve got the money for this one.”
“You win the lottery?”
“Ha. And no, or I’d be on a deserted island with an endlessly charged Nook and an equally endless supply of Gummy Bears. When can I get her?”
“Today.”
She grinned and he returned it.
“You’re pretty damn cute when you stop snarling,” he said. “Anyone ever tell you that?”
She thought of AJ and stopped smiling. “No.” She turned to leave but stopped when Adam said her name. She glanced back.
“Whoever he is,” Adam said, eyes serious now, “I’ll be happy to kick his ass for you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
Two hours later she’d taken possession of one gorgeous, sweet, warm, lovable three-legged Raisin. Darcy spent some time at Belle Haven with the dog, out back in the wide open space between horse pens, walking through the wild grass together.
Even handicapped as she was, Raisin had no problem keeping up. She had no problem handling any command Darcy gave her. And every time she praised her, Raisin slid in a boneless heap of love to the ground to have her belly rubbed.
“You’re possibly the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Raisin smiled up at her in demure agreement.
When Darcy left Belle Haven, the dog curled up trustingly in the backseat of her car. She’d texted Xander for Tyson’s whereabouts and got the reply that they were both at the wellness center.
She’d been doing her damnedest to avoid thinking of AJ—though she’d have had a lot more luck with attempting to not breathe air—and now if she wanted to see Tyson, she’d probably have to see AJ, too.
Not to mention having both Xander and AJ in the same space right now seemed a little dicey. But if she had to be a grown-up, well, then so did they.
As usual with this time of day, the wellness center parking lot was full. People were working out after work, or in a yoga class with Ariana, or seeing AJ and his other staff. Darcy turned to Raisin. “You wait here while I make sure Tyson’s inside. I’ll only be a minute.”
Raisin licked her hand and settled into her seat, seeming happy to look out the windows.
Darcy went inside. Brittney—Darcy’s counterpart on the days Darcy didn’t work—was already off for the day. Ariana was there doing something on the computer. She wore yoga pants and a workout tank top that emphasized her lean, willowy, beautiful body. Not a spare ounce on her, no doubt due to the fact that she didn’t eat flour, sugar, or anything else processed.
Darcy had tried that for half a day once. It hadn’t worked out for her. She’d gotten so irritable and grumpy that Zoe had force-fed her Frosted Flakes for dinner.
“Good afternoon,” Ariana said, all lovely and Zen. “How are you today?”
“Fine, thanks,” Darcy said. “You?”
Ariana leaned on the counter. “You know that wasn’t just a polite question, right? I actually really care about your recovery and how you’re feeling.”
“Why?” Darcy asked, genuinely curious.
“Well, because I work here and care about all of our patients, and because you work here, too, and that makes us co-workers. And also because of AJ.”
Darcy paused. “What about him?”
“Well …” Ariana lifted a shoulder. “Clearly something’s going on between you two.”
Darcy found a laugh. “Sorry, but you’re wrong there. I’m looking for Tyson, is he here?”
“Yes, he is.” Ariana smiled, the kind of smile that said she was holding back.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh come on,” Darcy said. “You’re quiet but not shy. Let’s hear it.”
“I was just wondering if you’d take some advice,” Ariana asked.
Darcy hesitated, but who was she kidding, she’d take any advice she could get.
“If you’re going for it, then go for it,” Ariana said. “Half measures don’t work with AJ.”
“That’s it? That’s the sum total of your advice?” Darcy asked. “Go for it?”
“Yes,” Ariana said, serene as ever. “And don’t blow it.”
Darcy stared at her. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you care if I blow it?”
Ariana just looked at her, and Darcy let out a slow breath. “You want him back.”
“I won’t step in on you.”
“Trust me, there’s nothing to step in on,” Darcy said. That she wanted there to be was another story entirely.
Ariana’s gaze slid to the private patient rooms where AJ walked out in his usual PT uniform of black running sweats and a Sunshine Wellness black T-shirt hugging the body that could make a woman drop to her knees to worship at.
Damn him anyway for being both hotter than sin and sex on a stick.
Across the room their eyes met and held. Darcy’s knees wobbled.
“Nothing to step in on, my ass,” Ariana murmured softly, maybe amused, maybe not as the air seemed to spark between AJ and Darcy.
But Darcy was definitely not amused.
Twenty-three
AJ broke off eye contact with Darcy, which was surprisingly difficult, and took in Ariana’s gaze. He sensed he’d just missed something between the two very different women—one always so cool and calm no matter the circumstances, the other like a wild, gorgeous tumble-weed blowing through town.
A tumbleweed in a Pink Floyd tank who screamed bad ’tude.
When he’d left her in her bed early that morning fast asleep, she’d been curled up on her side away from him, everything about her calling to him to slip into the bed again: the curve of her hip beneath the sheet, the expanse of her bare back revealing her beautiful tattoo, her out-of-control hair scattered across his pillow.
As business and pleasure mixed uncomfortably in his head, Darcy walked out the front door, moving slowly and stiffly.
She hurt today.
As he remembered that he had staff and clients all around him—something he’d never once had to remind himself of before—he turned to Evan at his side, an active duty marine who’d recently had ACL surgery. AJ had just spent an hour working on his knee, helping him recover some strength. He turned the computer to face him. “I’d like to see you again in a few days,” he said to Evan, accessing his schedule.
Darcy came back in the door with a three-legged dog on a leash at her side. She crouched down—with more effort than he liked to see—to love up on the dog. Her head was bent; her beautiful hair fell over her arms and into her own face.
AJ could remember that happening to him, the soft silky curls brushing against the heated skin of his abs and thighs when she’d—
“I’ll schedule Evan for you,” Ariana said.
Evan offered a fist for Raisin to sniff, which the dog did delicately, her tail mopping the floor as she wagged it with enthusiasm.
“Her name’s Raisin,” Darcy told the marine, struggling back to her feet.
AJ knew better than to offer a hand but Evan didn’t. He helped her up and Darcy smiled at him.
“You need to ice,” AJ told her. “I’ve got a few minutes, I could—”
“I’m fine.”
Right. As Ariana made Evan’s next appointment, AJ answered some questions for Evan, doing his best to focus while also taking in the tension between Darcy and Ariana.
If Ariana felt it, she didn’t let on. She smiled and stroked Raisin, who soaked up the love with more floor sweeping. “I didn’t see you on the schedule today,” she said to Darcy.
“I don’t have a PT appoint
“You decided to take me up on a yoga class?” Ariana asked. “I’ve got one starting in twenty minutes. Long, slow, deep stretching. It’d be perfect for you.”
“Sorry,” Darcy said, “but perfect would be a cold, tall beer and a hot beach.”
“The class would quiet your mind,” Ariana said. “And help you get centered.”
“Hmm,” Darcy said, which AJ interpreted as her thinking she’d never been particularly centered and didn’t see herself starting now.
She glanced at him and then back to Ariana. “So you said Tyson was here?”
She’d done a good job of ignoring AJ. He was impressed. But he raised a brow at her and she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “I’m his least favorite person, blah blah. Old news. I’ve got something for him.”
Everyone looked down at Raisin. Ariana slid a look at AJ. She was surprised, he could tell. Surprised at Darcy’s giving nature.
AJ wasn’t surprised in the least.
“You got him a therapy dog,” Ariana said, her voice much warmer now.
Darcy looked uncomfortable. “It’s not a big deal. And it’s a surprise. Where is he?”
“It’s a beautiful surprise,” Ariana said. “And he’s out back.”
“On the basketball court,” AJ added. He handed Evan his exit papers and waited until he’d walked out. “I was with him for an hour,” he told her. “And then he and Xander stuck around. They’re out there trying to kill each other.”
He wasn’t surprised when she gave him a barely there nod and walked off, Raisin at her side, the both of them limping in tandem, heads high.
Ariana waited until Darcy was out of hearing range before giving AJ a long look.
“What?”
“You tell me what,” she said.
“Nothing to tell.”
She laughed at him. “Oh you big, beautiful, stupid man.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
Ariana made a sound like her head just got a flat tire. “Okay, look, you’re my boss and also one of my best friends. And once upon a time you were my lover. So I feel like I’ve got a right to say this to you—we’re never going to sleep together again.”
He blinked. “That wasn’t what I expected.”
“I was good for you,” she said. “I know it and you know it. But Darcy’s better.”
“Also not what I expected.”
“I know,” she said. “But I do like being unpredictable. And let me just say, I don’t know for sure what’s going on between the two of you, but I’ve seen it coming for a long time.”
“You could’ve warned me,” he muttered.
She smiled. “Some things are much more fun to watch. And man, last weekend must have been a doozy. But whatever happened, you’re different and so is she. So the question is, are you going to do yourself a favor and keep her … or let her go like everyone else in your life since Kayla?”
“Ariana—”
“No, let me get this out because I’m only going to be this gracious once. If I can’t have you, then I want this for you. She makes you laugh, AJ. She gives you light. Yes, I’m stupid in lust with you, and yes, I’ve been hoping we’d have another go at each other sometime, but you’re not free, not really. Just do me a favor?”
“What?”
“First, mourn the loss of me just a little bit?” she asked with a smile, making him smile back. “And second—once you mourn me and maybe also lie to me and tell me I ruined you for all other women—then let yourself go for it.”
“Go for what exactly?”
“Happiness.”
Twenty-four
Darcy found Xander and Tyson indeed in the middle of a vicious game of wheelchair basketball. Xander was greatly handicapped because he sat in Tyson’s old chair, not to mention he had no experience in a wheelchair and sucked at it.
Tyson was a pro, of course. A pro who shoved Xander practically into next week to take a shot.
Nothing but net.
Tyson raised his hands in victory and then jabbed his pointer finger at Xander, who’d tipped over in his borrowed chair and lay sprawled on the asphalt. “You suck, bro.”
“Nice,” Xander said, slowly rising to his feet, hunching over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Real gracious winner, asshole. The game’s supposed to be about fun, not who wins.”
Tyson flipped him off.
“And that,” Xander said, straightening to jab a finger in his direction. “That right there. Why are you set at pissed off all the time? What did your therapist tell you about that?”
“That you’re supposed to hug me.” Tyson lifted his arms in a mock request for a hug.
Now Xander flipped his brother off.
“I’m going to tell her you said that,” Tyson said.
Darcy stepped onto the court. Raisin hopped alongside her, sitting when Darcy stopped.
The brothers turned to her in unison with varying expressions. Xander’s went warm with greeting. Tyson’s went cold.
It always did. He hated her, possibly for not being with Xander, possibly just because she was breathing. Granted, ever since he’d gotten home from his third tour of duty he’d hated just about everything, and on lots of days that included the only person he had in life—Xander. So Darcy tried not to take it personally.
But she did. Yet that wasn’t why she’d brought him a therapy dog. She knew his therapist had suggested one to help him through his PTSD and his reactions to people in general, along with assisting in the acclimation back to civilian life.
Xander came close, smiled at her and squatted in front of Raisin. “Hey there,” he said. “Who are you?”
“Raisin,” Darcy told him. “She’s a therapy dog.”
Xander looked up at her. “Yeah? For … ?”
Darcy looked at Tyson.
Tyson rolled closer and eyed Raisin’s three legs. “What happened to her?”
“Birth defect,” Darcy said. “Her owner trained her entire litter as service dogs but he can’t sell her.”
Tyson stared at Raisin.
Raisin stared back.
“You got any tricks?” Tyson asked the dog.
Raisin sneezed.
In Xander’s face.