Still the One (An Animal Magnetism Novel)

Still the One (An Animal Magnetism Novel)

Love is a dare in this Animal Magnetism romance by the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Lucky Harbor series... Darcy Stone is game for anything—except sexy Navy vet and physical therapist AJ Colten, the guy who’d rejected her when she’d needed him most. Now the shoe is on the other foot and he needs her to play nice and help him secure grants for his patients. Unfortunately Darcy can’t refuse. She needs the money to fund her passion project: rescuing S&R dogs and placing them with emotionally wounded soldiers. AJ admits it—Darcy is irresistible. But he’s already been battle-scarred by a strong-willed, vivacious, adventurous woman like Darcy, and he’s not making the same mistake twice—until he and Darcy are forced to fake a relationship. Growing closer than they’d ever imagined possible, Darcy and AJ have to ask themselves: how much between them is pretend? What’s the real thing? And where does it go from here? Praise for Jill Shalvis "Jill Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!”— New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips “Clever, steamy and fun, Jill Shalvis will make you laugh and fall in love.”— New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson “A Jill Shalvis hero is the stuff naughty dreams are made of.”— New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson “Animals and hot heroes. How can you not love a romance like that?”— New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton “Exactly what a romance story should be.”—Dear Author “Romance...you can lose yourself in.”— USA Today  Jill Shalvis  is the  New York Times  bestselling author of several popular series including the Heartbreaker Bay series, the Animal Magnetism series, the Lucky Harbor series, the Wilders series, and the Sky High series. Her baseball-themed romances include  Slow Heat  and  Double Play , and she also appears in anthologies such as  He’s The One . One Darcy Stone had never been big on rules unless she was breaking them. But that was the funny thing about nearly dying—it changed you, in a big way. So she’d taken a good, hard look at her life and decided that maybe a few “guidelines” wouldn’t hurt. Number one: Don’t stress the little stuff. Number two: Never let a certain man into your heart. Ever. Number three: Don’t take crap from anyone. It was number three on her mind right now. Today’s crap came in the form of one weasel named Johnny Myers, a dog trainer who lived two counties over from Darcy’s town of Sunshine, Idaho, deep in the Bitterroot Mountains. Johnny was complete pond scum, not to mention under investigation for illegally importing and exporting exotic animals. It killed Darcy to do business with him, but if she didn’t, he’d send the dog she wanted straight to the kill shelter. “I’m not paying you seven hundred dollars for a service dog you intend to dump for not passing his certs,” she said into her cell phone as she walked through the pouring rain and into work. Hell, she didn’t have seven hundred dollars. Her wet sneakers squeaked as she entered Sunshine Wellness Center and rounded the front desk. Cold had started to seep through her drenched clothes to her aching bones but she ignored this. “Make it two hundred,” she told Johnny, “and you’ve got yourself a deal.” She didn’t have two hundred, either, nor a way to even get out to Johnny’s place since she no longer drove highways, but she’d worry about that later. Johnny started sputtering with outrage as she shoved her wet hair back from her face, going still when her body suddenly went into hyper-alert mode. Damn. Again? At this rate she could hire herself out as some sort of paranormal secret agent . . . except the only person whose appearance she could predict was AJ Colten. Guideline number two, and the bane of her existence. And sure enough, in walked her boss: six feet two inches of solid muscle, testosterone, and attitude. And damned if she didn’t have a secret thing for all of the above. Very secret, since she’d gone there with him once—or nearly anyway—and had been burned big-time. Never again, no matter how hot he was. Luckily she had one heck of a poker face, because on a good day just a fleeting glance from AJ reminded her that she was a twenty-six-year-old sex-starved woman. On a bad day, every single part of her sent urgent memos to her brain that she was practically a re-virginized twenty-six-year-old sex-starved woman. It took everything she had not to look hungry. Or even overly friendly. AJ made it a lot easier by showing absolutely zero interest in her. The only thing she got this morning was a hooded glance that probably meant he was wondering why he’d even hired her. She raised an eyebrow in his direction, trying for nonchalance while she soaked up the sight of him and the easy, confident way he moved his big body. “Not a penny less than six hundred,” Johnny said in her ear. “Three hundred,” she countered, tearing her gaze away from AJ. “And I’m cold and wet and almost late for work. I