The Trouble With Paradise Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  Teaser chapter

  PRAISE FOR

  THE TROUBLE WITH PARADISE

  “Murder, storms, and intrigue lead to rough seas indeed, but eventual sunshine is never in doubt.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “If you have not read a Jill Shalvis novel yet, then you really have not read a real romance yet either!”

  —Book Cove Reviews

  “Riveting suspense laced with humor and heart is her hall-mark, and Jill Shalvis always delivers.”

  —USA Today bestselling author Donna Kauffman

  “Witty, fun, and sexy—the perfect romance!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster

  “Shalvis brings us a compelling, humorous, and very steamy romance between a witty heroine and her sexy hero of choice . . . will keep readers amused from beginning to end.”—Romantic Times

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF

  Jill Shalvis

  “Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips

  “A writer of fast-paced, edgy but realistic suspense . . . fiercely evocative.”—Booklist

  “Delightful . . . Jill Shalvis rules.”—Midwest Book Review

  “Fast-paced and deliciously fun . . . Jill Shalvis sweeps you away.”—USA Today bestselling author Cherry Adair

  “A fun, sexy story of the redemptive powers of love . . . red-hot!”—New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross

  “Wonderful romance, wonderful mystery. Always.”

  —Affaire de Coeur

  Berkley Titles by Jill Shalvis

  THE TROUBLE WITH PARADISE

  DOUBLE PLAY

  SLOW HEAT

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  THE TROUBLE WITH PARADISE

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation trade edition / October 2007

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / September 2010

  Copyright © 2007 by Jill Shalvis. Excerpt from Double Play copyright © by Jill Shalvis.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-46089-4

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  To Kelsey for giving up homework time to look up iguanas in the South Pacific for me.

  To Megan for doing the dishes every time I whined about my deadline.

  To Courtney for sometimes cooking her own dinners of questionable nutritional value during the writing of this book.

  And last but not least, to David for putting up with me since before the fall of Rome.

  PROLOGUE

  Day Two on deserted island without cookies,

  and it’s not pretty.

  Only a week ago, Dorie Anderson’s nighttime fantasies had run along the lines of, say, Matthew McConaughey, but now as she lay on the long, golden stretch of beach, staring past their shelter to the star-riddled night sky, she fantasized about chocolate chip cookies.

  Make that double chocolate chip cookies.

  Sorry, Matthew, but priorities were priorities. Stuck on a deserted South Pacific island without cookies? Serious suffering going on.

  All around her came the sounds that people tended to buy those nature CDs for: the waves gently hitting the shore, crickets chirping, an exotic bird squawking . . .

  Her stomach growling.

  She put her hand on her belly, thinking she’d give her right arm for an entire bag of cookies all to herself. Maybe even her left as well.

  “How’s the patient?”

  Ah, there he was, the bane of her existence. She knew this because just his voice made her nipples go all happy.

  Damn nipples.

  She felt him sit in the sand at her side but she didn’t look at him. Nope, looking at him was a really bad idea because then her brain would begin that painful tug-of-war.

  Want him.

  Hate him.

  Want him.

  Hate him.

  She sighed. “Go away.”

  “Ah. You’re feeling better.” He lay next to her so that his arm brushed hers, the one she would definitely sell for that bag of chocolate chip cookies.

  “Question,” she said.

  “Hit me.”

  “Do you ever think about chocolate?”

  He turned his head and looked at her. He was all hard, lean, sinewy lines to her soft, curvy ones. She imagined if she pointed out how different they were, he’d say he liked those differences very much. “I think about other things,” he said.

  “Like?”

  “Things.”

  His arm shifted, just barely pressing into the side of her breast. And more than just her nipples got happy. Bad. Bad body. �