Chapter 1

There are some choices that are impossible to make. It's easy to choose between broccoli and chocolate ice cream but could you choose between chocolate ice cream and birthday cake? Both are delicious and a person could dither back and forth for ages before deciding. It's a normal reaction to temptation. Imagine if a third item got added and it was as amazing as ice cream and birthday cake, like a Boston cream doughnut. It would be impossible to choose.

Now imagine if the choice was between three delicious, amazing men. My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a bounty hunter, working for my cousin and trying to figure out what to do with the men in my life. I wasn't planning on having a Boston cream doughnut but things never went the way I planned when I visited Kentucky.

"Steph." Givens rose from his bar stool to greet me, the badge hanging from his neck swaying with the motion. He leaned in and before I realized I was getting a lot more than a friendly peck on the cheek, he was kissing me. His long fingers brushed my cheek as he pulled away. "You look great."

I knew I looked like hell after that long drive. But no matter how bad I looked, Givens looked worse. His hair was long and neglected, he'd lost weight and there were circles under his eyes. I did a fast mental calculation, wondering if the baby had come early but it was far too soon. "How's Winona?"

"Fine." Givens rested a hand on my waist. "She's in Louisville with her sister. Kinda like how Morelli's back in Trenton."

What the hell? "How do you know he's not getting my overnight bag out of the car?"

"Because you carried it in." His fingers kneaded lightly. "By yourself. If you were speakin' to Morelli, he'd be here with you. But you're not and he's not and I'm more than a little glad about that."

"You said you needed a favor..."

"I do. Come on up and we'll talk about it."

"Up?"

He grinned. "I live upstairs."

This was getting worse by the second. "You live over a dive bar?"

"It's a college bar," Givens corrected me, as if it was an important distinction, scooping up my bag and nodding to the bartender as he guided me through the crowd of drunk college students and towards a door to a staircase. "Cheap rent in exchange for keepin' the peace a few nights a week."

My head was spinning. I hadn't seen any motels in the area and even if I had, I didn't have the money for one. Clearly Givens had other ideas about where I'd be staying.

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The apartment consisted of one room - the bedroom - a tiny foyer, a kitchenette and a bathroom, with the bar's neon sign providing ambience. The thumping of the bass for the bar's jukebox could be heard through the floor and I was sure that if I hadn't been wearing my CAT boots, I'd feel it too. How Givens could live in a place like this was a mystery.

Givens set my bag next to the bed and gave me a grin that made parts of me tingle as he answered my unspoken question. "It ain't much," he admitted, "but it does the job."

I wasn't going anywhere near that bed. Probably, I was going to end up sleeping in my car. "So -"

"How about a drink?"

"Uh, Givens -"

"Raylan." He thrust a tumbler of bourbon into my hand. "It's about time you called me Raylan, don't you think?"

I really didn't. "About that favor -"

"Later."

"But -"

"Later," he repeated, raising his glass in a silent toast and downing its contents in a gulp. His eyes met mine and he gave me a smile that was full of intent.

Yikes! "So...uh, Winona... Is she visiting her sister?" I asked. It wasn't likely, judging from the surroundings and his behavior but it wiped that smile off his face.

Givens filled his glass again. "Sorta." He studied the amber liquid before taking a long sip. "She left." Then he narrowed his eyes at me. "Broke up with Morelli again?"

"No!" Which was true. We had a fight and I left Trenton without telling him where I was going. Technically, we were still together. Maybe.

He chuckled softly and when he spoke, his Kentucky accent was more pronounced. "You wouldn't be here if you two weren't fightin' about something."

"I came because you needed a favor," I reminded him and gave him my meanest look. "It had better not be a sex favor, either,"

Givens gave me a hurt look. "It's a work favor and we can talk about it in the morning."

I blew out a sigh. "There's only one bed. Where are you going to sleep?"

It was Givens' turn to blow out a sigh. He handed me his glass and with exaggerated care, crouched and tugged an air mattress out from under the bed. Then he stood, folded his arms over his chest and shook his head ruefully. "Any other questions?"

I wasn't fooled for a second. That air mattress was a contingency plan otherwise it would have been inflated. "Are there clean towels in the bathroom? I need a shower."

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I shut the bathroom door and leaned against it, trying to make sense out of what just happened. Givens lured me here, telling me he needed unofficial help on a case. It sounded like the truth and I was pretty sure he did need help.

On the other hand, I had no idea why he thought we were going to have sex within minutes of my arrival.

It wasn't that I didn't think of him that way but that's all it was. Thoughts. I loved Morelli. Period. Besides, there was the whole long distance thing. Also, it didn't seem like Givens wanted an actual relationship.

Mental head slap. Why was I even thinking in terms of a relationship with Givens?

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The air mattress was crumpled into a heap and shoved into a corner when I emerged from the bathroom. Givens was kneeling on the floor, his hair hanging down over his eyes, glaring at the pump which I guessed didn't work.

He looked up at me, scowling. "The pump barely works and the damn mattress has a hole in it."

"Oh." I braced myself for what I knew was coming next.

"You mind sharin' the bed?" he asked, eyes going wide and hopeful. "There's no chair for me to sleep in and the floor ain't exactly an appealing option."

"Fine but no funny business," I warned him and then I added, "Winona wouldn't like it."

Givens got to his feet and laid his hands on my shoulders. "Winona," he said slowly, "left me."

"But she's having your baby," I reminded him. "Which gives you more baggage than the airport in Newark."

"I could say the same thing about Ranger and Morelli, but the thing is, the older we get the more baggage we accumulate. It all depends how you handle that baggage. And the airport is technically in Elizabeth, not Newark." Point made, he leaned in and kissed me.

We'd kissed once before, mostly to prove a point, and it had been a good kiss. This kiss was something else entirely. Givens hands roamed along my back and played with my hair, while his tongue did some pretty incredible things.

Wow.

Just...wow.

There wasn't much harm in a kiss, right?

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Raylan's Interlude

I woke up with Stephanie in my arms and feeling more than a little frustrated. Here I was with a beautiful woman in my bed and she'd rebuffed every move I made. She had no problem kissing me or snuggling with me, apparently, but I couldn't even get her to make out.

Well, today was another day and she always liked watching me work.

As for Morelli, well, I warned him about not trying to change her and waiting too long to settle down. If Stephanie was here in Kentucky, she was fair game and I was in a mood to poach.

Stephanie made a soft sound and burrowed closer to me, nuzzling my neck. Probably she would wake up any minute and accuse me of not sticking to our agreement. There would be an outraged speech, she'd flap her arms some and then ask where the nearest motel was. Not that she was predictable though. For all I knew, she could wake up, take pity on my condition and we'd get out of bed sometime around noon. Or later.

Wishful thinking.

At least for now.

Stephanie's eyes flew open and she pushed me off of her. "Ohmigod! We didn't...did we?"

"Not unless we did it through all these clothes," I told her. I couldn't remember the last time I wore sweatpants to bed. If ever.

She sat up and narrowed her eyes at me. "You're getting a new air mattress today."

"Why?" I countered, giving her my best innocent look. "This is a big bed and nothin' happened."

If she acknowledged that she woke up in my arms, she'd have to admit that was her doing, not mine and I knew she wasn't going to admit that. "Fine. I'll buy the air mattress."

Not if I could help it.

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"No. Uh-uh. Not a chance. No." Constable Bob Sweeney folded his arms across his ample bulk and gave me a firm look. "No bounty hunters allowed. Law enforcement only. That's you and me, buddy."

While Bob was technically law enforcement, constables in Kentucky were one step above mall cops. They were allowed to arrest, paid a token salary but had to buy their own equipment. Bob's equipment consisted of an ancient Gremlin topped with lights he had to pay for himself.

"Steph's not here as a bounty hunter," I told him. "I deputized her under Section 39(b) of the Marshals Code. So technically, she's my deputy."

"Then you don't need me," Bob countered.

"I thought you'd like to get credit for the arrest," I said. "Think about it. You, a constable, bringin' in Drew Thompson, when even the FBI couldn't do it."

"You'd be famous," Stephanie put in, tearing her gaze from the Gremlin. She flashed Bob a winning smile. "I bet they'd even get you a new car."

Bob scowled at her. "What's wrong with my car? And what about you? You'd be riding along. I'm not sharing the spotlight with some girl bounty hunter from Jersey."

And there it was, Bob's real problem. Steph was a girl and I needed her to track Thompson. Bob was only there to make the arrest. He knew it. I knew it. And now Stephanie knew it.

She shot me a look and then tried a different tack. "Maybe I could be your assistant? Like, uh, a junior constable."

Bob made a big show of thinking it over. "No."

I dug into my pocket and pulled out the last of my cash. "I'll pay you to take Steph as your intern. Fifty bucks."

Stephanie grabbed the front of my shirt and tugged me a few paces away from Bob. Satisfied that he couldn't overhear, she hissed, "I'm not going to be his intern, Givens."

"Of course you won't," I soothed her. "He'll think you are but that's his problem. You're the one I trust to track down Thompson while I'm dealing with the mess back in Lexington. Bob's a good guy and he tries real hard."

"How well do you know this guy?"

"Since high school." I hooked my arm around her waist and pulled her close. "You know I wouldn't ask if it weren't important."

"Oh, now I get it," Bob boomed. "That's your girlfriend. Say no more, Raylan and keep your fifty bucks. She can ride along. No problemo."

The look Steph shot me was positively murderous. "Tell him. Tell him now, Givens. Remember the last time people thought I was your girlfriend?"

How could I forget? Still, I persisted, "That was Jersey. This is Harlan. Bein' my girlfriend here is an advantage." I knew Bob was watching and since I was never one to let an opportunity with a pretty girl go by, I pulled her to me and kissed her.

Her hands curled into fists, grabbing the front of my shirt and a fair amount of chest hair but she kissed me back. And now Bob had a reality he could accept. He was going to play big time cop to impress my girlfriend and the chances of me getting laid tonight were looking pretty good. On top of all that, we were real close to grabbing Drew Thompson.

I was on a roll.

End Interlude