Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from this story and all creative rights to the characters belong to Richelle Mead.

The original content, ideas and intellectual property of this story are owned by Ms. Belikov. Please do not copy, reproduce, or translate without express written permission.

Previously on Cop an Attitude...

Once I neared the detective's vehicle, I opened the box of donuts and grabbed a single sprinkle one out of the bunch. Then I promptly set the thing down on the hood, pressed my palm against it, and smeared the dessert all the way across. I laughed at the colorful streak it made. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Just what I was going for.

Feeling a little more daring, I grabbed a jelly donut and squirted the purple sticky stuff all over the front window.

This continued on for the next fifteen minutes. I'd throw, smash, and smear the donuts all over the Hummer until it nearly covered the giant thing.

Halfway through the second box, my heart dropped when I heard a door creak open.

Dimitri stepped out of the shadows and stared right at me.

Busted.

I froze briefly, then dropped the pink box of donuts, and made a run for it, dashing into the trees.

I heard the pounding of boots of my pursuer right behind me, and pushed my legs to go even harder. I refused to look back, in fear of tripping and falling flat on my face.

I stopped at the edge of the creek, panicking over what I should do next.

Apparently, the detective decided for me.

Dimitri's hands slammed into my back and my body went soaring through the sky.

Splash.

I landed in the freezing, ice cold water. Bursting from the water, I gasped, shocked. "Dimitri!"

"What the hell is your problem?" he growled, gracefully hopping off the edge and landing in the creek. The water came up to his waist.

"You shouldn't have just left me there!"

The cop came after me like a predator, sliding through the water like he owned the world. His power was sexy, but absolutely terrifying at the same time. "You were intoxicated on campgrounds. I should kick you out of the program for it."

"Then go ahead! I don't give a fuck what you do." I said. "Everyone always gives up on me anyways. I'm used to it."

"No. I'm not going to do that. That would be too easy, and you'd like that, because you always take the simple way out. I won't let you this time." Dimitri captured my wrists and looked me dead in the eye. "I want you to head back to camp, grab a bucket of water and a towel, and get off all that shit you got on my car."

"Screw that." I laughed harshly, humorlessly. "Besides, why would you want that, Pig? You cops love donuts. Why don't you go clean it off with your tongue?"

Dimitri stared over my shoulder and his eyes flashed black. The instant his body went rigid and he shoved me behind him in order to shield me from whatever danger that currently posed a threat to us, fear ran up my spine, sending chills throughout my body.

"Bear." was all he said.

I glanced around him. My eyes bulged out of my head.

Standing not a hundred yards away, was a humongous, fluffy grizzly bear. He rubbed his back against a tree, scratching it.

That wasn't what scared me, though.

It was the fact that the animal was staring right at us with hungry eyes.

"Don't move," Dimitri whispered tightly. "You can't outrun a bear."

"You're right..." Suddenly, chaos erupted as I made loud splashes and climbed out of the creek as fast as I could. "I just have to outrun you!"

I ran for my life.

RPOV:

"God, I hate your face." I said, dunking the sponge into the bucket of hot, soapy water.

Dimitri smiled slyly. "Put a little more elbow grease into it, Hathaway. My hood doesn't look as shiny as I'd like it to."

This earned him a murderous glare. "You should be thanking me for saving your life, Comrade. Not ordering me around like some kind of slave."

If I hadn't decided to pull that little prank on my mortal enemy last night, then that pink box of donuts wouldn't have come in handy when Dimitri raced back to camp and tossed the treats at the pursuing bear. The wild animal had glanced back and forth suspiciously as he scooped up his sugary reward and retreated into the shadows of the woods. I kind of liked him. His name is Yogi.

Sure, as Dimitri pointed out, if I'd been asleep in the recruits cabin as I should have been, none of this would have happened. But I didn't regret what I did because we wouldn't be having this wonderful conversation right now. Note the sarcasm.

The cop narrowed his eyes. "You're delusional. Honestly, you are. What part of 'don't move' did you not understand? You could have gotten us both killed."

I swiped the sponge across the massive window, scrubbing off the crusty purple jelly. "Yeah, but I didn't. I think that's what really counts here, Pig."

"I should have just left you out there," he said coldly.

"Yeah, but you didn't." I smiled triumphantly. "Which means you care for me."

Dimitri's face pinched. It was funny.

"Admit it…" I walked over to him and poked his chest. "You care for me! Say it, come on. You so like me!"

"Like is such a strong word, Hathaway." The detective stared down at me from his menacing height, brown eyes on fire. "And the only reason I threw you over my shoulder and hauled your ass out of there is because I didn't feel like cleaning up the mess the bear would leave behind after he decided to make you his dinner."

Well, wasn't he charming.

Wait…I thought bears only ate salmon and honey? Man, I seriously needed to watch The Office reruns and gather some insight from Dwight. Too bad St. Vladimir's Police Academy didn't have TV's. At least not in the recruits cabin.

"You sacrificed that box of donuts and threw them to that wild animal, just for me. Hold on…give me a moment." Mockingly, I put a hand over my chest and dramatically made a show of getting all choked up before pulling it together. "I'm sorry…it's just. Oh, God. Thank you, Dimitri. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

The cop rolled his eyes and stalked off. "Get back to work. Training starts in forty-five."

On impulse, I dunked the sponge, reared my arm back, and slung the soaked thing right at him. It smacked him in the back of the head, then fell to the dirt.
Dimitri turned around, eyes black with anger and exasperation. I gulped, suddenly regretting that I'd just seriously pissed off one badass Russian.

"There was a bee on your neck!" I explained innocently. "I didn't want it to sting you! They can be fatal, you know. You're welcome for saving your life again. Now you owe me double time—Hey! What are you doing? Don't you dare. No. No. No. No!"

I made a run for it, but Dimitri's arms snapped out and latched around my waist. He pulled me to his body, leaned down and picked up the bucket, and dumped the water on top of my head.

I stared at him with incredulity as I was soaked from head to toe. "You bastard!"

He grinned and walked off without another word.

I was laughing my ass off.

Dimitri hit Adrian with the taser and he fell to the ground, screaming like a girl, body twitching in agony.

Christian, the detective's second in command and best friend, walked over to Adrian, trying to keep his lips from twitching. He failed, and ended up smiling cynically as he hauled Adrian to his feet. "Good job, man." he gave him a hard pat on the back. "You passed."

"Thanks." Adrian said breathlessly, still a little shook up. He wobbled over and dropped into the seat beside me. "Please don't tell me Sydney saw that."

I looked over at the female instructor, standing in the corner of the room, her arms crossed. Her face was red and her body quaked as she fought off her silent laughter.

"No. You're good. She was in the bathroom. Didn't see a thing." I told Adrian anyways.

"Oh, thank God."

"Are you okay?" Lissa leaned over her seat to look at Adrian. The genuine concern in her lime-green eyes was heartwarming. One thing I admired and adored about my best friend was the fact that she was so innocent and real. Unlike a lot of people I knew, she didn't have secret intentions. Though I hadn't known her for very long, I was absolutely positive she was one person that I could count on, one that would never turn on me, or stab me in the back. Lord knew how many times I'd been burned by the people who I thought were my friends.

"No," Adrian groaned, dragging out the word. "I feel like I've been hit by a train. I need a little pick me up." He slid a silver flask out. I wasn't sure where he hid it, as these uniforms didn't have pockets. Relief and utter joy flooded his face as Adrian unscrewed the cap, and took two long, deep pulls of liquor. It was disturbing that he looked so happy.

"Ah," he said, refreshed. "Much better. Love that burn in ma' belly."

I rolled my eyes and sat up just as the last student tested headed back to his seat.

Pavel, one of the many male instructors at St. Vladimir's Police Academy, stepped forward and stared at all of the recruits, including me. I couldn't help but shrink back. The guy was fucking scary—nearly as scary as Dimitri, and that was saying something. The man was hot like fire and built to perfection too, which just seemed to add to his air of danger. He moved like a predator and walked as if he owned the earth.

"I want you all to come up here and sign out," he said, voice unusually deep. "Ivan is going to add three hours to your physical training. Then you can all head over to law and ethics. See you at four."

There was a chorus of groans as everyone shuffled to their feet.

"That class is the woooooooorstttt." I whined.

"Ow! Holly mother of hell! That hurt!"

"Oops. Sorry."

I glared at the guy, hoping to burn giant holes into his skull, as he bent down to retrieve my chips.

"Look, my muscles are too sore to be doing any ass kicking today, so I'll let you off the hook." I warned. "Just watch where you're going next time and we won't have a problem."

The guy actually had the nerve to smile. His hazel eyes sparkled with amusement and a little bit of shock. "Should such filthy words be coming out of such a pretty mouth?"

I gritted my teeth. "You know, if I could actually move my leg right now, I'd kick you in the nuts so hard you wouldn't be able to reproduce. That's what I call killing two birds with one stone. I'll be hurting you and doing the world a favor at the same time." With that being said, I marched—well, pathetically limped—off to the usual table in the back of the Mess Hall.

"Whoa. Whoa. Where you going?" The guy ran after me, trotting along at my side like a lost puppy dog.

"To eat dinner."

"But I don't know what your name is."

"That's too bad."

"Wait." The guy grabbed my arm and jerked me to a stop.

A fuse blew off inside, and as I stared him down, ready to start swinging, the guy released me and backed up, flinching and holding his hands up in surrender. "Look...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just want to know your name."

"Rose. Hathaway." I bit out.

"I'm Eddie Castile," he gave a casual, lazy grin that suddenly made the anger leave my body.

When he held out his hand, I reluctantly took it.

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

"That's what people tell me." I sat down, picked up the slice of pizza, and sunk my teeth into its doughy flesh.

Not bothering with any invitation, Eddie dropped down beside me and began to peel his orange.

My eyebrows rose in astonishment and respect. "Just a minute ago, I was going to kick your ass. And now you're having dinner with me? You're a brave man, Castile. Very brave."

"What can I say? I like bad girls with a sense of danger. And you fit the profile." he said. "Plus, I want to get to know you better."

"I have a boyfriend." I lied. Well, maybe not. Mason and I had been together before he'd been murdered. Now that he was six feet under, did that make me a widow? No. I think you had to be married for that. Right? I hoped so.

"As a friend," he grinned. "I want to get to know you better as a friend."

"I'm a terrible friend. Just ask Lissa." I said. "Right, Liss?...Liss?"

She didn't seem to hear me, because she was currently engrossed in a deep conversation with Christian. I smiled as I listened to her, happy that she'd taken my advice and was just being herself around instructor Ozera, or Douche bag, as I liked to call him.

"Those are pretty deep," My best friend said, running her fingers up and down his scarred forearm. I think she was just looking for an excuse to touch him. "Why do you let them show?"

Christian shrugged, hovering at the end of the table. "Don't know. Not ashamed of them, I guess."

Lissa shifted in her seat, craning her neck to gaze up at his face. The instant their eyes connected, a silent explosion went off. Although they'd met only a few weeks ago, their connection was so strong, you felt as if you could reach out and touch it.

My best friend cleared her throat, then glanced down, avoiding his burning ice-blue eyes. "You have to cut vertically in order to succeed," she told him, indicating to the scars on his arms and wrists.

Christian's lip curled into a bemused smile. "I'll remember that for next time. Thanks for the tip."

"Just doing my job as a good student," she said innocently, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Well, you deserve a golden star for your efforts." he said. I couldn't help but notice the way he seemed mesmerized by my best friend, infatuated even, like he was unable to tear his eyes off of her. I saw the glint in them; he was attracted to Lissa. Very attracted. She'd caught his attention and held it, which by looking at the strict, slightly depressed instructor, was not something that happened very often.

A pang of jealousy struck me in the heart, its pain as foreign as it was uncomfortable.

Get a grip, you jealous bitch! I scolded myself.

Lissa pulled up the sleeve of her sweater, baring a track full of tiny white scars. "I only know the vertical trick because my ex Aaron showed me," she said, revealing shockingly intimate details about her life. These secrets were something she didn't even like talking about with me. "He said that if you're going to cut yourself, then do it right the first time. Because if you don't succeed, that means you're a failure at both life and death."

I could have sworn I heard a growl come out of Christian's mouth. "Is Aaron enrolled at this academy?" he asked with an edge to his voice.

"Aaron? Oh, no. He lives back in my old town." My best friend said.

"That's too bad," the instructor said. "I would have loved to have Pretty Boy as my student."

Lissa blushed, as if touched.

I cleared my throat, trying to ease some of the tension. "So, hey, Pyro. Wanna sit down and eat with us? You look like you could put some more meat on those bones." Pyromaniac was the nickname I'd given Christian on my second day here. The instructor was an absolute lunatic and genius when it came to weapons and explosives, specifically the ones that caused a lot of fire. He seemed to be fascinated with it.

"No. I'm good." he said, then glanced down at my tray. "Hey, you mind laying off on the cornbread? The other students might like to have some too."

I glared at him as Lissa and Eddie coughed to cover up their laughter.

"I'm not fat! So what if I was stuck in the bathroom window, for like, thirteen hours straight? I have wide hips and a big booty, which I'm very proud of, okay? I love my curves. You're just jealous that you don't have any. And besides, those students are none of my concern. If they want some cornbread, they should show up a few minutes early, before I arrive."

Christian drummed his thumbs against the table, mouth twitching. "Is it true that you threatened a young lady by the name of Meredith because she wanted seconds on her cornbread?"

"It was the last slice left!" I defended myself. "And she was getting greedy with the food, too. If anything, you should be yelling at her instead of me. Girl could stand to lose a few pounds anyways. She's going to eat you out of this academy."

Christian, Eddie, and Lissa had stilled. All of their eyes were trained behind me.

"What is it?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. "Oh, shit. Hey, Meredith! How you doing, girl? I like that shirt. Is that a new shirt? I like that shirt. Either way, it looks fantastic on you."

Meredith stared at me, eyes wide and full of hurt. "You think I'm fat?" her voice cracked.

"What are you talking about? Pfft. Don't listen to Lissa. You look great."

Meredith stared at me for a second longer, then let the tray drop from her hands and ran out of the Mess Hall, screaming and crying. Probably to head for the bathroom to stick her finger down her throat. Man, I really needed to work on learning how to be nice to people. But that would require me actually caring about their feelings, which I didn't.

I turned back in my seat and resumed eating. "What?" I said defensively, around a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni.

"Go talk to her," Christian said, tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "And tell her you are terribly sorry. I swear, if I have to deal with another suicidal teenage girl or bitching, complaining parents, I am going to stab someone. And it will most likely be you, Hathaway. Go!"

I ran off.

The weeks following were brutal, to put it lightly. Dimitri, thanks to him being the head instructor and all, was able to call all of the shots. He upped training time a good four hours. Combined with our usual three hours of physical training and five hours of academics—yeah, you actually had to have brains to be a cop, not just muscles and a love for black coffee. I was disappointed, too—it was, as Dimitri had put it, hell on earth.

I hated getting the cop as my instructor, because out of all the instructors, he was by far the most ruthless. Especially during our one-on-one trainings. I swear he did it for pleasure, just to see me in pain.

He'd make me run through the forest for hours. I'd fall on rocks, tree stumps, twist my ankles in natural potholes, get blisters the size of fists on my feet. Back at camp was the worst. God, I hated the obstacles courses with a passion, mostly because I wasn't able to succeed and pass that crucial part of my physical course. Even Lissa, with some difficultly and blood shed, passed!

That wasn't the end of the training, either. Dimitri would make me climb ropes until my knuckles cracked and my skin began to bleed. And one of the most torturous things possible—two metal buckets filled to the maximum with water. I'd had to balance them with my arms up on each side, making my body the shape of a T. Then hold them there until the cop told me to put them down—which was forever later, and each time I did the exercise, it would increase in water content, bucket size, and length of time.

Oh, and as for the times I passed out from exhaustion? Just straight up fell to the ground in the middle of training, fainting in a pile of my own limbs? Dimitri would pour icy water on my face and continue to do so until I floated back to consciousness again.

I took a deep breath and studied my naked reflection. "Not too bad," I admired, smiling wickedly. Maybe the endless training was horrific, and like, the worst thing ever, but the results were definitely paying off.

My body had been satisfying to me before, but now—not that I was bragging or anything—it was absolutely incredible. I had more muscle definition and strength in my arms, making simple things like carrying text books and doing pushups so much easier. My stomach, which had been flat and a little jiggly before, was nice and hard now, the tan skin drawn tight over my barely-there, lady abs. My legs and butt were my favorite body parts. They were firm and beautiful and shapely.

"Hathaway! Are you in there?"

I jumped at the sound of Dimitri's deep voice coming from the other side of the girls showers door, then scowled in anger and annoyance a second later. The last thing I wanted to deal with right now was him, and I most definitely did not want to train. It seemed as if I'd gotten only two seconds of sleep and a half a second to take a shower. Was it really time to train again already?

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Great," I muttered to myself. I was fifteen minutes late.

"Hathaway!"

"Go away!" I called back.

"Rose…" he warned.

"Fine," I said, gritting my teeth. "Just come on in. I'm not finished getting ready yet."

I'd learned long ago that fighting Dimitri on anything was like trying to take a fresh steak from a starving lion: It was impossible, potentially deadly, and just downright stupid. The cop was one stubborn motherfucker that never backed down, especially when it came to me.

Wasn't I special.

The door opened—I swear—angrily. I sensed and heard Dimitri walk in and cautiously look around. What was he expecting? Me to jump out of the shadows with a knife and tackle him? Why was he always so paranoid around me?

Oh, right. I was the number one suspect in my boyfriends murder case. Facepalm! How could I forget?

"Morning, Comrade." I walked out of the shower area and into the locker room.

The cop's eyes widened a fraction before he caught himself. "Hathaway. Where are your clothes?"

"You're the one who came into the girls bathroom. What did you expect to find?" I shrugged, heading for my pile of clean clothes. "Told you I wasn't ready. You're the one that was yelling to come in."

"I was yelling for you to hurry because you are late." Dimitri said. "Get dressed."

"I will after you stop staring at me."

"Right. I apologize." he quickly turned around, giving me his back.

I smiled to myself as I ripped a fresh pair of jeans and a white T-shirt from the tangle. After pulling on a favorite bra and a comfortable pair of underwear, I quickly got dressed.

"All right," I said, hopping into mismatched socks. "You can now look at me without becoming consumed by desire and hunger. Hey, is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

"In this case, it is a gun." Dimitri turned around and disdainfully rolled his eyes. There was a large, impressive—and intimidating—gun in a holster hooked to the left side of his waistband. "I need you." he said.

My eyebrows shot up as I tied my tennis shoes. "You don't say,"

He dismissed that with a snicker. "I need you to come with me to question a woman by the name of Eleanor Ashford. Considering you know her, I was hoping you could get her to talk and answer a few of my questions. I've been having no luck."

"Masons nana?" I stood and straightened my shirt. When Dimitri nodded, I laughed in a short burst. "You ain't going to get shit out of the woman that's going to help you with the investigation. My advice? Don't waste your time. Besides, what does it even matter? According to you and everyone else, the murderer is standing right here." I pointed to myself.

The cop ignored that. "I'm at the end of my rope here, Rose." I was thrown off the tone of his voice. It wasn't the usual hard-ass detective one. It was rough and genuinely exhausted, like he hadn't slept good in weeks.

Concern settled in my chest. I checked under his eyes. They were slightly swollen and deep purple.

"How's that coffee working for you?" I asked.

"It's what's keeping me awake," he answered simply. "Anyways, I really need—"

"You need rest. Badly." I interrupted. "Before anything else, you need rest. That way you can think, act like a normal person, and, maybe if I'm lucky, not be so homicidal towards me."

He pursed his lips, the offer extremely appealing to him. "No. It's fine. I'm fine—"

"True that. But I'm talking in the mental sense. You're exhausted." Okay, so maybe I had a hidden agenda. Like, say, wanting the day off training and school? Jeez. That sounded like heaven right now. "Look, maybe you can head back to your cabin, watch a movie, get something to eat. I'll even make you some Borscht or whatever you Russians like. How does that sound? Oh. What about cookies. Mmmm. Actually, I kind of want some now that I thought about it. I wonder if Jacob is in the kitchen. He makes the best oatmeal and raisin cookies in the universe. I'm not even kidding. And guess what else? I can't stand oatmeal or raisins and I still love them! Wow. Now that's saying something. Do you like oatmeal and raisin cookies? You like a man who has a big appetite, so I'm assuming that you do. I'll head down to the kitchen right now and put in a special order for Jacob to make those oatmeal and raisin cookies. Have you tried them before? Did I already ask you that? I can't remember—"

"Rose," Dimitri said gently. "I will go back to my cabin and get some rest so long as you shut the fuck up about the oatmeal and raisin cookies."

I laughed, surprising myself. "What can I say? Food turns me into a happy conversationalist."

The cops lips twitched. "I can see that." he said.

Man, I loved making him smile—and on rare occasions laugh. It was the highlight of my day. It was the most incredible thing seeing a stoic man like Dimitri lighten up and show a small slice of his true self. It was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, actually.

"All right," I said, heading for the door. "I'll head to the kitchen. You go back to your cabin and put on your favorite movie."

"I'm not your grandmother, Hathaway." he said. "I'm pretty sure I can handle myself."

"Riiiight." I said, then dashed out of the building.

Twenty minutes later, I weaved towards the detective's cabin, struggling with the task of keeping the mountain of food from tipping over and falling onto the dirt.

I pounded a fist against the oak door, cursing when I spilled hot soup onto my T-shirt.

The door opened.

"Hey, Pig. I got the Borscht you wanted. And don't get your knickers in a bunch, Jacob was there, and luckily, he did have a fresh batch of oatmeal and raisin cookies waiting. Though, I'm not sure you deserve them with the way you talked to me earlier—Oh, hi." I lost my train of thought when a beautiful woman appeared behind Dimitri. She had smoldering chocolate-brown eyes and long ass, gorgeous hair the flowed in streaks of mahogany and gold.

"You're really pretty," I blurted, a note of accusation and jealousy in my tone. Why the hell was I jealous that the cop had a beautiful woman in his room? It wasn't like it should be surprising. Dimitri was too good looking for his own good. It was only natural that he had a smoking hot woman to be with. And kiss. And caress. And having amazingly hot sex with.

Okay, I had to get the mental scissors and cut that shit out of my brain.

Putting a cap on my emotions, I took a deep breath and said, "So, yeah. Enjoy your food, Comrade. And don't forget to, you know, get some sleep."

On impulse, I shot the woman an evil look in warning.

"Thank you, Roza." Dimitri said, eyes sparkling.

Why was the bastard so happy?

Whoa. I was seriously angry. Get a grip, you dumb bitch! I scolded myself. He doesn't want you!

"No worries." I said, then turned around and ran away, trying to get far away from the two.

"Oh, and Rose?" The cop called out.

I flinched and came to a screeching halt. I feared this would happen. "Yes?" I said tightly, without turning around.

"The recruits are waiting for you. Out by the creek. Water training." he informed me.

"WHAT?" I squeaked, spinning around in rage. "Why didn't you excuse me for the day?"

"Now, why would I do that?"

"Because I was so nice as to bring you delicious food!"

"Get to training."

I screamed in fury, but Dimitri chose to ignore it by grinning and slamming his door shut.