Officer Lou Hernandez is surprised when he's asked to help Gideon Monahan catch an art forger. He's not too happy, however, when he meets the man he'll be working with. Lou thinks Rory Kinley is a supercilious pain in the ass. Rory, on the other hand, sees no reason why Lou has been brought into this. After all, he's just a cop, albeit one who is good at going undercover.<br><br>The art forger they're after -- Nate Hanks -- cons collectors, saying he has an undiscovered painting by a famous artist. He's killed one of his marks already to keep from being caught.<br><br>Lou and Rory will have to set aside their differences as they set up a sting to stop Hanks. When they do, they discover they may not be as incompatible as they thought. The question becomes, will their growing feelings survive what's to come -- or be destroyed in the process?

It Takes a Forger

Lou rarely wanted time to himself, but when he did, he returned to his past habit of going to the art museum. Even when Rory came along—which he did on occasion—Lou was able to lose himself in the paintings to the exclusion of everything around him.


Now, with Valentine’s Day only a day away, Lou was worried he wouldn’t get to the store in time to pick up his gift for Rory before it closed.


“The joys of police work,” he grumbled to his partner as they did the paperwork on cases they were handling, something that needed to be done before they left for the day.


He made it to the store half an hour before it closed at nine. Rory’s gift was ready and wrapped, only needing the final payment. By the time he left, since he wasn’t the only customer who was there at the last minute, it was almost nine.


Chapter 38