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Secret Weapon

Coming July 2012 from St. Martin’s Griffin

Copyright © 2011 by Elizabeth Batten-Carew

Sloan Granger hung up his uniform, then closed his locker. He was still getting used to life on the police force in the beautiful town of Kenora, Maine. He’d moved here two months ago and didn’t regret the decision to leave L.A. at all. It was quieter here, more relaxed, which meant he could focus on more important things than the stresses of the job.

Derek Jameson, still dressed in his own uniform, walked into the locker room.

“Hey, Sloan.” He opened his locker a few down from Sloan’s, then sat down on the flat wooden bench and untied his shoes. “Any big plans for the weekend?”

“Not really. You have something in mind?”

He and Derek had taken in a movie last week and they’d played squash together a couple of times.

“That depends. Are you seeing anyone right now?”

Sloan raised an eyebrow at the question. “No. I’ve been too busy settling in.” But Sloan knew exactly the woman he intended to start dating. In fact, Janine had been the reason he’d chosen to move to Kenora.

Janine and Sloan had history. They’d grown up together and, if things hadn’t gotten screwed up because of devastating events, they would be in a relationship right now. But fate had kicked them both in the butt and sent them in different directions. Janine had moved to Kenora six years ago. Mostly to get away from Sloan. He knew that. And he was here to fix it.

“Great. I was wondering if you were free on Friday night.”

“Are you trying to fix me up with someone?” Sloan asked. “Because I’m really not interested.”

“First, this isn’t a fix-up … exactly … and second, if you’re not interested in what I’m about to suggest, you need to have your head examined.”

Sloan sat down on the bench, too. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s on the table?”

Derek leaned toward him. “I go out with this really hot woman and … she really likes pushing the envelope, if you know what I mean.”

“So you’re suggesting what exactly?” Sloan hadn’t been with a woman in quite a while—how could he since all he could do lately was think about Janine? He intended to win Janine’s heart, but a wild, no-strings hookup with Derek’s girlfriend, probably sharing her with Derek, would be a hot, incredibly sexy experience. And with no lasting repercussions.

“She has this fantasy of having sex with a stranger. We’ve done it where she’s had a blindfold on and we pretend she doesn’t know me, but she’d like to try the real thing. I told her I could find someone I trust, and who would be discreet.”

“So it would be just her and me?” That would be a bit weird. Making out with a total stranger, knowing she was Derek’s girlfriend.

“No, I’ll be there. Watching. And getting involved if that seems comfortable once things get started. She’ll be blindfolded, at least at first, to heighten the situation. That should make things less awkward, too.”

“Sounds like you have this all planned out. You do this a lot?”

“Not the stranger thing. This is the first time. But we’ve done threesomes before.”

Sloan grinned. “Wow, you’ve got a really hot one there.”

Derek grinned. “Hot in looks and attitude.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and flipped it open to a picture of a beautiful brunette with an angelic smile.

Sloan’s heart stopped as he stared at the picture of Janine.