The Truth as He Knows It — A.M. Arthur

Lies are the chains that keep you weighed down at rock bottom.

Officer Noel Carlson isn't out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, only to distant friends and family, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn't stop him from wanting one, though. When a night-shift call brings him face to thonged butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can't get the encounter out of his mind. Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in. The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane's about to take to put his brother-and his soul-back in the black isn't quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end.

Warning: Following on from the Cost of Repairs series, this book contains a closeted cop who's looking for love, an indebted stripper who doesn't believe he's worthy, and a tasteful abundance of dirty guy sex. Also contains references to past physical abuse some readers may find disturbing.