That Rat, Carter Janson — Amy Spector

Every man has secrets, but some are bigger than others….

Felix Peake escaped a shady past to carve out a successful career as an expert in Mesopotamian art and gain the respect of the Chicago art community. But when an assistant curator -- a man Felix could easily see himself falling for -- asks him to reauthenticate a cuneiform tablet to avoid a looming scandal, Felix's carefully constructed life could crumble.

The tablet is a fake, and Felix is intimately familiar with the artist. Master forger Carter Janson -- Felix's ex and first love -- disappeared from his life six years before without a word of explanation. Now, to hold his world together, Felix must find the original tablet, steal it back, and replace the forgery -- all before the museum exhibit debuts. It'll mean slipping back into a role Felix wanted to leave behind and risking his promising future. But even then, he can't do it alone. He'll have to confront that rat, Carter Janson.

States of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the United States.