Tired and road-weary, Naomi Witt arrives in the small town of Knockemout in northern Virginia wearing a daisy in her hair. She was summoned by her estranged twin sister Tina, and Naomi decides she needs coffee before she meets her. At the café, Naomi notices a photo of her sister—who looks just like her—above the cash register identified as someone banned from the restaurant. As Naomi straightens out the confusion with the server, Knox Morgan walks in. Naomi is struck by the man’s “hot as hell” (4) good looks and thinks “He looked like he’d just stormed off a marauding Viking vessel” (5). The two exchange sharp banter, but Naomi is not impressed by the man’s boorish manners. When she leaves the restaurant, Naomi finds her car is gone. Figuring the police towed it, Knox offers to drive her to the police station.

Knox notices that Naomi is nothing like her twin. It is not just the daisy in her hair; Naomi is classier and more refined than her rough-edged sister. When Naomi resists his offer for a ride to the police station, he teasingly threatens to hog-tie her to his truck. “Your chivalry sucks” (19), Naomi retorts.