Ride: A Bad Boy Romance

by Roxie Noir

  “Fuck,” she said out loud, when she saw the subject line of the first email: NEED YOU IN THE OFFICE TODAY PLEASE RESPOND ASAP. It was sent by her boss, Pete, of course.

  The body of the email only said, “Best, Pete.” Katrina had to close her eyes for a moment, irritated that he hadn’t even bothered telling her what it was about.

  Feeling slightly rebellious, Katrina finished her tea slowly, flicking through her Facebook feed, before responding to Pete, saying she’d be there shortly. She rolled her eyes as she hit send, and then made a face at her apartment.

  I guess I have to put on office clothes, she thought. Damnit.

  What the hell does he want that can’t wait until Monday? she wondered.

  Then she got up, put her mug into the dishwasher, and grabbed a skirt and shirt from her closet.

  The MutiGen offices always felt weird on the weekend, though Katrina wasn’t a stranger to being there on Saturday or Sunday. She tried to avoid going, but every so often she’d have a project that she just wanted to finish instead of waiting for Monday.

  It wasn’t like she was dating someone who’d take up her weekend time.

  Not yet, anyway. Katrina was ready for that to change, she thought, remembering her dream about Zach.

  She blushed slightly as she held her ID badge to the scanner at the front door and walked in. The lights were on in the small lobby, though of course Stephanie the receptionist wasn’t there and her desk was dark. Katrina scanned her ID at another door, and another, and in a few moments she was putting her jacket and purse down in her office, then going down the hall to see what the hell Pete wanted, anyway.

  “Come in!” he shouted to her knock.

  Pete was sitting at his desk, facing the door, typing frantically. He didn’t look up as Katrina entered, his eyes glued to his computer screen. He was wearing the standard outfit for men in their office — khaki pants and a polo shirt — but he looked rumpled, like he’d been wearing the outfit for a long time already, even though it was barely noon.

  The top buttons were unbuttoned, and Pete himself looked sweaty and pale, his hair sticking to his scalp in a few places. His mouth as he typed was a thin, grim line, totally humorless.

  “Pete?” Katrina asked. Without a pause in his typing, he cocked his head to one side, indicating one of the chairs in front of his desk.

  Katrina sat. She folded her hands in her lap, watching Pete.

  Naturally, she started to worry.

  Something’s gone wrong with a project, she thought. All of our products mysteriously lost power at the same time. The pacemaker I worked on last year has some kind of fatal flaw, and hundreds of people just had a heart attack at the same time.

  The thought made her go pale. It was easy to forget that what she worked on was destined to become part of someone.

  All the prosthetic hands that we’ve got people beta-testing started trying to choke the humans who were wearing them, she thought.

  That one almost made her laugh, and she squirmed in the chair instead.

  “One minute, almost done with this,” Pete said, vaguely.

  Katrina examined her fingernails until he finally hit a button and his email program made a swoosh noise. He’d never figured out how to turn it off.

  “Right,” Pete said. “We’re bringing Zach in for an interview in—” he checked his watch, “—forty-five minutes, and I wanted you to be here to help make him comfortable.”

  Katrina stared at Pete for a moment.

  Does he know...?

  “You went on a date with him last night, didn’t you?” Pete asked, his eyebrows furrowing behind the thin rims of his glasses.

  “Is that important?” Katrina asked. “I prefer to keep my private life private.”

  Even though right now, I already know it’s going to be a losing battle.

  He blinked, his eyes looking wet and a little vacant behind his glasses.

  “You made those plans while I was standing right there,” he said. “On MutiGen time, if I recall correctly. So, you went out, right?”

  Katrina just nodded. It seemed useless to deny it.

  “How did the date go?” Pete asked.

  “Why is this important?” Katrina asked, sitting up straighter in her chair. She was certain that the men on her team never got asked how their dates went, for fuck’s sake.

  “Just in general,” Pete said, waving his hand. “Did it go okay?”

  “Sure,” Katrina said. She hated giving Pete even an inch in this battle, but something strange was going on.

  “Great,” Pete said, sounding relieved. “I need you here to make sure he’s comfortable.”

  “Comfortable with what?” Katrina asked.

  What the hell is going to happen during this interview that he’d be uncomfortable with?

  Pete glanced nervously at his computer, then folded his hands on his desk.

  “We need some of his DNA,” Pete said.

  I fucking knew it, Katrina thought.

  “Just a hair,” he went on. “Something he’d leave behind anyway. Saliva on a soda can or something.”

  Katrina stared.

  “No,” she finally said. “That’s an insane violation of Zach’s — of his — his personal rights,” she said, sputtering. “You can’t just look at someone’s DNA without their permission. I’m not helping.”

  She stood, but Pete held up one hand.

  “In law enforcement cases, the courts have ruled that DNA given willingly can be used as evidence,” he said, his voice going higher-pitched and shaky. “And leaving your DNA somewhere counts as giving it willingly.”

  Katrina ground her teeth together.

  “You leave your DNA everywhere you go,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s legal, it’s wrong, and I’m not doing it.”

  She turned to leave his office.

  I have to text Zach and come clean, she thought. I have to tell him not to come.

  “Do you like working here?” Pete suddenly asked.

  Katrina turned around, standing in his doorway.

  “I did,” she said, a little sadly.

  “Sorry,” he said, the word coming out like the bleating of a goat. “I should rephrase that. I meant, do you like working? As an engineer?”

  Something squeezed at Katrina’s heart.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Good,” Pete said. Behind his glasses, his eyes were still big and wet, but now something gleamed in them that Katrina had never seen before. “Then you should probably do what I’m asking. It’s not just MutiGen who’s interested in this man, Katrina. I know some very powerful people in some very high places, and they want some answers as well but can’t afford to get their hands dirty.”

  Katrina held her breath. She felt like all the air had left the room.

  “If you don’t want to be a waitress down at Johnny’s Truck Stop ’N’ Diner for the rest of your life, you should probably just do what I’m asking, then,” he went on.

  Katrina flexed her jaw. She didn’t say a thing, because she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

  “Good,” he said.

  He took his glasses off and wiped them with a tissue from a box on his desk. With them off, he suddenly looked older and more tired.

  “All I need is for you to meet him at the front door and bring him back to my office,” he said. “When that’s done, a quick tour of the labs. That’s all. I’m afraid I’m going to be asking him some rather strange things, but if you’re around, I don’t think he’ll bolt.”

  “You’re using me as a honeypot,” she said, crossing her arms in front of herself.

  “Call it whatever you want,” Pete said. He turned back to his computer and ignored her, until Katrina finally left and went to her own office.

  She was fuming.

  It wasn’t enough that, as one of the very few women in the company, she was constantly held to a higher standard than her male counterparts. If one of them fucked something up, it was just t
heir problem, but if Katrina fucked something up, it wasn’t because she’d done something wrong. It was because women shouldn’t be engineers.

  And they keep sending me on these goddamn college job fairs, she thought. Because they think I’m nicer, or less threatening, or something.

  Well, those are fucking over, she thought.

  But worst of all was the knowledge that she was helping Pete get one over on Zach, and she hated herself for it. Even if it was legal, it was still wrong, and she was certain of that.

  What if Zach ever found out? What if they got serious and he found out she’d helped to steal his DNA, and that she’d chosen her job over him?

  It’s not like that, she thought desperately. I’m choosing between having a job at all and doing something that he’ll probably never know about.

  Even that didn’t help the muddled, sinking feeling in her stomach.

  7. Zach

  Zach looked at himself in the full-length mirror of the dorm bathroom, doing his best to ignore the obvious smell of vomit wafting in from one of the showers. That was the very worst part of living in a dorm with college students: the bathrooms.

  He wished he’d had the time to get the suit dry cleaned since he’d worn it to the job fair earlier that week, but there hadn’t been a free moment.

  I guess that’s why people have two suits, he thought.

  Well. Someday. Maybe if I get this summer job, I’ll buy another one.

  He smoothed his lapels in the mirror, shrugged, and left the dorm.

  At MutiGen, there were only a handful of other cars in the parking lot, but Zach shrugged it off. It was Saturday, after all, so that wasn’t too surprising.

  He was surprised when he saw Katrina standing by the front doors. Surprised enough that he nearly ran into a light post, only braking at the very last second.

  She works here, he thought. It’s not that weird.

  She didn’t say anything about it, though. That’s kinda weird.

  When he parked, he took a quick second to breathe before he got out.

  Don’t think about the way her ass looks in that skirt, he thought to himself. Or how much you want to unbutton her shirt while you kiss her on the lips, her hands on your chest...

  It wasn’t helping. He got out of the car, grabbed his briefcase, and waved to Katrina.

  “I didn’t know you’d be here,” he said, once they were within earshot.

  “I didn’t either,” she said.

  She didn’t smile, and there was something a little strange in her voice, but Zach wrote it off.

  She’s at work on a Saturday, he thought. I wouldn’t be thrilled either.

  “Good to see you again,” he said, trying to sound as professional as he could. He couldn’t see anyone in the lobby, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t see out, and he wasn’t about to endanger her reputation at her job by being inappropriate.

  No matter how inappropriate I really want to be, he thought.

  “You too,” she said, and held out her right hand.

  Zach smiled and shook it. There was a tiny explosion in his heart.

  Finally, she smiled back.

  “Sorry you got dragged into work on the weekend,” he said. “I hope it wasn’t just for me.”

  “Come on back,” Katrina said, letting them into the building. “They’ve been really eager to interview you, though I’m not quite sure what was so urgent that they had to do it today.”

  “Hopefully they’re just excited to hire me,” he said.

  Katrina paused at an interior door, then looked up at him, her deep blue eyes a little worried.

  “What is it?” Zach asked.

  “Don’t get your hopes up too high is all,” she finally said, looking down at the floor. “They’re interviewing lots of people, and I’d hate to see you disappointed.”

  Zach straightened, then glanced around the empty lobby.

  There are probably cameras somewhere, he thought.

  He didn’t really care.

  “I’ll be fine,” he told Katrina, and put one finger under her chin, lifting her face to his. “I only came over to the table at the job fair in the first place because I thought you were cute, so I already got what I came for.”

  “I’m at work,” she whispered.

  “No one’s here,” he said, the heat rushing through him now. There was something wild and uncontrollable building inside him, and he had to fight it back. “Just one kiss? For good luck?”

  “One,” Katrina said.

  He pressed his lips to hers quickly, and even that small gesture sent sparks through his whole body before he pulled back.

  Zach knew he was going to be distracted as hell during the interview, but he didn’t care. She’d just told him he barely had a shot, and besides, he felt like all his priorities flew out the window when he was with Katrina.

  Ever since he’d gone back to college, he’d toed the line. Somehow, he’d been part of a huge illegal operation and had never gotten caught — so Zach figured he’d used up all his luck, and he’d better shape up. So he had. He’d buckled down, worked hard, and followed all the rules.

  It worked.

  But now, just seeing Katrina made him willing to throw all that away. Last night, he hadn’t cared about getting arrested, just because he’d been with her. If they spent all weekend together and he didn’t do his homework, fuck it. Seeing her was better.

  She held her badge to the door and then pulled it open. Zach held it for her, following her down the hall, past dark office after dark office.

  “Here we are,” she said at last. The odd, tight tone was back in her voice, and for a second, Zach looked at her, wondering if something was really wrong.

  She looked back at him, her blue eyes wide with a hint of panic.

  Something swelled inside Zach, something fierce and angry and primal and he wanted to attack whatever she was afraid of, smash it into little bits.

  It was only an instant, and then Katrina looked away. Zach stepped into the office, and a thin, older man behind the desk stood up.

  “Glad you could make it,” the man said. “Sorry about the short notice. I’m Pete, the lead engineer.”

  “No problem,” Zach said.

  They shook hands. The other man’s hands were cool and slightly damp, and Zach had the urge to wipe his hand on his pants afterward. His resume was already on the man’s desk, and as the man sat, he nodded at Katrina.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  Zach turned around to look at her one more time. Just as she left, she had that same look in her eye, and Zach swallowed hard.

  You’re imagining things, he told himself. You’re being really crazy right now.

  “Water?” Pete asked. He rolled to a very small fridge in the corner of his office, not getting out of his chair as he opened it and pulled out a bottle.

  “Thanks,” said Zach. Pete poured two glasses, then rolled back to his desk.

  There was something weird about the way Pete was acting, but Zach couldn’t put his finger on it. It was as if the other man had a sort of manic energy beneath a professional veneer, like under a calm surface he was a wild, anxious mess.

  He’s just an engineer, Zach told himself. They’re not exactly cool, you know.

  “Well, your academic record is certainly impressive,” Pete said, looking down at Zach’s resume. “Graduating a semester early, I see.”

  After an hour of talking about his academic career and research interests, Zach thought the interview had to be nearly over. He felt totally talked out, and he was pretty sure that they’d covered every single angle of his schooling several times. Plus, the afternoon sun was coming into the windows of Pete’s office, and Zach was starting to have a hard time keeping his eyes open.

  Finally, there was a lull in the conversation, and he was sure the interview was over.

  Pete leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Tell me about your childhood,” he said.

>   Zach frowned.

  “There isn’t much to tell,” he said.

  “MutiGen is interested in nurturing the whole employee,” Pete said, leaning forward, his elbows on the desk. “And we can’t promote the sort of personal growth that we like to see if we don’t know the whole employee ourselves.”

  Zach swallowed.

  Weird, he thought.

  “I grew up in a really small town in southern Utah,” he started. “I’ve got two older brothers. It was sort of idyllic, at least for a while.”

  Slowly, he told Pete the whole story. Every time he hesitated, Pete would ask for more details: where was his family from? How long had they lived there? How exactly had his parents died?

  Zach was beginning to feel a little lightheaded as he told Pete about his whole life: how everyone in Obsidian hated his family for a hundred-year-old slight; the stupid rumor that they could turn into eagles; the way that a mining conglomerate had nearly taken everything from them.

  He left out the part where his oldest brother, Seth, had fallen from a cliff and turned into an eagle. Zach had never told that part to anyone. They’d think he was crazy.

  Hell, he probably was crazy. No matter how many times he saw Seth shift, he could never quite bring himself to believe that it was real.

  Maybe that’s why I can’t shift, he thought, his brain feeling a little foggy. I don’t believe, or something.

  “Where’s Seth now?” Pete asked.

  Why are you so interested in my brother? Zach thought. He shook his head slightly, still feeling a little lightheaded.

  “He’s still in Obsidian,” Zach said politely. “He got married last year.”

  “They have any kids?”

  This guy is really nosy, Zach thought.

  He wanted a job, though, so he answered.

  “Not yet.”

  “They trying?”

  Zach stared, open-mouthed. Pete looked completely serious.

  There was a long, long silence.

  “I have no idea,” Zach finally said. “I’ve never asked.”