BREAKING THE RULES: Forsaken 99 MC

by Evelyn Glass

The message was very impersonal but I was willing to bet she'd sent it. She was the only one left. I looked at the time. It was almost seven. I had things I needed to do, places I needed to be, but I wanted to see her again. I made a U-turn and drove all the way back to the library.

  When I got there it was just after seven and the doors were locked when I pushed against it. The light inside was still on and I saw her through the glass sitting behind the counter. She was typing, her eyes locked on the screen and a look on her face suggested she were somewhere else.

  I knocked on the door and she looked up. When she saw me she tapped her wrist where a watch should have been, and carried on typing. I looked at the time.

  It was after seven. The library closed at seven. Dammit.

  I knocked on the door again. She ignored me. Ignored. She carried on typing like I wasn't there. I rattled the door and knocked again, getting irritated. She was doing this on purpose. I'd been right about her: she was a pain in the ass.

  I banged both fists down on the wooden part of the door before turning away. I walked down the few steps and sat down. I was going to wait right here until she came out. She wouldn't be in there forever; it was past closing time already and I knew she had a home to go to. Screw the gang and our meeting. I was going to wait for her to come out. I took out another smoke and lit up. I had a box to get through - she could take all night. I would be here.

  It took her a good half hour to finally decide it was time to leave. The door clicked open behind me and a moment later it closed again. I stood up and turned to watch her. She was a slight thing. Her back was to me and blonde hair hung over her back and shoulders and it looked silver in the moonlight. I followed her body down. Her waist was narrow and her ass was really something to look at.

  She turned and froze.

  "You shouldn't be alone this time of night. There are all sorts of creeps out there."

  Her face was a mixture of fear and surprise for a moment before it melted away and she looked vaguely irritated instead. Great, she wasn't scared of me. I wasn't sure if I liked her courage or if I was annoyed by the fact that she was possibly the only human being in the world who didn't find me remotely charming.

  "Are you going to sit on the steps until opening time?" Her voice was neutral, her face was neutral, and still I had the feeling she was mocking me. Her eyes shimmered in the night. What color were they? Blue? Green? I hadn't paid enough attention when we were in the light and suddenly I wished I had.

  "I'm here for my wallet."

  She shook her head. "I'm sorry, we're closed now and it's inside in the office. You'll have to come back when we're open to get it."

  I was a little irritated but her indifference and her calm were fascinating. "You have keys. Why don't you just run in there and grab it for me?"

  She smiled at me and it was beautiful. She was beautiful. Judging by the way she carried herself and the way she talked she wasn't aware of it. Her lips were perfect - not too full but plump enough to kiss and nibble on. Her eyes were big and round and full of what I'd thought was naïveté but I might have been wrong. She didn't seem naïve at all when she spoke to me.

  "I'm sorry. The alarm is set now."

  She wasn't going to budge on this, was she? Of course, it wouldn't have been impossible for her to go in there. She was just planning on being difficult. Punishment for earlier, I was guessing.

  "What do I need to do to get that wallet?"

  I was willing to seduce her. Wine her, dine her, recline her. She tipped her head slightly to the side and it only added to her beauty.

  "I'm sure I just explained it. Come back in the morning."

  I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Are you always this difficult?"

  She shrugged. "I'm not difficult. I'm just doing my job. It would have been great if I could wiggle my way out of it with a nice line to my boss the way you had but I don't think I'm her type."

  She said everything with a straight face like we were having a normal conversation, but I knew she was messing with me. She was making me pay in other ways now that the fines were gone. And I liked it. I liked her having at it, making me pay. There was something very erotic about being at the mercy of a woman like this.

  She was sex on a stick and she didn't even know it. I was willing to bet she didn't know what she was doing to me.

  "I'm sure if we phoned your manager we could clear this up right away," I said.

  Her face closed. "If you want to phone her at this hour and ask her to come bring out your wallet, you be my guest."

  There was nothing humorous about that statement. I'd pushed it too far. I felt like an idiot, rubbing someone else's attraction in her face.

  "I just want my wallet." I wasn't going to apologize.

  Selena shrugged. "I can imagine how frustrating it must be to lose a wallet." She walked around me, down the steps and into the parking lot. It was empty aside from my bike. She walked to the street and looked left and right, looking for a taxi.

  I jogged toward her. "Let me give you a ride home."

  She glanced at me. "No thank you."

  Just like that? "Come on. It's late. Let me spare you the cab fee."

  She smiled at me sweetly. "That's not necessary, thank you. I have my wallet."

  Was that a joke? Was she playing with me again?

  She waved at a taxi and when it stopped in front of her she opened the car door. "We open at eleven and I'm on duty again in the morning. I'll be sure to have your wallet ready for pickup. If you wait until noon before you come in you'll be able to catch Alicia. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

  She climbed into the car and closed the door. I watched her give the driver an address I wished I could hear and the car pulled off. I watched it until the taillights disappeared around a turn before I turned around and walked to my bike.

  Dammit, that woman was something else. She was a like a dog that was cute and cuddly and bit the shit out of your hand if you came too close. She was feisty and beautiful and I wanted to see her again.

  I was going to come back here in the morning. I was going to be there the moment they opened and I was going to be out of here again before Alicia came back. I had no intention of seeing her again. It was Selena I was after.

  I pictured her in my mind's eye. Blonde hair. Eyes that were the color of gems, I just didn't know which ones yet, a curvy body and absolute ignorance about how sexy she was.

  That was the thing that got me the most about her. She was sexy - she moved with fluid grace when she walked, she had a regal posture and her hair was like a golden veil around her shoulders - and she had no idea how stunning she was. She didn't come across vain or airy or anything I usually saw in women. She was completely and utterly herself.

  And she didn't fawn over me either, which just made her all the more attractive.

  I was definitely going to see her again, even if it meant I might run into her boss again who was as regular and average a woman as they came.

  My phone beeped. I was very late for a meeting and the boys would be getting itchy. We tried to walk the straight and narrow - every single one of the gang was someone who had gotten out of a life that wasn't worth living. Still, there was always the chance that one of us might be picked up for something that still hung around in our past and we needed to check in with each other regularly.

  Chapter 3

  Selena

  I was part of a writing group. It was something we'd started up ages ago. We were a handful of women who critiqued each other's writing and we set deadlines that we had to stick to. It was easier keeping to a writing schedule when we had someone to answer to. Otherwise, we would sit and think about our novel and rewrite and daydream about the pages we'd already written without ever finishing the book. When we had to show each other what progress we'd made, it actually pushed us to make any progress at all.

  We were all busy. At least, they were all busy. They all had corporate type jobs. We had a lawyer, a schoolteacher, an
office manager, a Personal Assistant, and the owner of a set of chain stores downtown. I was the only one with a job that didn't really count as a job and more time to write than the others.

  We were meeting at eight and I was almost late. I rang Joanne's doorbell, the last to arrive. When she opened the door she was still dressed in a two-piece suit, looking fresh and ready to take on the world even though the day had been long and hot. I wore jeans and sneakers and a tank top with a light jacket over it.

  Talk about contrast.

  "I'm glad you could make it," she said and gave me a hug. Her auburn hair was set in a French roll and sprayed into submission. It wasn't going anywhere but she still touched it lightly at the back to make sure stray hairs hadn't escaped.

  "Everyone else is already here."

  Of course, they were. I walked into Joanne's house. The place was neat and smelled like cleaning products. She had a full-time maid because she was too busy with her job running all those chain stores. When I walked into the living room, the rest of them were there, too. Lela, the lawyer, looked pristine in a dark suit with a crisp white blouse and earrings that matched. She had her manuscript on her lap and looked at me expectantly. They all looked like they were ready to take over the world. April the PA with frizzy brown hair, Pam the teacher with a dull braid down her back, Brandy the office manager with the boy-cut hair that suited the sharp point of her chin. They all looked like they could do another day at the office. I was the only one who felt like I looked worn out. I was the only one looking like I needed to go to bed.

  The only thing I had in common with these girls was the fact that I wrote, too. Otherwise, they were in the fast lane and I was still getting my act together. They were fast-paced ladies and I was an artist. Sometimes I told Joanne I thought I needed to quit the group because I just didn't fit in. She always argued with me that I was a writer and they were all writers and there was no difference. That it didn't matter.

  Joanne was one to talk. She was the only one of us who had actually published a book. It was a Fantasy under a pen name called Tangerine Sky and she made an all right amount in royalties. She was the only one of us who could really call herself a writer. I had the feeling it was only because of her that everyone else put up with me, too.

  "Evening, ladies," I said and sat down. They all pulled out their manuscripts. I swallowed. I didn't have any new pages to show.

  We started with April reading what she'd written. Her writing was fast-paced. Her action scenes were stunning, her emotional ones were left wanting. We all said as much in the nicest way possible. Her story progression was jerky but at least there was a progression in the first place.

  Joanne was next and her writing as spectacular, as always. It was another fantasy, a world with druids and elves and a lost love. She was publish-worthy - again - but she rolled her eyes when we all said it.

  "The point of this group is positive criticism, ladies. Not just...positive."

  We all laughed. What was there to say about Joanne's work?

  We moved on. Lela had written a sex scene that had made us all uncomfortable hearing it out loud. When she looked up we were all shifting in our seats and not making eye contact.

  "It's what sells at the moment," she defended.

  "We know. It's just not exactly appropriate, is it?" Joanne wasn't scared to speak her mind.

  Lela shrugged. "It's what I wrote. You wanted to know, didn't you?"

  "Is Sheldon not satisfying you anymore?"

  We all laughed and Lela shot Pam a dirty look.

  "Let's move on." Joanne was quiet and in control. She looked at me. I swallowed and looked down at the manuscript I'd printed out to bring here.

  "I don't have any new pages."

  They all looked at me with faces that were obviously trying to hide the disappointment. They all had nine to five jobs that took all their time and they still managed to get pages done. I worked in a library a couple of times a week and I didn't have anything at all.

  "I was thinking of editing the love interest, though." I looked them each in the eye. "I met someone really interesting tonight who I thought might work as a substitute for the guy I'd been using until now."

  "Was he hot?" coming from Lela.

  I smiled and nodded. "He's such an asshole, though."

  "Those are the most interesting characters, though," Pam said. "What happened?"

  I breathed in and went back in my mind's eye. The memory was confused with where I'd been when I'd been working on my climax scene. The cold metallic smell in the air, the body lockers that were all full - none of that had been real. But Logan Frost had been real when he'd walked in and that had been a very intense contrast to the cold I was experiencing my writing. He wasn't just devilishly good looking; he also oozed warmth and charm like you read about.

  "He was a badass biker complete with leather and tattoos and that look where you get the feeling he's undressing you with his eyes." I shivered at the thought and hoped the ladies didn't notice.

  "What did he do that made him an asshole?" Joanne was leaning forward in her chair, everyone else's stories forgotten.

  "He had fines for bringing DVDs in late and he got Alicia to reverse them by turning on the charm. She practically drooled all over him. I swear if he snapped his fingers she would have orgasmed for him on the spot."

  They giggled.

  "I think he sounds like a great substitute for your boring lawyer type." This from Lela, who had been offended that I'd made my love interest a lawyer and hadn't made him a demigod, too.

  "This guy will cause a lot of problems for my main character, though. She's married, remember? And he's really not the type to respect something like that. He thinks he's god's gift to mankind and I think most women are on board with that summary."

  "Just not you."

  I couldn't tell if April thought it a disappointment or not. If anyone had a poker face it was her.

  I shrugged. "I don't think it's attractive throwing yourself at a man."

  The girls all nodded.

  "Are you going to see him again?" Joanne's question was careful but I knew what she was getting at. This was not about the character but the real life man.

  "He is coming to the library just after opening time tomorrow to pick up the wallet he forgot there tonight when he was getting all twisted up in Alicia's panties."

  "So you'll be able to study him then to base your character on," Lela smiled. "Any sex scenes in your book?"

  I shook my head and laughed, trying not to show the blush that had my cheeks glowing bright red. "I'm not going to sleep with him for the sake of writing the hottest sex scene."

  Lela shrugged. "Hey, nothing wrong with research, right?"

  April nudged her before looking at her watch.

  "Ladies, I need to go. I have a conference call with someone in Paris."

  We hadn't done everyone's manuscripts yet.

  "How about we meet Saturday night at eight? Does that work for everyone?" Joanne looked around the circle and when everyone nodded she clapped her hands on her thighs. "Right, then, ladies. Thank you for coming."

  They girls all got up and dispersed, leaving the house one by one until it was just me who was left. Joanne smiled at me and walked to the kitchen with empty cups of coffee. I grabbed the last two and followed her.

  "So, you want to tell me more about this guy you met?"

  She said it the way my mom would have said it. I shook my head.

  "There's really nothing more to tell. He came back after he left because I let him know his wallet was still there."

  "What happened?"

  "Nothing. I made him sit outside because it was past closing time and then refused to go back in and get the wallet when it was time for me to go home."

  Joanne turned to me. "You like him."

  "I don't! This was just because he'd messed with Alicia's head, making her think he was so interested so he could get out of those fines. He really doesn't care about her no matter
how hard she was throwing herself at him."

  Joanne rinsed the cups under hot water before packing them into the dishwasher. "Sounds to me like you're jealous."

  "I'm not!" It was the second forceful denial. It was starting to sound like I was interested. I really wasn't. I mean: he was hot. He was drop dead gorgeous, in fact. I hadn't seen a man who looked like that in real life, ever, and it had been genuine. The problem was that he knew how good looking he was and a man like that was insufferable. Besides, I couldn't stand a man who insisted every woman melts into a pile of goo at his feet.

  "I'm only seeing him again so he can get his wallet, and then that will be the end of it. He has a library card. If I see him again other than that it will be to check out a book or return it. Probably late."