Glory (2 page)

It was a bad idea to ride in the sun today. Could’ve killed us all but business needed to be settled, and where Knuckle went, the rest of Glory MC followed.

As soon as my father, who just so happened to be the president of Glory MC, walked through the doors, Hanna ambled over and gave him a kiss on the lips. Large hands wrapped around her voluptuous body as Knuckle pulled her tight against him. I looked away, not liking the scene my father was making with the bar owner. Except that was a big reason why we were allowed here in the first place. As long as my dad was fucking Hanna, Neptune’s would be our clubhouse. I kept my eyes glued to the ground, far more interested in the state of the rundown hardwood floors than that shit.

The sound of clicking heels caught my attention. Without me moving, a pair of hotter than hell heels attached to long, slender legs stepped right into my line of vision. Louboutins, they were called. I knew ’cause they had the red bottoms.

Desire jackknifed through me at the sight. Before I could raise my eyes to meet who those sexy legs belonged to, Hanna yelled and the girl jumped, eager to do her bidding. All I saw next was an immaculate ass showcased in a pair of short shorts retreating to the men’s bathroom.

“Damn,” I breathed. Who the hell was she?

Indy

My choice of shoe wear was not conducive to today’s tasks. When I got dressed this morning, the job I had in mind had been slinging shots and pouring drafts. High heels meant loads of tips. Not this bullshit. But in order to get the position I wanted, I had to show Hanna that I was a diligent employee who could demonstrate leadership wherever that may be. Today it was in the men’s bathroom apparently.

Lovely.

The only toilet here was malfunctioning. Water overflowed from the bowl, running across the tiled floors. Hanna shot me a
thank-God-I-had-the-foresight-to-hire-you-earlier
smile and left to tend to the big bikers that required drinks.

Despite whatever bacteria or vile fluids I’d likely find in here, she wouldn’t receive too much argument from me. Rumors circulated about the bikers of Glory MC, but seeing them up close with my own eyes was different. They looked bigger and scarier than I expected, and there was something about them that emanated power and control. All that black leather, the big bodies and hard faces, definitely caused people to step back in awe or fear. I might be a bit reckless, but I wasn’t stupid.

T-shirt drenched with sweat and dirty water, I wiped my brow and leaned back against the wall after having finished mopping up the mess.

Looking down, I knew my Louboutins were ruined. I had the option to remove them, but standing bare foot in dirty water in the men’s only bathroom was not appealing to me in the least.

My Louboutins were one of the only things salvaged from my old home before the flares. It was why they held such sentimental value to me. I was sixteen at the time I got them, saving my first few paychecks to buy them. As a young woman, material things were the only things I cared about before my life fell off the tracks. The other things I grabbed when the flares hit were less girly and had to do more with my mental illness.

The feelings I had been experiencing finally had a name and an explanation. I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder before the flares, and had gotten help and managed to control my rioting emotions for the most part. It differed from the other category of bipolar because my hypomania states often didn’t pose a problem for others. Instead, the cycles of depression were what made me and my family take notice. Making sure I had my medication was important. Even as I took my pills with me, while everyone else was looting for food, gas, or clothing, I was searching for more lithium.

I had been rationing the medication, slowly weaning myself off the drugs because as time went on, they were getting more and more difficult to find. To prevent relapse, it took months to taper off the medication. Hopefully one day, I would be able to function without them, as long as I kept my head on straight.

As of right now though, I was functioning better than ever. The hypomania state I was in brought on increased energy, heightened productivity, and an overall sense of rightness in the world. I had my game face on and I was determined to get this toilet in working order.

Looking down, the water was still filled to the brim. Had Hanna called someone to get this checked out? Unless something was seriously lodged down there, we could use a plunger to clear it. Yet the brimming water left me with little faith. It would overflow no matter what I did next. Trying my luck, I pressed down on the handle on the toilet, praying that this time the water (and other things I didn’t want to think about) stayed inside the bowl.

The second I held the knob down, water rushed to the surface and didn’t stop coming. “Son of a—”

I looked down at my heels drenched in mucky toilet water and sobbed.

The Louboutins were total goners.

Hastie

I stood in the doorway to the men’s bathroom, watching as the bombshell mopped up toilet water. With the way she was cursing under her breath, I should have stepped in. But interrupting her would mean that I couldn’t stare at her any more.

And I’d been right. Her legs did go on for forever.

The mop made a sick, wet sound as she dragged it across the tiles. She was cursing louder now, and I bit back the smile that was forming on my lips. Eyes glued to her ass, I approved of the way she was backing up to me, that booty swaying enticingly in those short shorts, not at all realizing that I was watching. My hands itched to grab her hips and bring her back to my body, but seeing as she was cursing in a blue streak, I knew not to press my luck.

Never irritate a vixen—a lesson I learned at a young age. And this girl was certainly a vixen. I licked my lips, imagining what her skin would taste like on my tongue.

She jostled the wet mop in her hands, her irritation clear. “Useless piece of shit!” I grinned. The woman had a sailor’s mouth to go with those perfect lips. I wanted to learn all the other dirty words she knew.

Giving up on the mop, she dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and started scooping out the water into the sink with a small bucket. By the way she was cursing and muttering to herself, her movements jerky like she was irritated, this couldn’t be the first time she’d done this today. My smile widened even further. The girl didn’t mind getting on her knees and getting dirty. For some reason, I was impressed.

After making several trips to the sink from the toilet, she finally managed to empty most of the water from the bowl. Picking up the mop, she cleaned up the rest of the mess on the tiled floors.

Perspiration bloomed on her exposed lower back where her tight shirt had rode up. The dimples there were the devil’s temptation.

Sweating, she swiped her arm over her brow and looked down at her fuck-me heels. Those were shit now. That was a bummer because I was a sucker for those red soles. I wanted to feel those digging into me as I drove into her.

“Fuck my life,” she whispered as she clasped both hands on the top of the mop handle and lowered her head to them. “This has to be the worst day ever.” The position arched her ass in the air and it took all of my restraint to keep my hands off her amazing body.

Clearly she and I had very different ideas of where this day was going. “Well,” I drawled, stepping towards her, “my day has certainly gotten better.”

TWO

MC Encyclopedia

Indy

A
t the unexpected male voice, I leapt in the air like a snake was at my feet. Arms going straight out, I used the mop like a weapon and whirled around, meeting the amused gaze of one of the bikers. “Oh my God, I didn’t see you there!”

He was a wall that oozed dangerous testosterone, blocking the only exit to the bathroom. His eyes glinted with amusement as he gazed at me fondly. In response, my stomach dropped right out from under me.
Oh, great.
What was I supposed to do now when even my gut was telling me to run?

Even in my ruined Louboutins, the biker towered over me, indicating that he was at least six feet. His body showed signs of working out; it was all hard planes and ripped muscles. A myriad of tattoos covered one whole sleeve of his arm.

My heartbeat refused to slow even as my fear subsided. A sense of danger still lurked, and I realized it emanated from the man in the room with me. By this lopsided grin, he’d obviously been watching me for a while.

While he stood there like he owned the place, I took in other details. Sharp green eyes. Dark slicked back hair that probably didn’t see a comb too often, just his fingers. His broad shoulders made me feel caged in the room; they took up all the space.

With the way he was staring at me, I was acutely aware of his presence and gooseflesh promptly broke out on my arms. My heart beat increased in speed and the rhythmic thumping only amplified when he smiled, all teeth. “The bathroom is closed,” I told him.

“Bang up job you did in here.” He moved towards me and for whatever reason, I found myself taking a step back. “But you may want to try this instead.”

I watched on with wary eyes as he made his way to the toilet and dropped to his haunches. Reaching behind the porcelain, he found a valve and twisted it.
I’m such an idiot! Why didn’t I think of that?

“There,” he said, straightening from his crouch and wiping his hands on his dark jeans. “Just wait until Hanna can get someone in here to fix it.”

I nodded, struck speechless at my stupidity.

“It’s a simple fix,” he went on. “Hanna should have warned you not to push the lever down.” His gaze dropped to my heels. “It’s a shame about the shoes.” A slow smile spread across his lips and even with the dim lighting in here, I noticed something flash around his mouth. A second glance made me realize he had a lip ring.
God, how sexy was that?

As my mind recovered from the distracting sexiness of that piercing, his words settled in. Humiliation spread over me like the water I’d just mopped up. Of all the places I had to meet someone—a member of Glory MC, no less—it had to be in the men’s bathroom, covered in sweat and other questionable fluids! Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Consumed with a great need for the ground beneath me to swallow me whole, I thanked him and moved to grab the mop and bucket. As I passed him though, the biker’s large hand grasped my arm and pulled back. “What’s your name?” His voice was a rich tone, dark and penetrating.

“Indy.”

“Pretty name.”

Dammit. Why did that simple compliment affect me so much? “Thanks,” I said mildly.

“Haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?”

I nodded. “I just started today.”

Releasing me, the biker drew a hand over his shadowed jaw. “Hanna’s has needed the help. The woman thinks she can do it all on her own.”

“She’s done a pretty good job so far.”

“Yeah, she’s got a sharp mind. But ever since her business partner abandoned her, the work has been piling up. Glory MC helps once in a while, but she is adamant about doing it on her own.”

I got that sense from her. Hanna seemed like she knew exactly what she wanted and had no problem working for it. But the news about her partner leaving? That was news to me. “Maybe I came at the right time then.”

“Looks like.” The biker pointed at the toilet. “Although it seems like you have your hands full already.”

“I think she’s trying to teach me good work ethic.”

A grin appeared and he nodded. “The best way to learn is to get your hands dirty.” Hearing the word “dirty” fall from his lips made me think of far more filthier things than I’d find in this bathroom. “But don’t you think you’d be a better fit elsewhere?”

I smiled at his words. “I just started here. Trying to get rid of me already?”

“No.” He seemed to enjoy my playfulness. “It’s just that smart women know to stay away from Glory MC.”

“There must be a lot of idiots here then because everyone seems to want a piece of you.”

“Even you?”

My first instinct was to say yes. I had no qualms about giving this pony a ride. The whole package of the leather and the tattoos was enough for me to use him as my own personal playground. But I was the newest employee at Neptune’s. Going down that route would only lead to madness, and I was determined to remain on the straight and narrow. On a sigh, I mentally closed the door on that fantasy. “Nope,” I shot back. “I’m one of the smart ones.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” When he flashed me a grin, I almost flung that fantasy door wide open again. “What time does your shift end?”

“Um, well . . .” Hyper sexuality was one aspect in a constellation of problems with bipolar disorder. Had he been just a random guy at the bar, I might have honed into him with a berserker rage until I got what I wanted. Yet the next morning, he’d be nothing but a forgotten memory. One-night stands had quickly become a new hobby for me.

But as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t risk it. Especially not now when I was trying too hard to get my life together. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but this man intrigued me like no other person I had ever met before, and I had no idea why.

While I did the back and forth with myself, the biker took that opportunity to check me out. His eyes travelled over my face, down to my chest where his gaze intensified before dropping down to my legs, and finally, to my ruined Louboutins. My body buzzed as if he’d physically touched every part of me.

Then he flipped his gaze up to mine and locked on. While his appearance and his size intimidated the hell out of me, it was that intense gaze that surprised me the most. They looked haunted, yet experienced, as if he’d seen the worst of life and lived to tell about it. Someone that fearless was a big threat, and I didn’t want to get involved in any way. My life was complicated enough without adding danger into the mix.

Beneath his scrutiny, I felt completely vulnerable and unprotected. This alpha male had come in here and, true to his nature, had cornered me in this room. Instead of flirting back like I normally would’ve, I retreated. “Sorry. But I just got this job and I have a lot on my plate right now.”