Page 2

Chapter two

Mia

O ne more hour. That’s what I’m giving myself to finish this damn proposal. I’ve rewritten and triple-checked this thing within an inch of its life. I’m sick of being stuck inside the four beige walls of my office. I swear this proposal is going to be the death of me, but this is my first chance to really prove to the board that they made the right choice in hiring me. Not just because my family has been in this town for generations or because the former librarian retired and they were desperate for someone right away. Though both probably had something to do with me getting the position when I needed it. Either way, the why doesn’t matter. Shine may be a small town, but these kids deserve the best I can give them, and I didn’t spend years studying my ass off to coast through this job.

If Leonard, the vice principal of Shine High, doesn't approve this to go in front of the school board, then…well, I don’t know what I’ll do other than cry into a glass of wine with Lucy and Charlie. Charlie will be the good friend she always is. I can already picture her rubbing my back and offering me sweet treats. Lucy would probably think of inventive ways to get back at him—like putting dog shit under his car door handle or using his work email to sign him up for a bunch of erectile dysfunction websites. She’s already come up with a few in the year that I’ve had to deal with him.

To say my boss is an asshole is an understatement. He’s a misogynist who has zero respect for women…even the young girls in our high school.

My first run-in with him was when two kids were caught making out in the back of the library. Listen, teenage kids have raging hormones, and sometimes those pesky chemicals running rampant through their bodies take over the part of their brains responsible for making decisions. Case in point—having a heavy make-out session where anyone could wander in, which is exactly what happened. Leonard was walking around the library—which I already find odd, but whatever. It’s his school, as he likes to remind me, even though he’s only the vice principal.

He came upon two kids making out in the stacks, which I’m sure isn't the most scandalous thing to happen in that library to begin with. He pulled them into his office—me included since it happened in the library and that’s my domain. Leonard read the poor girl the riot act with some choice words for me and how I run my department. But, of course, the boy got nothing more than a light scolding about time and place. Fucking asshole. Should I have taken it above him? Probably, but I was brand new, and even though Leonard had only started a little bit before me, I was scared to cause problems. I’m a fixer. I put my head down and do everything that’s expected of me, and I do it without complaint.

And that’s what landed me back in Shine.

My parents decided that someone needed to stay close to my grandmother. They lived here when my brother and I were in high school but moved to Boston when I graduated and left for Phoenix to go to college. There was no way my grandmother was willing to relocate from the town she spent her entire life in. She absolutely refuses to go to any sort of retirement home—not when she has a huge house on several acres and a little cottage I stay in now. Honestly, it’s not as though she needs to move. Sure, she’s a bit older and doesn’t like to drive any longer, but the woman is as fiercely independent as she’s been my entire life. Even the driving thing is her choice. It’s not because she can’t, it’s that she would rather not. And you know what? Good for her. I wish I could afford to have someone else drive me everywhere I need to go.

They wanted to hire an in-home nurse for her, which she thought was just as ridiculous as I did, so instead, they offered to have me move back home and live on the property. Naturally, they didn’t bother to ask me first, and they conveniently left that little detail out when they broached the subject with her. She told them I was welcome to live in the cottage if I ever wanted to come home, and they told me that she requested that I live on the property. At least Nolan, my older brother, comes by his manipulation tactics honestly.

It was the same shit when my brother was getting into trouble here. They decided that Nolan needed a change of scenery and sent him to live with me in Phoenix. Telling me that he wanted out of Shine and to start a life free from the messes he was getting into around here. They told him I missed my family and was hoping he would come out to Phoenix to be close to me. I should have fucking known. They’ve been pulling this shit for as long as I can remember, but generally not on the scale of making people move across the country. Should I have confronted them and told them manipulation was not an acceptable form of parenting or, you know, a way they should be treating people in general? Probably, but again, I’m going to do what’s needed and not make waves.

Some could call me a pushover—Lucy may have mentioned a time or two—but I look at it as doing what needs to be done regardless of the reasons surrounding the situation. That’s just me. I’m the problem solver, the handler. The one everyone knows they can come to. I’ll always make sure things are sorted and taken care of. I’m not necessarily a control freak , but I’m always in control.

I have to be.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate well into my love life. I’ve had a total of two serious relationships. Apparently, men don’t like feeling mothered—or smothered, as one of my exes put it when he ended things with me. But it’s not exactly easy to compartmentalize the years of making sure my brother, and to some extent, my parents, were where they needed to be. I was the one who had to make all the appointments for my brother, and I had to make sure my parents were aware of whatever school functions were happening. They weren’t bad parents. They weren’t neglectful or abusive. They just had better things to do rather than make sure my brother was signed up for football or remember the date for parent-teacher conferences—or even know when I had to perform for band competitions. It was my responsibility to keep the family calendar updated with everything or it would fall through the cracks.

God, that sounds terrible.

My parents always made sure we were provided for, but having kids was more about optics than the actual parenting. Some probably thought we came from a rich, spoiled family, and that was true…to an extent. We were given anything we asked for, but we were far from the type of family who sat around the dinner table talking about our day.

My father was usually at some sort of business dinner in the city, and my mother always accompanied him. Or he’d be on a call or business trip. Again, with my mom by his side. She kept him organized and in line, and she considered it my responsibility to do the same for my brother and me. It’s not as though they didn’t show up for us. They always showed their faces at school events and such. When you handled the portfolios of Shine’s wealthiest residents, you made damn sure to look like the involved, loving family man that the others were. Or maybe, like everyone pretended they were.

Wouldn’t that just be a kick in the pants? What if all of them were pretending to care about their children’s lives in front of the other parents when they were all really as self-involved as the next? It’s not like I ever asked any of my friends if they were in charge of the family calendar that hung in their kitchen or if they had to send reminder texts to their parents about the schedule. I never asked if their parents left signed checks to be filled out for the fees of the various activities their kids were in—because chances were, when the due date came, their parents were out of town. Maybe if I had, I’d have realized it was far from a normal upbringing. But as usual, I kept my mouth shut and took care of it. It’s not as though we were being abused or anything, just overlooked.

I shake my head at the thought. Just overlooked . Jesus, I’ve become way too good at cosigning other people’s bullshit.

The phone sitting beside me vibrates with a text. Glancing down, I realize an hour has passed since I’ve been staring at the proposal in front of me and taking a sad little walk down memory lane.

Lucy : Okay lady, I have a drink sitting in front of me with your name on it .

She’s attached a picture of a whiskey on the rocks with a splash of 7UP—just how I like it.

She knows me so well.

Me : Be there in ten .

Her reply is a thumbs-up, and I begin packing up my things to get out of the small office, which is about the size of a broom closet, and head through the library to make sure everything is in order before I leave. My gaze travels across the displays that are set up throughout the space. Displays I poured my heart and soul into to make each and every one perfect. I stop for a moment, taking in the particular smell of all the books around me. A smile stretches across my face as I make my way through the front doors and into the parking lot. A sense of pride fills me as I walk to my car. God, I love the space I’ve created here. I may have arrived back in Shine under dubious pretenses, but I’ve created a life I’m beyond happy with—and I’m a kick-ass librarian, if I do say so myself.

“Where are you off to in a hurry?” a voice calls from behind me.

I nearly jump out of my skin, almost dropping the computer tucked under my arm, but I only lose my grip on my travel mug filled with cold tea. When it hits the ground, the lid pops off, splattering tea on my bare leg while the rest puddles on the black concrete.

Leonard bends down to pick up the mug and attempts to wipe the tea from my skin with his hand before I step away.

“I got it, thanks,” I say, a tad weirded out that he thought that was in any way, shape, or form appropriate.

He straightens and hands the mug back to me. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he says with a smirk on his face. Yeah, you look real sorry, buddy.

“Just startled. Not scared.” The need to clarify that seems important at the moment for some reason. “I’m meeting some friends, and I’m late.” The fact that people are expecting me also seems like a point that needs to be made. This guy is a prick, and I don’t want to be stuck talking to him longer than I have to.

“Going out on a school night? Do you think that’s wise? I still haven’t received that new library proposal.”

“I was under the impression I had until next week to get it to you.”

“Well, technically. But I can’t exactly hand something to the board without having a firm understanding of what you have in mind. We should probably set up a meeting after school before you officially turn it in so I can be sure you aren’t wasting your time with something that I don’t think will pass muster.”

“I can check my schedule tomorrow and set up a time,” I reply, more than slightly offended that he has the gall to suggest I don’t know how to write up a proposal for some school funding. Jesus, I do actually know what I’m doing. That is if the degree from Arizona State is anything to go by. But what do I know?

“We could do it now. Unless going out with your friends is more important than getting the funding for whatever little library programs you were thinking of implementing.”

Little library programs? The man is lucky my hands are full, or I’d be hard-pressed not to punch him in the throat.

Shit, I’ve been hanging out with Lucy too much.

My spine straightens as I clear my throat and look the asshole dead in the eye. “Like I said, Leonard, I’ll check tomorrow. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get going. Thank you for your concern over my proposal.” I plaster a tight smile on my face as Leonard looks at me with a clenched jaw.

“I prefer my employees to call me Mr. Miller.”

“That’s fine with me, Mr. Miller. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.” I hold his stare with my own, though the smile remains brittle on my face. If he thinks he’s going to be able to bring any attitude issues to our principal, he has another thing coming. I’m smiling, goddammit.

Leonard turns on his heels, and I watch him walk to his car and unlock his door. He gets in the driver’s seat and starts his engine before I turn and take the final steps to my car. After I unload everything in my arms into the back seat, I get in my car and take a couple deep breaths to calm my frayed nerves.

Who the hell does that man think he is? First, the snide remarks about me having a social life on a school night. Then, he insinuates that I need his help on a proposal. I’ve spent the better part of two weeks working on it to make sure every i is dotted and t crossed. I’m damn dedicated to my job, and the last thing I need is his help.

My phone vibrates, and I look down, seeing a message from Lucy.

Lucy : Where are you?

Lucy : I drank the cocktail I ordered for you. Didn’t want you to start the night with a watered-down drink.

She sends me a picture of the glass with nothing left except some ice cubes, and I laugh.

Me : Thanks for looking out to make sure I have the highest quality cocktail experience. I’m on my way. I hope you ordered me another one…I need it.

Lucy : On it.

Starting my engine, I pull out of my parking spot in the faculty lot. A shiver runs down my spine, and I look at Leonard's car. His taillights are illuminated, so I know the car is running. I may be overreacting after that weird and annoying-as-hell interaction, but I get this sudden feeling he’s sitting in his car watching me. It’s not like I can see inside his car, but if I pointed my headlights at his back window, I’m ninety-nine point nine percent sure I'd see him staring at me through his rearview mirror.

Knock it off, Mia.

He might be a little weird and a huge asshole, but you’re making him out to be some creepy stalker. Prick—yes. Stalker is reaching, though.

I pull out and see him do the same, turning in the other direction. It’s more likely he was waiting for me to leave to make sure I got out okay since we were the only two left. Maybe he does have some manners, after all.

But he’s still a dick.

“He said what ?” Lucy asks, eyes narrowed as I recount the story of running into Leonard in the parking lot.

“Basically that I’m nothing more than a stupid little girl who didn't bust her ass in college, and I’m more interested in hanging out with friends than doing my job. Yeah, you heard all of that right.”

“Mr. Miller, my ass .” Lucy leans around me and looks at Charlie, who’s sitting on the other side of me at the long, dark oak bar top. “You know what we should do—”

I lean forward and cut off her view of Charlie. “Nothing. No one is going to do anything. I can handle it.”

Charlie lets out a soft laugh. “Good luck with that, Mia. You know how she is when she gets a bee in her bonnet. And nothing puts one there faster than someone messing with one of her nearest and dearest.”

Though I don’t love the threat of Lucy taking out her anger on Leonard—even though he probably deserves it—my heart warms at Charlie referring to me as one of Lucy’s close friends. There were a few girls in band who I hung out with in high school, but we weren’t really that close. I was too busy keeping everyone in my family in line, and honestly, my brother used to tease me relentlessly about being a band geek. I never invited anyone to my house because I was afraid of what he would say in front of them. Then, when I went to college, we all kind of lost touch.

When I walked into Thorn and Thistle right after moving back to town and starting at Shine High, Maizie was working, and she immediately introduced me to Charlie and Lucy. Maizie and I were in band together, and she made fast friends with the two women sitting on either side of me. It took hardly any time at all for them to welcome me into the fold. Now, I can confidently say these women have turned into the best friends any girl could dream of. Lucy has even tried to give our group a nickname over the last year I’ve been here. Thankfully, Charlie has shot all her ideas down.

“Listen, he’s just a bully. Hell, he was probably bullied in high school, and now he takes it out on the rest of the world. I can deal with his bullshit. Besides, aside from this proposal that I’ll be presenting, we have very little interaction. Well, other than having to deal with horny teenagers making out in the stacks.”

“Did you ever make out in the library? Get hot and heavy with a guy?” Charlie asks, dramatically wiggling her eyebrows.

“I most certainly did not.” I cover my chest with my hand, feigning as though the very idea of what she said is the most scandalous thing I’ve ever heard.

“I’m sure there were a couple guys you wished would have felt you up under that bulky band jacket, though,” Lucy says, laughing at her own joke.

“We didn’t wear those to school,” I reply.

“Did you have a boyfriend in high school? I don’t remember ever seeing you with anyone or talking about a guy you liked,” Maizie says from the other side of the bar.

There was one guy who I had a major crush on from the time I was fourteen and saw him on the football field.

“Maybe Knox would be up for indulging some of your library fantasies,” Lucy says, taking a sip of her cocktail while she slowly and deliberately blinks in my direction.

“Shut up.” I laugh and smack her in the arm. “He didn’t know I existed back then, and he doesn’t now. And I didn’t have library fantasies.”

At least none that I’m willing to admit to.

Lucy sets her drink on the bar and pins me with her gaze. “Trust me when I say this, babe. I don’t know what you were like in high school, but grown-up Mia is hot as fuck. If he doesn’t see that, he’s an idiot. And if you don’t think he’s noticed, you're just as big of an idiot.”

“Well, high school Mia was nothing to write home about,” I grumble.

“I’m sure you were as pretty then as you are now. Too good for any stupid high school boy,” Charlie encouragingly chimes in.

“Did you ever see that movie about the girl who’s a reporter and goes back to her high school pretending to be a student for some undercover story?” I ask.

Charlie nods.

“Remember the flashback scenes of her actually in high school?”

Charlie nods again, this time with a slight wince on her face.

“Yeah, that was me.”

I know I’m not bad-looking now. Lucy may be in much better shape than I am, and I don’t have that natural waif thing Charlie has going on, but it’s not as though I think of myself as some sort of troll. I’m what you would consider cute, not beautiful.

After high school, I discovered hair products and hair tools and learned how to style my thick auburn locks that have always set off my light-brown eyes. My pale skin and freckles make me look much younger than my age, which was a pain in the ass in college when I would try to go to bars. Every bouncer would scrutinize my ID, not believing I was legally allowed to drink. Once I got my braces off, I was definitely much more confident and started smiling more. But catching the eye of a six-foot-three biker—who is somehow even hotter in leather than I could have imagined when I used to see him on the field in his football uniform—is an entirely different story.

And I’m totally fine with that.

The man barely talks to me or looks in my direction. Not that I give him much reason to. I may be more confident in myself now than back in our high school days, but the second Knox comes around, I clam up like a lovestruck teenager. It’s honestly embarrassing, which is why I tend to avoid him at all costs.

“I’m sure most of us have embarrassing high school pictures. It just means you hadn’t peaked, and thank God for that. Trust me, I see plenty of guys who peaked in high school come in here, and the cliff they fell off afterward was none too kind,” Maizie says, pouring another drink for Lucy. “Want one?” she asks, pointing to my glass.

“No, I’m taking it easy tonight. I need to show up to work tomorrow bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Otherwise, Leonard will probably say something about me being hungover and not taking my job seriously.” I roll my eyes and slouch against my seat.

“Seriously, fuck that douche,” Lucy says. “If you want him taken care of, you let me know. Maybe I could send Jude to have a little word with him—”

“Don’t even think about it,” I interject before she breathes too much life into that thought. “I can say, with the utmost certainty, that would only make things harder on me. Plenty of people in this town appreciate the MC and everything they do for Shine, but there’re still some who don’t, and they sit on the school board. One word from Leonard about being harassed by a biker, and my life at work will be infinitely more difficult.”

My family’s legacy may have played a role in me getting my job, but that doesn’t mean I’m untouchable.

Lucy shakes her head. “Fucking small-town bullshit.”

“You don’t know the half of it, sister,” Maizie says.

Getting pregnant by some unknown man in a town the size of Shine can’t have been easy for Maizie. When all of her friends were starting careers, she was changing diapers and trying to figure out how to support a child as a single parent. Adding in the rumors and whispers from the assholes around town made it an unnecessarily rough few years. I’m happy as hell she works for the Black Roses. They’ve taken her under their wings, and now I haven’t seen even a judgmental glance in her direction from anyone since I’ve moved back.

An hour passes, and I’m sipping from the glass of water that I switched to after my second drink. When the front door opens, four bikers saunter inside like they own the place. Well, I suppose technically they do.

“Hey, Charlie Bear,” Linc says, coming to his girlfriend’s side before leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. “Having fun?”

Charlie nods enthusiastically—she has not stuck to a two-drink minimum—and Linc gives her a lovingly indulgent smile.

“Hey, Lucifer,” Jude says as he sits next to Lucy, and Wyatt takes a seat next to him.

“Hey there, buttercup,” she replies with a drunk giggle tacked onto the end.

Jude’s eyebrows lift nearly to his hairline as he looks from Lucy to me. “How many drinks has she had?”

I laugh and shake my head. “More than me, that’s for sure.”

“Hey,” Lucy interjects. “I’m trying something sweet. Thought you would prefer it over ‘asshole.’”

Jude leans in and gives her a hard kiss on the mouth. “I like it. Since you’re feeling sweeter today, maybe when we get home, you let me put—”

Lucy covers his mouth with her hand. “Don’t push your luck.” She quickly jerks it back, looks down at her palm, then back to Jude. “Did you just lick my hand?”

Jude shrugs. “If it’s on my face, I’m going to lick it.”

Linc groans next to Charlie. “You two have a weird-ass idea of foreplay.”

I turn in my seat at the bar and see Cash sitting at a table behind us. He holds up two fingers.

Wait…who else is coming?

Knox walks through the door with his phone to his ear before saying a quick goodbye to whoever he’s talking to and slipping his phone in the pocket of his jeans.

God, he looks good. His cheeks are pink, probably from the cold wind while he was riding. His distinct scent of cedar and leather tickles my nose even from where I’m sitting several feet away. I can appreciate a man whose jeans mold to his body, not because they’re tight, but because his muscular legs fill them out so well. Couple that with the dark hoodie he’s wearing under his leather cut, and I’m practically drooling. He runs a hand through his dark-blond hair in that cool, confident way that reminds me of those silly teen movies I loved growing up. It’s fitting since I always thought he was far cuter than the actors in said movies. When his bright-blue eyes scan the bar, my cheeks heat as I abruptly turn back around and face the liquor-lined wall on the other side of the bar top.

Lifting the glass to my lips, I realize there’s nothing left except ice cubes, which I gladly start chewing as though it was my intention all along. Maizie shoots me a look, and I pray my smile doesn’t make me look as nervous as I feel. When I’m not prepared to see Knox, it’s as though I’m looking into the sun.

Jesus, get a grip, Mia . The sun?

But Knox has always had this effect on me, and seeing as I’m nearly thirty years old, it’s probably even more juvenile and ridiculous than it was when I was fourteen.

“You want another water?” Maizie asks.

I quickly shake my head and set my glass down. “No. I should actually get going.”

She shrugs and sets a beer in front of Wyatt, which he accepts with a small smile tilting the corner of his mouth. That man has it bad. I’ve been around the club enough in the last year or so to know that particular smile is one he reserves only for our gorgeous bartender.

“Fuck that guy,” Lucy pipes up. “You better not be leaving because of what he said earlier.”

Suddenly, I feel a large presence at my back, and that cedar scent is stronger than it was moments before.

“Who said what to you?” Knox asks, although it comes out as more of a growl.

“Her boss is an asshole. Made some comment about her being out on a school night,” Lucy oh so helpfully explains.

I shoot her a glare, but she doesn’t catch it. You know who does though? Knox, because he’s standing right behind me, staring at me through the mirror behind the bar.

“It’s not a big deal. He seems to have a problem with women, and I’m…” I wave my hand over my body, indicating that I am, in fact, a woman.

“Does he make you feel uncomfortable?” Jude asks.

“No, he makes me irritated, but that’s really nothing new. It’s honestly fine. It’s not like this is the first guy I’ve ever come across who didn't get enough hugs from his mom or some shit.”

“If it becomes a problem, let me know,” Knox says, and I swear I can feel the rumble of his words in my chest even though he’s far from touching me.

“I got it,” I reply, and Knox’s eyes darken with some sort of emotion that he quickly shuts down.

Grabbing my purse from where it’s hanging on my chair, I get up and pat the seat. “All yours,” I say to Knox, giving him a double thumbs-up. He looks at me, clearly confused. A thumbs-up? Really, Mia?

After an awkward laugh, with my cheeks feeling as though they’re on fire with embarrassment, I head over to Charlie and give her a hug, then turn and give one to Lucy, whispering in her ear, “You just couldn’t keep your damn trap shut, could you?”

Her response is a loud giggle, and when I stand straight, I give her my most intimidating glare, which only serves to make her laugh harder.

“Let me know you got home safe,” she calls as I make my way out the door to my car.

The temperature has dropped significantly since the sun went down while we were inside. Though the days are sunny, there’s a chill in the air that serves as a stark reminder that winter has barely melted away in Massachusetts.

The road back to my place is empty, which isn’t unusual for this time of night. My grandmother lives on the outskirts of Shine in one of the wealthy neighborhoods on a fair bit of land, which is great for me. It makes it feel less like I’m living at home and more like I have my own place, even though it’s not. Not really, anyways. She’s made it clear that the cottage is mine to do with what I like, but it still feels like hers, even though I doubt she’s stepped foot in the place for years.

I’m singing along to the radio when my car starts vibrating, and it feels like I’m being pulled to the side of the road. I slow down and instantly recognize the thumping noise of a flat tire.

“Goddammit,” I grit out, pulling over to the side of the road. “Of fucking course.”

I press the button to pop the trunk of my practical sedan. People would think I’d have some fancy top-of-the-line car, but they’d be wrong. My parents probably would’ve given me the money to pay for one if I’d asked, but like most things, I never bothered. It’s not like I can’t afford a car on my own. Besides, it’s my brother who they have to worry about driving a safe car or having enough for groceries, rent, and bills. The man is over thirty years old and still gets a fucking allowance from my parents—even though he hasn’t visited in years. I take a bit of pride in not having turned out like my brother, though it was entirely possible had I not been the one who my family depended on from such an early age. No skin off my nose. The last time I spoke to him wasn’t exactly a pleasant conversation, and that was five years ago.

My body is bent over, my top half in the trunk as I try to get a solid grip on the jack and spare tire when a gust of wind sends my skirt flying over my ass. I’m too damn annoyed that I’m in this ridiculous predicament to begin with to give my exposed rear anything more than an eye-roll. At least it’s late and no other cars are driving home from work.

That relief is short-lived when I hear the loud rumble of a motorcycle engine on the otherwise empty road.

It couldn’t be. There’s no way the universe would be that cruel.

I stand up straight and slowly turn to see a black Harley pull off to the side of the road. Knox parks his bike before he swings his long leg over the seat and stands. It may be dark without any streetlights, but I swear to God, the man is wearing an annoyingly hot smirk across his full lips.

“Need some help?”

Yeah, into my trunk so I can shut it and die of embarrassment.