Chapter One
“God damn it! You stupid bitch!” I had been sitting at a red
light when I felt a jolt and, looking into my rearview mirror, realized I had
just been rear-ended.
The nerve of some people. I slammed my door closed as I got
out of the car. Coming around to the back, I groaned aloud at the sight of my
taillight in pieces on the ground and then again as I saw the huge crack in the
bumper. A young woman got out of the car that had hit me, still talking on her
cell phone.
I felt my face go red with rage and my hands start to shake.
Walking over to her, I reached out to grab the phone that was stuck to her ear.
She looked at me in shock as I disconnected the call.
“You better have damn sure been talking to the police!”
“I’m sorry!” she stuttered and reached for her phone back,
but I jerked it out of her reach.
“Were you talking to the police?”
“No! Why do we need to call them? I barely hit you!”
“But you did hit me is the point! Call them!” I thrust the
cell back in her face.
“Can’t we work something out?” The whine in her voice warned
me of the coming tears but I showed no mercy.
“Absolutely. After you call the police so I can report what
an idiot you are!” It had already been a rough week for me and this was just
icing on the cake. Now I had to worry about fixing my car.
Seeing that the girl had no intention of making the call, I
went to my car to grab my own phone. Dialing the local police station, I
reported the accident and hung up, resigned to wait for god knew how long for
the officer to show. At least it wasn’t a busy intersection and we could leave
the cars where they were.
There was no way I was going to end up paying for the
repairs.
Another girl got out of the passenger side of the vehicle
and they stood chattering to each other. They couldn’t have been more than
twenty and that fact still didn’t manage to cool me off.
Hearing snippets of their conversation, my head started to
steam when the passenger looked my way and muttered, “Fucking bitch.”
Stomping to where they were standing, I wasn’t sure what I
intended but I was almost seeing red. “You wanna say that to my face?”
“Fucking bitch!”
I don’t know what I expected, but to have her take me up on
the challenge wasn’t it. “You stupid little brat! Where do you get off?” My
voice had risen and I was now screaming at her in the middle of the street.
“You guys managed to hit me and then you have the fucking nerve to call me a
bitch?”
Stepping up so our faces were inches apart, I contemplated
snatching some of the hair out of her cute little ponytail.
The girl’s hands tightened into fists and I smiled
venomously at her. I hadn’t been in a good fight in a long time and it might be
just what the doctor ordered to blow off this steam. I waited for her to make
the first move. I wasn’t born yesterday and was not stupid in the ways of the
law.
Suddenly a long arm shot between us and then another, making
a space where a man pushed his big body. There was no doubt in my mind that it
was a man. His height alone had him towering a good six inches over me.
Before I knew it, he had eased far enough in the middle of
us to add some much-.needed space between the girl and an ass kicking.
“Ladies, good afternoon. I’d like to see both of your
licenses and registrations, please.”
Turning on my heel, I swayed my hips as I got my purse out
of the passenger seat of my now cracked-up car. I could feel the officer’s eyes
on my ass as I leaned over. Pulling out my license and registration, I then
grabbed my insurance card. I knew how this would go.
Walking back over to where he stood, I held out the required
cards to him. And then found myself staring into the deepest chocolate-brown
eyes I had even seen. He was gorgeous—broad shoulders, a narrow waist and a
head of dark curls that I immediately wanted to run my fingers through. His
face was lean, with well-defined cheekbones
Deborah Coonts
S. M. Donaldson
Stacy Kinlee
Bill Pronzini
Brad Taylor
Rachel Rae
JB Lynn
Gwyneth Bolton
Anne R. Tan
Ashley Rose