Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection (100 page)

INDECENT DESIRES

By

KYLIE WALKER

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2016 by KYLIE WALKER

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. KYLIE WALKER holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

Sign Up to Kylie’s Newsletter Here!

Chapter 1

“Crystal, do you want another one?” Ryan’s voice brought Crystal out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked at the drink in her hand. It was nothing but ice. Normally she would have said no but tonight she felt like she needed the escape, or the strength. She looked at Ryan with his plain brown hair and dull brown eyes and she said, “Alright, I’ll have one more.”

She knew she wasn’t being fair to him. He’s really not a bad looking guy. It was just her mood, and the fact that he was in fact, dull. She scanned the dance floor and saw Debbie dancing with a tall well-built dark headed guy with a lot of tattoos. She looked like she was enjoying herself. Debbie has a knack for doing that no matter what else is going on in her life. Crystal used to be able to do that…but something about the monotony of being with Ryan had brought her down to a place she’d never been. In the past she would have spent all day thinking about dancing in the club to the deafening loud music with her friends after a long, grueling week at school. She’d be laughing and joking and the beat of the music and the lights and the smiles on her friend’s faces would make her feel really alive. They would dance until last call and then they’d leave arm in arm, giggling and talking about the men they’d met and danced with as they hailed a cab, but not tonight….or any night lately. Lately she comes with Ryan because her friends beg her to and they sit at a table as far away from the “incessant noise” as possible. Clubs aren’t Ryan’s “thing.” He doesn’t care for the noise or all of the people. He goes anyways because Crystal wants to…for which she gives him credit. But while they’re there, they don’t dance and there’s no laughing and silliness…it’s like drinks with one of her legal professors…just fucking dull. Tonight her mind is filled with all of the scenarios related to what she knew she had to do. She’s been thinking of breaking up with Ryan and tonight she was past thinking about it. She was in the planning stages, and as much as she hated the idea of hurting him…she knew that she had to do it sooner rather than later.

Ryan left to get the drinks and she continued watching the fun-loving people on the dance floor. Heather, a good friend of she and Debbie, was dancing with her boyfriend Craig. Crystal envied their relationship. They have been together since high school and they seem so in love still. Heather and Craig were only in New York for the weekend. They live in Jersey where Crystal and Debbie grew up. Craig works for Crystal’s dad in his contracting business. She watched them kiss and thought: I felt love like that once, the kind that seizes not just your heart but your breath and everything inside of you. It consumes you…and then one day out of nowhere, he decides that it’s over and you never saw it coming. Just like Ryan…the poor thing. Crystal truly hoped that breaking up with him wouldn’t leave him as devastated as she was then. Ryan has a lot going for him. She hoped that maybe he’ll be like her and just find a distraction to get him through it. After her break-up, she put everything she had into focusing on her dreams. She poured herself into her studies and set about soaking up every crumb of knowledge she could grasp in law school.

Crystal met Ryan about a year ago and even while she was adamantly against getting into another relationship, he’d wedged his way into her life anyways. He’s just so blasé. There’s no impulsiveness in his DNA at all. If Crystal woke up and wanted to go sky diving tomorrow, she would do it. Ryan on the other hand, would list all of the reasons that it was silly and dangerous and end with how they should save their time and money for important things, things like getting married and starting a family. Those were things he talked about a lot, and things that Crystal wasn’t sure that she even wanted. She absolutely knew that she didn’t want them right now. She’s only twenty-three. She has plenty of time for that later in life.

“Here you go.” Ryan sat the drink down in front of her, “You’re not going to dance with Debbie?”

Crystal smiled. Debbie tried to drag her out there before the last song started. It wasn’t because Debbie needed her, but because she knew that Ryan wasn’t about to dance with her. Debbie felt bad for Crystal…and once Crystal let her in on what she was going to do tonight, she’d been relieved. Debbie didn’t have anything against Ryan…nobody did, really. He was actually one of those guys who barely left an impression at all. Debbie thought Crystal deserved more than that out of life.

“She looks like she’s doing fine,” She thought that it would be nice to at least have a good time before she broke his heart so in a last ditch effort she said, “We could dance you know.”

“You know I have two left feet,” was once again, his reply. That was always his reply as if that excused him from trying, or learning how…or just plain making a fool of himself like half the other people out there were doing. She sighed and sipped her drink. He tried to grab her hand and she brushed it off. Pulling her phone out of her purse she looked at the time. It was just after twelve-thirty. The others would probably still be going strong an hour from now. Crystal wasn’t up for another hour of this.

“Ryan I’m just about ready to leave,”

“What’s that?” he said, indicating he couldn’t hear.

“I said, let’s finish these and go!”

“Sure!” As he yelled that out, the music stopped. He furrowed his brows and said, “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, why?”

“I don’t know. You seem different tonight. You seem distant.”

“I guess I do need to talk,” she said, “But this isn’t really the place. There is too much music and background noise.”

He nodded his head in agreement and tossed back the rest of his beer. “Let’s go then”

Crystal motioned to Debbie and Heather, pointed at the exit and waved. She got up then and followed Ryan outside to get a cab.

“My place or yours?” he asked as they climbed in the back of the cab.

“Both.” she answered.

She wasn’t remotely interested in a sleepover tonight. She thought about Ryan’s soft delicate hands and how she wished for them to be strong and manly so many nights.  She listened with annoyance as he gave the cab driver her address only and then he turned to her and said, “What’s going on, Crystal?” He wasn’t an expert in the love department, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew something wasn’t right.

She took a deep breath and twisting a piece of her long red hair around her fingers she said, “Ryan, I just want to be alone tonight.” Realizing she was about to chicken out again she quickly added, “Maybe not just tonight. I don’t think I feel the same. I’m sorry.” The look on his face went from confused to hurt and she hated it. She could actually relate to how he was feeling. She’d been in his place before…thinking everything was going well and that they had a future…but this just wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t any fairer to him than it was to her. While he was wasting his time on a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere, he could be building one that would last a lifetime…with someone else.

Finally he said, “What?” Like maybe he thought he’d heard her wrong. Then in a hurt voice that tugged at her heart he said, “So that’s it huh? You’re breaking up with me?”

“I’m sorry Ryan…but you know you knew from the beginning that the last thing I wanted was to get into a serious relationship. I’ve tried to be honest. I’ve tried to tell you that I’m just not ready for marriage…and most certainly not for kids.”

The cab pulled up to her apartment building as he sat stoically staring ahead. She reached for the door and the driver said, “$26.50.”

“Hang on,” Ryan said, “I’ll need you to take me to 233 Madison.” He looked back at Crystal like he was going to say something else, but then quickly looked away. She climbed out and stood on the sidewalk and watched him go. She supposed that breaking up in the back of a cab wasn’t the best place she could have done it. The club would have been even more impersonal. But, letting him come up would have been too risky. In private he would have gone out of his way to change her mind. She wasn’t going to change her mind, but she didn’t want to drag things out any longer than she already had.

With a sigh that was a mixture of sadness and relief, she headed up to her little apartment. She and Debbie had lived there since right out of high school. They felt fortunate to have found it. It was a small one bedroom, but it had an office that they’d decorated together and converted into a room for Debbie. Crystal paid the majority of the rent since she’d been left a hefty inheritance when her mother died a few years prior but Debbie’s portion definitely helped her money last now that she was in law school. She and Debbie got along great too and although most of their friends changed roommates like underwear, she was sure that she and Debbie would make it until one or the other of them decided to move on with their life.

Crystal let herself in and sank into the couch. She tried to shake off the residual bad feelings she had from hurting Ryan. She focused instead on the upcoming year. It’s her last year of law school and nearly time for her to begin her internship. She knew how fortunate she was to have a parent who knew so many people in the D.A.’s office. She knew the internship was given to her partly because of her late mother Susan’s, friendship with the Executive Assistant D.A. John Kramer. Crystal’s mother was a criminal psychologist that worked closely with the D.A.’s office and her opinions and testimony had been respected, valued and sought after right up until the time of her death. She was killed in a car accident two years ago and in spite of the fact that Crystal had spent the last several years of her life being angry with her over causing the break-up of her marriage to Crystal’s father…she missed her. She also appreciated the fact that her mother had provided for her education. Her father wasn’t exactly poor but law school would have definitely been a stretch on a contractor’s salary.

She thought about John Kramer again and she hoped that someone that high up and important in the city’s justice system wouldn’t have chosen her based only on who she was. She had worked hard in school and she had the grades to prove it. She’d like to believe that even without John’s relationship with her mother, she would have been chosen on her own merits. Whatever the case was, she was excited about it and she planned on making her own name as respected as her mother’s someday. 

Chapter 2

Crystal sat in the lobby of the Manhattan DA’s office along with nine of her fellow law students awaiting their assignments for their internships. It wasn’t the first time she’d been here. She’d stopped by more than once to see her mother when she was alive. They’d recently redecorated it and Crystal was trying to decide if she liked it or not. It was definitely warmer. They’d changed the floors from the old white linoleum to a dark brown that shone like glass and set off the beige color of the walls and the burnt orange of the drapes. The drapes were the only real “human” touch. The decorations on the walls were photos of the D.A. and A.D.A.’s as well as certificates and plaques for one award or another. She supposed that in the chaotic world we lived in and the chaos this office sees daily, too much “fluff” might just be another distraction.

Crystal looked at the photos of Eric Steel and his A.D.A.’s. His photo didn’t do him justice…not that she’d ever seen him in person. But what she had seen of him on television belied a face and body that could have graced the covers of magazines like men’s health and even Playgirl. He’s that good-looking…and it was obvious in the way he spoke and carried himself that he knew it. The picture here in the lobby looked as if they’d tried hard to focus on his strong features rather than his good-looks. Without a paper sack over his head though, they’d be hard to hide. All of the students had already been made aware by their instructor that only male interns would be assigned to him and Crystal was almost certain she’d be assigned to John Kramer anyways. John was the most senior ADA and as such Eric had promoted him as soon as he was elected into office. He had given him the title of: Executive Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Trial Division. He is the one that prosecutes the most serious violent crimes in the office. John could have run for D.A. himself, but her mother always said he had no political aspirations.

Their instructor hadn’t given them any specifics about why Eric could only have male interns, but Eric’s reputation preceded him. They all knew that he was the youngest district attorney that Manhattan had ever seen. That was due to his brilliance and tenacity in the court room. They also knew that he was one of the most sought after bachelors in Manhattan due to the fact that even at forty-one years old he was drop-dead gorgeous with the added bonus of being the son of an oil-tycoon and filthy rich.

“I hope I get assigned to Barbara Jess.” Crystal looked over next to her towards the sound of the voice. It was Cindy Kim. Cindy is one of those people who is practically a genius on paper, but rarely speaks above a whisper and acts like she hates confrontation. Crystal wouldn’t normally have an issue with that, but she wondered how the mousey little woman would ever make it in a cut-throat environment like the law especially as a prosecutor. She understood wanting to be assigned to Barbara though. She’d followed her career and the woman never failed to amaze her. She had an outstanding conviction record and whenever she spoke in an interview or at a press conference, her intelligence and confidence shown through. She was sure those weren’t Cindy’s reasons however. She smiled at her and asked,

“Because she’s the only female?” Cindy nodded. Still smiling Crystal said, “You do know that she has a reputation for being tough and very outspoken, right?” Cindy nodded again and then she said, “But she has to be nicer than the others, right?”

Crystal laughed and shrugged. Art, another classmate of theirs said, “They’re going to stick me with Steel. I just know it.”

“So what’s wrong with that?” Crystal asked. “You’re cute Art but from what I hear you’re not his type.” Art is openly gay and he and Crystal have become pretty good friends. She knew him well enough to feel comfortable joking with him about his sexuality.

“Don’t be surprised, I’ve turned men before,” he said with a mischievious grin. Crystal laughed and Cindy gasped. “It’s not about that,” he said, turning serious. “I just hear he works his interns to the bone and never allows them to have an opinion of their own. You know I have fabulous opinions.”

Crystal pat his hand and said, “Yes, we all know your opinions are fabulous. Think of it this way though, he’s supposedly the best D.A. this city has ever seen. In his five year career he has the highest conviction rate of any New York D.A. Imagine how good working with him is going to look on your resume. Besides, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot along the way too.”

He rolled his eyes. “I guess. You’ve got the easiest gig of us all.”

“I don’t know any more than you do who I’ll be assigned to,” she lied. Well, she didn’t know for sure, but she assumed that John would pick her. She’d rather it was Barbara, but she was at least ninety percent convinced it would be John. Art rolled his eyes again and said, “Yeah right. You’re going to get to work with John Kramer, the nicest guy in the building and the one who gets to prosecute the best cases.” John had done a few presentations for their class. Crystal had to agree with Art, he was the nicest guy on the team.

“I hear David Townsend is as much of a philanderer as his boss is.” Crystal looked over at Rebecca. Rebecca Stout was that one student it seems is in every class. She was the one who always put her hand up just as the instructor was about to dismiss the class…and asked another question. She’s smart, but she constantly second-guesses herself.

“I’ve heard that too,” Crystal said. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him.

“He’s beautiful,” Cindy whispered. That elicited a laugh from Art. Crystal was shocked. It was the first time she’d heard Cindy make a comment like that about anyone.

“He is?” she said.

“Yes,” Cindy sighed…even that was a whisper. “He’s blonde and blue-eyed…I think he played football in college. He looks like a football player still…” She looked up at his photo. Crystal followed her eyes. He was…nice looking, but his photo was next to Steel’s, and that was probably his undoing.

“How do you know so much about him?” Art asked her. Cindy looked like she’d suddenly said too much. She shrugged and looked back down at her shoes.

Feeling bad for her, Crystal changed the subject. “So what about the other one…what’s his name?”

“Kevin Waters,” Art said. “I guess I’d rather work with the Casanova than him. I hear he’s a class A asshole.”

“He’s not an asshole, he’s a perfectionist,” Rebecca said. “His conviction record is almost as good as Eric’s.” Kevin’s picture was of a middle-aged man who did look pretty hard around the eyes and mouth. Crystal never heard much at all about him and she followed the D.A.’s office pretty closely.

“Hmm, maybe he’s after Eric’s job,” Art said. “Asshole, perfectionist…either way, it would be hell.”

“Not if you remember your training…” Rebecca also had a driving need to always get in the last word. Art stopped her with the narrowing of his brown eyes. She got on his nerves and he was kind of hard at hiding it.

“There was a lot of good information in the handbook,” Crystal said, trying to take a neutral position.

“Twenty six…long pages,” Art said with a fake yawn. Crystal laughed. She looked up then as a middle-aged woman with a severe bun and a sharply pressed business suit came through the door.

“Can I have your attention please?” Everyone had been talking amongst themselves but the room fell silent and the nervous tension in the air returned. “I am Mrs. Jennifer Irwin. I’m the administrative assistant to the district attorney and also in charge of all hiring of anyone in the legal department. I’ll be giving you your assignments today. Please make a note of the office you’ll need to report to and wait until I’ve finished before going to your post. Today will be a full work day unless you’re told differently by your supervisor. From here on out your supervisor will be the one to give you your schedules but if you have any questions regarding your time sheets, you’ll come to me. I’ll be the one signing off your hours so if you have any issues or questions about that, you’ll come to me as well. I hope that your time here will be productive as well as enjoyable. If there are any questions you have that you don’t know who to ask, I’m always available. Now, here we go…Art Gwynn and Jeff Brooks,” Art and Jeff both stepped forward. Crystal almost smiled at how different the two men were. Jeff is one of those men who practically ooze testosterone. He’s not good-looking in a classic sense, but what he lacks in facial features he makes up for in his muscular frame. He’s a good six-inches taller than Art and his two-hundred pounds dwarfs Art’s one-fifty. Their differences hadn’t held them back from being friends however and they at least seemed happy to have each other when Mrs. Irwin said, “You two will report to conference room A down the hall and to the left. You’ll be interning with Mr. Steel.” Art glanced sideways at Crystal. She shot him a subtle thumbs up. She got a raised middle finger behind his back in return.

“Cindy Kim and Rebecca Stanfield?” The two young women stepped forward. Poor Cindy looked like a nervous wreck. “You two will report to conference room B. You’ll be interning with ADA Jess.” Cindy at least looked relieved by that. “Crystal Reid and Joe Riley.” Crystal stepped forward and so did Joe. Joe was one of the older students in class. He never told Crystal exactly how old he was, but she’d guess at least forty-five. He did say he was “starting his life over” after getting hurt on his old job. He was paunchy and balding, but he had a good sense of humor and although he seemed to have to work harder to keep up than the twenty-something’s, he was always willing to do it. “You two will be reporting to conference room C and you’ll be with ADA Kramer.” Crystal wasn’t surprised. She was also happy to be working with Joe. Mrs. Irwin gave the last three people their assignments and then said, “I wish you all the best of luck. Let’s get started.”

She left the room and they all gathered their things. “Who wants to meet at Nita’s tonight for a celebratory drink?” Art asked them.

“What are we celebrating?” Callie, one of the girls who’d been assigned to work with David Townsend asked.

Art rolled his eyes. He wasn’t the most tolerant of people. Callie was one of those girls who at first glance, seemed like the “dumb blonde.” They all knew differently since her grades were always in the top of their class. She annoyed Art anyways with her naivety. “Our first day of internship.”

Everyone agreed they would try to make it before heading to their posts. On the way down the hall Joe said, “So, how well do you know John Kramer?”

“I’ve met him several times,” she said. “He was a friend of my mother’s.”

“Your Mom was one of the best criminal psychologists in New York,” Joe said. Crystal stopped walking and pulled her brows together in the middle. She didn’t talk much about her personal life in class.

“How do you know that?”

“I was a bailiff in my former life,” he said.

“Really? You’ve never talked about what you used to do.”

He shrugged. “It’s not a fun story to tell. I was escorting an inmate from the holding cell in the back into court and he attacked me. He had a shank and he stabbed me with it right in my lower back. For a while they thought I wasn’t going to be able to walk again. I proved them wrong there, but I won’t ever be strong enough to pass the physical for the job. Since I was hurt on the job, they paid to retrain me. Here I am.”

“Wow Joe! I had no idea. I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m having a great time in law school and I think I’ll make a hell of a lawyer.”

Crystal laughed. “So do I, Joe. Come on; let’s go see what John has for us to do.”

They made their way to conference room C and found a tiny young woman with spiky black hair and bright red lips waiting for them. She reminded Crystal of a pixie. “Hi guys! I’m Dana. I’m John’s secretary. He was on a conference call but he’ll be out in just a few.”

“Hi, I’m Crystal,” Crystal shook her hand. Joe introduced himself and did the same. The small woman was rearranging things on the desk as she spoke to them and rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Nice to meet you both and welcome aboard, there’s coffee over against the wall you can help yourselves. I’m on my way down to records but like I said, John will be right with you.”

They thanked her and watched her scoop up the files in one arm and bounce out the door. When she was gone Joe smiled and said, “She’s a little ball of energy, isn’t she?” Crystal laughed and nodded. They both got a cup of coffee and a few minutes later John came in with another young woman. This one was blonde and might be attractive if not for the harsh look on her face which seemed to be directed at Crystal. Crystal smiled at her anyways and that seemed to make her pinch her face up even more.

John took Crystal’s hand and gave her a warm smile. “Crystal, it’s so good to see you again. Look at you! You’re all grown up.” Crystal felt herself blush.

“It’s good to see you too, John. Thank you for this.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see the blonde glaring at her. What is her problem?

“This was all you. Your transcripts are impressive. And you must be Joe?” He turned to Joe then and the two men shook hands.

“Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure,” Joe said.

“It’s good to meet you Joe. Your transcripts were impressive as well. This is my assistant Tanya Steadman.” Tanya smiled and nodded at Joe, once again she glared at Crystal. “I’m afraid I have to be in court this afternoon, but Tanya will get you both started with a tour and show you to your offices. I’m afraid neither of them is very large, but it’s nice that we have the space on this floor for you both to have your own.” Crystal wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect of an afternoon with Tanya. The woman couldn’t seem to look at her without a grimace. She thanked John however and so did Joe and then John left to head for court.