by Debra Jess
“Sure do,” the guy replied. “Brings a man out on a night not fit for sewer rats.”
Ulysses reached under the cash tray, palmed something, and shook the man’s hand, giving him what he’d taken out.
“Be gentle,” Ulysses said. “And be careful on that ice.”
“Will do,” said the man, a common-looking, middle-aged fellow. I couldn’t imagine what he might be getting for a tip. He slipped out with a rattle like a specter of smoke or a final breath.
“Me too,” Ernie Ray said. “I need a tip.”
“When you deliver something useful,” Ulysses said.
“I delivered a poem to the new girl,” he said hopefully.
“More like a nightmare.” Ulysses took Ernie Ray by the arm and walked him to the door.
“It will be when Bernadette finds out. I won’t tell if you tip me. This girl isn’t even your style. Hardly worth the risk.”
“All right, I’ve had enough. Get out.” Ulysses tossed him into the icy night.
“Chickens will come home to roost,” Ernie Ray yelled as Ulysses shut the door.
“That wasn’t called for. You know he’s not playing with a full deck,” Maven said.
“You too,” Ulysses said, opening the door. “Time to go to work.”
“You’re kicking me out?”
“I am. I’m closing early.” He called to the kissing couple, “You two, the couch is finished for the night.”
Maven tossed her hair. “No need to bite my head off. You’re all sizzle and no steak. Do you think I’m playing gooseberry?” She put her purse under her arm, strutted to the exit, and slammed the door as she left. A few seconds later, she opened it. “Ernie’s making a fountain on your wall.” After the couple slunk past her, she slammed the door again.
I took a deep breath while Ulysses leaned over me and closed wooden blinds with a clatter. It had been a while since I’d smelled a man’s t-shirt. If not for the beer, his molecules invading my nose would have made me nervous.
“Dr. Van Dingle, were you planning on meeting someone here or getting a ride?”
“I’m calling a cab, but I’m not getting through. Do you have a phone that works?” I asked in frustration. This place was playing catch-up on everything except growing food.
Maven poked her head in the door. “Ulysses is a one-off! He always runs back to Bernadette.” Ulysses went and leaned on the door, forcing her back out.
“She’s right,” he said as he snapped the lock on the door.
“Are you going to keep that door locked?”
“Just for the next five minutes. Another beer? On me.” He pulled out a phone. “I’ll see if I can get through.”
“I’m near my capacity. This stuff is good. Dreamy. I mean creamy.”
“Glad you like it. Made from rainwater and the best of secret ingredients.” He put down his phone. “No answer and no use leaving a message.”
“I could figure out your secret. I’m a chemist after all.”
He sat down across from me. “You’ll never get a secret from me.” Did he have dimples?
I eased myself into the coziness of the place. “Are you going to join me, or must I drink alone?”
“I don’t drink on the job. It could lead to bad habits.” Ulysses had baby blue eyes and thick lashes, I noted, in case I had to give a Patrol report.
“You’re closed. You even pulled the shades.”
Five hours of lost signals, a discussion on importation and chemistry of hops, one locked door, a microwaved pizza, and two beers beyond my limit later, Ulysses turned off the light over the bar. I wasn’t sure what my options were. There had to be a hotel within walking distance. The weather was too bad for scary weirdos like Ernie Ray to be slinking around. Only the officers would be on the sidewalk.
Ulysses stood with his arms folded across his chest. “I live above the bar. I’ll bring down a blanket and you can sleep here.” I watched him open a door next to the beer cooler and climb a narrow set of stairs. He had a nice butt and a steady walk with an easy gait. For a second, I was embarrassed by my staring at the butt of a man instead of considering his mind. Was it so wrong? I was a professional woman with a promising career. I could objectify a man I’d never see again, couldn’t I? The only dangerous objectification was internal objectification that limits a person’s scope of experiences and leads to shame and depression. Did I learn that in college or was I drunk?
My equilibrium off kilter, I sat listening to the city, waiting for Ulysses to return with a blanket. It was dead still except for the tapping of ice on the window. It gave me the creeps. The floor of the bar was all footprints and popcorn. The booths were about four uncomfortable feet long. This dreamy bartender had me lusting to whiff his t-shirt. Grant’s portrait was looking sexy. I’d slip out and find my way home before I grew more ridiculous. I went to the door, stood on tip toes, unbolted it, and poked my head out. A sheet of ice twinkled over the gnarled sidewalk. The bus was still there, frozen in place, listing a little or maybe it was me being unsteady. Not a sole around. Ice pellets pinged on the streetlights. Down the block, one flickered and went out. A siren’s scream exploded across the city. I leapt back, my heart pounding in my throat. A robotic voice, loud enough to blast paint from a building, bounced through the city. “Alert. A security violation has been reported. Citizens, remain inside.” I slammed the door and covered my ears, refusing to panic.
Ulysses came down the stairs. He had no blanket. “Don’t worry. We get warnings all the time.”
“What’s it mean?”
“If you go out, the Vice Patrol will use you for target practice.”
“What about Maven?”
“Every person for herself at times like this.”
His gender-inclusive language warmed my flustered heart—he was a magic number, an island of stability. I liked him. I trusted him. Autonomous pheromones and perspiration sprouting under his arms, he reached over and locked the door. “You’d better come upstairs and sleep on the futon. I got a roommate, a woman, so you won’t be in danger except maybe from her. I’m on her bad side tonight. All my fault, I’m afraid. Stay quiet and away from windows.”
“I can take on any woman.” The beer had me cocky.
“No, honey, believe me. Not Bernadette. She never loses.
Don’t stop now. Keep reading with your copy of MIXED IN, by City Owl Author, Catherine Haustein.
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And find more from Debra Jess at
debrajess.com
Want more sci-fi? Try dystopian novel, MIXED IN, by City Owl Author, Catherine Haustein, and find more from Debra Jess at debrajess.com
When passions are regulated, which laws will you break?
When Catrina moves to Cochtonville to work as a chemist for Cochton Enterprises, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become.
A chance meeting with Ulysses, owner of the Union Station bar, plunges her into a world of illegal condoms, vibrators, and art. As their loneliness draws them together, they become allies in what will become the fight of their lives in the sexually repressive and culturally backward dystopia.
Catrina’s invention, No Regrets—a scanner to test for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections—brings increased scrutiny from the town's Vice Patrol, made worse by an ambitious new agent who hangs around Union Station and takes up with Ulysses’s vindictive ex.
Catrina’s relationship with Ulysses and her company’s new products put them both in peril as she begins to understand the dark side of her employer, society, and science without humanity.
But science is all she’ll have to spare the men of Cochtonville a mortifying fate and to save the life of Ulysses.
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Acknowledgments
This book has a long history. After I finished the original manuscript, I had it beta-read by fellow authors Rachelle, Michele, and D.C. aka the "Nanites." Then I rewrote it, hired a professional editor, Dr. Debra Doyle, who ripped it up and helped me put it back together again-twice! Queried it sixty-ish times, trunked it, rewrote it again, queried it another forty-ish times, and trunked it again.
I had no intention of querying any further, but my brain kept poking me, so when I registered for RWA Nationals in NYC, I figured what the heck. It won't hurt (much) to get a few more rejections, and I can keep my pitching skills up to date. So, I went, I pitched, I followed up with an email, returned home, and didn't give it a second thought.
You cannot imagine my surprise when the delightful Heather McCorkle offered me a three-book contract. Three books! I almost fainted right there at my desk. My dream of becoming a traditionally published author was going to happen, and it would happen with my very first manuscript.
So, I would like to thank everyone at City Owl Press for helping to usher this book, which means so much to me, onto the bookshelves. All of you rock!
About the Author
A Connecticut Yankee transplanted to Central Florida, DEBRA JESS writes science fiction romance, science fantasy, superheroes, and urban fantasy. She began writing in 2006, combining her love of fairy tales and Star Wars to craft original stories of ordinary people in extraordinary adventures and fantastical creatures in out-of-this world escapades.
Her new series Heroes of Andromeda debuts in November of 2020 with Andromeda's Rebel.
Blood Surfer, her debut novel, won the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award for Best Paranormal and Futuristic. A Secret Rose, the sequel, won the Maggie Award & Golden Leaf Award for Best Novella. Her short stories have appeared in Heart’s Kiss Magazine and are now available for free at Curious Fictions.
When she's not writing, Debra happily plays fur mommy to Martin, the vampire kitty. You can follow her adventures with Martin on social media, or you can subscribe to her newsletter. More at debrajess.com
About the Publisher
City Owl Press is a cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers.
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Escape Your World. Get Lost In Ours.
www.cityowlpress.com
Additional Titles
ASHES OF ONYX
By: Seth Skorkowsky
They stole her magic. They killed her friends.
Nothing in the multiverse will stop her quest for revenge.
* * *
BLOOD AND MAGIC
By: Melissa Sercia
Gray is a Dhampir—a woman alive, but also dead. With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.
* * *
DIVIDED
By: Sharon M. Johnston
A new heart should mean new life, instead it’s a living nightmare.
* * *
FROSTBITE
By: Joshua Bader
Getting hired to be a personal wizard for a billionaire may just become a death sentence.
* * *
FUTURE THAT NEVER WAS
By: Kin S. Law
A steampunk romp featuring an unorthodox, multi-cultural pirate Captain!
* * *
HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE
By: Megan Starks
Hell has come to collect, but Gisele Walker has no plans to pay the debt.
* * *
MIXED IN
By: Catherine Haustein
When passions are regulated, which laws will you break?
* * *
SORROW’S POINT
By: Danielle DeVor
Not All Exorcists are Equal....One is Marked
* * *
UNREGISTERED
By: Megan Lynch
Living the ideal life is a human right, unless you’re unregistered.
* * *
WAKING THE DEAD
By: D. B. Sieders
The road to hell begins when the reaper darkens her door.
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