Chapter Two

Anvil

 

I am not a good man.

But I am an excellent cooler—bar bouncer. A place like Billy’s needs strong leadership for its security staff.

We don’t have it.

So I do the best I can. The management might not be great, but it’s not the worst place I ever worked.

I try to keep the problems on ice, but Jim is crazy about that damn chick. He’s a good bouncer otherwise. He just can’t keep his dick in his pants when it comes to Christa. She could cause us all kinds of problems, but he has a real weakness for her mouth.

And because of that, now I have a new problem. One that is testing my stone-cold self.

“Baby, you’re not going anywhere,” I tell the sweet thing watching the exit.

She’s looking up at me with those eyes all wide and a little scared, and I am getting off on it. She is trembling, and she should be. She walked into the wrong bar tonight. I want to terrify her. I want her to be nervous and anxious and scared as fuck.

Because she has scared the fuck out of me.

“Explain this shit,” I say, finally handing her back her driver’s license.

She squirrels it into her purse like I might try to take it back. “I’m not sure what you’re asking, but I need to go. Really.”

I don’t think so.

“Why won’t you let me go?”

That’s a good question. But not the first one I want answered. “Why did you sneak into Billy’s tonight?”

“Why does anyone sneak into a bar?” She gives up watching the door, knowing Christa is long gone by now, and slumps against the desk. “Were you never underage? Was this not something your generation did, too?”

She startles a chuckle out of me, and I don’t startle or chuckle easily.

I’m only ten years older, but maybe I’ve packed a lot of hard living into those years.

She’s a cheeky little thing. Not sure when she decided she wasn’t afraid to be alone in the room with me, though. “Baby, you couldn’t wait for twenty-seven hours? Your birthday is the day after tomorrow.”

She shrugs.

Not good enough. “What kind of girl waits to sneak into a bar until she’s almost old enough? You could have come tomorrow at midnight.”

“What makes you think this is my first time?”

“You’ve got cherry written all over you.” When she blushes an angry shade of pink, I realize I hit my mark times two. A virgin. No fucking way.

Now I really am scared of her.

This girl is a baited trap.

I’m not a guy who believes in love, so I sure as hell don’t believe in love at first sight. But something happened. Something changed. I don’t know what to call it, how I feel. How I felt when I first laid eyes on her. It was primal. Like I zeroed in on her scent. I may not believe in love, but I do believe we are all just animals. And this beast just discovered his mate.

Knowing I’ll be first makes it all the better.

Fuck me, but I think I’m going to be her last, too.

“My name is Anvil,” I tell her.

She tilts her head at me. Narrows her eyes a bit. “No, it’s really not.”

My God, this little slip of a thing is going to be my downfall. “That’s what they call me.” I make a fist. “That’s what these feel like.”

She does this twisty thing with her lips. Like re-runs of The Church Lady on SNL. Only, damn if I don’t think it’s sexy, her little judgement of me. She likes clutching pearls so much, I’d be happy to give her a pearl necklace.

“What’s your real name, Anvil?”

The air gets thick between us. I’m feeling like we’re about to do a super slow motion fight scene from The Matrix. Only I don’t want to fight this girl. I think I want to marry her.

This is the most fucked up day.

“Nobody knows my real name,” I say, putting off the inevitable. I’m going to tell her my real name. I’m going to give her my last name. I’m going to give her babies and any damn thing she ever wanted. Who is this woman that could bring me down so hard and so fast?

“I want to know it,” she says simply.

“Melvin,” I reply.

She quirks those lips into another wry smile. “That’s…well this has been a really strange night, hasn’t it? I need to go now, Melvin.”

“I hope you’re still laughing when I make you Mrs. Melvin Cartwright.”

She inhales sharply, and I feel some relief at not being the only one tits up in this conversation again.

“I’m getting ahead of myself. I told you my first name, now you tell me the real reason you are out two days before you turn twenty-one sneaking into bars.”

“Well, Melvin…”

“Careful, baby girl.” My voice sounds a little deeper, a little more gravel in it than usual. I think it grated across her little raw nerves a bit because she looks like she’s not sure if she’s afraid of me again or not.

She’s got me feeling so fucking high.

“I don’t…do you know what an actuary is?”

“Like for an insurance company?”

“That’s one path. I’m more interested in finance. But an actuary manages risk. That’s what I am going to school for. That’s what I do for internships. That’s how I manage my life. And I realized that I’m going to be twenty-one in two days and have never tried to get into a bar. I know it sounds stupid, but I started feeling like I was having a mid-life crisis at twenty and just wanted to try something crazy. But not too crazy. Just crazy enough. Christa does it enough that I assumed it wasn’t a big deal. That I could come in, look around, have a beer.” She rubs her temple like maybe being young and dumb is giving her a headache. “She didn’t tell me I might have to trade sexual favors.” She meets my eyes. Doesn’t look away. I know I’m big and scary to girls like her, but she doesn’t look away. “I’m not going to have to trade sexual favors, am I?”

I’ve never forced a woman to do anything. I’ve never had to. My job is to ice bad situations, and sometimes that means protecting women from guys who aren’t like me.

But who’s going to protect my little actuary from me?

“You’ll be begging me to fuck you before this night is over,” I tell her. She hasn’t responded to my crack about getting married yet. Maybe this will do it.

“You like to shock me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

A certainty moves through my chest. “Because you want to be shocked. That’s why you’re here tonight. You’re not having a mid-life crisis. You’re ready to grow up.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been grown-up for a long time, Mr. Anvil.”

“You’ve been mature for a long time. I can see that. You don’t have that teenage girl vibe around you. But you’re aching to be treated like a real woman.”

“Right. I’m going to call an Uber and go home now.”

I step into her, blocking her against the desk, but I don’t touch her. “Nothing wrong with wanting to be a woman. You’re ready. I can feel it. Feel you in my blood.”

She swallows hard. “That’s not why I’m here. And you’re scaring me.”

“I’m not scaring you, angel. Your own desires are scaring you because they’re new. Once you give in to them, you’ll be changed. That scares the shit out of you.” I lean down and smell the skin of her throat. Mine. “But you’re not scared of me. We both know I’m not going to hurt you.”

“How could I know that? You’re like a wild animal compared to the boys I’m usually around.”

Her pulse is going crazy, and I want to lick it. I want to taste every part of her. “I am a wild animal. But you can tame me.”

“I doubt that very much.”

“I want you to try.”

“Is that why I’m still here? Why you didn’t let me go? You want me to try to tame you?”

“You’re here because you want to risk something tonight and still be safe. I’m the only man in this world who can make that happen for you. You can be as crazy as fuck. Do whatever you need to do, and I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’m the best risk averse choice you’ve ever made.”

She can’t read me yet. She doesn’t know she’s got all the control here. I’m already a fucking puppet for this woman. “So you want to be my bodyguard?”

“I won’t let you out of my sight.” I gently put my nose on that tender part under her ear but don’t kiss her. “I’ll be your actuary tonight, baby. I’ll manage your risk.”

She gives me a timid laugh. “This is crazy. I’m not having sex with you. If that’s what you’re after…”

“You saving it for marriage?” I ask

She tilts that proud little chin up and scoots away from me a bit. “Maybe I am.”

“Then you’ll be having sex with me before the night is through.”