“Who the fuck are you?” Steven barks aggressively.

“I’m her man,” Lars states quietly.

I am acutely conscious that people have started making a circle around us.

Steven grins. “You and a whole bunch of out-of-work Hollywood actors moonlighting as porn stars.”

Lars blinks with shock.

“Looks like you didn’t know about her starring role in Beauty and the Fist, huh?” the man mocks.

I cringe and Lars blanches. “If you don’t let go of her right now...” he threatens.

The man tightens his hold on me. “You’ll what?” he taunts.

“Let go of her and I’ll show you,” Lars snarls.

The man releases me suddenly, and I stumble backward and fall into Lars. Instantly, he winds his arms around me protectively, while his narrowed eyes quickly scan my face and body. “Are you hurt?” he asks urgently, and I can feel the dangerous anger throbbing in his voice.

I shake my head. “I’m fine. Let’s just go. Please. He’s just a pig,” I say, rubbing my sore wrist. In the grand scheme of things, a bruised wrist is nothing to complain about, but in one quick movement, Lars peels my left hand from my wrist and touches the sore part. I yelp, pulling it back to my chest.

Suddenly, his eyes become pitiless chips of gray ice. At that moment, he is the most coldly aggressive man I have seen in my life, and I feel a tight knot of fear inside me. Taking his hat off, he places it on my head before guiding me a few steps backward and away from the man. Looking me dead in the eyes, he says, “Don’t. Move.”

I stare at him in confusion as he turns to the man who is as broad as he is and just as tall. The man puffs out his chest and makes a beckoning gesture with his fingers. Lars stands still. He doesn’t move a muscle. Like a bull readying itself for a matador. He doesn’t look at the crowd surrounding him; his whole focus is on his opponent.

In the next moment, he swings his fist and slams it into Steven’s jaw. I gasp and take a step back, covering my mouth with my hand. I would have never guessed that Lars was a violent man. Even at his angriest, he’s always been gentle and kind toward me. Even on the phone with the loan sharks he wasn’t violent. He was assertive and angry, but totally in control.

The man’s arms flail as he hurtles toward the ground. He lands with a loud thud. An angry howl is torn from him. He cups his jaw and scrambles to his feet. For a second, he sways unsteadily then throws a wild punch at Lars. Lars ducks and in flash, lands a jab to Steven’s unprotected stomach. The fight is noticeably unfair. Steven is drunk while Lars is not only stone cold sober, he is also clearly an experienced fighter. When the man gets lucky and lands a blow that catches Lars on his eyebrow, I know I can’t just do nothing.

“Enough,” I yell and rush in their direction. I lodge myself right in between them. Lars immediately unclenches his fist and steps back from the punch he was about to throw.

Steven, on the other hand, maddened with fury, grabs me by the waist and throws me out of his way. I fly through the air for what feels like forever before I crash to the ground, knees first. Just as I am about to face-plant into the concrete floor, a set of arms encircle my chest and pulls me up.

I’m too shocked to even cry. I look up at the man who caught me and Chance grins at me. He turns toward Lars and gives him a thumbs-up sign before looking back at me.

“For a yellow belly, that was one hell of a throw,” he comments coolly.

I stare at him in disbelief. “Lars is going to get hurt,” I shout.

Chance chuckles and turns me around so that I’m sitting on my butt. “Lars is a little rusty from years of sitting behind a desk, but he can take that green horn no problem.”

“Will you help stop the fight?” I beg.

He shakes his head. “I’d be fixing to do the same if someone disrespected my girl. It’ll teach that fancy city slicker a lesson.” He grins. He is about to say something when he looks down and notices the state of my scraped and bleeding knees. He pulls a face. “Oh, my own Aunt Mary, that don’t look good. I reckon Lars is gonna be hoppin’ mad when he sees that. Might as well let him get his pound of flesh off that tenderfoot now.”

I have no choice but to sit and watch as Lars rains blows on the man’s body so quickly and so relentlessly, the ferocity of the attack overwhelms him.

“Fast is good, but accurate is better,” Chance chuckles approvingly.

One power punch from Lars catches Steven flush on the chin and he flies backwards, landing on one of the hay bales. The crowd hoots as if this is entertainment. Blood is pouring from the man’s nose. He pulls himself to a sitting position and looks around him with a dazed expression.

Lars stands over him, his chest rising and falling quickly.

“Lars, don’t,” I scream.

He turns toward me, his eyes instantly connecting with mine, and I freeze. His face is clenched tight and his eyes cold and bloodshot with murderous rage. He looks like a crazed bull. I don’t even recognize him. I gasp with horror.

“Please don’t,” I whisper again.

He turns back to his opponent, grabs him by the collar, and drags him up. The man looks terrified. Then he punches him so hard in the jaw it sends him flying backward in an arch. He crashes into some bales of hay stacked in one corner of the room and lies unmoving in a tangle of limbs.

Lars turns toward me. There is a cut over his eyebrow and it is bleeding. I open my mouth to speak but no words come out. I close it and open it soundlessly like a fish.

He strides toward me. “Heck, Tamara. I told you not to move.”

I’m trying unsuccessfully to keep my tears at bay, but it’s getting impossible. “You were getting hurt,” I whine. My knees have started to sting, but they don’t hurt too bad. I’m sure I’ll be able to walk. I try to stand and my legs buckle under me. Lightning fast, Lars catches me around my waist. His eyes flicker up and down my body. Cursing, he lifts me into his arms and carries me out of the barn. Everybody is staring at us. Outside, the night is balmy.

“I’m sorry,” he grates.

“It’s okay,” I mumble, but I’m horrified by what has happened. Everybody in there has heard what the man said. Everybody in there thinks I was the main star in a sex tape. A tear slides down my cheek.

“Oh, fuck,” he swears.

“I’m not really crying. It’s just the shock of it.”

“It’s all right, baby.”

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you,” I sob.

“You didn’t,” he says, looking at me with sad eyes. “I don’t give a flying fuck what anybody thinks about you.”

I want to hug him and apologize for the fight, but instead, I simply lay my head on his chest and allow him to carry me to the car.