Page 32 of Invincible
CHAPTER10
Knox had never metanyone who made him this crazy.
Growing up near Fort Knox, Kentucky, he had put up with his fair share of bullies.Then, later in college and rising through the ranks during his time in the Navy, he had held his tongue on more than one occasion.
But the tiny, five foot nothing with hair the color of cinnamon absolutely undid him.She argued so much even Jesus would have wanted to slap her.Of course, he didn’t hit women, but if he was so inclined, she would be the one he started with.
“How could you say the Colts under Manning were better than the Saints with Brees?Brees leads in pass completions, yards, and interceptions,” Greer growled at him as she worked to match his pace on the way to the club she worked at.
It was actually a toss-up in his mind if he wanted to slap her or put her mouth to a better use.The thought made him even more irritated.
“I’m not having a repeat of the Jordan/James argument with you.Just get it through your thick, gorgeous head that the Colts are a better team.”Wrapping his big hands around her tiny waist, Knox moved her to the other side of him again.
“You’re cracked.Hey, why do you keep doing that?”she asked when he put her back on her feet.
“I’ve asked you at least a dozen times now to walk on the side of me farthest from the street.Since you can’t seem to follow that simple instruction, I simply moved you where I wanted you.”He slowed down his pace, noticing that she was practically jogging to keep up with him.“And I’m not the one who’s cracked.The Saints had one miracle season, let it go already.”
He got a few minutes of blessed peace before she grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop.Turning toward her to see what she was mad about now, he was surprised to see her looking at him in confusion, her eyebrows scrunched in the middle.
“Why do you want me over here?”she asked seriously.Had she never had a boyfriend insist on being the one to walk next to the street before?
Searching her face for any sign she was teasing him, he found nothing but honest curiosity.He had to fight the urge to touch her, just like he did every time he saw her.
Knox had had women run their hands up his chest before, but when Greer did it, it was the first time his skin felt like it had caught fire.And that was a lot, considering he could create fire.It made no sense why this woman made him want to bang his head against a wall but also made him want to bury himself in her so deep he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began—against that same damn wall.
“If a car jumps the curb, they hit me instead of you.In the real chance there is a drive-by shooting in this neighborhood, they’ll shoot me and hopefully miss you.When something is thrown out of one of the windows above us, it should hit me, but miss you.So can you please just humor me this once?”
Taking her hand, he started them walking toward the club again.“Manning has two Super Bowls, Brees has one.Case closed.”
“So are you this grouchy and overbearing with your girlfriend?”
Knox sighed, slowing his pace down again since he was dragging Greer behind him.
“I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m not grouchy.”He heard a snort from her.“What?I’m not grouchy,” he growled even louder.Pulling her to a stop again, he scowled down at her.Instead of being intimidated, though, she simply gave him a defiant smile.
“I don’t understand why none of your boyfriends have ever insisted on you walking on the inside, or waiting while they opened the door, or seeing you into your apartment at the end of the night.If you were with me, that would be just the tip of the iceberg of what to expect,” he grumbled.
“The men I’ve been with aren’t like you, Knox,” she said when they had continued toward the club.“They don’t worry about the woman they are with more than themselves, they don’t have some warped code of honor or want anything more than a fast fuck.I was a stripper, not some lady who expects the world to wait on her.”
This time, Knox pushed her up against a wall, bending down to get right in her face.
“The fuck you’re not a lady.You should demand the world wait on you.I’ve never met anyone so smart who can do anything they set their mind to.I bet you can recite all of those stupid stats about Drew Brees right now.Don’t let anybody make you think you are less than a lady.”
When Greer nodded her head slowly, he let out a growl, standing to his full height.Without another word, he grabbed her hand, dragging her the remaining half block to the club.
Knox opened the back door of the club so Greer could enter first.He had somehow managed to get a job in the club as a bouncer.Sometimes he had to work the door, but usually they wanted him inside, making sure nobody got too rowdy.It gave him the opportunity to listen for anything related to the women being held somewhere near the docks to be shipped off as sex slaves.So far, he hadn’t needed to do more than break up a few fights and slap a few hands.
“Monroe, you work the floor tonight,” his small, beady-eyed boss said as he walked past the office.
“Alright, boss,” Knox answered, heading through the back where the dancers wandered to and from their dressing room.
“Hey, baby,” one of them said as he stomped toward the front.Several always flirted with him as he walked by.With a small sarcastic snort from Greer, she disappeared into the office to clock in for them.They would meet up at the end of the night, usually grabbing something to eat while they decompressed, before he walked her back to her apartment.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed past the curtain separating the front of the club from the back.
It was a typical gentleman’s club with lounge seating around tables, a main stage, and two small stages, all equipped with poles.It was perpetually dark, with neon lights to give the illusion of a dreamworld.Knox usually had a headache by the end of the night because of it.
There was a full bar where you could pay too much for a watered-down drink, but the food was cheap to encourage you to spend more on the girls.Lap dances were particularly lucrative for the club if they could get free use of a customer’s credit card.
