Page 52 of Obnoxious Bad Boy

Vex pulls away and pulls on my arm so I face him. “That’s your dream? Doing calligraphy for a living?”

I laugh so he knows I realize it’s dumb. “Not exactly the most lucrative profession nowadays.” I glance at the case where beautiful letters lie ready to be admired. “Who wants to bother with lettering when they can print any font they want?”

“That’s not true,” he says, frowning. “People want all kinds of stuff, and there’s plenty who value handmade things. There’s so many things you could do with a hand as steady as yours. Hell, I could totally use calligraphy in my designs too. It’s all about marketing to the right crowd.”

He’s not laughing.

I cock my head, wondering about it as a few new light bulbs pop up in my head. I’ve never given it serious thought, because my parents were very clear about the only future for me being law. And I’m not exactly the most business-minded person, so it has never occurred to me that there could be a market for my work. It’s always been just something I did for the skill itself.

But would it be enough to support myself with, let alone feed Snowley?

“For your medieval-inspired work?” I dare ask as the dusty cogs in my head turn with this impossible plan.

Vex shrugs. “Yeah. I sometimes copy fragments of existing illuminated manuscripts, because I never mastered fancy letters. Not to mention that there absolutely are people who’d want calligraphed documents to hang on walls, or for their wedding invites. You could start doing it part-time and then expand.”

I’m amazed at his way of thinking. It’s like he can spot the opportunities where I had no idea they existed. I turn to him and wrap my arms around his neck. Most of all, it makes me all warm inside that he believes in me. “Maybe I should write you a letter so you can assess my skill.”

Vex grins and pulls on my hand. “A letter? For me? I’d feel like one of the people who traveled in those,” he says, pointing at the antique carriage taking up the middle of the room.

“You don’t know. I might have noble blood. But now I know I just have to write you a letter, which makes me realize I don’t actually know your last name.”

He steps back and bows way too low, even doing the whole swipe-hand-against-floor thing. “Victor Anderson, at your service. Not an ounce of blue blood in me, though. It’s a misalliance.”

I gasp. “Oh, my God! How did I not realize all this time that your name isn’t ‘Vex’?”

He grins, resting his hands on his hips in a way that makes his muscular figure look its best. “You thought my name’s Vex? I mean... I guess it could have been. My uncle’s daughter is called Pepsi.”

I laugh out loud. “No! It’s not! Well, if you marry me, you’d be Lord Victor Astor. How do you like that?”

Vex cocks his head. “You’re a lord? Like... you bought one of those tiny plots in Scotland kind of Lord or an actual Lord?”

“Come on, Vex! It’s my birthday! Let me live the fantasy.” I laugh and grab a top hat off the display.

“In that case I might just need to elope with you, so your family can’t stop us,” he rasps and dips to grab me by the knees. Moments later, he’s carrying me in his arms, and I curl up against him, overwhelmed by his charm.

I grab his neck with a happy yelp as he climbs the two stairs into the open carriage. It might be an antique, but I’m too gleeful to care.

“Just me and my handsome brute,” I laugh, kissing him. The evening started as a disaster, but he managed to make up for it already.

He is amazing. The best guy I could have dreamed of.

“This brute had an STD test, and it came out negative on all counts,” he whispers as he lowers me onto the seat. The padding’s gone flat over the years, and the old wood creaks under our weight, but all I can think about is what he’s just told me.

My ears heat up all too fast, and I meet his gaze. It's fitting to be spending my wild twenty-first birthday with the man I… I have to admit it. I’m in love with him.

“Yes,” I say, because we both know he’s the only man I’ve ever been with.

Vex switches off the flashlight, but the moonlight coming through the windows spotlights one side of his devilish smile. His hands climb my thighs, and I shiver thinking that we’re gonna skip condoms. So maybe it’s gonna be messier, but I don’t mind that with him.

“I’m gonna fill you up so good, little Lord.”

I let out a nervous chuckle, but I’ve already broken into a museum. Might as well bareback in a carriage. “After stealing me away from my parents? How scandalous.” I kiss him, sliding my hands under his hoodie. Touching him doesn’t get old. It’s always fresh and exciting, and as his tongue laps up my neck, I release a soft exhale, letting my head fall back. I wonder if this carriage belonged to someone who drove out to the countryside to bang in the forest.

“Show me those little cherries,” Vex whispers as his thumbs rub my chest through the shirt.

I bite my lip and make a show of taking off my jacket, and then opening my shirt. The cherries have been a running joke between us, and I’m never going to tell him Matt wrote the message that started it. All that matters is that seeing my nipples turns Vex on. He’s taught me so much about owning my sexuality. Around him, I feel like the most desirable man in the world.

“These?” I ask, showing off my body. I used to be self-conscious about how skinny I am, but not anymore.