AN: Here's my new vamp story, finally! The first chapter was my entry for the Lyrics to Life contest, so it will have a little different feel from the following chapters. I'll update once a week for now, unless my writing speeds up ;)

I won the Host Favorite from DanceWithMeTonight (Thanks so much!), and even though it wasn't an award, I also got the most reviews. So there ;)

HUGE thanks to my beta and pre-reader- BetterinTexas and sabrina michaels. Extra huge thanks to Sabrina for writing my summary when I couldn't come up with anything! Love ya darlin'!

Contest entry for Lyrics to Life Contest
Title: Hey Girl
Pairing: Bella/Peter
Beta/Pre-reader: Beta: BetterinTexas /Prereader: sabrina michaels
Song: "Hey Girl"- Billy Currington
Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herin. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Peter is out hunting one night when he stumbles across a different kind of prey, one he must have... "Hey, girl..."

Hey Girl

She stood behind the bar, enjoying the brief lull in activity as she wiped down the glasses that Mark brought in from the back room. Thursday nights were typically busy here, with his unlimited wings special and open mic night. Jerry was just finishing his guitar solo, and the crowd always quieted down when he took the stage.

In the tiniest window of silence, the door opened and the bell drew her attention to the tall figure striding confidently through the slightly intoxicated groups of people who probably should have gone straight home after work instead of stopping by the Bulls Eye.

Her eyes followed his progress, though she wasn't entirely sure why he had so thoroughly captured her attention; he was just another wanna-be cowboy looking for a good time.

There were several empty seats at the bar, but most of her regulars were settled in with their usual drink of choice and picking through the mixed nuts in the bowls full of germs that decorated the lacquered surface.

As he settled into a seat next to Patty, a 40-year-old divorcée who had just finished telling Bella that her ex had the kids for the week, she finally got a good look at his face. His skin was pale and smooth- too smooth- and it looked slightly wrong under the neon lights that painted him with a rainbow of artificial colors.

His cowboy hat was pulled low over his face, with long blonde hair sticking out from underneath. Her heart stuttered when he looked up at her and finally caught her eye- with his black, shadowed, thirsty ones. He was a vampire.

After a moment, her fear fled, and anger surged up to take its place. She was not going to let one of her customers be this frozen bastard's next meal. She narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to burn him with her glare, and ground out, "What can I get ya, Cowboy?"

He was caught off guard by the blatant hostility in her voice, but more so by the recognition in her eyes. What did she know? He stuttered out a quiet request for a whiskey, stunned again by her retort, "You look like you're thirsty for something more than that."

When she put the glass in front of him, she left her hand around it a beat too long, long enough for him to see the raised white scar that had absolutely no business being there on her small wrist. The tattoo below it also got his curiosity up, as it was clearly added after the bite, working around the curve and turning the blemish into something almost beautiful.

~oOo~
Hey girl, what's your name girl
I've been lookin' at you
And every guy here's doin' the same girl
It'd be a shame girl
If I let you just walk on by
~oOo~

"Hey-" he tried to speak, but she pulled away and turned all her attention to the woman on his right, the one he was eyeing up for dinner.

"Patty, hon, why don't you let Mark walk you home. You look exhausted and I know you can convince him to stop and eat where he just ignores me. Would you mind?" He was amazed at how well she managed to get two people she obviously cared about out of the bar and away from the predator she clearly did not fear.

"Mark!" she called, bringing the middle-aged man from the back, wiping his hands on the dirty apron he wore- the apron she quickly untied and slipped off him. He glared at her good-naturedly, and Peter couldn't mistake the look of paternal affection he gave her.

"What, Iz? I was about to do the paperwork," he grumbled, but no one missed the appreciative once-over he gave Patty, or the blush that darkened the woman's cheeks.

"Can you walk Patty home? I don't want her out on the street alone. Maybe you can take her to eat on the way- I know you haven't had anything since you got here this morning." The vampire watched helplessly as the girl bustled them out, stopping to whisper to the rather large bouncer at the door. Did she honestly think he could stop Peter if he really wanted to follow?

Of course she knew she couldn't hold him here, but she hoped his interest in her would keep him from following her boss or dining on the other customers. These people were the closest thing to a family she had had in the past two years, and she felt responsible for the supernatural danger that seemed to follow her wherever she went.

She made a point of ignoring him when she went back to her position behind the bar, but his eyes were glued to the strange girl with a mark from a vampire. The customers kept her busy, and he didn't miss the way every male there couldn't look away when she took their order, or begged for a dance saying she must be due for a break by now.

She smiled convincingly at all of them, but he could tell she was just as aware of him as he was of her. When she wasn't behind the bar, she seemed to keep herself between him and the exit, as if she could block his escape somehow. He never stopped to consider that she was doing just that already.

"Hey! Girl! We need another round over here!" A rather unruly group of college students yelled their request across the room, and a frown crossed her face briefly, making him wonder if they had given her trouble before. He startled himself by growling when one of them made a drunken grab for her rather nice-looking ass, now that he was looking.

That thought brought him up short. He didn't see women, especially not human women, not since his Charlotte died. He knew Char wasn't his mate, but she was the closest thing he'd had, and losing her had cut him to the quick. The fact that this girl was even showing up on his radar was something to give him pause.

When she came back by, he tried again to get her attention, reaching out, but stopping just short of touching her skin, "Hey-"

In a much lower voice than she used before, but still plenty loud for his vampire hearing, she whispered, "No, you can't eat him. He's a good guy, just gets a bit handsy when he's had too much to drink." And once again, she was gone before he had time to process her words and formulate a response that would make him sound remotely intelligent.

Almost two hours after her boss left, he came back, alone, eyeing Peter and his still-untouched shot of whiskey with suspicion. "Any problems, Iz?"

She also glanced at the vampire, with almost a warning look. He got it, the dude wasn't food. Sheesh, did she think he was stupid or something? Once again, he didn't acknowledge the fact that this small human was somehow putting him on a diet. He just watched how she moved, every minute expression that crossed her face.

Her beautiful face- he couldn't hide the truth from himself any longer. He thought the damn hamburger was attractive. He was suddenly glad Jasper wasn't here, because his brother would surely be giving him hell for entertaining the idea of fucking his food. And damn, if that thought wasn't firmly lodged in his brain now.

He stared at that ass, all wrapped up in skin tight jeans. Jeans that flowed down to those knee-high boots that he was suddenly picturing wrapped firmly around his waist as he pushed her up against the wall and plunged his long-neglected cock into her searing heat. And fuck, now he was thirsty and hard.

Somehow, some way, he was gonna get that girl to go home with him. He didn't even know why she had so thoroughly tied him up in knots, but he was gonna do everything in his considerable power to make her his.

~oOo~
I'm all caught up in your sweet smile
A girl like you comes around once in a while
So hot, gotta give it a shot
Gotta get get a little bit of what you got
~oOo~

Squaring his shoulders, he tried again as she walked past him to the other end of the bar, "Hey girl-" He stopped suddenly, unsure what else to say to this perplexing human, finally settling on probably the dumbest thing he could say, "What's your name?"

He did an internal face-palm at how stupid he sounded, but it seemed to pay off when her mouth lifted in an almost indulgent smile. She knew he had a perfect memory, and her name had been called out half a dozen times in just the past few minutes alone. He was easily the strangest vampire she'd ever seen, and considering her history, that was really saying something.

"You can call me Iz," she offered, wondering briefly why she was talking to him, and what he was waiting for. She thought for sure he was with Victoria, but his behavior was completely out of character for a scout, and he was definitely not a newborn, not with the control he was showing. Maybe his finding her was nothing more than a random coincidence.

He continued to watch her as the patrons trickled out and new ones replaced them, until Mark yelled out last call, and Iz began cleaning up the bar. Looking around to be sure no one was watching, she picked up his untouched whiskey and tossed it back with a practiced hand. He raised one eyebrow, and noticed her heart rate spike at the action, though he was completely unaware of just how sexy he looked at that moment.

Shaking off her irrational thoughts, she finished cleaning and turned to the register to settle up. Mark waved her off, telling her she deserved an early night for once, and didn't she have a life anyway? Only Peter could hear the sigh she let out at his words. No, she didn't have a life. Not anymore.

They were both startled when he reached out one cold finger to lift her chin and look into her eyes. The pain he saw there made his dead heart lurch, and filled him with a new purpose. Some how, some way, this girl was gonna be his. MINE. The thought startled him and his eyes widened, startling the girl and speeding up her heart, flooding him with her intoxicating scent.

"Hey, can I give you a ride somewhere? I think we need to talk," his low and husky voice caught her off guard as heat shot immediately to her groin. Of course she thought he was sexy. Why wouldn't she? He wasn't human...

She snorted a bit in disbelief, "Sure, you want to talk. I'll get right on that." Her voice dropped a bit at the end in resignation. She had cheated death too many times, and it finally caught up to her. The least she could hope for was that he would be gentle. Sighing again, she pulled away from his hand and turned to gather her things from the back room. Stopping by Mark's office, she told him good night and wished him luck with Patty, glad she had done at least one thing to better another's life in her short time here in Phoenix.

After losing everything important to her, she moved constantly from town to town, working odd jobs and making just enough to pay rent on a run-down apartment wherever she ended up. Mark had taken her in and trained her in bartending, overlooking the fact that she was still several months away from her 21st birthday when he hired her.

She hoped her presence in his life wouldn't lead to the older man's demise, but her past record did not bode well for him. Gathering the rest of her things, she lingered a bit over the worn picture of Jacob, her sun, whose light was extinguished way too soon. Pressing a kiss to the battered old paper, she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Jake. I tried, but they still found me. I hope I'll see you soon..."

~oOo~
Hey girl, whatcha think girl
And if you want we can roll out
I know my way around this town
I got a shotgun seat for you
~oOo~

Through the door, Peter heard her quiet words and worried briefly at their meaning. Was someone else waiting for her? The "Jake" who was tattooed on her creamy skin? Surely he wasn't the one who left the mark on her wrist; if he was, Peter was prepared to fight him to the death to claim her.

His eyes were still dark when she walked slowly through the door, every part of her slumped with the air of defeat. He realized then that she truly thought he was going to kill her, and he had no idea how to revise her grossly incorrect assumptions.

She walked up to him without looking up once, and he couldn't bear the distance that felt like a yawning chasm between them. Once more, he tipped her chin up with the lightest touch of his finger, and softened his voice to sound as non-threatening as possible, "Hey, let's get out of here, ok?"

She nodded, turning away to head for the door, but he didn't miss the two tear drops that fell from her luminous brown eyes. He led her to his truck, but she barely seemed to notice as he helped her up into the raised cab and moved quickly to the driver's side.

He was suddenly at a loss for words as the perfect familiarity of her scent filled the cramped space, taking every last functioning brain cell he had with it. He cracked the windows, hoping to regain his vampire senses with the fresh, dry desert air, and started driving out of town toward his house.

Her tears continued, silently but unabated, and he finally stopped the truck and turned to look at her for the first time since they left the bar. Her eyes were fixed out the window, but her right hand was absently tracing the dark ink on her left wrist, following the letters as if she could feel them.

He was still completely tongue-tied, something his brother would find hilarious if he was near. Peter was not known for being short on words, despite the situation; that was something that had caused him no small amount of trouble when he was with Maria. He simply could not take his eyes off the gorgeous brunette still sitting in his truck.

She would probably think he was crazy, but he wouldn't leave her alone without making every attempt possible to make her his. MINE.

~oOo~
I know you don't know me but
I can't leave here lonely
Knowin' I didn't even try to make you mine and
You might think I'm crazy
Girl but who could blame me
You're lookin' so fine, got me all tongue tied
And the only line I can think to say is
~oOo~

"Hey girl-"