Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“What?” This screech from another female voice. “How did you know you were gonna win? He literally just wrote the number on a piece of paper and stuffed it in an envelope. I watched him do it!”
“How could you possibly have given the win to that little mouse?” That from the first woman.
“Are you saying this thing was rigged?” Voices called out from several different directions. Outrage and indignant denials came from all around me.
“Wait! Wait!” Another man jumped up on stage and grabbed the mic from the announcer. “You got it wrong. You didn’t look at it right!” He tried to smile to cover his panic, whatever was happening, he was in a snit. “Gimmie that!” I thought the guy’s name was Jimmy, the guy who’d organized the competition. He snatched the paper, envelope, and the mic from the announcer and looked at it, his smile widening. “Number twenty-five! Mercedes Golden!”
“Ten bucks says that’s not her real name,” I muttered as someone stripped off my sash and snatched the roses from me. I didn’t care about the sash, and the roses sucked. I just wanted the money. And I was a tad bit snippy about it. It was right there in my hands! Ugh!
“Mercedes” acted like she’d won the Miss Universe contest instead of the West Palm Beach Bikini Diva contest. She blew kisses and waved her hand in front of her face like she was drying her tears. Well, until she was handed her check for a whole two hundred and fifty dollars. “What the fuck is this?” The woman looked outraged. “Where’s the rest of the zeros?”
“I mean, if you don’t want the check, I’ll be happy to take it,” I grumbled dryly. “What exactly were you expecting?”
Mercedes turned her venomous gaze on me and hissed. “Bitch.”
“Me? What’d I do?” I knew I should just walk away. Let it go. For whatever reason my hero had tried to let me win, but I could have told him shit like that never worked out for me.
“You’re breathing.” Mercedes stepped close and gave me a hard shove. “Why don’t you just shut up and die!”
I stumbled back and caught my high heel on… something, and tumbled to the floor on my ass. My view was a bit obscured after that because of my position on the stage, so I missed what exactly happened. When I finally got to my feet, there was a brawl on stage.
Mercedes slapped the piss outta Jimmy, and a couple of the other girls snagged Mercedes’ hair and reached for the big check (Literally big. In size. Not dollar amount.) I have no idea why. It was one of those really huge trophy checks. It wasn’t like it was actually good for anything. Right?
All around the stage, men and women hollered and cheered, wanting the fight to continue. Or, more accurately, wanting to introduce a kiddie pool full of Jell-O or pudding. Because, why the hell not?
Scooting backward, I tried to get out of the way and not get stepped on. Some of the women on the stage around me backed away, leaving the area, but more than a handful joined in the fight. It kind of looked like a battle royale.
Then, like some avenging angel, my hero pushed himself up onto the stage, his gaze quartering the area as if seeking a particular target. The second he spotted me, he got a determined expression on his face and stalked in my direction. He had to move several women aside and he did so carefully, obviously being mindful of his bigger size and greater strength.
Once he spotted me, his gaze never wavered. He moved straight to me without hesitation. When he reached me, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. Then he scooped me up and carried me through the throng of women on stage and the men climbing up to join them in the melee.
“Hang on, girl.” His voice was warm and gruff. I shivered as I obeyed him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck as he carried me to the end of the stage and shoved his way down the steps. When we reached the bottom, I fully expected him to set me on my feet, but he kept going, his long strides putting distance between us and the chaos behind us. “Where are your things?” His voice rumbled through me and I found myself clinging tighter, wanting to get closer to him. “Ain’t got all day, girl. Answer.”
I looked up at him and knew my eyes were wide as I took in his appearance. His hair was shaggy, but not too long. Kind of like he wanted it out of his way but had better shit to do than mess with his hair. There was a liberal amount of gray both in his hair and his beard. He was heavily muscled and I was pretty sure he was at least six inches taller than me. Or more. “Uh,” I cleared my throat, trying to pull myself together and focus on what was going on around me. “I didn’t bring much. It’s strapped to my bike.”