Chapter One

Dominic

“I’m too old for this fuckin’ shit.” It was true too. At forty-eight years old I was definitely too old to be judging a bikini contest. Especially after as much beer as I’d consumed. Though I knew better than to touch without invitation, I was just as likely to say something equally offensive. But at least, maybe I wouldn’t get myself arrested.

“Me too.” The guy beside me was every bit my age and then some. He looked like the standard West Palm Beach retiree. Too much on the spray tan, too much on the hair transplants, and a little soft around the middle. He was also probably wealthy enough not to care about the going to jail part when he groped a young woman. Guy likely had a couple of the city’s finest in his pocket in the case of something so trivial as touching a woman inappropriately without permission. Like in the middle of a bikini contest. Fucking bastard. “Don’t mean I’m not enjoying every fucking second.”

A huge smile on his face, the guy reached out -- just as I knew he would the second he’d sat down next to me at the judges’ table -- and ran his hand up the inner thigh of one of the contestants. The girl sidestepped her way deftly out of reach and gave the guy a mock reproving look. Like it was all a big joke when I knew she’d reacted the way she had by pretending it hadn’t bothered her that a strange man had been headed to the promised land without her permission. I’d always thought it was disgusting what women put up with sometimes. This was a prime example.

“No touching,” I snapped at the guy. I was only here because I’d let Lemon bully me into participating. Something about acting as security near the stage and looking good for the club in the community… Oh. And about me needing to get laid. Which, while I didn’t disagree with her, I didn’t want a child in my bed. These girls were all supposed to be at least eighteen but were young enough to be my daughters. I thought back to Tina and my own daughter, Calista. Calista was married to my enforcer and was probably about the same age as some of these girls. So, yeah. I knew grandparents who were my age. Tina was probably laughing at this whole situation from heaven. If she thought about me at all. I thought she might and I was determined to not do anything to make her ashamed of me. Which made this a colossal waste of time if Lemon was trying to get me hooked up. But I’d be Goddamned if I wouldn’t put this guy in his place.

“Fuck you, man.” The guy didn’t even look at me. Instead, he reached for another woman walking past our table. This one obviously wasn’t used to being in these sorts of things because she started when his hand slid up the back of her thigh to squeeze her ass before she could get out of his grip. She whipped around with a startled cry and the guy just laughed. “That’s right, baby girl!” he yelled up at the young woman to be heard over the whoops and hollers. “Come to papa!”

The look on her face said she hadn’t expected anything like this when she entered this contest and had no idea how to handle the situation. Which meant she’d probably either been tricked into entering, or she was desperate. I wasn’t sure which to hope for, and I wasn’t sure which made me more angry.

“Touch her again, I’ll rip your arms off. You damn sure won’t touch her after that.” I actually bared my teeth. Which wasn’t something I’d normally do. I prided myself on my cool head. I was methodical and planned each move as carefully as I could. I also listened to my instincts and factored them into my decisions. This time, however, I hadn’t even thought about my move; I’d just acted, practically snarling like a rabid wolf. Also, I meant every single word. If he touched that girl again, I’d follow through with my promise.

“What the fuck, man? Why else would I be here if not to enjoy the show?” He gave me a cocky -- if a bit nervous-looking -- grin. “They all like it or they wouldn’t put themselves in this kinda thing.”

It took all my restraint not to wait until he touched the girl again -- and I knew he’d at least try -- and just beat the fuck outta him right now. “I’m not repeating myself. You’ve been warned.”

“Fuck you.” The guy sneered at me before reaching out to run his hand up the same girl’s calf.

This time she jumped back, a panicked look on her face that sent a spike of fury through my chest. I reached out to the guy, fully intending to knock his hand off her. Instead, I grabbed the back of his head and shoved him face first into the edge of the stage. There was the crunch of bone, a spray of blood, and Mr. Handsy dropped to the ground and didn’t move.

The girl on the stage gasped, slapping both hands over her mouth in shock. She looked from me to him and back before turning and fleeing the stage.

“Fuck.” I hadn’t meant to scare the girl and, for some fucking reason, it made my chest ache worse than my anger at imagined reasons for her being in this contest in the first Goddamned place.

All around me, men were still cheering, either not noticing the interaction between two of the judges or not caring. Keeping my eye on the fleeing girl so I could see exactly which way she went, I made note of the contestant number on her hip. I’d find out her name before I left this place, then I’d give that shit to Crush or Byte and they’d find her for me if needed. Oh, they’d moan and groan and tell me they needed more, after a bunch of grumbling and even more pizza, chips, dip, chicken wings, and anything else they could get Evelyn and Gina to make them. Which meant, I’d be bribing the women to make everything all in one go so I got my information faster.

Making my way through the crowd of horny men in their twenties, I headed in the direction I’d watched her leave. Still, no one said anything about the guy I’d just dropped. Were these fuckers for real?

Wait. Of course they were for real. I’d just answered that question when I’d made the judgment they were horny men in their twenties. Every ounce of blood flow that should have gone to their brains had likely gone straight to their dicks. Given the link between sex and violence, those guys wouldn’t notice anything short of a bomb blast.

I hurried around the stage and saw her. Leaning against a concrete wall next to the women’s bathroom. She had her hand over her stomach, and then she leaned forward and vomited.

“Sweet God above.” Another woman emerged from the bathroom in a skimpy bikini like everyone else had on. She gave my girl a disgusted look, her tone of voice irritated in the extreme. “Girl, you’ve got to get a hold of yourself.” She snickered. “If I curled up in a pile of puke every time someone grabbed me on stage, I’d never get through even one contest.” She scrunched up her nose. “Not like you were ever going to win anyway.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, then twisted her ass toward the back of the stage. My girl sobbed as she finished vomiting.

I froze where I was as she fell back on her ass. She was half naked -- her bathing suit didn’t cover much -- huddling on the ground in a protective ball as she cried.

“Girl? He hurt you?” I knew he hadn’t, but I had no idea what her mindset was.

She shook her head but didn’t say anything.

“Girl? Need a verbal answer.” I stepped closer to her, careful not to spook her. I wasn’t sure how long I had before someone realized Mr. Handsy at the judges’ table was unconscious, or worse, and came looking for me.

“No.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood to her feet. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone to touch me.”

“He shouldn’t have.”

She looked up at me with large, hazel eyes. “You hurt him.” She kept her voice low and her gaze shifted like she was looking for someone. “You should hurry and go. I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

“You don’t… want… Girl, have you lost your mind?”

She gave me a confused look then shook her head. “Please just go. I can’t lie for shit and if someone sees us together, they’ll think I’m lying, no matter what, if I say I don’t know you.”

“What exactly are you afraid of here, girl?”

“That you’ll get arrested? That I’ll have to give a statement since I saw you shove his face into the stage and I can’t lie and say I didn’t see anything and I don’t want to help get you arrested when all you were doing was being nice!” She said it all in one breath.

I had to stop myself from grinning. “Those are a lot of fears.”

“See? I’m a hot mess.” Tears gathered in her eyes but she swallowed a couple of times and forced them back. Brave little thing.

“You’re not a hot mess.” I tried to be as gentle as I could. It was easy to see this girl was fragile. “You’re just in an unfamiliar situation.” Before I realized what I was doing, I reached out to brush a strand of hair away from her forehead. It was stuck in her eyelashes and I knew it had to be uncomfortable. She sucked in a breath, her lips parting.

Fuck.

Fuck !

What the fuck was I doing? Touching her? Why was every cell in my body suddenly focused on this girl? The last thing I wanted to do was get a fucking hard-on right now, but I was rapidly headed that way. “Sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have touched you.”

“You made it better.” Her eyes were wide, like she was shocked or something.

I tilted my head, trying to understand where she was going with this. “You’re gonna have to explain that one, girl.”

She shook her head, as if trying to snap out of whatever mindset she was in. “I-I mean, you weren’t trying to hurt me or to touch me because you wanted to. You saw a strand of hair caught on my eyelashes and tried to make it better.”

I frowned at her. “Girl? You all right?”

“What?” She gave me a confused look. “Yes! Yes. I’m fine. Look. I know I’m not acting right. I think it’s a defense mechanism or something. I start saying what I’m thinking and my thought processes are kinda unusual sometimes.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It all just gets jumbled because it all wants out at the same time or something. I promise I’m not daft. Just socially stunted. When I get nervous, that’s what comes out.”

“Honey, if you’re that nervous about this, don’t fuckin’ do it. This thing ain’t worth stressin’ over.”

“Yes. It is.” She fluffed her hair and brushed the sand off her legs and hip where she’d sat on the sand-coated sidewalk.

“I don’t know what the payout is, but it couldn’t possibly be worth it.”

“Every little bit helps.” She winced but continued to brush the sand from her body in brisk motions. I’m ashamed to admit I imagined, ever so briefly, it was me brushing sand from her skin. I could practically feel what I was sure would be silky soft skin.

“How about let’s get you dressed, so I can get you outta here. I think you’ve had enough for today.” Could I sound any more like her father? Or a creeper?

“No! Wait!” She gave me a frantic look. “I have to get back on stage! I have to try!”

“Girl, do you honestly think you’re gonna win after you took off like that? Besides I’m not going to hurt you. Just get you someplace less chaotic, so you can take a deep breath.” The second I spoke I knew I’d fucked all the way up. You know. The first part. Not the last. Poor thing probably didn’t even register the second part. Because I was a giant dick who’d just insulted her.

“No. I don’t think I’m going to win. But if I’m not up there, I have exactly zero chance instead of a one percent chance of winning.” With one more swipe at her mouth with the back of her hand, she stalked back toward the stage.

“Girl! Girl!” Of course, she didn’t stop and there was no way to keep from zeroing in on her ass. Which was… a thing of fucking beauty . How the hell had I missed such a beautiful, heart-shaped ass? The heels she wore flexed her calves and made the muscles in her legs play beneath her skin with every step.

The noise of the crowd was still loud and boisterous, the announcer cheerfully calling out names and various personal information about each contestant. I have no idea how anyone could hear anything over the crowd, but I don’t think anyone really cared anyway. They were all about the near-naked women dancing across the stage, all vying for attention.

I knew I needed to let Lemon know her idea to get me laid went to shit, but I had bigger problems. Because when I looked at the stage all I could see was that same heart-shaped ass and those big hazel eyes. She wasn’t as graceful as most of the women, nor as confident. Hell, she looked downright awkward, but she definitely had my attention. There was no way to even think about looking at another woman on that fucking stage.

I moved back to the judges’ table where my co-judge was now back in his chair. Blood dripped steadily from his face but the bastard was still trying to grope the women on stage as they passed by.

“Why do some motherfuckers never fuckin’ learn?” I muttered to myself. Stalking toward him, I clenched my fists. There was no way I’d get away clean twice so I was fully prepared to land my ass in jail when I reached his sorry ass because I was about to give him the beatdown of his motherfucking life.

He turned his head and his eyes widened when his gaze landed on me. The high-pitched squeal that came from the guy as he shoved up from the table and stumbled backward was a beautiful sound.

“Stay away from me! Stay away from me!” he yelled as he continued to try to keep distance between us. I had every intention of following him and continuing the beating but someone grasped my shoulder and shoved me back into my chair.

“You gotta pick the winner.” Jimmy, the guy in charge of the whole mess gave me a frantic look. “Where’d the other judge go?”

I shrugged. “Ain’t his keeper.”

“Well, pick the winner so I can get the hell outta here. And there’s a hundred bucks in it for you if you pick number twenty-five.” His lips parted in a lascivious grin. “She promised to let me fuck her any way I wanted to if she won. Pretty cool what you can get a chick to do for money, huh?”

Jesus, this guy! It’s people like him who made me want to go to the wild somewhere and disappear into nature. Just live off the land. No stupid-ass motherfuckers taking advantage of young women. Nothing to make an obviously socially awkward young woman enter a contest like this for whatever money it paid out.

I glanced at the judges’ sheet, then back up at Jimmy. He gave me a grin, then turned and left the table.

“Hey, man.” The announcer held his mic away from him so he could speak to me. He stood on the stage where he’d been moving down the line of girls, presenting them one last time. Now he looked ready to announce the winner. “Gimme the envelope.”

I raised an eyebrow, then saw the envelope in question laying between me and where the other judge was supposed to be. I filled out the winner’s sheet which consisted of a big number on a piece of paper, folded and stuffed it in the envelope. And no. I didn’t pick number twenty-five.

“And this year’s West Palm Beach Bikini Diva is…” Dramatic pause for effect. “Number fifty-eight! Annie Warren!” Aaaand I now had a name to go with the number.