Big Gator: A BBW shape shifter paranormal romance (17 page)

             “
It's
possible,” she whispered.

             
McEvans
nodded, already starting to accept what the implications here were. 
It would have been an entirely different scenario if he had seen this
that night he drank a
yahuasca
in
Peru. But tonight he was completely sober and definitely not high. He
held his hand out to her.  She reached for him, and he pulled
her up to her feet.

             “
Are
you okay?” he asked, looking her over while trying not to seem like
a lech.  “Did he hurt you at all?”

             “
My
left ankle again,” she said.

             “
Again,”
McEvans repeated.  “Right.  That's right – that's why
you were wearing that bandage...”

             
His
voice trailed off.  And McEvans then realized something that
brought him some relief. He let out a nervous laugh.

             
Brandy
thought this was odd.

             “
What
the heck are you laughing at exactly?”

             
McEvans
was laughing hard now, but then he pulled it together.

             “
Do
you know what this means?” he asked her.

             “
Yes,
believe me I do.  I've been living this way my whole life. But
what do YOU think this means?”

             “
It
means I'm not crazy,” McEvans said, sounding truly relieved now. 
“I'm not crazy at all.  If you're 'Shirley,' and 'Shirley' is
really you, then – well, then – “

             “
Then
what?”

             “
Then
this,” he said.

             
McEvans
pulled Brandy to him, and his lips met hers, warm and soft.  Her
eyes flashed in surprise and at first she didn't respond, feeling
confused.  He pulled back a little, and his hand went to her
cheek.

             “
Do
you know how I've been feeling – between her and you – and well –
just YOU,” McEvans said.  “Having to explain to everyone why
I'm so obsessed with a reptile. And why for the first time in years I
feel like the only person who understands me is an intern?”

             
He
kissed her again and this time, Brandy let herself melt into him, her
towel almost slipping completely away.

             “
Do
you know why I let you keep me cooped up in here for two whole weeks
after you caught me in Miami?” she whispered. “I lost my job
because I stayed put here with you.”

             
McEvans
held her in the dark for a very long time, finally somehow feeling
completely at peace with himself – for the first time in awhile. 
Then he realized he had a problem on his hands.  He couldn't let
things go any farther between him and Brandy right now.

             “
I
need to end things with Rachel before we can figure things out
between us.”

             
Brandy
nodded.

             
It
was too late to go home that night, so McEvans and Brandy slept in
his office.  He let her have the couch, while he slept on the
floor. They both woke up before sunrise – with enough time to clean
up and not look suspicious to the rest of the staff.

             
What
Brandy didn't have a chance to do, however, was to call Marianne and
Jenny to tell them that they didn't need to come pick 'Shirley' up
that morning.  When they arrived, both she and McEvans met them
out in the parking lot.  Brandy made McEvans swear that he would
not let on that he now knew she was a shifter.

             “
Shirley
will be staying a little while longer,” Brandy told them, “I'm
really sorry that I didn't call you.  She was injured last night
in a bit of a scuffle, and we want to keep an eye on her.

             
Marianne
looked down at Brandy's freshly bandaged left ankle with concern.

             
Jenny,
however, was eyeballing McEvans.  She seemed distracted.

             “
What's
that around your neck?” Jenny asked him.

             
McEvans
reached up and touched a small pouch that sat at the base of his
neck, fixed in place with a rope necklace.  Now that Brandy
thought about it, she had noticed that he started wearing it a couple
of weeks ago.

             “
Who
gave that to you?” Jenny pressed him.

             “
My
girlfriend did,” he said.

             “
Do
you know what that's for?” She was starting to cross-examine him
now.

             “
She
said it's for good luck.”

             “
Like
mojo
?”

             “
Yeah,
that's what she called it.”

             “
It's
not quite that,” Jenny said.  “She put a love spell on you. 
Have you two been having trouble in your relationship lately?”

             “
Jenny,
really” Brandy said.  “This is starting to get a little
awkward.”

             
While
Brandy said this, however, she was starting to understand what Jenny
was getting at with the love spell. It would explain McEvan's shift
in moods and his recent headaches.  When love spells are cast in
order to save a relationship that's heading for a breakup – that
means the person casting the spell is trying to challenge his or her
partner's free will.  The results are rarely positive.

             “
What's
your girlfriend's name?” Jenny asked.

             “
Rachel,”
McEvans said.

             “
Rachel
what?”

             “
Rachel
LaBelle.”

Chapter 19

             “
This
isn't what I call love, Rachel!”

             
McEvans
was yelling now.  After Jenny had tipped him off to the
likelihood of the fact that Rachel had been working him magickally,
he immediately went over to Rachel's place to confront her. The level
of anger he felt over this was overwhelming – and he now doubted
the validity of the whole relationship since Day One.

             
“
How
could I ever trust you again after you pulled that on me!
”
he
shouted.

             
Rachel
was crying.  She didn't understand how her mother could always
successfully work a man with Hoodoo, but she never could.  It
had worked for Rachel when it came to ensuring her career as a model,
and it always helped with money in general.  But when it came to
romantic liaisons, Rachel simply didn't have the same magickal touch
that her mother did when it came to controlling a man.

             “
Please
,
Jake,” Rachel begged.  “I only did it for US – we needed
to get back to the way things were when we first met.  And that
– that – alligator was coming between us!  You were obsessed
with it – and with your job – past the point of what was
reasonable!”

             
Whatever
it was she had done to him had made him feel sick and miserable and
out of sorts for two weeks.  It was creepy – and it was
unfair.  If McEvans was obsessed with Shirley – and, also
Brandy – well that wasn't the result of manipulation. 
Whatever was between him and Brandy was genuine, albeit crazy.

             “
I'm
sorry, Rachel,” Jake said.  “This hasn't been working for a
long time now.  You and I both know it.”

             
After
Jake left, Rachel called her mother.  She was rarely
sympathetic, but her mother always knew what to do.

             
While
Rachel consulted with her mother, Jenny was back in Escala plotting. 
She had played it cool after discovering that Rachel was a LaBelle,
but both Marianne and Brandy knew for real now that events could be
set in motion that would change all their lives.

             
Brandy
was worried.  She felt bad enough that Jake had broken up with
Rachel for her, although she didn't feel THAT bad since Brandy knew
now that Rachel was not entirely innocent here. Rachel had probably
been working Jake since the beginning, using a little hex here and
there to keep their relationship on the track she wanted.  But
whatever it was that Jenny and her cohorts were cooking up to break
the Alligator Curse might very well put Rachel in danger. 

             
That
was not something that she was comfortable with at all.

             
As
far as Brandy could see, Rachel had only managed to launch a
half-assed love spell that didn't really work and only caused some
migraine headaches.  It was a far cry from that all the way to
something as powerful as Madame Eve LaBelle's creation of a whole new
reptilian species. 

             
As
Ray always had suspected, the Powells of Alabama were behind this
whole operation.  Jenny made a few calls when she got back to
Brandy's.  Within 24-hours, two scary looking men showed up in a
Jeep. They were bounty hunters from Louisiana – also shifters, and
well-armed. They also were Cliburns, which just added to the edginess
that Brandy felt. The Cliburn family was well known to live their
lives on both sides of the law – but they never were ACTUALLY
the
Law
. 
They were either criminals on one side, or private investigators and
bounty hunters on the other, with everyone bending the rules as they
saw fit. Also, most Cliburns tended to be Hatchers which meant they
were all a little off-balance.

             
No
doubt these two fellas were supportive of the mission to reverse the
curse, but their muscle was being well-paid for by the Powells. Jenny
and the two bounty hunters took over Brandy's kitchen to come up with
a plan of action.

             
Brandy
couldn't kick them out – Jenny was kin and family loyalty put her
in a real bind here  – but she was now worried both for Rachel
and herself. As much as her opinion of Rachel had taken a big dip
(combined with the fact that Jake now knew who she really was and had
kissed her) she didn't want Rachel to get
hurt
. 
Also, Brandy realized just how much it was vital to her current
overall status to be – and to remain – a gator shifter.

             “
Do
you even know what you're going to do with her once you kidnap her or
whatever?” Brandy demanded.

             
Jenny
looked at the two beefy Cliburns seated at the kitchen table. 
They were cleaning their guns.

             “
We're
not going to do anything rash,” her cousin told her.

             “
We'll
scare her a little bit,” added Cliburn #1 – a redhead with a
thick beard. “Ideally, she'll agree to do whatever it takes to lift
the curse.”

             “
That
can't be simple,” Brandy said.