Big Gator: A BBW shape shifter paranormal romance (21 page)

             “
What
am I supposed to be looking at exactly?” Rachel snarked. “Put
your pants on, please.”

             
Paulie
smirked and complied.

             
As
they all pulled themselves back together, it began dawning on Rachel
that all the rumors about her great-great-great grandmother were
true.  She really WAS that powerful a Conjure Woman. Love spells
and money spells be damned. This was some
seriously
powerful
shit. 
Rachel's mother didn't even know about this – else she would have
told her, wouldn't she have?

             “
So
apparently you think it sucks to be an alligator,” Rachel
observed.  “And you don't want this in your life
anymore.
”             

             “
Exactly,”
Jenny said.

             “
Alright,
look,” Rachel said. “I get it.  And if Eve LaBelle had a
beef with you, that was her problem and it was over a hundred years
ago.  It's not
my
problem.
So, I don't mind helping you out.  But the thing is, this is the
first time I've ever heard about this kind of curse.  Neither my
mother nor I can do this kind of thing – so this is going to take
research.”

             “
Understandable,”
Beau said.

             “
But
we're going to get nowhere if you threaten me or keep me tied up,”
Rachel. “We're going to have to have a different arrangement.
Especially if you want my mother to be involved.”

             “
We've
thought about that,” Jenny said. “We just didn't know who we were
dealing with yet.”

             
Beau
and Paulie had concluded that Rachel's Hoodoo stash had seemed pretty
unimpressive.  So they knew ahead of time that they were not
dealing with anyone powerful.  But she would have to do.

             “
In
the spirit of getting more with honey than with vinegar,” Jenny
continued, “we're willing to make you an offer.”

             “
What
kind of offer?” Rachel asked.

             “
We're
willing to pay you and your mother,” Beau said.  “We'll pay
you $250,000 if it works.”

             
The
Powells had proposed a monetary option, if the opportunity to
negotiate such arose. This would solve the problem of having to make
the LaBelles disappear, if they could set up a mutually beneficial
arrangement.

             
Rachel
thought it over.

             “
You
said seven families?”

             “
Yes.”

             “
But
going back over a hundred years, that's a lot of descendants.”

             “
Yes,”
Beau said.

             
One
thing Rachel was good at was negotiating business contracts.

             “
We'll
do it for $100,000 per family,” Rachel countered.

             “
What?”
Jenny spat. She acted resistant just for effect, because she knew she
could get the money from the Powells if need be. They had authorized
her to go up to a million dollars.”

             “
Try
$500,000,” Jenny threw back.

             “
Nuh-uh,”
Rachel said. “If all my focus is on this for the next few weeks, I
won't be able to take a couple of modeling contracts.  That's
gonna cost me. And this clearly is worth it to you, and considering
that you just broke into my home and terrorized me, I think I'm being
reasonable.”

             
Jenny
stared at her.

             “
And
if I fail – then you don't have to pay me anything,” Rachel
added. “So with the number I gave you, now we both have positive
motivation here.”

             
Paulie
looked amused. He wasn't her type at all, but she winked at him to
give him a positive nudge.

             “
Fine,”
Jenny said. “Untie her.”

Chapter 22

             
After
another round of lovemaking in the swamp, Brandy didn't let Jake let
her follow her home and spend the night.  She needed to keep him
out of sight for awhile.  If other shifters saw him hanging
around Escala – and more specifically her house – things could
get tricky pretty fast.

             
When
she awoke the next morning she felt absolutely delicious. It was that
rare feeling you get when you don't have to set the alarm and you
wake up just after the sun rises, but you don't have to be anywhere
anytime soon.  She lounged in bed for awhile, self-indulgently
replaying last night's events in her mind a few times over. Then it
was time to get up like a normal person and put on a pot of coffee.

             
Jenny
wasn't home when Brandy slipped in the night before. The bed was
still made in the guest room that morning, which meant Jenny hadn't
slept there last night at all. Brandy felt a pang of guilt knowing
that it was highly likely she had finally made a move on Rachel. 

             
Brandy
made a pot of coffee and heard someone knocking at the back porch
door.  It was Marianne.

             “
Jenny
around?” Marianne asked.  She accepted a cup of coffee from
Brandy, who for some reason didn't look like her usual,
sluggish-in-the-morning self.

             “
She
didn't come home last night, looks like.”

             “
You
think she went after Rachel LaBelle finally?”

             “
Probably,”
Brandy said.

             “
Look,”
Marianne told her, “you've got nothing to feel bad about. 
Here we are payin' for the sins of our fathers – whatever they were
– so maybe it's a LaBelle's turn to see what it's like.”

             “
Maybe.”

             
Brandy
sipped her coffee thoughtfully.

             “
And
she WAS using magick on McEvans,” Marianne added. “So she's not
some sweet, innocent gal. That's some manipulative shit.  It's
unfair for anyone to do that to someone.  We're supposed to have
free will.  That's a serious breech of trust, going behind a
man's back like that.”

             
Brandy
nodded.

             “
What's
wrong with you?” Marianne asked. “You're not usually this quiet.”

             “
Nothing. 
I'm fine. I just slept a little late.”

             
“
So
I'm going to state the obvious then,” Marianne said distractedly,
analyzing her nails.  “McEvans probably is free and single
right now.  If he had half a brain in his head, he broke up with
her on-the-spot.”

             
Marianne
frowned at her manicure.  The pink polish on her right middle
finger was chipped, as was the polish on her left index finger. She
just had them done two days ago, too.
Pain-in-the-ass
.
Brandy had warned Marianne that pink nail polish on gator claws would
be suspicious if she was ever caught by a trapper.  That’s why
Brandy avoided mani-pedis.  Acrylic nails and nail polish
strangely survived the shift. 

             
If
anyone cared to look, the swamps around Florida were filled with
middle-aged female gators sporting french manicures.

             “
He
did break up with his girlfriend,” Brandy said.

             “
You
talked to him?”

             “
Yep,”
Brandy said.  She was started to avert her gaze, avoiding direct
eye contract with her best friend.

             “
And?”

             “
And
what?”

             “
Well
– this could be trouble now – because I know you've got the hotty
hots for him.”

             “
So
what?”

             “
So
what
?”

             
Brandy
was never good at lying. And last night was so
damn
good
she
was busting at the seams wanting to tell Marianne the details. 
And Marianne would probably approve if she thought this was harmless
fling.  But it wasn't safe and it wasn't harmless.

             “
Nah,
I think I'm going to cool it for awhile,” Brandy said.
 
Lie
lie lie.

             
Marianne
studied Brandy's face.

             “
Look
me in the eye and say that.”

             
Brandy
made split second eye-contact with Marianne, as she repeated the
words, her eyes darting back and forth.

             “
That's
not looking me in the eye! Oh my Lord – is that a hickey?!”

             “
Are
you kidding?!” Brandy jumped up and rushed to a mirror on the wall.

             
She
searched her neck but couldn't find anything.

             “
Gotcha!”
Marianne announced.

             
There
was no hickey.

             “
Grr!
You're a bitch sometimes!”

             “
When?
Where
?”

             “
Oh
God, Marianne, what am I going to do?” Brandy moaned.  “It
was last night.”

             “
How
far did it go?”

             “
As
far as it
can
go.”

             
Marianne's
jaw dropped. She knew this was Brandy's first time with a man who
wasn't a shifter.  And what a man!

             “
This
is bad.  But it's
so
good
at
the same time,” Marianne said naughtily, enjoying the idea of
forbidden fruit.  “It will get bad – but it's good right
now.  Tell me everything!”

             
Brandy
buried her head in her hands as she began the story, swearing
Marianne to secrecy about last night – but avoiding at all costs
letting Marianne know the fact that McEvans had seen her shift.

             “
You
did it with him in the swamp,” Marianne said wistfully.  “And
he's not even a shifter – that's the sexiest thing ever.”

             
Brandy
finally looked up, more pleased with herself than ashamed now.