Free Secret Baby Lion: A BBW Lion-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 2) by Cara Wylde

He could have been 35, but that was quite a stretch. She couldn’t make complicated calculations after having had too many glasses of wine, but something didn’t sound exactly right. Camille’s soft voice brought her back to the present.
    “He’s nice. Tristan. He’s the nicest person I know. He takes care of me, of everyone around him. I don’t know how much they appreciate it, but I do. I know how it’s like to have no one, to grow up believing your parents didn’t want you, that for some unfathomable reason, you weren’t worthy of their love and they chose to get rid of you.”
    Olivia opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
    “It’s fine, really. You don’t have to say anything,” insisted Camille. “I’m over it, in fact. I’m just telling you these things so you’d understand how good Tristan is.”
    “He’s been good to me, too,” said Liv. She bit the inside of her cheek before saying what she had actually wanted to say for a few minutes. “But I don’t think he was very nice to you the other day.”
    “What other day?”
    “You know… when we met. He asked you what you were working on, and I don’t think he did it in a very pleasant tone.”
    Camille turned away from Olivia and finished the gin in her glass.
    “He was only afraid I might be working on something dangerous.”
    Her explanation didn’t sound very convincing to Olivia.
    Camille sensed the woman’s reticence, and added: “He truly cares about me. His only fault is that he doesn’t know how to express it. Sometimes, he comes off as harsh and authoritarian, but once you get to know him, you understand what he actually means when he behaves like that. And I know him very well.”
    That was when Olivia realized she might have gotten Camille all wrong. The girl was in love with Tristan. There was no doubt about it. The way she talked about him, the way she found excuses for his obviously misplaced behavior… That was love, and nothing else. Blind, hopeless love. She knew Tristan didn’t feel the same for Camille. Or… had she gotten him all wrong, too?
    Camille stood up abruptly and headed to the party.
    “I’m getting a new glass of gin.”
    She didn’t ask Olivia if she wanted anything, and didn’t mention whether she was coming back or not. She simply walked away and left her there, under the old tree.
    Liv searched the crowd for Tristan, but couldn’t spot him. She felt too tired to stand up, walk over and look for him properly, so she leaned her head on the thick trunk and got lost in the immensity of the sky and the calming brightness of the stars. Tristan found her later, as she was sure he would.
    “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear.
    His husky voice sent a wave of lust right to her core.
    She smiled. “I don’t think I can stand, let alone walk.”
    He laughed. “I’ll have to carry you, then.”
    Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck when he picked her up.
    “Hey! Don’t forget about my shoes!”
    He lowered her carefully so she could grab them by the heels.
     
    ***
     
    Tristan set Olivia on his bed and took a step back to admire her curvaceous body in the tight black dress. He couldn’t wait to see what was underneath it. She had great taste in lingerie, and he was almost sure her bra and panties were all delicate, sexy black lace.
    Olivia let him stare at her for a while, enjoying the attention. The look in his intense blue eyes said he considered her the most beautiful woman in the world, and that made Liv feel confident and comfortable in her own skin. She had long accepted her size, her generous curves, large hips, and heavy breasts. When she was younger, around 18, she would look in the mirror for hours, study every inch of herself, and scowl at every roll around her waist, and every imperfection she could spot. She had tried a couple of diets, but they had made her sad and frustrated. Little by little, she understood that the solution to her being dissatisfied with herself was to work