Free Big Gator: A BBW shape shifter paranormal romance by Annora Soule Page B

it.
                 “ You
know, Shirley's eyes were different, too,” he said. “Most gator's
have olive-colored eyes.  But hers were a golden brown.”
                  Brandy
felt herself blush.  He remembered the color of her eyes.
                 “ I've
never noticed that,” she lied, clearing her throat
self-consciously. “About their eyes.  That's a good catch.”
                 
                 
     
    Chapter 11
     
     
     
                  Rachel
waited for her boyfriend, who was now 20 minutes later for dinner.
                  She
sat alone by candlelight at a romantic table-for-two at an upscale
restaurant. This was their two-year anniversary, and he had texted
her to say he was still at work.
                  She
sipped a glass of Pinot Grigio.  She was tempted to order a
bottle, even if she ended up having to drink it alone. Not once had
she ever made McEvans wait for her .
And she worked full time, too, as a model.  She was well-known
in the industry, but not so famous yet that the mainstream public
knew her by name.  Her face was recognizable, with her having
done a number of ads and two separate photo-shoots for a popular
lingerie catalogue, but she had yet to do a magazine cover. 
Rachel's agency was working on that and probably she would get the
chance before the end of the year.
                  Rachel
first met McEvans on a photo shoot that she took part in a quirky
fashion spread for a men’s journal featuring men's jackets designed
from exotic leathers.  McEvans guest-modeled as the man wearing
the jackets, with Rachel in tow, as they ran away from the animals
seeking revenge for the hides that Jake was was wearing. 
                  So,
for example, on one page Jake wore a jacket made of ostrich hide.
After the shoot, a graphic designer Photoshopped in a very pissed-off
looking ostrich chasing them and – voila! – it
was fashion gone wild, quite literally.
                  Then
when Animal Sphere opened a whole new section focused on exotic
butterflies from South America, McEvans tracked her down and invited
her for a candlelight dinner – just the two of them – among the
butterflies.  At first she played hard-to-get.  He was,
after all, a celebrity, and so this was a tricky dance.  And,
given Florida's average age calculating retirees, he was one of
Florida's most eligible bachelors under 40, which was a dwindling
population altogether.  They were compatible, although probably
not actually in love. Rachel didn’t think she had ever truly been
in love.
                  They
were doing fine for the most part until that stupid alligator showed
up.  Rachel was pretty tolerant of his heavy workload and his
travel schedule.  Sometimes he even took her along on trips,
which she easily could do combining work and pleasure.  He was
great to be around – smart, daring, although a little bit of a
control freak.  Not in an abusive kind of way.  He was just
a man who knew what he was doing, and he was in charge of his whole
enterprise.
                  Another
10 minutes went by.  Her cellphone rang.
                 “ I'm
sorry, Rachel,” McEvans said.  “This is pretty much
unforgivable, but I've got an emergency on my hands.  I promise
I will make it up to you.
                  He
explained to Rachel that he and his new intern had a lead on Shirley,
and they had to jump on it tonight.  They couldn't afford to
waste any time, he said.
                  Until
McEvans, Rachel had repeated bad luck with men.  She thought
those days were over now, but over the past month her boyfriend had
begun to change.  McEvans had asked Rachel to move in with him,
but instead he had to put that off when he decided to bring Shirley
home with him instead.  That delayed the move, because he wasn't
sure that he had