Elephants Never Forget: BBW Shapeshifter Romance (Safari Shifters Book 3) (2 page)

“What’s it like to live here?” Maura asked Lily. They were on the bus from Blue Sky Resort to Safari Town. It wasn’t very crowded since they were leaving at an odd time.

“It’s pretty nice,” Lily said. “There’s always something going on and the scenery is to die for. It’s much nicer than my old life.”

She told Maura the story of how she had met her husbands, was almost murdered, and moved to Safari Island all in less than a year. It made Maura’s heart race. Max and Finn sounded very nice, unlike some of the stories she’d heard before. The workers on Safari Island had a bit of a reputation among PFA members.

“Two men? That sounds like a handful.”

“It’s much more than a handful, trust me.”

Maura blushed at Lily’s off-color joke. “I’ve never heard a more fantastic story. It could be a Lifetime movie.”

“It could. I never thought anything like that would ever happen to me. My life was pretty ordinary until I won that trip. Maybe you’ll have good luck here too. You already have a great backstory.”

“Man leaves fiancé for hot young thing. I don’t think that’s a very original story.”

“It doesn’t matter how original your past is,” Lily said. “It only matters what happens now. You’ve seen all the romantic comedies. You could meet a hot young rock star or something. Wouldn’t that be the best?”

“Not with my luck.” Maura shook her head. “I’ll probably meet someone who says he’s a rock star and it turns out he works as a mechanic.”

“As long as he knows how to use his hands, it’s still a win, right?”

Maura laughed at the joke. Clearly, innuendos were Lily’s thing. “I guess so. Do you do this often?”

“I take this bus every day. It’s always slow,” Lily assured her.

“No, I mean pick up other women at hotels.”

Lily giggled. “Oh. No, I don’t very often. You’re not my first or anything. Finn always says he’d glad we don’t have any stray animals on the island or we’d have a menagerie by now.”

“It’s a very nice thing to do for someone.”

“Not really. I need someone to go out with. My best friend is pregnant and can’t drink or dance right now. You’re doing me a favor, really.”

Lily was the nicest person Maura had met in a long time. Maura knew it was awful that she was tricking her, but it was for a good cause. Lily didn’t know how bad Safari Island was for the animals. Once she heard what Jimmy Tony had to say, Lily would be glad she’d inadvertently helped the PFA. The corporation kept a lot of secrets even from their own workers. Maura couldn’t wait to help Jimmy Tony spread the truth.

When they got to Safari Town, Maura was impressed. It was much bigger than the pictures she’d seen at PFA meetings. This wasn’t even a town anymore. It looked like a little city and there was construction everywhere.

“Is the construction annoying?” she asked Lily as they got off the bus.

Lily nodded and made a face. “Unfortunately. I can’t wait until it’s all done. They isn’t much more room. The hospital needed an upgrade and we needed a bigger school. I think that’s going to be the last of it for a while.”

“What do your husbands do?” Maura asked.

“Finn works with the animals and Max works at the airport. You won’t get to the meet them tonight, but if you come back for dinner tomorrow you can.”

“I couldn’t possibly put you out like that. You’re being too kind already.”

“Nonsense. It isn’t like you’ll be eating us out of house and home. You’re only here for a few days. May as well get the full experience. Where are you going tomorrow?”

“I’m doing the amusement park and the dinner theater.”

“That’s it? No safari?”

“I don’t like safaris,” Maura said carefully. She didn’t want to start a conversation about her feelings on the subject. It would only blow her cover or make Lily hate her. She would sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist. She felt too strongly on the matter and always got emotional while she was talking about it. Unlike Jimmy Tony, she could never make her case rationally.

“Lucky, since those are impossible to book.” Lily opened the door to her house. “Make yourself at home. I need to shower and change clothes. The satellite is a little spotty, but you can try the TV if you want. There’s water and pop in the fridge and snacks on the counter.”

“Thanks.” Maura sat on the couch until she heard the shower start up, then got up and looked around the small place. It looked like there was only one bedroom, which made sense, but the house was still small for three people to share. What if they had kids? Maybe she was used to American homes that were oversized. She’d heard that people all over the world lived in much smaller places. Not that she would know; Safari Island was the first stamp in her brand-new passport.

The kitchen was small but very functional. She took a bottle of water from the fridge and went to look out all the windows. Safari Town was very busy. Besides the construction there were lots of people walking on the sidewalks and golf carts whizzing past. She didn’t know why Jimmy Tony wanted to sneak in on the shore near here. It was going to be very hard to get ashore unspotted.

They had even tried once before. Last summer the PFA had sent a group to the island, and they’d been caught in less than four hours. She hoped they had a better plan this time, but she was starting to have doubts. Jimmy Tony was very secretive about the actual plan. She knew why they needed to get onto the island. There had been many speakers at the PFA Florida chapter meeting who talked about the horrors of Safari Corp. Still, it was huge undertaking.

What if this plan failed too? She would be in a lot of trouble. Being arrested would surely be the cherry on top of an awful summer. She had no clue what laws were in place on Safari Island or what country was in charge. What if she ended up in a gulag?!

No.
Maura pushed her doubts aside. Who was she to question the leader of her chapter? He’d been working on this plan for over a year. He must have considered all the things that could go wrong. There was no way he hadn’t considered how busy Safari Town was or any other little details. He was the leader for a reason. If she stuck to the plan, she would be fine. This little detour wouldn’t be so bad. She could use one night of fun before the mission. It would help her relax and she would do a better job.

Lily came out of her bedroom wearing a kicky dress and heels. “Ready to party?”

Maura nodded. “Am I ever.”

***

“Hey, man.” Brent Zwisher nodded at Branch. He worked as a concierge at Wild Resort and partied with Shane and Branch often. Brent was a human, not a shifter, but Branch didn’t hold that against him; they were a small minority in the Safari Island employee pool. Besides, Brent always brought the hottest tourists to Club Safari and he was very laid back. He was a nice addition to the new trio.

The three had met outside Shane’s house and were walking to the bar in town. It was faster than trying to take a golf cart these days. The town had exploded with growth and it was impossible to get around during the summer. Branch couldn’t wait for the construction to be done. This was the slowest month of the summer and it was still a pain to get to work in the morning.

“What do you think the town bar is looking like tonight?” Shane asked.

“Crowded,” Brent guessed. “Lots of people are talking about skipping Club Safari. Too many tourists. They’re having to bring in new bartenders from off-island.”

“Figures,” Branch said. “Wild Resort is packed, and most of those people go to the club. They didn’t hire enough bartenders to begin with.”

The island was always understaffed but this summer was the worst Branch had ever seen. There wasn’t any area of the island that could get enough workers. While he liked seeing all the ladies visiting, it was starting to affect the quality of people’s vacations. If you didn’t book your safari tour as soon as you booked your hotel, you were out of luck. It made him sad to have to turn away families excited to show their kids the animals.

The bar was crowded, just as Brent had said. It was still better than being at the club, so Branch didn’t mind. There were a lot of new faces, he noticed. He hadn’t gotten around to meeting a lot of the new staff since he was a busy veteran. If he wasn’t so busy, he would have considered being part of the new employee orientation team. The only downside to the team was that it put new female employees out of reach. Orientation leaders weren’t allowed to date the new recruits. That wasn’t something he wanted to give up just yet.

“Looks like Lily’s here without the twins.” Shane pointed to a table near the back. “Let’s see if we can sit with her. There aren’t any open tables.”

It was strange seeing her out without Finn and Max. Branch could see some of the new guys eyeing his friends’ wife. They were definitely going to sit with her. He couldn’t leave her alone with all these guys eyeballing her.

He liked Lily. She was one of the many new recruits to the island. She’d gone from working accounting back in the States to working reception at the newest resort. She was funny and always spoke her mind. Even without the twins, he liked hanging out with her. His friends really had lucked out. Addison and Lily were both great women and cool wives. When he settled down, he hoped to find someone as great.

“Hey, Lily.” Branch took the seat next to her.

“Hey, that seat’s taken. Move down one.” Lily nodded just over his shoulder. “My new friend Maura is sitting there.”

Branch turned and saw a shy-looking redhead holding two beers. He got off the chair. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” She kept her eyes down as she put the beers down and took her seat.

“These are my friends Branch, Shane, and Brent,” Lily said. “Guys, this is Maura. She’s staying at Blue Sky Resort for the weekend.”

Branch couldn’t take his eyes off the stunning redhead. Her eyes were still hidden by her long lashes, but he was sure he saw a flash of pale green. Her island tan offset her freckles in the cutest way. She had a smallish chest but her bodacious hips more than made up for it. He managed to get a good look at her ass before she sat down and he was tempted to give it a little squeeze. The girl was gorgeous. Too bad she was married. Blue Sky was the honeymoon resort. It was super romantic and offered discounts to couples who also got married on island. That was it for his night. He wasn’t going to be able to find any girl prettier than her. It was going to be another night at Casa Dunkin.

“Blue Sky Resort?” Shane asked. “So your new husband let a pretty girl like you out for the night alone? He must be real trusting.”

“I don’t have a husband,” she said softly.

Branch almost did a gleeful dance. He was going to have to get her to relax first, but he was in business. He couldn’t believe his luck. “Where are you from?”

She looked up for the first time and met his eyes. They were a beautiful pale green with speckles of brown. “Elway, Florida.”

Branch put down his beer and looked at her more closely. “I’m from Elway.”

“You are? Did you go to Elway High?”

He thought back and tried to place Maura before answering. He had been a bit of a prick in high school. More than ten years removed from those days, he still cringed to remember how immature and cruel he’d been as a teen. He’d been on the football team and very popular, yet he’d gone out of his way to make people’s lives hell. At the time, he thought he was so funny but now he was embarrassed by his actions. He’d spent most of his ten year reunion apologizing. His old classmates had been very kind but he had never been ever to fully forgive himself.

Mercifully, he couldn’t remember ever saying anything mean to a pretty red-haired girl. Maura looked near his age but he didn’t remember any smoking hot red-heads in his class or the years before or after his. He was drawing a total blank.

“I did. I’m coming up on my fifteen year reunion,” he said finally.

“It’s going to be my fifteenth year soon. I don’t think my class is going to do a whole meetup, though.”

“I think my class was the last to really be into it.” Branch was still trying to place her pretty face. He couldn’t believe that he would forget someone like her. She had to be young enough that they never have crossed paths at school.

“We didn’t even do a ten year, so I’m not holding my breath.”

“Whoa. It’s like a little town meetup here,” Shane said. “Did you guys know each other?”

“No,” Maura said quickly.

Branch shook his head. “I don’t think so. No reason we can’t get to know each other better now, though. You still in Elway?”

Maura nodded. “I am. My family is from the area, so it’s hard for me to move away.”

“I know how that is.” Branch finished his beer. “I’m buying a round of shots. And everyone’s drinking.”

Lily groaned. “Only one. You know what happened last time.”

“I love drunk Lily,” Brent said. “Never a dull moment with her around.”

“I have to work in the morning, so it’s only one,” Lily insisted.

“You too.” Branch put his arm around Maura’s shoulder. “A little present for my hometown honey.”

She smiled nervously. He didn’t know what was going on with her, but he needed to loosen her up. His elephant was as excited as his human side was. Now that he’d met her, she was never going to be able to forget about Maura. He didn’t care how long it took to convince her, she was going home with him tonight.